Editing Lucius Verus (section)

=== Accession of Lucius and Marcus (161) ===
Antoninus died on 7 March 161, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius bore deep affection for Antoninus, as evidenced by the first book of ''Meditations''.<ref>Marcus Aurelius, "''Meditations''", Book 1, 1.16</ref> Although the senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take office unless Lucius received equal powers.<ref>''HA Verus'' 3.8; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 116; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 156.</ref>

The senate accepted, granting Lucius the ''[[imperium]]'', the [[tribunician power]], and the title ''[[Augustus (title)|augustus]]''.<ref>''HA Verus'' 4.1; ''Marcus'' 7.5; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 116.</ref> Marcus became, in official titulature, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; Lucius, forgoing his name Commodus and taking Marcus's original [[cognomen]], Verus, became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus.<ref>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 116–117.</ref>{{#tag:ref|These name-swaps have proven so confusing that even the ''Historia Augusta'', the main source for the period, cannot keep them straight.<ref name=Birley-117>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 117; "Hadrian to the Antonines", 157 n.53.</ref> The fourth-century ecclesiastical historian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] shows even more confusion.<ref>Birley, "Hadrian to the Antonines", 157 n.53.</ref> The mistaken belief that Lucius had the name "Verus" before becoming emperor has proven especially popular.<ref name=Birley-117 />|group=notes}} It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors.<ref name=Birley-117 />{{#tag:ref|There was, however, much precedent. The consulate was a twin magistracy, and earlier emperors had often had a subordinate lieutenant with many imperial offices (under Pius, the lieutenant had been Marcus). Many emperors had planned a joint succession in the past—[[Augustus]] planned to leave [[Gaius Caesar]] and [[Lucius Caesar]] as joint emperors on his death; Tiberius wished to have [[Gaius Caligula]] and [[Tiberius Gemellus]] do so as well; [[Claudius]] left the empire to [[Nero]] and [[Britannicus]], imagining that they would accept equal rank—but all of these arrangements had ended in failure, either through premature death (Gaius and Lucius Caesar) or judicial murder (Gemellus by Caligula and Britannicus by Nero).<ref name=Birley-117 />|group=notes}}

In spite of their nominal equality, Marcus held more ''[[auctoritas]]'', or authority, than Verus. He had been consul once more than Lucius, he had shared in Pius' administration, and he alone was ''[[Pontifex maximus]]''. It would have been clear to the public which emperor was the more senior.<ref name=Birley-117 /> As the biographer wrote, "Verus obeyed Marcus...as a lieutenant obeys a proconsul or a governor obeys the emperor."<ref>''HA Verus'' 4.2, tr. David Magie, cited in Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 117, 278 n.4.</ref>

Immediately after their senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the [[Castra Praetoria]], the camp of the [[Praetorian Guard|praetorian guard]]. Lucius addressed the assembled troops, which then acclaimed the pair as ''imperatores''. Then, like every new emperor since [[Claudius]], Lucius promised the troops a special [[Donativum|donative]].<ref>''HA Marcus'' 7.9; ''Verus'' 4.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 117–118.</ref> This donative, however, was twice the size of those past: 20,000 [[sestertius|sesterces]] (5,000 [[denarius|denarii]]) per capita, and more to officers. In return for this bounty, equivalent to several years' pay, the troops swore an oath to protect the emperors.<ref>''HA Marcus'' 7.9; ''Verus'' 4.3; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 117–118. "twice the size": Richard Duncan-Jones, ''Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 109.</ref> The ceremony was perhaps not entirely necessary, given that Marcus' accession had been peaceful and unopposed, but it was good insurance against later military troubles.<ref name=Birley-118>Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 118.</ref>

Pius's funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, "elaborate".<ref>''HA Marcus'' 7.10, tr. David Magie, cited in Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 118, 278 n.6.</ref> If his funeral followed the pattern of past funerals, his body would have been incinerated on a [[pyre]] at the [[Campus Martius]], while his spirit would rise to the gods' home in the heavens. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast to their behavior during Pius's campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not oppose the emperors' wishes.<ref name=HABirley-118>''HA Marcus'' 7.10–11; Birley, ''Marcus Aurelius'', 118.</ref>

A ''[[flamen]]'', or cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Pius, now ''Divus Antoninus''. Pius's remains were laid to rest in Hadrian's mausoleum, beside the remains of Marcus's children and of Hadrian himself.<ref name=HABirley-118 /> The temple he had dedicated to his wife, Diva Faustina, became the [[Temple of Antoninus and Faustina]]. It survives as the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda.<ref name=Birley-118 />