Lot 58 – Lucius Verus (161-169). Aureus – Rome (164 ou 166).

Lucius Verus (161-169) Aureus – Rome (164 ou 166) D’une qualité exceptionnelle et d’un style d’une grande finesse. Exemplaire du trésor de l’Aventin (1893) et de la vente Hess-Leu 15 du 7 avril 1960, N°343 et de la collection du Perfectionniste (C. Vaudecrane) vente Leu 93 du 10 mai 2005, N°39. 7.32g – Cal. 2154 FDC Exceptionnel – CHOICE MS* fine style When the peace broke and the Parthians – under Vologases IV – invaded Armenia, Marcus Aurelius remained in Rome and Lucius Verus went to Antioch in AD 162. Under his command, the Roman army was successful at defeating the Parthians in the Armenian capital of Artaxata and at re- conquering Syria. On this coin, Verus bears the title ARMENIACVS, and he is depicted whilst crowning the reestablished Armenian king: Gaius Julius Sohaemus – an Arsacid prince and former Roman senator and consul – who had been king of Armenia AD 144-161, and was restored to the throne after the Parthian defeat. Almost every example of this coin come from the hoard found in 1893 on the Aventine during the construction of the Benedictine monastery of Sant’Anselmo, which contained possibly as many as 300-400 aurei (of which 45 are in the Vatican of two types only and all struck with a single obverse die), which seems to confirm that the coin was struck in Rome and not in the East: the coin could therefore date from the time of the victory in AD 163/164, or of the time of Verus’s return to Rome in late AD 166.