of Lucius marked: L. VERVS AVG. ARMENIACVS
Accession of Lucius and Marcus (161) Antoninus died on 7 March 161, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius bore deep affection for Antoninus, as evidenced by the first book of
Meditations. Although the senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take office unless Lucius received equal powers. The senate accepted, granting Lucius the
imperium, the
tribunician power, and the title
augustus. Marcus became, in official titulature, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Lucius, forgoing his name Commodus and taking Marcus's original
cognomen, Verus, became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus. It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors. Immediately after their senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the
Castra Praetoria, the camp of the
praetorian guard. Lucius addressed the assembled troops, which then acclaimed the pair as
imperatores. Then, like every new emperor since
Claudius, Lucius promised the troops a special
donative. This donative, however, was twice the size of those past: 20,000
sesterces (5,000
denarii) per capita, and more to officers. In return for this bounty, equivalent to several years' pay, the troops swore an oath to protect the emperors. The ceremony was perhaps not entirely necessary, given that Marcus' accession had been peaceful and unopposed, but it was good insurance against later military troubles. Pius's funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, "elaborate". If his funeral followed the pattern of past funerals, his body would have been incinerated on a
pyre at the
Campus Martius, while his spirit would rise to the gods' home in the heavens. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast to their behavior during Pius's campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes. A
flamen, or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Pius, now
Divus Antoninus. Pius's remains were laid to rest in Hadrian's mausoleum, beside the remains of Marcus's children and of Hadrian himself. At the ceremonies commemorating the event, new provisions were made for the support of poor children, along the lines of earlier imperial foundations. Marcus and Lucius proved popular with the people of Rome, who strongly approved of their
civiliter (lacking pomp) behavior. The emperors permitted free speech, evidenced by the fact that the comedy writer
Marullus was able to criticize them without suffering retribution. At any other time, under any other emperor, he would have been executed. But it was a peaceful time, a forgiving time. And thus, as the biographer wrote, "No one missed the lenient ways of Pius." The tutor was immensely proud of his students. Reflecting on the speech he had written on taking his consulship in 143, when he had praised the young Marcus, Fronto was ebullient: "There was then an outstanding natural ability in you; there is now perfected excellence. There was then a crop of growing corn; there is now a ripe, gathered harvest. What I was hoping for then, I have now. The hope has become a reality." Fronto called on Marcus alone; neither thought to invite Lucius. Lucius was less esteemed by his tutor than his brother, as his interests were on a lower level. Lucius asked Fronto to adjudicate in a dispute he and his friend Calpurnius were having on the relative merits of two actors. Marcus told Fronto of his reading—
Coelius and a little Cicero—and his family. His daughters were in Rome, with their great-great-aunt
Matidia Minor; Marcus thought the evening air of the country was too cold for them. The emperors' early reign proceeded smoothly. Marcus was able to give himself wholly to philosophy and the pursuit of popular affection. Some minor troubles cropped up in the spring; there would be more later. In the spring of 162, the
Tiber flooded over its banks, destroying much of Rome. It drowned many animals, leaving the city in famine. Marcus and Lucius gave the crisis their personal attention. In other times of famine, the emperors are said to have provided for the Italian communities out of the Roman granaries.
