Lucius Verus (AD 161-169) AR Didrachm (Cappadocia, Mount Argaeus)

Lucius Verus was adopted alongside Marcus Aurelius by Antoninus Pius and became co-emperor in 161 AD - the first time Rome was ruled by two equal Augusti. He was sent east to lead the Parthian War (161-166 AD), and Caesarea's silver coinage helped finance the campaign; the returning legions, however, brought back the devastating Antonine Plague. Mount Argaeus, the towering volcano above Caesarea, was the city's sacred emblem and one of the most distinctive types in Roman provincial coinage.