One dominant thought seems to have haunted Hadrian--the longing for death. Those who were nearest to his person, under the influence of the wise prince his adopted successor, generally known as Antoninus Pius, restrained him on several occasions from laying violent hands on himself; but it was no avail, and Hadrian died at Baiæ, A.D. 138, the death no doubt hastened, if not absolutely caused, by his own act. The following little table will explain the succession of the Antonines to the Empire: _Hadrian_ first adopted Ælius Verus--a patrician, but a voluptuous and carelessly living man; he died, however, in the lifetime of Hadrian, leaving a son Verus, afterwards associated in the Empire with Marcus, whom, however, he predeceased by many years. _Hadrian_ subsequently adopted as his successor Aurelius Antoninus, known in history as Antoninus Pius. _Antoninus Pius_ belonging to a Gallic family of Nîmes, had filled the highest offices in the State, and later became a trusted counsellor of the Emperor Hadrian, and his devoted friend. He was a patrician of the highest character. When Hadrian adopted him he required him to secure the imperial succession by adopting Verus the son of Ælius Verus, whom he had originally adopted but who had died, and also Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, his young kinsman, a nephew of his (Hadrian’s) wife. _Antoninus Pius_ became Emperor in A.D. 138. _Marcus Aurelius Antoninus_ succeeded him in A.D. 161. III ANTONINUS PIUS, A.D. 138-A.D. 161 MARCUS ANTONINUS, A.D. 161-A.D. 180 After the death of Hadrian, in A.D. 138, for forty-two years the Empire of Rome was ruled by two sovereigns who, pagan though they were, live in the pages of historians of all lands as the most perfect of any known sovereign rulers. They are known as the two Antonines: the first is distinguished by the title given him by his contemporaries, “Pius”; the second, by the best known of his several names, “Marcus Aurelius.” They were not conquerors, not even great legislators; although under their beneficent, and with one sad exception generally wise rule, the laws of the State, in the case especially of the downtrodden and helpless, were materially improved and supplemented. Our contemporary pagan literature here, alas! is but scanty; what has come down to us is even more unsatisfactory than what we possess in the contemporary records of Hadrian.