AA small blind

[irishpint]

Last hand, table loose as a goose. i had AA in small blind against 6 limpers and BB. I wasn't sure what to do. Here is what i considered:

-limping and c/r any flop
-raising and betting flop
-raising and c/r flop, since with 6 limpers surely someone will bet

i raised and bet the flop. i think it was stupid, since the pot was large enough that anyone with any sort of anything could justify calling the one small bet. no one raised PF and i didnt really expect anyone to raise my bet (although i hoped they would). Obviously i lost to runner-runner 2 pair because the pot was huge and no one was going anywhere.

so

what's a better way to play something like this to protect my good starting but unlikely to improve hand?