War with Parthia (161–166) , Naples
Origins to Lucius's dispatch (161–162) On his deathbed, Pius spoke of nothing but the state and the foreign kings who had wronged him. One of those kings,
Vologases IV of Parthia, made his move in late summer or early autumn 161. Vologases entered the
Kingdom of Armenia (then a Roman client state), expelled its king and installed his own—
Pacorus, an
Arsacid like himself. At the time of the invasion, the Governor of Syria was
Lucius Attidius Cornelianus. Attidius had been retained as governor even though his term ended in 161, presumably to avoid giving the Parthians the chance to wrong-foot his replacement. The Governor of Cappadocia, the front-line in all Armenian conflicts, was
Marcus Sedatius Severianus, a Gaul with much experience in military matters. But living in the east had a deleterious effect on his character. Severianus had fallen under the influence of
Alexander of Abonoteichus, a self-proclaimed prophet who carried a snake named
Glycon around with him, but was really only a confidence man. Alexander was father-in-law to the respected senator
Publius Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus, then-proconsul of Asia, and friends with many members of the east Roman elite. Alexander convinced Severianus that he could defeat the Parthians easily, and win glory for himself. Severianus led a legion (perhaps the
IX Hispana) into Armenia, but was trapped by the great Parthian general Chosrhoes at
Elegeia, a town just beyond the Cappadocian frontiers, high up past the headwaters of the Euphrates. Severianus made some attempt to fight Chosrhoes, but soon realized the futility of his campaign, and committed suicide. His legion was massacred. The campaign had only lasted three days. There was threat of war on other frontiers as well—in Britain, and in
Raetia and
Upper Germany, where the
Chatti of the
Taunus mountains had recently crossed over the
limes. Marcus was unprepared. Pius seems to have given him no military experience; the biographer writes that Marcus spent the whole of Pius's twenty-three-year reign at his emperor's side—and not in the provinces, where most previous emperors had spent their early careers. Marcus made the necessary appointments:
Marcus Statius Priscus, the Governor of Britain, was sent to replace Severianus as Governor of Cappadocia.
Sextus Calpurnius Agricola took Priscus's former office.
Strategic emergency in the East near Rome, between 180 and 183 AD,
Louvre Museum, Paris More news arrived: Attidius Cornelianus's army had been defeated in battle against the Parthians, and retreated in disarray. Reinforcements were dispatched for the Parthian frontier.
Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus, an African senator commanding
X Gemina at Vindobona (Vienna), left for Cappadocia with detachments from the Danubian legions. Three full legions were also sent east:
I Minervia from Bonn in Upper Germany,
II Adiutrix from Aquincum, and
V Macedonica from Troesmis. The northern frontiers were strategically weakened; frontier governors were told to avoid conflict wherever possible. Attidius Cornelianus himself was replaced by
Marcus Annius Libo, Marcus's first cousin. He was young—his first consulship was in 161, so he was probably in his early thirties—and, as a mere patrician, lacked military experience. Marcus had chosen a reliable man rather than a talented one. Marcus took a four-day public holiday at
Alsium, a resort town on the
Etrurian coast. He was too anxious to relax. Writing to Fronto, he declared that he would not speak about his holiday. Fronto replied ironically: "What? Do I not know that you went to Alsium with the intention of devoting yourself to games, joking and complete leisure for four whole days?" He encouraged Marcus to rest, calling on the example of his predecessors (Pius had enjoyed exercise in the
palaestra, fishing, and comedy), going so far as to write up a fable about the gods' division of the day between morning and evening—Marcus had apparently been spending most of his evenings on judicial matters instead of at leisure. Marcus could not take Fronto's advice. "I have duties hanging over me that can hardly be begged off," he wrote back. Marcus put on Fronto's voice to chastise himself: "'Much good has my advice done you', you will say." He had rested, and would rest often, but "—this devotion to duty. Who knows better than you how demanding it is?" Fronto sent Marcus a selection of reading material, including Cicero's
pro lege Manilia, in which the orator had argued in favor of
Pompey taking supreme command in the
Mithridatic War. It was an apt reference (Pompey's war had taken him to Armenia), and may have had some impact on the decision to send Lucius to the eastern front. "You will find in it many chapters aptly suited to your present counsels, concerning the choice of army commanders, the interests of allies, the protection of provinces, the discipline of the soldiers, the qualifications required for commanders in the field and elsewhere [...]" To settle his unease over the course of the Parthian War, Fronto wrote Marcus a long and considered letter, full of historical references. In modern editions of Fronto's works, it is labeled
De bello Parthico (
On the Parthian War). There had been reverses in Rome's past, Fronto writes, at
Allia, at
Caudium, at
Cannae, at
Numantia,
Cirta, and
Carrhae; under Trajan, Hadrian, and Pius; but, in the end, Romans had always prevailed over their enemies: "always and everywhere [Mars] has changed our troubles into successes and our terrors into triumphs".
