Nomos AG, 80
Lucius Verus. AD 161-169. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.12 g, 5h). Rome mint. 8th emission, struck December AD 163-December AD 164. L VERVS AVG ARMENIACVS, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind / TR P IIII • IMP II COS II, Victory standing right, holding stylus in right hand and shield engraved VIC/AVG and set on palm tree with left. RIC III 525 (Aurelius); MIR 18, 94-12/37; Calicó 2177 (same dies); BMCRE 296 note; Cohen 525. Superb EF.
Between AD 162 and 166, Lucius Verus was in the East overseeing the campaign against Parthia, in which the Romans sought to recover their control of Armenia from them. In AD 163, the Roman general Statius Priscus attacked the Parthian forces and quickly destroyed their stronghold of Artaxata. To complete the process, Priscus installed the pro-Roman Sohaemus on the Armenian throne, thereby once again insuring a Roman buffer against the Parthian Empire. For this achievement, Verus received the cognomen Armeniacus, a title granted not because of any command in the field, but as the operation’s commander-in-chief.
