The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopo
Busts of the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius (left) and Lucius Verus (right), British Museum
Antioch from the southwest (engraving by William Miller after a drawing by H. Warren from a sketch by Captain Byam Martin, R.N., 1866)
The Euphrates river near Raqqa, Syria
Lucius Verus' apotheosis from Ephesus (the so-called Parthian Monument; today in Ephesos Museum in Wien).
Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the
Roman–Parthian War of 161–166
…on other frontiers as well—in Britain, and in Raetia and Upper Germany, where the Chatti of the Taunus mountains had recently crossed over the limes. Marcus Aurelius, who had become emperor on Pius' death on 7 March 161, was unprepared. Pius seems to have given him no military experience; the Historia Augusta states…
Bust, Musée Saint-Raymond
A bust of young Marcus Aurelius (Capitoline Museum). Anthony Birley, his modern biographer, writes of the bust: 'This is certainly a grave young man'.
Sestertius of Antoninus Pius (AD 140–144). It celebrates the betrothal of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger in 139, pictured below Antoninus, who is holding a statuette of Concordia and clasping hands with Faustina the Elder. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P., TR. P., CO[N]S. III / CONCORDIAE S.C.
Denarius of Antoninus Pius (AD 139), with a portrait of Marcus Aurelius on the reverse. Inscription: ANTONINVS AVG. PIVS P. P. / AVRELIVS CAES. AVG. PII F. CO[N]S. DES.