Lucius's dispatch and journey east (162–163?) (left) and Lucius Verus (right),
British Museum Over the winter of 161–62, as more troubling news arrived—a rebellion was brewing in Syria—it was decided that Lucius should direct the Parthian War in person. He was stronger and healthier than Marcus, the argument went, more suited to military activity. Lucius's biographer suggests ulterior motives: to restrain Lucius's debaucheries, to make him thrifty, to reform his morals by the terror of war, to realize that he was an emperor. Whatever the case, the senate gave its assent, and Lucius left. Marcus remained in Rome; the city "demanded the presence of an emperor". Furius Victorinus, one of the two praetorian prefects, was sent with Lucius, as were a pair of senators, M. Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus and M. Iallius Bassus, and part of the praetorian guard. Victorinus had previously served as procurator of Galatia, giving him some experience with eastern affairs. Moreover, he was far more qualified than his praetorian partner,
Cornelius Repentinus, who was said to owe his office to the influence of Pius's mistress,
Galeria Lysistrate. Repentinus had the rank of a senator, but no real access to senatorial circles—his was merely a decorative title. Since a prefect had to accompany the guard, Victorinus was the clear choice. Laelianus was, in the words of Fronto, "a serious man and an old-fashioned disciplinarian". Bassus had been Governor of Lower Moesia, and was also made
comes. Lucius selected his favorite freedmen, including Geminus, Agaclytus, Coedes, Eclectus, and Nicomedes, who gave up his duties as
praefectus vehiculorum to run the commissariat of the expeditionary force. Lucius left in the summer of 162 to take a ship from
Brundisium; Marcus followed him as far as
Capua. Lucius feasted himself in the country houses along his route, and hunted at
Apulia. He fell ill at
Canosa, probably afflicted with a mild stroke, and took to bed. Marcus made prayers to the gods for his safety in front of the senate, and hurried south to see him. Fronto was upset at the news, but was reassured when Lucius sent him a letter describing his treatment and recovery. In his reply, Fronto urged his pupil to moderate his desires, and recommended a few days of quiet bedrest. Lucius was better after three days' fasting and a bloodletting. Verus continued eastward via
Corinth and
Athens, accompanied by musicians and singers as if in a
royal progress. At Athens he stayed with Herodes Atticus, and joined the
Eleusinian Mysteries. During sacrifice, a falling star was observed in the sky, shooting west to east. He stopped in
Ephesus, where he is attested at the estate of the local aristocrat
Publius Vedius Antoninus, and made an unexpected stopover at
Erythrae. The journey continued by ship through the Aegean and the southern coasts of Asia Minor, lingering in the famed pleasure resorts of
Pamphylia and
Cilicia, before arriving in
Antioch. It is not known how long Verus's journey east took; he might not have arrived in Antioch until after 162. Statius Priscus, meanwhile, must have already arrived in Cappadocia; he would earn fame in 163 for successful generalship.
Luxury and logistics at Antioch (162?–165) after a drawing by H. Warren from a sketch by Captain
Byam Martin, R.N., 1866) sculptor
Myron,
Vatican Museums Lucius spent most of the campaign in Antioch, though he wintered at
Laodicea and summered at Daphne, a resort just outside Antioch. He took up a mistress named Panthea, from
Smyrna. The biographer calls her a "low-born girl-friend", but she was described as a "woman of perfect beauty" by Lucius. One biographer has postulated that Panthea may have been more beautiful than any of
Phidias and
Praxiteles' statues. The mistress was musically inclined and spoke
Ionic Greek, spiced with Attic wit. Panthea read Lucian's first draft, and criticized him for flattery. He had compared her to a goddess, which frightened her—she did not want to become the next
Cassiopeia. She had power, too. She made Lucius shave his beard for her. The Syrians mocked him for this, as they did for much else. Critics decried Lucius' luxurious lifestyle. He had taken to gambling, they said; he would "dice the whole night through". He enjoyed the company of actors. He made a special request for dispatches from Rome, to keep him updated on how his chariot teams were doing. He brought a golden statue of the Greens' horse Volucer around with him, as a token of his team spirit. Fronto defended his pupil against some of these claims: the Roman people needed Lucius'
