Editing Lucius Verus (section)

==== Invasion of Mesopotamia (165) ====
[[File:The apotheosis of Lucius Verus.jpg|thumb|''The apotheosis of Lucius Verus'', 2nd-century relief plates from [[Ephesus]], on display at [[Humboldt University of Berlin]]]]
[[File:Buste 4 Bardo National Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|Ancient bust in the [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo National Museum]], Tunis, 2nd century AD]]
In 165, Roman forces, perhaps led by Martius Verus and the V Macedonica, moved on Mesopotamia. Edessa was re-occupied, Mannus re-installed.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 163, citing ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani''<sup>2</sup> M 169.</ref> His coinage resumed, too: 'Ma'nu the king' (Syriac: M'NW MLK') or Antonine dynasts on the obverse, and 'King Mannos, friend of Romans' (Greek: ''Basileus Mannos Philorōmaios'') on the reverse.<ref name="Millar, Near East, 112"/> The Parthians retreated to Nisibis, but this too was besieged and captured. The Parthian army dispersed in the Tigris; their general Chosrhoes swam down the river and made his hideout in a cave.<ref>Lucian, ''Historia Quomodo Conscribenda'' 15, 19; Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 163.</ref> A second force, under Avidius Cassius and the III Gallica, moved down the Euphrates, and fought a major battle at Dura.<ref>Lucian, ''Historia Quomodo Conscribenda'' 20, 28; Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 163, citing Syme, ''Roman Papers'', 5.689ff.</ref>

By the end of the year, Cassius' army had reached the twin metropolises of Mesopotamia: [[Seleucia]] on the right bank of the Tigris and [[Ctesiphon]] on the left. Ctesiphon was taken and its royal palace set to flame. The citizens of Seleucia, still largely Greek (the city had been commissioned and settled as a capital of the [[Seleucid Empire]], one of [[Alexander the Great]]'s [[Diadochi|successor kingdoms]]), opened its gates to the invaders. The city got sacked nonetheless, leaving a black mark on Lucius' reputation. Excuses were sought, or invented: the official version had it that the Seleucids broke faith first.<ref>''HA Verus'' 8.3–4; Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 163. Birley cites R.H. McDowell, ''Coins from Seleucia on the Tigris'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1935), 124ff., on the date.</ref> Whatever the case, the sacking marks a particularly destructive chapter in Seleucia's long decline.<ref>John F. Matthews, ''The Roman Empire of Ammianus'' (London: Duckworth, 1989), 142–143. Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 163–164, says that the siege marked the end of the city's history.</ref>

Cassius' army, although suffering from a shortage of supplies and the effects of a plague contracted in Seleucia, made it back to Roman territory safely.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164.</ref> Iunius Maximus, a young ''tribunus laticlavius'' serving in III Gallica under Cassius, took the news of the victory to Rome. Maximus received a generous cash bounty (''dona'') for bringing the good news, and immediate promotion to the quaestorship.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing Alföldy and Halfmann, "Iunius Mauricus und die Victoria Parthica", ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 35 (1979): 195–212 = Alföldy, ''Römische Heeresgeschichte. Beiträge 1962–1985'' (Amsterdam, 1987), 203 ff (with addenda, 220–221); Fronto, ''Ad amicos'' 1.6.</ref> Lucius took the title Parthicus Maximus, and he and Marcus were hailed as ''imperatores'' again, earning the title 'imp. III'.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing H. Mattingly, ''Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus'' (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 384 ff., 1248 ff., 1271 ff.</ref> Cassius' army returned to the field in 166, crossing over the Tigris into Media. Lucius took the title 'Medicus',<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing P. Kneissl, ''Die Siegestitulatur der römischen Kaiser. Untersuchungen zu den Siegerbeinamen des 1. und 2. Jahrhunderts'' (Göttingen, 1969), 99 ff.</ref> and the emperors were again hailed as ''imperatores'', becoming 'imp. IV' in imperial titulature. Marcus took the Parthicus Maximus now, after another tactful delay.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing H. Mattingly, ''Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus'' (London, 1940), Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, nos. 401ff.</ref>

Most of the credit for the war's success must be ascribed to subordinate generals. The forces that advanced on Osroene were led by M. Claudius Fronto, an Asian provincial of Greek descent who had led I Minervia in Armenia under Priscus. He was probably the first senator in his family.<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 130, citing ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani''<sup>2</sup> C 874.</ref> Fronto was consul for 165, probably in honor of the capture of Edessa.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing Alföldy, ''Konsulat'', 179 ff.</ref> P. Martius Verus had led V Macedonica to the front, and also served under Priscus. Martius Verus was a westerner, whose ''patria'' was perhaps [[Toulouse|Tolosa]] in [[Gallia Narbonensis]].<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 130, citing ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani''<sup>2</sup> M 348.</ref>

The most prominent general, however, was [[Avidius Cassius|C. Avidius Cassius]], commander of III Gallica, one of the Syrian legions. Cassius was a young senator of low birth from the north Syrian town of [[Cyrrhus, Syria|Cyrrhus]]. His father, Heliodorus, had not been a senator, but was nonetheless a man of some standing: he had been Hadrian's ''[[ab epistulis]]'', followed the emperor on his travels, and was prefect of Egypt at the end of Hadrian's reign. Cassius also, with no small sense of self-worth, claimed descent from the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid kings]].<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 130, citing ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani''<sup>2</sup> A 1402f.; 1405; Astarita, ''passim''; Syme, ''Bonner Historia-Augustia Colloquia'' 1984 (= ''Roman Papers'' IV (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), ?).</ref> Cassius and Martius Verus, still probably in their mid-thirties, took the consulships for 166.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 164, citing Alföldy, ''Konsulat'', 24, 221.</ref>