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Antoninus Pius

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (19 September AD 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 various offices during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He married Hadrian's niece Faustina, and Hadrian adopted him as his son and successor shortly before his death. Antoninus acquired the cognomen Pius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father, or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years. His reign is notable for the peaceful state of the Empire, with no major revolts or military incursions during this time. A successful military campaign in southern Scotland early in his reign resulted in the construction of the Antonine Wall.

Antoninus was an effective administrator, leaving his successors a large surplus in the treasury, expanding free access to drinking water throughout the Empire, encouraging legal conformity, and facilitating the enfranchisement of freed slaves. He died of illness in AD 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors.

Childhood and family
Antoninus Pius was born Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Antoninus near Lanuvium (modern-day Lanuvio) in Italy to Titus Aurelius Fulvus, consul in 89, and wife Arria Fadilla. The Aurelii Fulvi were an Aurelian family settled in Nemausus (modern Nîmes). Titus Aurelius Fulvus was the son of a senator of the same name, who, as legate of Legio III Gallica, had supported Vespasian in his bid to the Imperial office and been rewarded with a suffect consulship, plus an ordinary one under Domitian in 85. The Aurelii Fulvi were therefore a relatively new senatorial family from Gallia Narbonensis whose rise to prominence was supported by the Flavians. The link between Antoninus' family and their home province explains the increasing importance of the post of proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis during the late second century.

Antoninus' father had no other children and died shortly after his 89 ordinary consulship. Antoninus was raised by his maternal grandfather Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus, reputed by contemporaries to be a man of integrity and culture and a friend of Pliny the Younger. The Arrii Antonini were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential during Nerva's reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus' mother, married afterwards Publius Julius Lupus, suffect consul in 98; from that marriage came two daughters, Arria Lupula and Julia Fadilla.

Marriage and children
Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder. They are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consul Marcus Annius Verus (II) and Rupilia Faustina (a step-sister to the Empress Vibia Sabina). Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply.

Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters. They were:
 * Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.
 * Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. His name appears on a Greek Imperial coin.
 * Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135); she married Lucius Plautius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145. She appeared to have no children with her husband; and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy.
 * Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (between 125 and 130–175), a future Roman Empress, married her maternal cousin Marcus Aurelius in 146.

When Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed. In honour of her memory, he asked the Senate to deify her as a goddess, and authorised the construction of a temple to be built in the Roman Forum in her name, with priestesses serving in her temple. He had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were scripted "DIVA FAUSTINA" and were elaborately decorated. He further founded a charity, calling it Puellae Faustinianae or Girls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girls of good family. Finally, Antoninus created a new alimenta, a Roman welfare programme, as part of Cura Annonae.

The emperor never remarried. Instead, he lived with Galeria Lysistrate, one of Faustina's freed women. Concubinage was a form of female companionship sometimes chosen by powerful men in Ancient Rome, especially widowers like Vespasian, and Marcus Aurelius. Their union could not produce any legitimate offspring who could threaten any heirs, such as those of Antoninus. Also, as one could not have a wife and an official concubine (or two concubines) at the same time, Antoninus avoided being pressed into a marriage with a noblewoman from another family. (Later, Marcus Aurelius would also reject the advances of his former fiancée Ceionia Fabia, Lucius Verus's sister, on the grounds of protecting his children from a stepmother, and took a concubine instead.)

Favour with Hadrian
Having filled the offices of quaestor and praetor with more than usual success, he obtained the consulship in 120 having as his colleague Lucius Catilius Severus. He was next appointed by the Emperor Hadrian as one of the four proconsuls to administer Italia, his district including Etruria, where he had estates. He then greatly increased his reputation by his conduct as proconsul of Asia, probably during 134–135.

He acquired much favor with Hadrian, who adopted him as his son and successor on 25 February 138, after the death of his first adopted son Lucius Aelius, on the condition that Antoninus would in turn adopt Marcus Annius Verus, the son of his wife's brother, and Lucius, son of Lucius Aelius, who afterwards became the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. He also adopted (briefly) the name Imperator Titus Aelius Caesar Antoninus, in preparation for his rule. There seems to have been some opposition to Antoninus' appointment on the part of other potential claimants, among them his former consular colleague Lucius Catilius Severus, then prefect of the city. Nevertheless, Antoninus assumed power without opposition.

Emperor
On his accession, Antoninus' name and style became Imperator Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pontifex Maximus. One of his first acts as emperor was to persuade the Senate to grant divine honours to Hadrian, which they had at first refused; his efforts to persuade the Senate to grant these honours is the most likely reason given for his title of Pius (dutiful in affection; compare pietas). Two other reasons for this title are that he would support his aged father-in-law with his hand at Senate meetings, and that he had saved those men that Hadrian, during his period of ill-health, had condemned to death.

Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to Faustina, Antoninus' daughter, instead. Faustina's betrothal to Ceionia's brother Lucius Commodus, Marcus' future co-Emperor, would also have to be annulled. Marcus consented to Antoninus' proposal.

Antoninus built temples, theaters, and mausoleums, promoted the arts and sciences, and bestowed honours and financial rewards upon the teachers of rhetoric and philosophy. Antoninus made few initial changes when he became emperor, leaving intact as far as possible the arrangements instituted by Hadrian. Epigraphical and prosopographical research has revealed that Antoninus' imperial ruling team centered around a group of closely knit senatorial families, most of them members of the priestly congregation for the cult of Hadrian, the sodales Hadrianales. According to the German historian H.G. Pflaum, prosopographical research of Antoninus' ruling team allows us to grasp the deeply conservative character of the ruling senatorial caste.

He owned palatial villas at Lorium (Etruria) and Villa Magna (Latium).

Lack of warfare

There are no records of any military related acts in his time in which he participated. One modern scholar has written "It is almost certain not only that at no time in his life did he ever see, let alone command, a Roman army, but that, throughout the twenty-three years of his reign, he never went within five hundred miles of a legion."

His reign was the most peaceful in the entire history of the Principate, notwithstanding the fact that there were several military disturbances in the Empire in his time. Such disturbances happened in Mauretania, where a senator was named as governor of Mauretania Tingitana in place of the usual equestrian procurator and cavalry reinforcements from Pannonia were brought in, towns such as Sala and Tipasa being fortified. Similar disturbances took place in Judea, and amongst the Brigantes in Britannia; however, these were considered less serious than prior (and later) revolts among both. It was however in Britain that Antoninus decided to follow a new, more aggressive path, with the appointment of a new governor in 139, Quintus Lollius Urbicus, a native of Numidia and previously governor of Germania Inferior as well as a new man.

Under instructions from the emperor, Lollius undertook an invasion of southern Scotland, winning some significant victories, and constructing the Antonine Wall from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde. The wall, however, was soon gradually decommissioned during the mid-150s and eventually abandoned late during the reign (early 160s), for reasons that are still not quite clear. Antonine's Wall is mentioned in just one literary source, Antoninus' biography in the Historia Augusta. Pausanias makes a brief and confused mention of a war in Britain. In one inscription honouring Antoninus, erected by Legio II Augusta, which participated in the building of the Wall, a relief showing four naked prisoners, one of them beheaded, seems to stand for some actual warfare.

Although Antonine's Wall was, in principle, much shorter (37 miles in length as opposed to 73), and at first sight more defensible than Hadrian's Wall, the additional area that it enclosed within the Empire was barren, with land use for grazing already in decay. This meant that supply lines to the wall were strained enough such as the costs for maintaining the additional territory outweighed the benefits of doing so. Also, in the absence of urban development and the ensuing Romanization process, the rear of the wall could not be lastingly pacified.

It has been therefore speculated that the invasion of Lowland Scotland and the building of the wall had to do mostly with internal politics, that is, offering Antoninus an opportunity to gain some modicum of necessary military prestige at the start of his reign. Actually, the campaign in Britannia was followed by an Imperial salutation, that is, by Antoninus formally taking for the second (and last) time the title of Imperator in 142. The fact that around the same time coins were struck announcing a victory in Britain points to Antoninus' need to publicise his achievements. The orator Fronto was later to say that, although Antoninus bestowed the direction of the British campaign to others, he should be regarded as the helmsman who directed the voyage, whose glory, therefore, belonged to him.

That this quest for some military achievement responded to an actual need is proved by the fact that, although generally peaceful, Antoninus' reign was not free from attempts at usurpation: Historia Augusta mentions two, made by the senators Cornelius Priscianus ("for disturbing the peace of Spain"; Priscianus had also been Lollius Urbicus' successor as governor of Britain) and Atilius Rufius Titianus (possibly a troublemaker already exiled under Hadrian ). Both attempts are confirmed by the Fasti Ostienses as well as by the erasing of Priscianus' name from an inscription. In both cases, Antoninus was not in formal charge of the ensuing repression: Priscianus committed suicide and Titianus was found guilty by the Senate, with Antoninus abstaining from sequestering their families' properties.

