Category:Verus (subject)
Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus Armeniacus (130 – 169 CE) was co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 till 169 CE.
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Overview
Lucius Verus, succeeded to Antoninus Pius together with Marcus Aurelius in 161 CE. His rule as co-regent was characterized by the victorious war with Parthia from 161 till 166 CE, a short permanence in Rome, and his last years on the Danube frontier, fighting against the Marcomanni. After his death in 169 CE, Marcus Aurelius continued to rule alone till his death in 180 CE, after he had associated his son Commodus to the throne.
Early Career
Lucius Verus was the son of Lucius Aelius Caesar, the adopted son, and intended successor of Hadrian, and of Avidia Plautia. Lucius Verus had two sisters, Ceionia Fabia who was engaged to Marcus Aurelius in 136 CE, although Marcus Aurelius broke off the engagement in 138 CE, and Ceionia Plautia, of whom little is known. With the untimely death of Aelius Caesar in 138 CE, Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his successor, on the condition that he would adopt both Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. Lucius Verus was educated by Marcus Cornelius Fronto, the grammaticus of North African origin. His cursus honorum begun as quaestor in 153 CE, consul in 154 CE, and once again consul, together with Marcus Aurelius in 161 CE, the year of his accession to the Imperial throne.
Imperial Succession
Antoninus died on March 7, 161, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius. However the latter refused unless Lucius Verus shared in equal powers. The Senate bestowed on Lucius Verus the imperium, the tribunician power, and the name Augustus, becoming Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus. However, Marcus hold more auctoritas than Lucius Verus. Thus Verus was co-opted as co-emperor and from 161-till 169 C.E., the period called “the Dual Principate”, Marcus Aurelius shared the direction of the Empire with Lucius Verus. Soon after the emperors' accession, in 163 or in 164 CE, Marcus Aurelius gave his eleven-year-old daughter, Annia Lucilla, in marriage to Lucius Verus. The couple had had two daughters and a son. The elder daughter and son died young, however the younger daughter lived long enough to be involved in a plot against her maternal uncle, the emperor Commodus in 182 CE. Between 162 and 166 CE, Lucius Verus was in the East, commanding a campaign against the Parthian kingdom for the control over the Armenian kingdom. The war begun as the Parthian King, Vologases IV, entered in Armenia, expelled its king, appointed by Rome, and installed his own candidate, Pacorus, a member of the Parthian royal family. Marcus Sedatius Severianus, the governor of Cappadocia, led a legion into Armenia, but he was defeated and he had to commit suicide. Also an army under the command of L. Attidius Cornelianus, the governor of Syria, was defeated by the Parthians. Reinforcements were immediately dispatched for the Parthian frontier, and in 162 CE, Lucius Verus took the command of the war. Lucius Verus’ command included Furius Victorinus, one of the two praetorian prefects, together with part of the Praetorian Guard, and two senators, M. Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus and M. Iallius Bassus. Lucius spent most of the year in Antioch, though he wintered at Laodicea, preparing the army for the offensive. Thus in 163 CE, Statius Priscus conquered back Armenia and occupied its capital Artaxata. In 164 CE, a new capital, Kaine Polis, replaced Artaxata. Moreover a new king, Gaius Iulius Sahaemus, a Roman senator of consular rank but also an Arsacid descent, was crowned King of Armenia in Ephesus. However in 163 CE, the Parthians occupied Osroene, and its capital, Edessa, deposing the legitimate ruler Mannus. The Roman counter offensive in 165 CE resulted in the occupation of Osroene by an army under the leadership of Martius Verus. Another army under the leadership of Avidius Cassius reached Seleucia and Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia. The city of Seleucia on the Tigris was destroyed and the palace at the capital Ctesiphon was burned to the ground. The Roman legions, after the conquest of Mesopotamia, advanced as far as Media. Vologases IV of Parthia made peace but was forced to cede western Mesopotamia to the Romans. The Roman border reached well south Dura Europos. Lucius Verus was awarded a triumph and the title of Armeniacus. Lucius Verus spent in Rome the next two years, 166–168 CE. In 168 CE as the Alamanni and the Marcomanni invaded the Roman territory, crossing the Danube, war broke out once more. Both emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus took the field. Lucius Verus died once returned to Rome in 169 CE. The senate bequeathed divine honors to Lucius Verus as Divus Verus.
In Depth
- Verus (sources) -- survey of ancient sources
- Verus (arts) -- survey of fictional works
- Verus (research) -- survey of scholarly works
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