Marcus Annius Verus

Who was Marcus Annius Verus?

Marcus Annius Verus was a Roman man who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries. He was the son of an elder Marcus Annius Verus, who gained the rank of senator and praetor. His family originated from Uccibi near Corduba in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. The family came to prominence and became wealthy through olive oil production in Spain. He was close friends with the emperor Hadrian.

He was prefect of Rome and was enrolled as a patrician when Vespasian and Titus were censors. Verus was three times consul. The first under the Emperor Domitian, then in 121 and finally in 126.

Verus married Rupilia Faustina, a daughter of the niece of Trajan, Matidia, 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. Marcus Annius Verus died in 138, nearly aged ninety.