There were also some troubles in Dacia Inferior which required the granting of additional powers to the procurator governor and the dispatch of additional soldiers to the province. On the northern Black Sea coast, the Greek city of Olbia was held against the Scythians. Also during his reign the governor of Upper Germany, probably Caius Popillius Carus Pedo, built new fortifications in the Agri Decumates, advancing the Limes Germanicus fifteen miles forward in his province and neighboring Raetia. In the East, Roman suzerainty over Armenia was retained by the choice in AD 140 of Arsacid scion Sohaemus as client king.

Nevertheless, Antoninus was virtually unique among emperors in that he dealt with these crises without leaving Italy once during his reign, but instead dealt with provincial matters of war and peace through their governors or through imperial letters to the cities such as Ephesus (of which some were publicly displayed). This style of government was highly praised by his contemporaries and by later generations.

Antoninus was the last Roman Emperor recognised by the Indian Kingdoms, especially the Kushan Empire. Raoul McLaughlin quotes Aurelius Victor as saying "The Indians, the Bactrians, and the Hyrcanians all sent ambassadors to Antoninus. They had all heard about the spirit of justice held by this great emperor, justice that was heightened by his handsome and grave countenance, and his slim and vigorous figure." Due to the outbreak of the Antonine epidemic and wars against northern Germanic tribes, the reign of Marcus Aurelius was forced to alter the focus of foreign policies, and matters relating to the Far East were increasingly abandoned in favour of those directly concerning the Empire's survival.

Economy and administration
Antoninus was regarded as a skilled administrator and as a builder. In spite of an extensive building directive—the free access of the people of Rome to drinking water was expanded with the construction of aqueducts, not only in Rome but throughout the Empire, as well as bridges and roads—the emperor still managed to leave behind a sizable public treasury of around 2.7 billion sesterces. Rome would not witness another Emperor leaving his successor with a surplus for a long time, but this treasury was depleted almost immediately after Antoninus's reign due to the Antonine Plague brought back by soldiers after the Parthian victory.

The Emperor also famously suspended the collection of taxes from multiple cities affected by natural disasters, such as when fires struck Rome and Narbona, and earthquakes affected Rhodes and the Province of Asia. He offered hefty financial grants for rebuilding and recovery of various Greek cities after two serious earthquakes: the first, circa 140, which affected mostly Rhodes and other islands; the second, in 152, which hit Cyzicus (where the huge and newly built Temple to Hadrian was destroyed ), Ephesus, and Smyrna. Antoninus' financial help earned him praise by Greek writers such as Aelius Aristides and Pausanias. These cities received from Antoninus the usual honorific accolades, such as when he commanded that all governors of Asia should enter the province, when taking office, by way of Ephesus. Ephesus was specially favoured by Antoninus, who confirmed and upheld its distinction of having two temples for the imperial cult (neocorate), therefore having first place in the list of imperial honor titles, surpassing both Smyrna and Pergamon.

In his dealings with Greek-speaking cities, Antoninus followed the policy adopted by Hadrian of ingratiating himself with local elites, especially with local intellectuals: philosophers, teachers of literature, rhetoricians and physicians were explicitly exempted from any duties involving private spending for civic purposes, a privilege granted by Hadrian that Antoninus confirmed by means of an edict preserved in the Digest (27.1.6.8). Antoninus also created a chair for the teaching of rhetoric in Athens.

Antoninus was known as an avid observer of rites of religion and of formal celebrations, both Roman and foreign. He is known for having increasingly formalized the official cult offered to the Great Mother, which from his reign onwards included a bull sacrifice, a taurobolium, formerly only a private ritual, now being also performed for the sake of the Emperor's welfare. Antoninus also offered patronage to the worship of Mithras, to whom he erected a temple in Ostia. In 148, he presided over the celebrations of the 900th anniversary of the founding of Rome.

Legal reforms

Antoninus tried to portray himself as a magistrate of the res publica, no matter how extended and ill-defined his competencies were. He is credited with the splitting of the imperial treasury, the fiscus. This splitting had to do with the division of imperial properties into two parts. Firstly, the fiscus itself, or patrimonium, meaning the properties of the "Crown", the hereditary properties of each succeeding person that sat on the throne, transmitted to his successors in office, regardless of their previous membership in the imperial family. Secondly, the res privata, the "private" properties tied to the personal maintenance of the emperor and his family, something like a Privy Purse. An anecdote in the Historia Augusta biography, where Antoninus replies to Faustina (who complained about his stinginess) that "we have gained an empire [and] lost even what we had before" possibly relates to Antoninus' actual concerns at the creation of the res privata. While still a private citizen, Antoninus had increased his personal fortune greatly by means of various legacies, the consequence of his caring scrupulously for his relatives. Also, Antoninus left behind him a reputation for stinginess and was probably determined not to leave his personal property to be "swallowed up by the demands of the imperial throne".

The res privata lands could be sold and/or given away, while the patrimonium properties were regarded as public. It was a way of pretending that the Imperial function—and most properties attached to it—was a public one, formally subject to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people. That the distinction played no part in subsequent political history—that the personal power of the princeps absorbed his role as office-holder—proves that the autocratic logic of the imperial order had already subsumed the old republican institutions.

Of the public transactions of this period there is only the scantiest of information, but, to judge by what is extant, those twenty-two years were not remarkably eventful in comparison to those before and after the reign. However, Antoninus did take a great interest in the revision and practice of the law throughout the empire. One of his chief concerns was to having local communities conform their legal procedures to existing Roman norms: in a case concerning repression of banditry by local police officers ("irenarchs", Greek for "peace keepers") in Asia Minor, Antoninus ordered that these officers should not treat suspects as already condemned, and also keep a detailed copy of their interrogations, to be used in the possibility of an appeal to the Roman governor. Also, although Antoninus was not an innovator, he would not always follow the absolute letter of the law; rather he was driven by concerns over humanity and equality, and introduced into Roman law many important new principles based upon this notion.

In this, the emperor was assisted by five chief lawyers: Lucius Fulvius Aburnius Valens, an author of legal treatises; Lucius Ulpius Marcellus, a prolific writer; and three others. Of these three, the most prominent was Lucius Volusius Maecianus, a former military officer turned by Antoninus into a civil procurator, and who, in view of his subsequent career (discovered on the basis of epigraphical and prosopographical research), was the emperor's most important legal adviser. Maecianus would eventually be chosen to occupy various prefectures (see below) as well as to conduct the legal studies of Marcus Aurelius. He was also the author of a large work on Fidei commissa (Testamentary Trusts). As a hallmark of the increased connection between jurists and the imperial government, Antoninus' reign also saw the appearance of the Institutes of Gaius, an elementary legal textbook for beginners. Antoninus passed measures to facilitate the enfranchisement of slaves. Mostly, he favoured the principle of favor libertatis, giving the putative freedman the benefit of the doubt when the claim to freedom was not clearcut. Also, he punished the killing of a slave by their master without previous trial and determined that slaves could be forcibly sold to another master by a proconsul in cases of consistent mistreatment. Antoninus upheld the enforcement of contracts for selling of female slaves forbidding their further employment in prostitution. In criminal law, Antoninus introduced the important principle of the presumption of innocence; that accused persons are not to be treated as guilty before trial, as in the case of the irenarchs (see above). It was to Antoninus that the Christian apologist known by the name of Justin Martyr addressed his defense of the Christian faith, reminding him of his father's (Emperor Hadrian's) rule that accusations against Christians required proof. Antoninus also asserted the principle that the trial was to be held, and the punishment inflicted, in the place where the crime had been committed. He mitigated the use of torture in examining slaves by certain limitations. Thus he prohibited the application of torture to children under fourteen years, though this rule had exceptions. However, it must be stressed that Antoninus extended, by means of a rescript, the use of torture as a means of obtaining evidence to pecuniary cases, when it had been applied up until then only in criminal cases. Also, already at the time torture of free men of low status (humiliores) had become legal, as proved by the fact that Antoninus exempted town councillors expressly from it, and also free men of high rank (honestiores) in general.

One highlight during his reign occurred in 148, with the nine-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Rome being celebrated by the hosting of magnificent games in Rome. It lasted a number of days, and a host of exotic animals were killed, including elephants, giraffes, tigers, rhinoceroses, crocodiles and hippopotamuses. While this increased Antoninus's popularity, the frugal emperor had to debase the Roman currency. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 89% to 83.5, the actual silver weight dropping from 2.88 grams to 2.68 grams.

Scholars name Antoninus Pius as the leading candidate for an individual identified as a friend of Rabbi Judah the Prince. According to the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 10a–b), Rabbi Judah was very wealthy and greatly revered in Rome. He had a close friendship with "Antoninus", possibly Antoninus Pius, who would consult Rabbi Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters.