bread and circuses to keep them in check. This, at least, is how the biographer has it. The whole section of the
vita dealing with Lucius' debaucheries (
HA Verus 4.4–6.6) is an insertion into a narrative otherwise entirely cribbed from an earlier source. Some few passages seem genuine; others take and elaborate something from the original. The rest is by the biographer himself, relying on nothing better than his own imagination. Lucius faced quite a task. Fronto described the scene in terms recalling
Corbulo's arrival one hundred years before. The Syrian army had turned soft during the east's long peace. They spent more time at the city's open-air cafés than in their quarters. Under Lucius, training was stepped up. Pontius Laelianus ordered that their saddles be stripped of their padding. Gambling and drinking were sternly policed. Fronto wrote that Lucius was on foot at the head of his army as often as on horseback. He personally inspected soldiers in the field and at camp, including the sick bay. Lucius sent Fronto few messages at the beginning of the war. He sent Fronto a letter apologizing for his silence. He would not detail plans that could change within a day, he wrote. Moreover, there was little thus far to show for his work: "not even yet has anything been accomplished such as to make me wish to invite you to share in the joy". Lucius did not want Fronto to suffer the anxieties that had kept him up day and night. One reason for Lucius' reticence may have been the collapse of Parthian negotiations after the Roman conquest of Armenia. Lucius' presentation of terms was seen as cowardice. The Parthians were not in the mood for peace. Lucius needed to make extensive imports into Antioch, so he opened a sailing route up the
Orontes. Because the river breaks across a cliff before reaching the city, Lucius ordered that a new canal be dug. After the project was completed, the Orontes' old riverbed dried up, exposing massive bones—the bones of a
giant.
Pausanias says they were from a beast "more than eleven cubits" tall;
Philostratus says that it was "thirty cubits" tall. The oracle at
Claros declared that they were the bones of the river's spirit. These bones would later be understood to be that of several large unspecified animals. In the middle of the war, perhaps in autumn 163 or early 164, Lucius made a trip to Ephesus to be married to Marcus' daughter Lucilla. Lucilla's thirteenth birthday was in March 163; whatever the date of her marriage, she was not yet fifteen. Marcus had moved up the date: perhaps stories of Panthea had disturbed him. Lucilla was accompanied by her mother Faustina and M. Vettulenus Civica Barbarus, the half-brother of Lucius' father. Marcus may have planned to accompany them all the way to Smyrna (the biographer says he told the senate he would); this did not happen. Marcus only accompanied the group as far as Brundisium, where they boarded a ship for the east. Marcus returned to Rome immediately thereafter, and sent out special instructions to his proconsuls not to give the group any official reception. Lucilla would bear three of Lucius' children in the coming years. Lucilla became Lucilla Augusta.
Counterattack and victory (163–166) I Minervia and V Macedonica, under the legates M. Claudius Fronto and P. Martius Verus, served under Statius Priscus in Armenia, earning success for Roman arms during the campaign season of 163, including the capture of the Armenian capital
Artaxata. At the end of the year, Verus took the title
Armeniacus, despite having never seen combat; Marcus declined to accept the title until the following year. When Lucius was hailed as
imperator again, however, Marcus did not hesitate to take the
Imperator II with him. The army of Syria was reinforced by II Adiutrix and Danubian legions under X Gemina's legate Geminius Marcianus. , Syria Occupied Armenia was reconstructed on Roman terms. In 164, a new capital, Kaine Polis ('New City'), replaced Artaxata. On Birley's reckoning, it was thirty miles closer to the Roman border. A new king was installed: a Roman senator of consular rank and Arsacid descent,
Gaius Julius Sohaemus. He may not even have been crowned in Armenia; the ceremony may have taken place in Antioch, or even Ephesus.
