(104) Marcus Aurelius - AV aureus, c. A.D. 169, 7.33 g. (inv.
91.177).
Obverse: Laureate and cuirassed bust of Marcus Aurelius r.; M(ARCVS) ANTONINVS
AVG(VSTVS) ARM(ENIACVS) PARTH(ICVS) MAX(IMVS): Marcus Antoninus Augustus,
restorer of Armenia, great conqueror of the Parthians.
Reverse: Aequitas seated l. with scales in r. and cornucopia in l.; TR(IBVNICIA)
P(OTESTATE) XXII IMP(ERATOR) V CO(N)S(VL) III: with tribunician power for
the twenty-second time, imperator for the fifth time, consul
for the third time.
Provenance: L.S. Werner, 1959.
Bibliography: H. Mattingly and E.A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage
III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus (London 1930) 190.
The title Parthicus maximus in the legend refers to the victory over
the Parthians in A.D. 165, Armeniacus (see no. 102) to the earlier
victory in Armenia. Aurelius' co-regent, Lucius Verus (see no. 106), also
held both these titles. The obverse portrait belongs to the same type as
no. 102. The personification of Aequitas (Equity) on the reverse is a frequent
and generic type on imperial coinage; her message seems merely to be that
the emperor is creating responsible economic and financial policy. She is
depicted with her usual attributes, the scales referring to fairness in
commercial transactions and the cornucopia, a symbol of economic prosperity.
M.D.P.
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Lawrence University
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