Diplomatic mission to China
The first group of people claiming to be an ambassadorial mission of Romans to China was recorded in 166 AD by the Hou Hanshu. Harper (2017) states that the embassy was likely to be a group of merchants, as many Roman merchants traveled to India and some might have gone beyond, while there are no records of official ambassadors of Rome travelling as far east. The group came to Emperor Huan of Han China and claimed to be an embassy from "Andun" (安敦 āndūn; for Anton-inus), "king of Daqin" (Rome). As Antoninus Pius died in 161, leaving the empire to his adoptive son Marcus Aurelius (Antoninus), and the envoy arrived in 166, confusion remains about who sent the mission, given that both emperors were named "Antoninus". The Roman mission came from the south (therefore probably by sea), entering China by the frontier province of Jiaozhi at Rinan or Tonkin (present-day northern Vietnam). It brought presents of rhinoceros horns, ivory, and tortoise shell, probably acquired in South Asia. The text specifically states that it was the first time there had been direct contact between the two countries.

Furthermore, a piece of Republican-era Roman glassware has been found at a Western Han tomb in Guangzhou along the South China Sea, dated to the early 1st century BC. Roman golden medallions made during the reign of Antoninus Pius and perhaps even Marcus Aurelius have been found at Óc Eo in southern Vietnam, then part of the Kingdom of Funan near the Chinese province of Jiaozhi. This may have been the port city of Kattigara, described by Ptolemy (c. 150) as being visited by a Greek sailor named Alexander and lying beyond the Golden Chersonese (i.e., Malay Peninsula). Roman coins from the reigns of Tiberius to Aurelian have been discovered in Xi'an, China (site of the Han capital Chang'an), although the significantly greater amount of Roman coins unearthed in India suggest the Roman maritime trade for purchasing Chinese silk was centered there, not in China or even the overland Silk Road running through ancient Iran.

Death and legacy
In 156, Antoninus Pius turned 70. He found it difficult to keep himself upright without stays. He started nibbling on dry bread to give him the strength to stay awake through his morning receptions.

Marcus Aurelius had already been created consul with Antoninus in 140, receiving the title of Caesar, i.e., heir apparent. As Antoninus aged, Marcus took on more administrative duties. Marcus's administrative duties increased again after the death, in 156 or 157, of one of Antoninus' most trusted advisers, Marcus Gavius Maximus.

For twenty years, Gavius Maximus had been praetorian prefect, an office that was as much secretarial as military. Gavius Maximus had been awarded with the consular insignia and the honours due a senator. He had a reputation as a most strict disciplinarian (vir severissimus, according to Historia Augusta) and some fellow equestrian procurators held lasting grudges against him. A procurator named Gaius Censorius Niger died while Gavius Maximus was alive. In his will, Censorius Niger vilified Maximus, creating serious embarrassment for one of the heirs, the orator Fronto.

Gavius Maximus' death initiated a change in the ruling team. It has been speculated that it was the legal adviser Lucius Volusius Maecianus who assumed the role of grey eminence. Maecianus was briefly Praefect of Egypt, and subsequently Praefectus annonae in Rome. If it was Maecianus who rose to prominence, he may have risen precisely in order to prepare the incoming—and unprecedented—joint succession. In 160, Marcus and Lucius were designated joint consuls for the following year. Perhaps Antoninus was already ill; in any case, he died before the year was out, probably on 7 March.

Two days before his death, the biographer reports, Antoninus was at his ancestral estate at Lorium, in Etruria, about 12 mi from Rome. He ate Alpine cheese at dinner quite greedily. In the night he vomited; he had a fever the next day. The day after that, he summoned the imperial council, and passed the state and his daughter to Marcus. The emperor gave the keynote to his life in the last word that he uttered: when the tribune of the night-watch came to ask the password, he responded, "aequanimitas" (equanimity). He then turned over, as if going to sleep, and died. His death closed out the longest reign since Augustus (surpassing Tiberius by a couple of months). His record for the second-longest reign would be unbeaten for 168 years, until 329 when it was surpassed by Constantine the Great.

Antoninus Pius' funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, "elaborate". If his funeral followed the pattern of past funerals, his body would have been incinerated on a pyre at the Campus Martius, while his spirit would rise to the gods' home in the heavens. However, it seems that this was not the case: according to his Historia Augusta biography (which seems to reproduce an earlier, detailed report) Antoninus' body (and not his ashes) was buried in Hadrian's mausoleum. After a seven-day interval (justitium), Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast to their behaviour during Antoninus' campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes. A flamen, or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Antoninus, now Divus Antoninus.

A column was dedicated to Antoninus on the Campus Martius, and the temple he had built in the Forum in 141 to his deified wife Faustina was rededicated to the deified Faustina and the deified Antoninus. It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda.

Historiography
The only intact account of his life handed down to us is that of the Augustan History, an unreliable and mostly fabricated work. Nevertheless, it still contains information that is considered reasonably sound; for instance, it is the only source that mentions the erection of the Antonine Wall in Britain. Antoninus is unique among Roman emperors in that he has no other biographies.

Antoninus in many ways was the ideal of the landed gentleman praised not only by ancient Romans, but also by later scholars of classical history, such as Edward Gibbon or the author of the article on Antoninus Pius in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition.

"A few months afterwards, on Hadrian's death, he was enthusiastically welcomed to the throne by the Roman people, who, for once, were not disappointed in their anticipation of a happy reign. For Antoninus came to his new office with simple tastes, kindly disposition, extensive experience, a well-trained intelligence and the sincerest desire for the welfare of his subjects. Instead of plundering to support his prodigality, he emptied his private treasury to assist distressed provinces and cities, and everywhere exercised rigid economy (hence the nickname κυμινοπριστης 'cummin-splitter'). Instead of exaggerating into treason whatever was susceptible of unfavorable interpretation, he turned the very conspiracies that were formed against him into opportunities for demonstrating his clemency. Instead of stirring up persecution against the Christians, he extended to them the strong hand of his protection throughout the empire. Rather than give occasion to that oppression which he regarded as inseparable from an emperor's progress through his dominions, he was content to spend all the years of his reign in Rome, or its neighbourhood."

Some historians have a less positive view of his reign. According to the historian J. B. Bury, "however estimable the man, Antoninus was hardly a great statesman. The rest which the Empire enjoyed under his auspices had been rendered possible through Hadrian's activity, and was not due to his own exertions; on the other hand, he carried the policy of peace at any price too far, and so entailed calamities on the state after his death. He not only had no originality or power of initiative, but he had not even the insight or boldness to work further on the new lines marked out by Hadrian."

German historian Ernst Kornemann has had it in his Römische Geschichte [2 vols., ed. by H. Bengtson, Stuttgart 1954] that the reign of Antoninus comprised "a succession of grossly wasted opportunities", given the upheavals that were to come. There is more to this argument, given that the Parthians in the East were themselves soon to make no small amount of mischief after Antoninus' death. Kornemann's brief is that Antoninus might have waged preventive wars to head off these outsiders. Michael Grant agrees that it is possible that had Antoninus acted decisively sooner (it appears that, on his death bed, he was preparing a large-scale action against the Parthians), the Parthians might have been unable to choose their own time, but current evidence is not conclusive. Grant opines that Antoninus and his officers did act in a resolute manner dealing with frontier disturbances of his time, although conditions for long-lasting peace were not created. On the whole, according to Grant, Marcus Aurelius' eulogistic picture of Antoninus seems deserved, and Antoninus appears to have been a conservative and nationalistic (although he respected and followed Hadrian's example of Philhellenism moderately) emperor who was not tainted by the blood of either citizen or foe, combined and maintained Numa Pompilius' good fortune, pacific dutifulness and religious scrupulousness, and whose laws removed anomalies and softened harshnesses.

Krzysztof Ulanowski argues that the claims of military inability are exaggerated, considering that although the sources praise Antoninus' love for peace and his efforts "rather to defend, than enlarge the provinces", he could hardly be considered a pacifist, as shown by the conquest of the Lowlands, the building of the Antonine Wall and the expansion of Germania Superior. Ulanowski also praises Antoninus for being successful in deterrence by diplomatic means.

Descendants
Although only one of his four children survived to adulthood, Antoninus came to be ancestor to four generations of prominent Romans, including the Emperor Commodus. Hans-Georg Pflaum has identified five direct descendants of Antoninus and Faustina who were consuls in the first half of the third century.
 * 1) Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138), died young without issue
 * 2) Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138), died young without issue
 * 3) Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135), who married Lucius Plautius Lamia Silvanus, suffect consul in 145; no children known for certain.
 * 4) Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger (21 September between 125 and 130–175), had several children; those who had children were:
 * 5) Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla (7 March 150–182?), whose children included:
 * 6) Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus
 * 7) Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina (151–?), whose children included:
 * 8) Tiberius Claudius Severus Proculus
 * 9) Empress Annia Faustina, Elagabalus' third wife
 * 10) Annia Aurelia Fadilla (159–after 211)
 * 11) Annia Cornificia Faustina Minor (160–213)

title: Antoninus Pius


text:
August 3

Pre-1600

 * 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna.
 * 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.
 * 881 – Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: Louis III of France defeats the Vikings, an event celebrated in the poem Ludwigslied.
 * 908 – Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian force defeats an East Frankish army under Duke Burchard of Thuringia.
 * 1031 – Olaf II of Norway is canonized as Saint Olaf by Grimketel, the English Bishop of Selsey.
 * 1057 – Frederick of Lorraine elected as Pope Stephen IX.
 * 1342 – The Siege of Algeciras commences during the Spanish Reconquista.
 * 1492 – Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.
 * 1527 – The first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland.

