Lucius Verus. AD 161-169. AV aureus, Roma AD 163-164, (7,36 g). Bare head of L. Verus right / TR P IIII IMP II COS II, REX ARMEN DAT (in exergue), L. Verus seated left on platform, officer standing on his left side and a soldier on the right side; at foot of platform, king Sohaemus standing left. A spectacular coin with a refined portrait and an intriuging reverse. Almost as struck and lustrous.
Proveniens:
Ex Künker, Auction 277, lot 133
Info:
This magnificent coin celebrates the re-installation of Gaius Julius Sohaemus as king of Armenia. Sohaemus was crowned king of Armenia by Antoninus Pius in AD 144 and led a pro-Roman regime. After the death of Pius in AD 161, the Parthians led by Vologases IV seized the opportunity and invaded Armenia, driving king Sohaemus into exile. Back in Rome the insult did not go unnoticed and Marcus Aurelius sent his co-emperor Lucius Verus on a counter-offensive into Armenia and Parthia. Verus set up headquarter in Antiochia and sent the able general Marcus Statius Priscus to Armenia in AD 163 where he succeeded to drive out the Parthians, and Sohaemus was restored to the crown. The general Avidius Cassius marched into Mesopotamia and managed to seize the Parthian capital of Ktesiphon. Initially, the campaign was a great success for the Rome, but the plague they brought back from Parthia would soon ravage the empire and its people. The epidemic, believed to be smallpox or measles, decimated the armies and made the borders of the empires vulnerable for attacks. From AD 167, Marcus Aurelius personally commanded his army in a defensive mission on the Danube frontier and partially succeeded to drive back the Germanic tribes attacking the borders. Verus had succumbed to a disease in AD 169 and Aurelius died in AD 180. The plague may have been the cause of death for both emperors.