Sohaemus was hailed on the imperial coinage of 164 under the legend : Verus sat on a throne with his staff while Sohaemus stood before him, saluting the emperor. In 163, while Statius Priscus was occupied in Armenia, the Parthians intervened in
Osroene, a Roman client in upper Mesopotamia, just east of Syria, with its capital at
Edessa. They deposed the country's leader, Mannus, and replaced him with their own nominee, who would remain in office until 165. (The Edessene coinage record actually begins at this point, with issues showing Vologases IV on the obverse and "Wael the king" (
Syriac: W'L MLK') on the reverse). In response, Roman forces were moved downstream, to cross the Euphrates at a more southerly point. Before the end of the year, however, Roman forces had moved north to occupy Dausara and Nicephorium on the northern, Parthian bank. Soon after the conquest of the north bank of the Euphrates, other Roman forces moved on Osroene from Armenia, taking Anthemusia, a town south-west of Edessa. There was little movement in 164; most of the year was spent on preparations for a renewed assault on Parthian territory. His coinage resumed, too: 'Ma'nu the king' (Syriac: M'NW MLK') or Antonine dynasts on the obverse, and 'King Mannos, friend of Romans' (Greek:
Basileus Mannos Philorōmaios) on the reverse. A second force, under Avidius Cassius and the III Gallica, moved down the Euphrates, and fought a major battle at Dura. By the end of the year, Cassius' army had reached the twin metropolises of Mesopotamia:
Seleucia on the right bank of the Tigris and
Ctesiphon on the left. Ctesiphon was taken and its royal palace set to flame. The citizens of Seleucia, still largely Greek (the city had been commissioned and settled as a capital of the
Seleucid Empire, one of
Alexander the Great's
successor kingdoms), opened its gates to the invaders. The city got sacked nonetheless, leaving a black mark on Lucius' reputation. Excuses were sought, or invented: the official version had it that the Seleucids broke faith first. Whatever the case, the sacking marks a particularly destructive chapter in Seleucia's long decline. Cassius' army, although suffering from a shortage of supplies and the effects of a plague contracted in Seleucia, made it back to Roman territory safely. Iunius Maximus, a young
tribunus laticlavius serving in III Gallica under Cassius, took the news of the victory to Rome. Maximus received a generous cash bounty (
dona) for bringing the good news, and immediate promotion to the quaestorship. Lucius took the title Parthicus Maximus, and he and Marcus were hailed as
imperatores again, earning the title 'imp. III'. Cassius' army returned to the field in 166, crossing over the Tigris into Media. Lucius took the title 'Medicus', and the emperors were again hailed as
imperatores, becoming 'imp. IV' in imperial titulature. Marcus took the Parthicus Maximus now, after another tactful delay. Most of the credit for the war's success must be ascribed to subordinate generals. The forces that advanced on Osroene were led by M. Claudius Fronto, an Asian provincial of Greek descent who had led I Minervia in Armenia under Priscus. He was probably the first senator in his family. Fronto was consul for 165, probably in honor of the capture of Edessa. P. Martius Verus had led V Macedonica to the front, and also served under Priscus. Martius Verus was a westerner, whose
patria was perhaps
Tolosa in
Gallia Narbonensis. The most prominent general, however, was
C. Avidius Cassius, commander of III Gallica, one of the Syrian legions. Cassius was a young senator of low birth from the north Syrian town of
Cyrrhus. His father, Heliodorus, had not been a senator, but was nonetheless a man of some standing: he had been Hadrian's
ab epistulis, followed the emperor on his travels, and was prefect of Egypt at the end of Hadrian's reign. Cassius also, with no small sense of self-worth, claimed descent from the
Seleucid kings. Cassius and Martius Verus, still probably in their mid-thirties, took the consulships for 166.
Years in Rome ). He used to sprinkle gold-dust on his
blond hair to make it brighter. The next two years (166–168) were spent in Rome. According to the
Historia Augusta, Verus continued with his glamorous lifestyle and kept the troupe of actors and favourites with him. He had a tavern built in his house, probably at Acquatraversa, where he celebrated parties with his friends until dawn. He also enjoyed roaming around the city among the population, without acknowledging his identity. The games of the circus were another passion in his life, especially
chariot racing. Marcus Aurelius disapproved of his conduct but, since Verus continued to perform his official tasks with efficiency, there was little that he could do. Despite the minor differences between them, Marcus Aurelius grieved the loss of his adoptive brother. He accompanied the body to Rome, where he offered games to honour his memory. After the funeral, the senate declared Verus divine to be worshipped as
Divus Verus. == See also ==