Lucius Verus

This gold coin shows Lucius Verus. In the 2nd century CE, he was a young Roman co-emperor, but he is not so well-known. At least, to us. His nine-year-older adoptive brother was Marcus Aurelius, one of the most famous Roman emperors. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus reigned together as co-emperors, though Marcus Aurelius was the one with power, the real ‘boss’. They would become emperors on the 7th of March 161. This was actually the first time the Roman Empire was ruled by two emperors.F. Meijer, Emperors don’t die in bed (London 2001) 59-60. (2) Anthony R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius (London 1993) 120-121

As you can see in this image, coins can be a perfect medium for representing humans, objects, and stories. A simple piece (of expensive metal!) became a canvas that bore a story of an unknown part of Roman history.

The beautiful portrait of Lucius Verus is depicted on the obverse of the coin. The obverse of a coin, or as many of you may know it, heads, is that part facing the observer and usually depicts the head of a notable person. At first glimpse, Lucius’ look may seem quite strange, given the modern cinematographic representations of Roman emperors like Julius Caesar, played by Marlon Brando, or Emperor Commodus, interpreted by Joaquin Phoenix. The full-face beard and curly hair outline an image of a lumbersexual more so than that of an emperor. But if we pay a bit more attention to the dynasty to which he belongs, the Antonine, we see a change in terms of appearance and representation of imperial figures. The first who decided to have a change of look was emperor Hadrian, a true fancier of hellenistic culture and Stoicism (self-control and fortitude). The beard of this Hadrianic “look”, a sign of virility for ancient Greeks, and the curly hair became the new attributes of imperial representations. Consequently, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and his co-emperor, Lucius Verus chose to be portrayed similarly. Fred S. Kleiner, A History of the Roman Art (Boston 2010) 189-192

In the words of Max Wegner, the “main type” of Verus’ portraits must contain a few key features: lean, slender face, trapezoidal forehead, narrow and deep-set eyes guarded by shipshape brows.M. Wegner, Die Herrscherbildnisse in antoninischer Zeit (Das römische Herrscherbild, 2.4; Berlin 1939), 56-65 The lower part of the face is characterized by two asymmetrical lips; the upper one is thin, while the lower one is plump. In the end, the enormous amount of interlacing curls of the coiffure round up (together with the beard) the eastern look of the emperor.Fred C. Albertson, ‘A Bust of Verus in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Its Artist,’ in American Journal of Archaeology 87 (1983) 2, 154

But the fancy look of the emperor was not the sole reason for the coin being minted…