# Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE Date: 138 ## The fact On 25 February 138 [Hadrian](/people/hadrian) adopted Antoninus Pius, binding him to adopt Marcus Annius Verus and Lucius, son of Aelius. The dated succession instrument is not the earlier opacity of 136 and not the four consulars of 118. Hadrian’s documented role is: He adopted Titus Aurelius Antoninus after Aelius Caesar’s death, requiring Antoninus to adopt Marcus and Lucius. The Senate confirmed; Hadrian was dying. Do not twin this with the succession-opacity row. A 138 named adoption is the closing instrument of that file. Later editors, printers, and excavators remain named where they appear. Hadrian's documented role is: He adopted Titus Aurelius Antoninus after Aelius Caesar’s death, requiring Antoninus to adopt Marcus and Lucius. The Senate confirmed; Hadrian was dying. ## Context Aelius Caesar had died on 1 January 138. A forced double adoption is shared with Antoninus. A peaceful 138 is not a unique welfare series. Later Antonine piety toward Hadrian is neighbouring. Named others on the file: Antoninus Pius, Marcus, young Lucius, and the Senate share the adoption. The public setting is the file around 0138-02-25. Unnamed clerks, soldiers, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. The instrument stays Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE. The setting of Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE is the public file around 0138-02-25. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Driver [democratic-resilience](/drivers/democratic-resilience) is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage. Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Do not twin this with the succession-opacity row. A 138 named adoption is the closing instrument of that file. Mixed effects of Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE are separate paths. ## Evidence and sources Britannica’s Hadrian and Antoninus pages independently date the 138 adoption. Official: Britannica — Hadrian, adoption of Antoninus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent: Britannica — Antoninus Pius, adoption 138 (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoninus-Pius; Encyclopaedia Britannica). The two URLs are different pages. Where the carrier is a later edition or a received narrative, that limit is stated rather than upgraded to an autograph. Official carrier: Britannica — Hadrian, adoption of Antoninus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Independent carrier: Britannica — Antoninus Pius, adoption 138 (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoninus-Pius; Encyclopaedia Britannica). Official or archival record: Britannica — Hadrian, adoption of Antoninus (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian; Encyclopaedia Britannica). ## Significance Improving democratic-resilience path: a named adoptive succession. Complex shared with Antoninus’s later reign. Welfare reading improving. The attached mechanism is A dated double-adoption instrument transferred succession by named public act rather than another 138 civil war. Lag to any modern indicator is not treated as zero. This path is attached because the mechanism is named from this act, not because a driver list needed coverage. The welfare reading on this path is improving. The attached driver is democratic-resilience. The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. ## What is established and what is not Established: 138 adoption of Antoninus with further adoptions required. Not established: that 136’s opacity is this same act. Established: a sourced public record of Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE under 0138-02-25. Established: a sourced public record of Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE under 0138-02-25. Shared responsibility is part of Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as successor in 138 CE. Naming Hadrian does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 0138-02-25 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts. ## People - Hadrian: https://factrail.ai/people/hadrian ## Drivers - Democratic Resilience: https://factrail.ai/drivers/democratic-resilience ## Sources - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoninus-Pius - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hadrian ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/had-antoninus-adoption-138