History Memes

I would definitely say that they were good Emperors largely because they were adopted for the job, and Emperor Hadrian explicitly acknowledged the meritocratic implications, but the core reason why the adoptions happened were because the Emperors doing the adopting were childless gay guys (or, in Antoninus Pius's case, a widower who only had daughters left).

"I, my friends, have not been permitted by nature to have a son, but you have made it possible by legal enactment. Now there is this difference between the two methods — that a begotten son turns out to be whatever sort of person Heaven pleases, whereas one that is adopted a man takes to himself as the result of a deliberate selection. 3 Thus by the process of nature a maimed and witless child is often given to a parent, but by process of selection one of sound body and sound mind is certain to be chosen. For this reason I formerly selected Lucius before all others — a person such as I could never have expected a child of my own to become. 4 But since Heaven has bereft us of them, I have found as emperor for you in his place the man whom I now give you, one who is noble, mild, tractable, prudent, neither young enough to do anything reckless nor old enough to neglect aught, one who has been brought up according to the laws and one who has exercised authority in accordance with our traditions, so that he is not ignorant of any matters pertaining to the imperial office, but could handle them all effectively. 5 I refer to our Antoninus here. Although I know him to be the least inclined of men to become involved in affairs and to be far from desiring any such power still I do not think that he will deliberately disregard either me or you, but will accept the office even against his will."

• Hadrian on adoption, as quoted by Cassius Dio

Emperor Septimius Severus, the successor of the civil war after Aurelius's dipshit son Commodus was overthrown, reportedly mocked Aurelius (in private, after Aurelius and Commodus were dead) for not killing Commodus in the metaphorical cradle for being a dipshit and saving the Empire at the expense of his nitwit son.

Of course, Severus had two nitwit sons that he didn't ice and passed the Empire on to, so he was hypocritical as fuck, but the notion was there.