1601–1900

 * 1601 – Long War: Austria captures Transylvania in the Battle of Goroszló.
 * 1645 – Thirty Years' War: The Second Battle of Nördlingen sees French forces defeating those of the Holy Roman Empire.
 * 1678 – Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes.
 * 1778 – The theatre La Scala in Milan is inaugurated with the première of Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
 * 1795 – Treaty of Greenville is signed, ending the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country.
 * 1811 – First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps by brothers Johann Rudolf and Hieronymus Meyer.
 * 1829 – The Treaty of Lewistown is signed by the Shawnee and Seneca peoples, exchanging land in Ohio for land west of the Mississippi River.
 * 1852 – Harvard University wins the first Boat Race between Yale University and Harvard. The race is also known as the first ever American intercollegiate athletic event.
 * 1859 – The American Dental Association is founded in Niagara Falls, New York.
 * 1900 – The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded.

1901–present

 * 1903 – Macedonian rebels in Kruševo proclaim the Kruševo Republic, which exists for only ten days before Ottoman Turks lay waste to the town.
 * 1907 – Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis fines Standard Oil of Indiana a record $29.4 million for illegal rebating to freight carriers; the conviction and fine are later reversed on appeal.
 * 1914 – World War I: Germany declares war against France, while Romania declares its neutrality.
 * 1921 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirms the ban of the eight Chicago Black Sox, the day after they were acquitted by a Chicago court.
 * 1936 – Jesse Owens wins the 100 metre dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe, at the Berlin Olympics.
 * 1936  – A fire wipes out Kursha-2 in the Meshchera Lowlands, Ryazan Oblast, Russia, killing 1,200 and leaving only 20 survivors.
 * 1940 – World War II: Italian forces begin the invasion of British Somaliland.
 * 1946 – Santa Claus Land, the world's first themed amusement park, opens in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States.
 * 1948 – Whittaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union.
 * 1949 – The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League finalize the merger that would create the National Basketball Association.
 * 1958 – The world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, becomes the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.
 * 1959 – Portugal's state police force PIDE fires upon striking workers in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, killing over 50 people.
 * 1960 – Niger gains independence from France.
 * 1972 – The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
 * 1975 – A privately chartered Boeing 707 strikes a mountain peak and crashes near Agadir, Morocco, killing 188.
 * 1977 – Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers.
 * 1981 – Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front – Suxxali Reew Mi.
 * 1997 – Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria: A total of 116 villagers killed, 40 in Oued El-Had and 76 in Mezouara.
 * 1997  – The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
 * 2004 – The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopens after being closed since the September 11 attacks.
 * 2005 – President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia.
 * 2007 – Former deputy director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga is captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping.
 * 2010 – Widespread rioting erupts in Karachi, Pakistan, after the assassination of a local politician, leaving at least 85 dead and at least 17 billion Pakistani rupees (US$200 million) in damage.
 * 2014 – A 6.1 magnitude earthquake kills at least 617 people and injures more than 2,400 in Yunnan, China.
 * 2014  – The genocide of Yazidis by ISIL begins.
 * 2018 – Two burka-clad men kill 29 people and injure more than 80 in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in eastern Afghanistan.
 * 2019 – Six hundred protesters, including opposition leader Lyubov Sobol, are arrested in an election protest in Moscow, Russia.
 * 2019  – Twenty-three people are killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.
 * 2023 – Worst floods hit major parts of Slovenia.

Pre-1600

 * 1442 – Galeotto I Pico, Duke of Mirandola (d. 1499)
 * 1486 – Imperia Cognati, Italian courtesan (d. 1512)
 * 1491 – Maria of Jülich-Berg, German noblewoman (d. 1543)
 * 1509 – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and translator (d. 1546)

1601–1900

 * 1622 – Wolfgang Julius, Count of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein, German field marshal (d. 1698)
 * 1692 – John Henley, English minister and poet (d. 1759)
 * 1724 – Alvise Foscari, Venetian admiral (d. 1790)
 * 1766 – Aaron Chorin, Hungarian rabbi and author (d. 1844)
 * 1770 – Frederick William III of Prussia (d. 1840)
 * 1803 – Joseph Paxton, English gardener and architect, designed The Crystal Palace (d. 1865)
 * 1808 – Hamilton Fish, American lawyer and politician, 26th United States Secretary of State (d. 1893)
 * 1811 – Elisha Otis, American businessman, founded the Otis Elevator Company (d. 1861)
 * 1817 – Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (d. 1895)
 * 1823 – Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish-American revolutionary and military leader, territorial governor of Montana (d. 1867)
 * 1832 – Ivan Zajc, Croatian composer, conductor, and director (d. 1914)
 * 1840 – John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey, English jurist and politician (d. 1929)
 * 1850 – Reginald Heber Roe, English-Australian swimmer, tennis player, and academic (d. 1926)
 * 1856 – Alfred Deakin, Australian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
 * 1860 – William Kennedy Dickson, French-Scottish actor, director, and producer (d. 1935)
 * 1863 – Géza Gárdonyi, Hungarian author and journalist (d. 1922)
 * 1867 – Stanley Baldwin, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1947)
 * 1871 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (d. 1929)
 * 1872 – Haakon VII of Norway (d. 1957)
 * 1886 – Maithili Sharan Gupt, Indian poet and playwright (d. 1964)
 * 1887 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (d. 1915)
 * 1887  – August Wesley, Finnish journalist, trade unionist, and revolutionary (d. ?)
 * 1890 – Konstantin Melnikov, Russian architect, designed the Rusakov Workers' Club (d. 1974)
 * 1894 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1951)
 * 1895 – Allen Bathurst, Lord Apsley, English politician (d. 1942)
 * 1896 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
 * 1899 – Louis Chiron, Monegasque race car driver (d. 1979)
 * 1900 – Ernie Pyle, American soldier and journalist (d. 1945)
 * 1900  – John T. Scopes, American educator (d. 1970)

