Marcus Annius Verus

Marcus Annius Verus was a Roman man who lived in the 1st and 2nd century. He was the son of an elder Marcus Annius Verus, who gained the rank of senator and praetor. His family originated from Uccibi (modern Espejo) near Corduba (modern Córdoba) in Spain. The family came to prominence and became wealthy through olive oil production in Spain.

He was prefect of Rome and was enrolled as a patrician when Vespasian and Titus were censors. Verus was three times consul. One was under the Emperor Domitian, one in 121 and the other in 126. Verus married Rupilia Faustina, a daughter from a consular family and had three children:

• Annia Galeria Faustina or Faustina the Elder, a future Roman Empress who married future Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius;
• Marcus Annius Libo, a future consul; and,
• Marcus Annius Verus, a praetor who married Domitia Lucilla and became father to future Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his sister Annia Cornificia Faustina.

After his son Marcus Annius Verus died in 124, the elder Verus adopted and raised Marcus Aurelius and his sister Annia Cornificia Faustina. In his "Meditations", Marcus Aurelius describes his paternal grandfather as a man of 'decency' and 'a mild temper' (1.1n). Marcus Annius Verus died in 138, nearly aged ninety. In his elder years, he had a mistress.

Marcus Aurelius says in his "Meditations": "From my grandfather Verus, a kindly disposition and sweetness of temper."

Nerva–Antonine family tree

• (1) = 1st spouse
• (2) = 2nd spouse (not shown)
• (3) = 3rd spouse
• SMALL CAPS = posthumously deified (Augusti, Augustae, or other)
• dotted lines indicate adoption or (in the case of Hadrian and Antinous) alleged lovers

Marcia

TRAJANUS PATER

NERVA (r. 96–98)

Ulpia

Aelius Marullinus

G. Salonius Matidius Patruinus

MARCIANA

TRAJAN, adoptive son (r. 98–117)

PLOTINA

Aelius Afer

Paulina Major

Libo Rupilius Frugi (3)

MATIDIA

L. Vibius Sabinus (1)

Rupilia Annia

M. Annius Verus

Rupilia Faustina

SABINA

HADRIAN, adoptive son (r. 117–138)

ANTINOUS

Paulina Minor

Domitia Lucilla

M. Annius Verus

M. Annius Libo

FAUSTINA

ANTONINUS PIUS, adoptive son (r. 138–161)

Aelius, adoptive son

Julia Paulina

Cornificia

MARCUS AURELIUS, adoptive son (r. 161–180)

FAUSTINA Minor

Aurelia Fadilla

two infant sons

Salinator

VERUS, adoptive son (r. 161–169)

Fadilla

Cornificia

COMMODUS (r. 177–192)

nine other children

Lucilla

Political offices
Preceded by Lucius Catilius Severus Iulianus Claudius Reginus and Antoninus Pius	Consul of the Roman Empire with Cnaeus Arrius Augur 121	Succeeded by Marcus Acilius Aviola and Lucius Corellius Neratius Pansa
Preceded by Marcus Lollius Paullinus D. Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus and Lucius Epidius Titius Aquilinus	Consul of the Roman Empire with Gaius Eggius Ambibulus 126	Succeeded by Titus Atilius Rufus Titianus and Marcus Gavius Squilla Gallicanus

References

• Marcus Aurelius on Roman Empire.net
• Historia Augusta on Marcus Aurelius
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius