7 March AD 161: The Roman emperor Antoninus Pius dies after being emperor for 23 years, one of the five good emperors, Pius succeeded to the principate after the death of his adoptive father Hadrian, he received the name Pius as a result of his fight with the Senate to ensure the deification of Hadrian after his death. Two nights before his death he ate Alpine cheese at dinner quite greedily. In the night he vomited; he had a fever the next day. The day after that, 7 March 161, he summoned the imperial council, and handed the state and his daughter to Marcus Aurelius before dying.