1901–present

 * 1901 – John C. Stennis, American lawyer and politician (d. 1995)
 * 1901  – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (d. 1981)
 * 1902 – Regina Jonas, German rabbi (d. 1944)
 * 1902  – David Buttolph, American film composer (d. 1983)
 * 1903 – Habib Bourguiba, Tunisian journalist and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Tunisia (d. 2000)
 * 1904 – Dolores del Río, Mexican actress (d. 1983)
 * 1904  – Clifford D. Simak, American journalist and author (d. 1988)
 * 1905 – Franz König, Austrian cardinal (d. 2004)
 * 1907 – Lawrence Brown, American trombonist and composer (d. 1988)
 * 1907  – Ernesto Geisel, Brazilian general and politician, 29th President of Brazil (d. 1996)
 * 1907  – Yang Shangkun, Chinese politician, and 4th President of China (d. 1998)
 * 1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, American author and educator (d. 1971)
 * 1911 – Alex McCrindle, Scottish actor and producer (d. 1990)
 * 1912 – Fritz Hellwig, German politician (d. 2017)
 * 1913 – Mel Tolkin, Ukrainian-American screenwriter and producer (d. 2007)
 * 1916 – Shakeel Badayuni, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1970)
 * 1916  – José Manuel Moreno, Argentinian footballer and manager (d. 1978)
 * 1917 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1995)
 * 1918 – James MacGregor Burns, American historian, political scientist, and author (d. 2014)
 * 1918  – Sidney Gottlieb, American chemist and theorist (d. 1999)
 * 1918  – Larry Haines, American actor (d. 2008)
 * 1918  – Eddie Jefferson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
 * 1920 – Norman Dewis, English test driver and engineer (d. 2019)
 * 1920  – Max Fatchen, Australian journalist and author (d. 2012)
 * 1920  – P. D. James, English author (d. 2014)
 * 1920  – Charlie Shavers, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1971)
 * 1920  – Elmar Tampõld, Estonian-Canadian architect (d. 2013)
 * 1921 – Richard Adler, American composer and producer (d. 2012)
 * 1921  – Hayden Carruth, American poet and critic (d. 2008)
 * 1921  – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (d. 1972)
 * 1922 – John Eisenhower, American historian, general, and diplomat, 45th United States Ambassador to Belgium (d. 2013)
 * 1923 – Jean Hagen, American actress (d. 1977)
 * 1923  – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria (d. 2012)
 * 1924 – Connie Converse, American musician and singer-songwriter
 * 1924  – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (d. 2003)
 * 1925 – Marv Levy, American-Canadian football player, coach, and manager
 * 1925  – Lewis Rowland, American neurologist (d. 2017)
 * 1926 – Rona Anderson, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
 * 1926  – Tony Bennett, American singer and actor (d. 2023)
 * 1926  – Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (d. 2004)
 * 1926  – Gordon Scott, American actor (d. 2007)
 * 1926  – Rushdy Abaza, Egyptian actor (d. 1980)
 * 1928 – Cécile Aubry, French actress, director, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
 * 1928  – Henning Moritzen, Danish actor (d. 2012)
 * 1930 – James Komack, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
 * 1933 – Pat Crawford, Australian cricketer (d. 2009)
 * 1934 – Haystacks Calhoun, American wrestler and actor (d. 1989)
 * 1934  – Michael Chapman, English bassoon player (d. 2005)
 * 1934  – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan general, founded UNITA (d. 2002)
 * 1935 – John Erman, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2021)
 * 1935  – Georgy Shonin, Ukrainian-Russian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (d. 1997)
 * 1935  – Vic Vogel, Canadian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2019)
 * 1936 – Jerry G. Bishop, American radio and television host (d. 2013)
 * 1936  – Edward Petherbridge, English actor
 * 1937 – Steven Berkoff, English actor, director, and playwright
 * 1937  – Roland Burris, American lawyer and politician, 39th Illinois Attorney General
 * 1937  – Duncan Sharpe, Pakistani-Australian cricketer
 * 1938 – Terry Wogan, Irish radio and television host (d. 2016)
 * 1939 – Jimmie Nicol, English drummer
 * 1939  – Apoorva Sengupta, Indian general and cricketer (d. 2013)
 * 1940 – Lance Alworth, American football player
 * 1940  – Martin Sheen, American actor and producer
 * 1940  – James Tyler, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2010)
 * 1941 – Beverly Lee, American singer
 * 1941  – Martha Stewart, American businesswoman, publisher, and author, founded Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
 * 1943 – Béla Bollobás, Hungarian-English mathematician and academic
 * 1943  – Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson of Sweden
 * 1943  – Steven Millhauser, American novelist and short story writer
 * 1944 – Morris Berman, American historian and social critic
 * 1944  – Nino Bravo, Spanish singer (d. 1973)
 * 1945 – Eamon Dunphy, Irish footballer and journalist
 * 1946 – Robert Ayling, English businessman
 * 1946  – Jack Straw, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
 * 1946  – John York, American bass player, songwriter, and producer
 * 1947 – Ralph Wright, English footballer (d. 2020)
 * 1948 – Jean-Pierre Raffarin, French lawyer and politician, 166th Prime Minister of France
 * 1949 – Philip Casnoff, American actor and director
 * 1949  – B. B. Dickerson, American bass player and songwriter
 * 1949  – Sue Slipman, English politician
 * 1950 – Linda Howard, American author
 * 1950  – John Landis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1950  – Jo Marie Payton, American actress and singer
 * 1950  – Ernesto Samper, Colombian economist and politician, 29th President of Colombia
 * 1951 – Marcel Dionne, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1951  – Jay North, American actor
 * 1952 – Osvaldo Ardiles, Argentinian footballer and manager
 * 1953 – Ian Bairnson, Scottish saxophonist and keyboard player (d. 2023)
 * 1953  – Marlene Dumas, South African painter
 * 1954 – Michael Arthur, English physician and academic
 * 1954  – Gary Peters, English footballer and manager
 * 1956 – Kirk Brandon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1956  – Todd Christensen, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2013)
 * 1956  – Dave Cloud, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
 * 1956  – Balwinder Sandhu, Indian cricketer and coach
 * 1957 – Bodo Rudwaleit, German footballer and manager
 * 1957  – Kate Wilkinson, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 11th New Zealand Minister of Conservation
 * 1958 – Lindsey Hilsum, English journalist and author
 * 1958  – Ana Kokkinos, Australian director and screenwriter
 * 1959 – Martin Atkins, English drummer and producer
 * 1959  – Mike Gminski, American basketball player and sportscaster
 * 1959  – John C. McGinley, American actor and producer
 * 1959  – Koichi Tanaka, Japanese chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1960 – Tim Mayotte, American tennis player and coach
 * 1960  – Gopal Sharma, Indian cricketer
 * 1961 – Molly Hagan, American actress
 * 1961  – Nick Harvey, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
 * 1961  – Lee Rocker, American bassist
 * 1963 – Tasmin Archer, English pop singer
 * 1963  – Frano Botica, New Zealand rugby player and coach
 * 1963  – James Hetfield, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1963  – David Knox, Australian rugby player
 * 1963  – Ed Roland, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
 * 1963  – Lisa Ann Walter, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1963  – Isaiah Washington, American actor and producer
 * 1964 – Lucky Dube, South African singer and keyboard player (d. 2007)
 * 1964  – Ralph Knibbs, British rugby union player
 * 1964  – Nate McMillan, American basketball player and coach
 * 1964  – Kevin Sumlin, American football player and coach
 * 1964  – Abhisit Vejjajiva, English-Thai economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Thailand
 * 1966 – Brent Butt, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1966  – Gizz Butt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1966  – Eric Esch, American wrestler, boxer, and mixed martial artist
 * 1967 – Mathieu Kassovitz, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1967  – Creme Puff, tabby domestic cat, oldest recorded cat (d. 2005)
 * 1967  – Skin, English singer and guitarist
 * 1968 – Rod Beck, American baseball player (d. 2007)
 * 1969 – Doug Overton, American basketball player and coach
 * 1970 – Stephen Carpenter, American guitarist and songwriter
 * 1970  – Gina G, Australian singer-songwriter
 * 1970  – Masahiro Sakurai, Japanese video game designer
 * 1971 – Forbes Johnston, Scottish footballer (d. 2007)
 * 1971  – DJ Spinderella, American DJ, rapper, producer, and actress
 * 1972 – Sandis Ozoliņš, Latvian ice hockey player and politician
 * 1973 – Jay Cutler, American bodybuilder
 * 1973  – Nikos Dabizas, Greek footballer
 * 1973  – Michael Ealy, American actor
 * 1973  – Chris Murphy, American politician
 * 1975 – Wael Gomaa, Egyptian footballer
 * 1975  – Argyro Strataki, Greek heptathlete
 * 1976 – Troy Glaus, American baseball player
 * 1977 – Tom Brady, American football player
 * 1977  – Justin Lehr, American baseball player
 * 1977  – Óscar Pereiro, Spanish cyclist and footballer
 * 1978 – Joi Chua, Singaporean singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1978  – Mariusz Jop, Polish footballer
 * 1978  – Jenny Tinmouth, English motorcycle racer
 * 1978  – Dimitrios Zografakis, Greek footballer
 * 1979 – Evangeline Lilly, Canadian actress
 * 1980 – Nadia Ali, Libyan-American singer-songwriter
 * 1980  – Dominic Moore, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1980  – Tony Pashos, American football player
 * 1980  – Brandan Schieppati, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1980  – Hannah Simone, Canadian television host and actress
 * 1981 – Fikirte Addis, Ethiopian fashion designer
 * 1981  – Travis Bowyer, American baseball player
 * 1981  – Pablo Ibáñez, Spanish footballer
 * 1982 – Kaspar Kokk, Estonian skier
 * 1982  – Jesse Lumsden, Canadian bobsledder and football player
 * 1982  – Damien Sandow, American wrestler
 * 1983 – Ryan Carter, American ice hockey player
 * 1983  – Mark Reynolds, American baseball player
 * 1984 – Yasin Avcı, Turkish footballer
 * 1984  – Sunil Chhetri, Indian footballer
 * 1984  – Matt Joyce, American baseball player
 * 1984  – Ryan Lochte, American swimmer
 * 1984  – Chris Maurer, former bassist of ska band Suburban Legends
 * 1985 – Georgina Haig, Australian actress
 * 1985  – Brent Kutzle, American bass player and producer
 * 1985  – Ats Purje, Estonian footballer
 * 1985  – Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand rugby player and boxer
 * 1986 – Charlotte Casiraghi, Monégasque journalist, co-founded Ever Manifesto
 * 1986  – Darya Domracheva, Belarusian biathlete
 * 1987 – Kim Hyung-jun, South Korean singer and dancer
 * 1987  – Chris McQueen, Australian-English rugby league player
 * 1988 – Denny Cardin, Italian footballer
 * 1988  – Leigh Tiffin, American football player
 * 1988  – Sven Ulreich, German footballer
 * 1989 – Jules Bianchi, French race car driver (d. 2015)
 * 1989  – Sam Hutchinson, English footballer
 * 1989  – Tyrod Taylor, American football player
 * 1989  – Nick Viergever, Dutch footballer
 * 1990 – Jourdan Dunn, English model
 * 1990  – Kang Min-kyung, South Korean singer
 * 1992 – Gamze Bulut, Turkish runner
 * 1992  – Gesa Felicitas Krause, German runner
 * 1992  – Diāna Marcinkēviča, Latvian tennis player
 * 1992  – Aljon Mariano, Filipino basketball player
 * 1992  – Lum Rexhepi, Finnish footballer
 * 1992  – Karlie Kloss, American fashion model
 * 1993 – Ola Abidogun, English sprinter
 * 1993  – Yurina Kumai, Japanese singer
 * 1994 – Kwon Alexander, American football player
 * 1994  – Manaia Cherrington, New Zealand rugby league player
 * 1994  – Esther Earl, American author, vlogger, and online personality. (d. 2010) Celebrated annually as Esther day
 * 1994  – Todd Gurley, American football player
 * 1995 – Zac Gallen, American baseball player
 * 1995  – Victoria Kan, Russian tennis player
 * 1996 – Derwin James, American football player
 * 1997 – Luis Robert Jr., Cuban baseball player

