Verus as Conqueror of Armenia
Lucius Verus. AD 161-169. AV Aureus (19.5mm, 7.26 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, AD 164. • L • VERVS ΛVG ΛRMENIΛCVS, laureate and cuirassed bust right / TR P IIII • IMP II COS II, Hercules, naked, standing front, head right, wearing lion skin headdress and holding lion skin over left arm, holding up olive branch beside head in right hand and holding club in left. RIC III 517 (Aurelius); MIR 18, 77-12/35; Calicó 2172; BMCRE 281. Toned. EF. Lustrous.
Ex MACM inventory MMoCA49C; Numismatica Ars Classica 52 (7 October 2009), lot 476.
As with most conflicts between Rome and Parthia, the great Eastern War of AD 161-166 was sparked by events in Armenia, the buffer between the two states. In AD 161, the Parthian king Vologases IV marched into Armenia and evicted its pro-Roman king, replacing him with his kinsman Pacorus. The Roman governor of Cappadocia marched into Armenia with a legion (perhaps the supposed 'lost legion' IX Hispana), but the Parthian general Chosroes surrounded the Romans and slaughtered them to a man, the worst military disaster to befall the Empire in nearly a century. The newly installed co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus responded by raising a massive expeditionary force and sending it east under Verus' supposed command, but in reality commanded by the skilled general Avidius Cassius. After many months of preparation, the Romans invaded Armenia in 163, captured the capital of Artaxata and installed Sohaemus, a Roman citizen and Senator, on the throne. The Senate voted both Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius the title of Armeniacus, conqueror of Armenia, which is proudly displayed in its entirety on this gold aureus of AD 164.
