Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 55 18 Apr 2019
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Lucius Verus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 161-162. IMP L AVREL VERVS AVG, bare head right, wearing aegis on left shoulder / CONCORDIAE AVGVSTOR TR P II, M. Aurelius standing right and holding scroll, clasping hands with L. Verus, standing left; COS II in exergue. RIC 473; Calicó 2123 (these dies); BMC p. 411 note †. 7.24g, 18mm, 6h.
Near Extremely Fine. Traces of mounting. Highly lustrous.
From a private UK collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XII, 29 September 2016, lot 795.
Shortly after Lucius Verus succeeded to the position of co-emperor in AD 161, a position he shared with Marcus Aurelius, the peace Antoninus Pius had negotiated with the Parthians collapsed. The Parthian king Vologases IV invaded the Kingdom of Armenia, then a Roman client state, expelling the king and installing his own. To compound the difficulties facing the empire, there was also the threat of war in the north of Britain and in upper Germany, where the Chatti had breached the border.
Both initial attempts to recover the territory of Armenia by the Governor of Cappadocia, Marcus Sedatius Severianus, and the Governor of Syria, L. Attidius Cornelianus, were unsuccessful. Severianus led a legion (perhaps the IX Hispana) into Armenia, but was trapped and his legion massacred. Cornelianus' army too was defeated, and retreated in disarray. In 162, with rebellion now also brewing in Syria, Marcus Aurelius took the decision to send his imperial colleague Lucius Verus to defend the Eastern territories in person.
Near Extremely Fine. Traces of mounting. Highly lustrous.
From a private UK collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XII, 29 September 2016, lot 795.
Shortly after Lucius Verus succeeded to the position of co-emperor in AD 161, a position he shared with Marcus Aurelius, the peace Antoninus Pius had negotiated with the Parthians collapsed. The Parthian king Vologases IV invaded the Kingdom of Armenia, then a Roman client state, expelling the king and installing his own. To compound the difficulties facing the empire, there was also the threat of war in the north of Britain and in upper Germany, where the Chatti had breached the border.
Both initial attempts to recover the territory of Armenia by the Governor of Cappadocia, Marcus Sedatius Severianus, and the Governor of Syria, L. Attidius Cornelianus, were unsuccessful. Severianus led a legion (perhaps the IX Hispana) into Armenia, but was trapped and his legion massacred. Cornelianus' army too was defeated, and retreated in disarray. In 162, with rebellion now also brewing in Syria, Marcus Aurelius took the decision to send his imperial colleague Lucius Verus to defend the Eastern territories in person.