Pre-1600

 * 908 – Burchard, duke of Thuringia
 * 908  – Egino, duke of Thuringia
 * 908  – Rudolf I, bishop of Würzburg
 * 925 – Cao, Chinese empress dowager
 * 979 – Thietmar, margrave of Meissen
 * 1003 – At-Ta'i, Abbasid caliph (b. 929)
 * 1355 – Bartholomew de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh, English nobleman
 * 1460 – James II, king of Scotland (b. 1430)
 * 1527 – Scaramuccia Trivulzio, Italian cardinal
 * 1530 – Francesco Ferruccio, Italian captain (b. 1489)
 * 1546 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace (b. 1484)
 * 1546  – Étienne Dolet, French scholar and translator (b. 1509)

1601–1900

 * 1604 – Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish commander and diplomat (b. 1540)
 * 1621 – Guillaume du Vair, French lawyer and author (b. 1556)
 * 1712 – Joshua Barnes, English historian and scholar (b. 1654)
 * 1720 – Anthonie Heinsius, Dutch politician (b. 1641)
 * 1721 – Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-English sculptor and woodcarver (b. 1648)
 * 1761 – Johann Matthias Gesner, German scholar and academic (b. 1691)
 * 1773 – Stanisław Konarski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1700)
 * 1780 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, French epistemologist and philosopher (b. 1715)
 * 1792 – Richard Arkwright, English engineer and businessman (b. 1732)
 * 1797 – Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, English field marshal and politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1717)
 * 1805 – Christopher Anstey, English author and poet (b. 1724)
 * 1835 – Wenzel Müller, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1767)
 * 1839 – Dorothea von Schlegel, German author and translator (b. 1763)
 * 1857 – Eugène Sue, French author and politician (b. 1804)
 * 1866 – Gábor Klauzál, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1804)
 * 1867 – Philipp August Böckh, German historian and scholar (b. 1785)
 * 1877 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (b. 1805)
 * 1879 – Joseph Severn, English painter (b. 1793)
 * 1894 – George Inness, American painter (b. 1825)

1901–present

 * 1913 – William Lyne, Australian politician, 13th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1844)
 * 1916 – Roger Casement, Irish poet and activist (b. 1864)
 * 1917 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, German mathematician and academic (b. 1849)
 * 1920 – Peeter Süda, Estonian organist and composer (b. 1883)
 * 1922 – Ture Malmgren, Swedish journalist and politician (b. 1851)
 * 1924 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British novelist (b. 1857)
 * 1925 – William Bruce, Australian cricketer (b. 1864)
 * 1929 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor and businessman, invented the phonograph (b. 1851)
 * 1929  – Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist (b. 1857)
 * 1936 – Konstantin Konik, Estonian surgeon and politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Education (b. 1873)
 * 1942 – Richard Willstätter, German-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1872)
 * 1943 – Frumka Płotnicka, Polish resistance fighter during World War II (b. 1914)
 * 1949 – Ignotus, Hungarian poet and author (b. 1869)
 * 1954 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (b. 1873)
 * 1958 – Peter Collins, English race car driver (b. 1931)
 * 1959 – Herb Byrne, Australian footballer (b. 1887)
 * 1961 – Hilda Rix Nicholas, Australian artist (b. 1884)
 * 1964 – Flannery O'Connor, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1925)
 * 1966 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
 * 1968 – Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II (b. 1896)
 * 1969 – Alexander Mair, Australian politician, 26th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1889)
 * 1972 – Giannis Papaioannou, Turkish-Greek composer (b. 1913)
 * 1973 – Richard Marshall, American general (b. 1895)
 * 1974 – Edgar Johan Kuusik, Estonian architect and interior designer (b. 1888)
 * 1975 – Andreas Embirikos, Greek poet and photographer (b. 1901)
 * 1977 – Makarios III, Cypriot archbishop and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Cyprus (b. 1913)
 * 1977  – Alfred Lunt, American actor and director (b. 1892)
 * 1979 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
 * 1979  – Angelos Terzakis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1907)
 * 1983 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (b. 1930)
 * 1992 – Wang Hongwen, Chinese labor activist and politician, member of the Gang of Four (b. 1935)
 * 1995 – Ida Lupino, English-American actress and director (b. 1918)
 * 1995  – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (b. 1933)
 * 1996 – Jørgen Garde, Danish admiral (b. 1939)
 * 1997 – Pietro Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1934)
 * 1998 – Alfred Schnittke, Russian composer and journalist (b. 1934)
 * 1999 – Rod Ansell, Australian hunter (b. 1953)
 * 1999  – Byron Farwell, American historian and author (b. 1921)
 * 2000 – Joann Lõssov, Estonian basketball player and coach (b. 1921)
 * 2001 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and director (b. 1922)
 * 2003 – Roger Voudouris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1954)
 * 2004 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer and painter (b. 1908)
 * 2005 – Françoise d'Eaubonne, French author and poet (b. 1920)
 * 2006 – Arthur Lee, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1945)
 * 2006  – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-English soprano and actress (b. 1915)
 * 2007 – John Gardner, English author (b. 1926)
 * 2007  – Peter Thorup, Danish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1948)
 * 2008 – Skip Caray, American sportscaster (b. 1939)
 * 2008  – Erik Darling, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
 * 2008  – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian novelist, dramatist and historian, Nobel Prize laureate  (b. 1918)
 * 2009 – Nikolaos Makarezos, Greek soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
 * 2010 – Bobby Hebb, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
 * 2011 – William Sleator, American author (b. 1945)
 * 2011  – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor (b. 1945)
 * 2012 – Frank Evans, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1921)
 * 2012  – Martin Fleischmann, Czech-English chemist and academic (b. 1927)
 * 2012  – Paul McCracken, American economist and academic (b. 1915)
 * 2012  – John Pritchard, American basketball player (b. 1927)
 * 2013 – John Coombs, English-Monegasque race car driver and businessman (b. 1922)
 * 2013  – Jack English Hightower, American lawyer and politician (b. 1926)
 * 2013  – Jack Hynes, Scottish-American soccer player and manager (b. 1920)
 * 2014 – Miangul Aurangzeb, Pakistani captain and politician, 19th Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (b. 1928)
 * 2014  – Edward Clancy, Australian cardinal (b. 1923)
 * 2014  – Dorothy Salisbury Davis, American author (b. 1916)
 * 2014  – Kenny Drew, Jr., American pianist and composer (b. 1958)
 * 2014  – Lydia Yu-Jose, Filipino political scientist and academic (b. 1944)
 * 2015 – Robert Conquest, English-American historian, poet, and academic (b. 1917)
 * 2015 – Mel Farr, American football player and businessman (b. 1944)
 * 2015 – Coleen Gray, American actress (b. 1922)
 * 2015 – Margot Loyola, Chilean singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
 * 2015 – Johanna Quandt, German businesswoman (b. 1926)
 * 2015 – Jef Murray, American artist and author (b. 1960)
 * 2020 – John Hume, Northern Irish politician (b. 1937)
 * 2022 – Jackie Walorski, American politician (b. 1963)
 * 2023 – Mark Margolis, American actor (b. 1939)
 * 2023 – Bram Moolenaar, Dutch software engineer (b. 1961)

Holidays and observances

 * Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti (Guinea-Bissau)
 * Armed Forces Day (Equatorial Guinea)
 * Christian feast day:
 * George Freeman Bragg, W. E. B. Du Bois (Episcopal Church)
 * Lydia of Thyatira
 * Myrrhbearers (Lutheran Church)
 * Nicodemus
 * Olaf II of Norway (Translation of the relic)
 * Stephen (Discovery of the relic)
 * Waltheof of Melrose
 * August 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Flag Day (Venezuela)
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Niger from France in 1960.
 * Arbor Day (Niger)
 * National Guard Day (Venezuela)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: August 3


text:
Advanced Encryption Standard

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael, is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001.

AES is a variant of the Rijndael block cipher developed by two Belgian cryptographers, Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, who submitted a proposal to NIST during the AES selection process. Rijndael is a family of ciphers with different key and block sizes. For AES, NIST selected three members of the Rijndael family, each with a block size of 128 bits, but three different key lengths: 128, 192 and 256 bits.

