Marcus Annius Libo (died 163) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

senator. He was suffect consul in the '' nundinium'' of January-April 161 with Quintus Camurius Numisius Junior as his colleague. Libo was the nephew of emperor

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatori ...

, and cousin to emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

. Libo came from a Roman family that had settled in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...

generations before, and had returned to Rome more recently. His father was

Marcus Annius Libo Marcus Annius Libo was a Roman Senator active in the early second century AD. Life Libo came from the upper ranks of the Roman aristocracy. He was the son of Marcus Annius Verus, consul III in 126, and Rupilia Faustina. Annius Verus was Spanish o ...

, consul in 128, and his mother was a noblewoman whose name has been surmised as Fundania, daughter of

Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus was a Roman senator active in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. Biography Early life Lamia Aelianus was possibly the son of the empress Domitia Longina and Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus or their matern ...

, consul in 116. Libo had a sister,

Annia Fundania Faustina Annia Fundania Faustina (died 192) was a noble Roman woman who lived in the Roman Empire during the 2nd century AD. She was the paternal cousin of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his sister Annia Cornificia Faustina. Life Fundania Faustina was t ...

, wife of

Titus Pomponius Proculus Vitrasius Pollio Titus Pomponius Proculus Vitrasius Pollio (died before 180) was a Roman senator, who held several imperial appointments during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was suffect consul in an undetermined '' nundinium'' around 151; he was a consul ''ord ...

, whose second consulship was in 176.

Governor of Syria

The only portion of his ''

cursus honorum The ''cursus honorum'' (; , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices') was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The '' ...

'' we know is the portion immediately after Libo stepped down from his consulate. To support his co-emperor Lucius Verus' campaign against the Parthians, Marcus Aurelius appointed Libo governor of the province of Syria. Anthony Birley notes this was a surprising choice. "As Libo had been consul only the previous year, 161," writes Birley, "he must have been in his early thirties, and as a

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

must have lacked military experience." Syria was an important province, and the men picked to govern it were usually senior men with much military and administrative experience. Birley answers his own question, "It seems that Marcus' intention was to have on the spot a man he could rely." As governor, Libo quarreled with the emperor Lucius, taking the attitude that he would only follow the instructions that Marcus gave him. This angered Lucius, so when Libo suddenly died, rumor claimed that Lucius had Libo poisoned. When Libo died, Lucius Verus defied Marcus and married Libo's widow to his Greek freedman called Agaclytus. Accordingly, Marcus Aurelius attended neither the ceremony nor the banquet.Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', p. 131

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annius Libo, Marcus (161) 2nd-century Romans 2nd-century Roman governors of Syria 163 deaths Year of birth unknown Suffect consuls of Imperial Rome Roman governors of Syria Libo, Marcus Annius (161) Nerva–Antonine dynasty