Marcus Annius Libo (died 163) was a Roman

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

. 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 Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...

, and cousin to emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

Early life

Libo came from a Roman family that had settled in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

generations before, and had returned to Rome more recently. His father was Marcus Annius Libo, consul in 128, and his mother was a noblewoman whose name has been surmised as Fundania, daughter of Lucius Fundanius Lamia Aelianus, consul in 116. Libo had a sister, Annia Fundania Faustina, wife of Titus Pomponius Proculus Vitrasius Pollio, whose second consulship was in 176.

Governor of Syria

The only portion of his ''

cursus honorum The , 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 comprised a mixture of ...

'' we know is the portion immediately after Libo stepped down from his consulate. To support his co-emperor

Lucius Verus Lucius Aurelius Verus (; 15 December 130 – 23 January 169) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 169, alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Ma ...

' campaign against the Parthians, Marcus Aurelius appointed Libo governor of the province of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Anthony Birley Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian, archaeologist and academic. He was one of the leaders of excavations at of the Roman fortress at Vindolanda and also published several books on Roman ...

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 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.

Family

When Libo died, Lucius Verus defied Marcus and married Libo's widow to his Greek

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

called Agaclytus. Accordingly, Marcus Aurelius attended neither the ceremony nor the banquet.

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorb ...

has proposed that based on the name of Libo's son Marcus Annius Sabinus Libo that it is possible that his widow may have been a relative of empress

Vibia Sabina Vibia Sabina (83–136/137) was a Roman Empress, wife and second cousin once removed to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. She was the daughter of Salonia Matidia, Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Early ...

, but that his grandson Marcus Annius Flavius Libo's name makes it more likely that his widow was a member of the Flavii Sabini.

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