AES has been adopted by the U.S. government. It supersedes the Data Encryption Standard (DES), which was published in 1977. The algorithm described by AES is a symmetric-key algorithm, meaning the same key is used for both encrypting and decrypting the data.

In the United States, AES was announced by the NIST as U.S. FIPS PUB 197 (FIPS 197) on November 26, 2001. This announcement followed a five-year standardization process in which fifteen competing designs were presented and evaluated, before the Rijndael cipher was selected as the most suitable.

AES is included in the ISO/IEC 18033-3 standard. AES became effective as a U.S. federal government standard on May 26, 2002, after approval by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. AES is available in many different encryption packages, and is the first (and only) publicly accessible cipher approved by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for top secret information when used in an NSA approved cryptographic module.

Definitive standards
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is defined in each of:

 * FIPS PUB 197: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
 * ISO/IEC 18033-3: Block ciphers

Description of the ciphers
AES is based on a design principle known as a substitution–permutation network, and is efficient in both software and hardware. Unlike its predecessor DES, AES does not use a Feistel network. AES is a variant of Rijndael, with a fixed block size of 128 bits, and a key size of 128, 192, or 256 bits. By contrast, Rijndael per se is specified with block and key sizes that may be any multiple of 32 bits, with a minimum of 128 and a maximum of 256 bits. Most AES calculations are done in a particular finite field.

AES operates on a 4 × 4 column-major order array of 16 bytes $b0,b1,...,b15$ termed the state:

\begin{bmatrix} b_0 & b_4 & b_8 & b_{12} \\ b_1 & b_5 & b_9 & b_{13} \\ b_2 & b_6 & b_{10} & b_{14} \\ b_3 & b_7 & b_{11} & b_{15} \end{bmatrix} $$

The key size used for an AES cipher specifies the number of transformation rounds that convert the input, called the plaintext, into the final output, called the ciphertext. The number of rounds are as follows:

 * 10 rounds for 128-bit keys.
 * 12 rounds for 192-bit keys.
 * 14 rounds for 256-bit keys.

Each round consists of several processing steps, including one that depends on the encryption key itself. A set of reverse rounds are applied to transform ciphertext back into the original plaintext using the same encryption key.

High-level description of the algorithm

 * 1) KeyExpansion – round keys are derived from the cipher key using the AES key schedule. AES requires a separate 128-bit round key block for each round plus one more.
 * 2) Initial round key addition:
 * 3) AddRoundKey – each byte of the state is combined with a byte of the round key using bitwise xor.
 * 9, 11 or 13 rounds:
 * 1) SubBytes – a non-linear substitution step where each byte is replaced with another according to a lookup table.
 * 2) ShiftRows – a transposition step where the last three rows of the state are shifted cyclically a certain number of steps.
 * 3) MixColumns – a linear mixing operation which operates on the columns of the state, combining the four bytes in each column.
 * 4) AddRoundKey
 * 5) Final round (making 10, 12 or 14 rounds in total):
 * 6) SubBytes
 * 7) ShiftRows
 * 8) AddRoundKey

The SubBytes step
In the SubBytes step, each byte $$a_{i,j}$$ in the state array is replaced with a SubByte $$S(a_{i,j})$$ using an 8-bit substitution box. Before round 0, the state array is simply the plaintext/input. This operation provides the non-linearity in the cipher. The S-box used is derived from the multiplicative inverse over $GF(2^{8})$, known to have good non-linearity properties. To avoid attacks based on simple algebraic properties, the S-box is constructed by combining the inverse function with an invertible affine transformation. The S-box is also chosen to avoid any fixed points (and so is a derangement), i.e., $$ S(a_{i,j}) \neq a_{i,j} $$, and also any opposite fixed points, i.e., $$ S(a_{i,j}) \oplus a_{i,j} \neq \text{FF}_{16} $$. While performing the decryption, the InvSubBytes step (the inverse of SubBytes) is used, which requires first taking the inverse of the affine transformation and then finding the multiplicative inverse.

The ShiftRows step
The ShiftRows step operates on the rows of the state; it cyclically shifts the bytes in each row by a certain offset. For AES, the first row is left unchanged. Each byte of the second row is shifted one to the left. Similarly, the third and fourth rows are shifted by offsets of two and three respectively. In this way, each column of the output state of the ShiftRows step is composed of bytes from each column of the input state. The importance of this step is to avoid the columns being encrypted independently, in which case AES would degenerate into four independent block ciphers.

The MixColumns step
In the MixColumns step, the four bytes of each column of the state are combined using an invertible linear transformation. The MixColumns function takes four bytes as input and outputs four bytes, where each input byte affects all four output bytes. Together with ShiftRows, MixColumns provides diffusion in the cipher.

During this operation, each column is transformed using a fixed matrix (matrix left-multiplied by column gives new value of column in the state):

\begin{bmatrix} b_{0,j} \\ b_{1,j} \\ b_{2,j} \\ b_{3,j} \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} 2 & 3 & 1 & 1 \\ 1 & 2 & 3 & 1 \\ 1 & 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 3 & 1 & 1 & 2 \end{bmatrix} \begin{bmatrix} a_{0,j} \\ a_{1,j} \\ a_{2,j} \\ a_{3,j} \end{bmatrix} \qquad 0 \le j \le 3 $$

Matrix multiplication is composed of multiplication and addition of the entries. Entries are bytes treated as coefficients of polynomial of order $$x^7$$. Addition is simply XOR. Multiplication is modulo irreducible polynomial $$x^8+x^4+x^3+x+1$$. If processed bit by bit, then, after shifting, a conditional XOR with 1B16 should be performed if the shifted value is larger than FF16 (overflow must be corrected by subtraction of generating polynomial). These are special cases of the usual multiplication in $$\operatorname{GF}(2^8)$$.

In more general sense, each column is treated as a polynomial over $$\operatorname{GF}(2^8)$$ and is then multiplied modulo $${01}_{16} \cdot z^4+{01}_{16}$$ with a fixed polynomial $$c(z) = {03}_{16} \cdot z^3 + {01}_{16} \cdot z^2 +{01}_{16} \cdot z + {02}_{16}$$. The coefficients are displayed in their hexadecimal equivalent of the binary representation of bit polynomials from $$\operatorname{GF}(2)[x]$$. The MixColumns step can also be viewed as a multiplication by the shown particular MDS matrix in the finite field $$\operatorname{GF}(2^8)$$. This process is described further in the article Rijndael MixColumns.

The AddRoundKey
In the AddRoundKey step, the subkey is combined with the state. For each round, a subkey is derived from the main key using Rijndael's key schedule; each subkey is the same size as the state. The subkey is added by combining of the state with the corresponding byte of the subkey using bitwise XOR.

Optimization of the cipher
On systems with 32-bit or larger words, it is possible to speed up execution of this cipher by combining the SubBytes and ShiftRows steps with the MixColumns step by transforming them into a sequence of table lookups. This requires four 256-entry 32-bit tables (together occupying 4096 bytes). A round can then be performed with 16 table lookup operations and 12 32-bit exclusive-or operations, followed by four 32-bit exclusive-or operations in the AddRoundKey step. Alternatively, the table lookup operation can be performed with a single 256-entry 32-bit table (occupying 1024 bytes) followed by circular rotation operations.

Using a byte-oriented approach, it is possible to combine the SubBytes, ShiftRows, and MixColumns steps into a single round operation.

Security
The National Security Agency (NSA) reviewed all the AES finalists, including Rijndael, and stated that all of them were secure enough for U.S. Government non-classified data. In June 2003, the U.S. Government announced that AES could be used to protect classified information:

"The design and strength of all key lengths of the AES algorithm (i.e., 128, 192 and 256) are sufficient to protect classified information up to the SECRET level. TOP SECRET information will require use of either the 192 or 256 key lengths. The implementation of AES in products intended to protect national security systems and/or information must be reviewed and certified by NSA prior to their acquisition and use."

AES has 10 rounds for 128-bit keys, 12 rounds for 192-bit keys, and 14 rounds for 256-bit keys.

By 2006, the best known attacks were on 7 rounds for 128-bit keys, 8 rounds for 192-bit keys, and 9 rounds for 256-bit keys.

Known attacks
For cryptographers, a cryptographic "break" is anything faster than a brute-force attack —i.e., performing one trial decryption for each possible key in sequence. A break can thus include results that are infeasible with current technology. Despite being impractical, theoretical breaks can sometimes provide insight into vulnerability patterns. The largest successful publicly known brute-force attack against a widely implemented block-cipher encryption algorithm was against a 64-bit RC5 key by distributed.net in 2006.

The key space increases by a factor of 2 for each additional bit of key length, and if every possible value of the key is equiprobable; this translates into a doubling of the average brute-force key search time with every additional bit of key length. This implies that the effort of a brute-force search increases exponentially with key length. Key length in itself does not imply security against attacks, since there are ciphers with very long keys that have been found to be vulnerable.

