Person · 3846–3921 AM · 86 CE — 161 CE
Antoninus Pius
the emperor who conversed with Rabbi Yehuda haNasi
Ruled 138–161 CE, the quietest of emperors. The Talmud records dozens of the conversations of "Antoninus and Rebbi"—on soul and body, on the evil inclination, on why the sun rises in the east; "Antoninus attended on Rebbi", and by tradition inclined secretly toward Judaism. Which Antoninus is meant is disputed; Antoninus Pius is named most often—the years match the flowering of Rebbi's house.
On the timeline
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Sanhedrin 91a–b; Avodah Zarah 10a–b — the conversations of Antoninus and Rebbi
Documents of the period
- Historia Augusta — the years of the reign
Basis: documents and evidence.