(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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