AES has a fairly simple algebraic framework. In 2002, a theoretical attack, named the "XSL attack", was announced by Nicolas Courtois and Josef Pieprzyk, purporting to show a weakness in the AES algorithm, partially due to the low complexity of its nonlinear components. Since then, other papers have shown that the attack, as originally presented, is unworkable; see XSL attack on block ciphers.

During the AES selection process, developers of competing algorithms wrote of Rijndael's algorithm "we are concerned about [its] use ... in security-critical applications." In October 2000, however, at the end of the AES selection process, Bruce Schneier, a developer of the competing algorithm Twofish, wrote that while he thought successful academic attacks on Rijndael would be developed someday, he "did not believe that anyone will ever discover an attack that will allow someone to read Rijndael traffic."

Until May 2009, the only successful published attacks against the full AES were side-channel attacks on some specific implementations. In 2009, a new related-key attack was discovered that exploits the simplicity of AES's key schedule and has a complexity of 2119. In December 2009 it was improved to 299.5. This is a follow-up to an attack discovered earlier in 2009 by Alex Biryukov, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Ivica Nikolić, with a complexity of 296 for one out of every 235 keys. However, related-key attacks are not of concern in any properly designed cryptographic protocol, as a properly designed protocol (i.e., implementational software) will take care not to allow related keys, essentially by constraining an attacker's means of selecting keys for relatedness.

Another attack was blogged by Bruce Schneier on July 30, 2009, and released as a preprint on August 3, 2009. This new attack, by Alex Biryukov, Orr Dunkelman, Nathan Keller, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Adi Shamir, is against AES-256 that uses only two related keys and 239 time to recover the complete 256-bit key of a 9-round version, or 245 time for a 10-round version with a stronger type of related subkey attack, or 270 time for an 11-round version. 256-bit AES uses 14 rounds, so these attacks are not effective against full AES.

The practicality of these attacks with stronger related keys has been criticized, for instance, by the paper on chosen-key-relations-in-the-middle attacks on AES-128 authored by Vincent Rijmen in 2010.

In November 2009, the first known-key distinguishing attack against a reduced 8-round version of AES-128 was released as a preprint. This known-key distinguishing attack is an improvement of the rebound, or the start-from-the-middle attack, against AES-like permutations, which view two consecutive rounds of permutation as the application of a so-called Super-S-box. It works on the 8-round version of AES-128, with a time complexity of 248, and a memory complexity of 232. 128-bit AES uses 10 rounds, so this attack is not effective against full AES-128.

The first key-recovery attacks on full AES were by Andrey Bogdanov, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Christian Rechberger, and were published in 2011. The attack is a biclique attack and is faster than brute force by a factor of about four. It requires 2126.2 operations to recover an AES-128 key. For AES-192 and AES-256, 2190.2 and 2254.6 operations are needed, respectively. This result has been further improved to 2126.0 for AES-128, 2189.9 for AES-192 and 2254.3 for AES-256, which are the current best results in key recovery attack against AES.

This is a very small gain, as a 126-bit key (instead of 128 bits) would still take billions of years to brute force on current and foreseeable hardware. Also, the authors calculate the best attack using their technique on AES with a 128-bit key requires storing 288 bits of data. That works out to about 38 trillion terabytes of data, which was more than all the data stored on all the computers on the planet in 2016. A paper in 2015 later improved the space complexity to 256 bits, which is 9007 terabytes (while still keeping a time complexity of 2126.2).

According to the Snowden documents, the NSA is doing research on whether a cryptographic attack based on tau statistic may help to break AES.

At present, there is no known practical attack that would allow someone without knowledge of the key to read data encrypted by AES when correctly implemented.

Side-channel attacks
Side-channel attacks do not attack the cipher as a black box, and thus are not related to cipher security as defined in the classical context, but are important in practice. They attack implementations of the cipher on hardware or software systems that inadvertently leak data. There are several such known attacks on various implementations of AES.

In April 2005, D. J. Bernstein announced a cache-timing attack that he used to break a custom server that used OpenSSL's AES encryption. The attack required over 200 million chosen plaintexts. The custom server was designed to give out as much timing information as possible (the server reports back the number of machine cycles taken by the encryption operation). However, as Bernstein pointed out, "reducing the precision of the server's timestamps, or eliminating them from the server's responses, does not stop the attack: the client simply uses round-trip timings based on its local clock, and compensates for the increased noise by averaging over a larger number of samples."

In October 2005, Dag Arne Osvik, Adi Shamir and Eran Tromer presented a paper demonstrating several cache-timing attacks against the implementations in AES found in OpenSSL and Linux's  partition encryption function. One attack was able to obtain an entire AES key after only 800 operations triggering encryptions, in a total of 65 milliseconds. This attack requires the attacker to be able to run programs on the same system or platform that is performing AES.

In December 2009 an attack on some hardware implementations was published that used differential fault analysis and allows recovery of a key with a complexity of 232.

In November 2010 Endre Bangerter, David Gullasch and Stephan Krenn published a paper which described a practical approach to a "near real time" recovery of secret keys from AES-128 without the need for either cipher text or plaintext. The approach also works on AES-128 implementations that use compression tables, such as OpenSSL. Like some earlier attacks, this one requires the ability to run unprivileged code on the system performing the AES encryption, which may be achieved by malware infection far more easily than commandeering the root account.

In March 2016, Ashokkumar C., Ravi Prakash Giri and Bernard Menezes presented a side-channel attack on AES implementations that can recover the complete 128-bit AES key in just 6–7 blocks of plaintext/ciphertext, which is a substantial improvement over previous works that require between 100 and a million encryptions. The proposed attack requires standard user privilege and key-retrieval algorithms run under a minute.

Many modern CPUs have built-in hardware instructions for AES, which protect against timing-related side-channel attacks.

Quantum attacks
AES-256 is considered to be quantum resistant, as it has similar quantum resistance to AES-128's resistance against traditional, non-quantum, attacks at 128 bits of security. AES-192 and AES-128 are not considered quantum resistant due to their smaller key sizes. AES-192 has a strength of 96 bits against quantum attacks and AES-128 has 64 bits of strength against quantum attacks, making them both insecure.

NIST/CSEC validation
The Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) is operated jointly by the United States Government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Division and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of the Government of Canada. The use of cryptographic modules validated to NIST FIPS 140-2 is required by the United States Government for encryption of all data that has a classification of Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) or above. From NSTISSP #11, National Policy Governing the Acquisition of Information Assurance: "Encryption products for protecting classified information will be certified by NSA, and encryption products intended for protecting sensitive information will be certified in accordance with NIST FIPS 140-2."

The Government of Canada also recommends the use of FIPS 140 validated cryptographic modules in unclassified applications of its departments.

Although NIST publication 197 ("FIPS 197") is the unique document that covers the AES algorithm, vendors typically approach the CMVP under FIPS 140 and ask to have several algorithms (such as Triple DES or SHA1) validated at the same time. Therefore, it is rare to find cryptographic modules that are uniquely FIPS 197 validated and NIST itself does not generally take the time to list FIPS 197 validated modules separately on its public web site. Instead, FIPS 197 validation is typically just listed as an "FIPS approved: AES" notation (with a specific FIPS 197 certificate number) in the current list of FIPS 140 validated cryptographic modules.

The Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program (CAVP) allows for independent validation of the correct implementation of the AES algorithm. Successful validation results in being listed on the NIST validations page. This testing is a pre-requisite for the FIPS 140-2 module validation. However, successful CAVP validation in no way implies that the cryptographic module implementing the algorithm is secure. A cryptographic module lacking FIPS 140-2 validation or specific approval by the NSA is not deemed secure by the US Government and cannot be used to protect government data.

FIPS 140-2 validation is challenging to achieve both technically and fiscally. There is a standardized battery of tests as well as an element of source code review that must be passed over a period of a few weeks. The cost to perform these tests through an approved laboratory can be significant (e.g., well over $30,000 US) and does not include the time it takes to write, test, document and prepare a module for validation. After validation, modules must be re-submitted and re-evaluated if they are changed in any way. This can vary from simple paperwork updates if the security functionality did not change to a more substantial set of re-testing if the security functionality was impacted by the change.

Test vectors
Test vectors are a set of known ciphers for a given input and key. NIST distributes the reference of AES test vectors as AES Known Answer Test (KAT) Vectors.

Performance
High speed and low RAM requirements were some of the criteria of the AES selection process. As the chosen algorithm, AES performed well on a wide variety of hardware, from 8-bit smart cards to high-performance computers.

On a Pentium Pro, AES encryption requires 18 clock cycles per byte (cpb), equivalent to a throughput of about 11 MiB/s for a 200 MHz processor.

On Intel Core and AMD Ryzen CPUs supporting AES-NI instruction set extensions, throughput can be multiple GiB/s. On a Intel Westmere CPU, AES encryption using AES-NI takes about 1.3 cpb for AES-128 and 1.8 cpb for AES-256.

title: Advanced Encryption Standard