Appianus

Roman Emperors

Appianus was an Alexandrian martyr who is quoted as saying at his trial before the emperor Commodus: 'The divine Antoninus, your father, was fit to be emperor for he was first of all a philosopher, secondly had no love of money and thirdly was a lover of goodness. But you are the opposite-tyrannical, boorish and uncultured.' Such accounts are probably largely fiction, but the fact that they were in circulation tells us something about the attitudes in Alexandria at the time.

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Last Updated: June 19th, 2011