Aelius Caesar 136-137 AD. Silver Denarius. Roman Imperial. Rare

Description: Lucius Aelius Caesar(13 January 101 1 January 138) was the father of EmperorLucius Verus. In 136, he was adopted byHadrianand namedheir to the throne. He died before Hadrian and thus never became emperor. After Lucius' death, he was replaced byAntoninus Pius, who succeeded Hadrian the same year.Aelius was bornLucius Ceionius Commodus, and becameLucius Aelius Caesarupon his adoption as Hadrian's heir. He is often sometimes referred to asLucius Aelius Verus, though this name is not attested outside theHistoria Augusta, where it probably was originally the result of a manuscript error. The young Lucius Ceionius Commodus was of thegensCeionia. His father, also namedLucius Ceionius Commodus(theHistoria Augustaadds the cognomen Verus), was consul in 106, and his paternal grandfather, also of the same name, was consul in 78. His paternal ancestors were fromEtruria, and were of consular rank. His mother was a surmised but otherwise undocumented Roman woman namedPlautia.TheHistoria Augustastates that his maternal grandfather and his maternal ancestors were of consular rank. Before 130, the younger Lucius Commodus marriedAvidia, a well-connected Roman noblewoman who was the daughter of the senatorGaius Avidius Nigrinus. Avidia bore Lucius two sons and two daughters, who were: Lucius Ceionius Commodus the Younger He would become Lucius Aurelius Verus, and would co-rule asRoman EmperorwithMarcus Aureliusfrom 161 until his own death in 169. Verus would marryLucilla, the second daughter of Marcus Aurelius andFaustina the Younger. Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus he is known from an inscription found in Rome. Ceionia Fabia at the time of Marcus Aurelius's adoption, she was betrothed, as part of the adoption conditions, to him. Shortly afterAntoninus Pius' ascension, Pius came to Aurelius and asked him to end his engagement to Fabia, instead marrying Antoninus Pius daughterFaustina the Younger; Faustina had originally been planned by Hadrian to wed Lucius Verus. For a long time, the emperorHadrianhad considered his brother-in-lawLucius Julius Ursus Servianusas his unofficial successor. As Hadrian's reign drew to a close, however, he changed his mind. Although the emperor certainly thought Servianus capable of ruling as an emperor after Hadrian's own death, Servianus, by now in his nineties, was clearly too old for the position. Hadrian's attentions turned to Servianus' grandson, Lucius Pedanius Fuscus Salinator. Hadrian promoted the young Salinator, his great-nephew, gave him special status in his court, and groomed him as his heir. However, in late 136, Hadrian almost died from a haemorrhage. Convalescent inhis villaatTivoli, he decided to change his mind, and selected Lucius Ceionius Commodus as his new successor,adoptinghim as his son.The selection was doneinvitis omnibus, "against the wishes of everyone";in particular, Servianus and the young Salinator became very angry at Hadrian and wished to challenge him over the adoption. Even today, the rationale for Hadrian's sudden switch is still unclear.It is possible Salinator went so far as to attempt a coup against Hadrian in which Servianus was implicated. In order to avoid any potential conflict in the succession, Hadrian ordered the deaths of Salinator and Servianus. Although Lucius had no military experience, he had served as asenator, and had powerful political connections;however, he was in poor health. As part of his adoption, Lucius Ceionius Commodus took the name Lucius Aelius Caesar. After a year's stationing on the Danube frontier, Aelius returned to Rome to make an address to the senate on the first day of 138. The night before the speech, however, he grew ill, and died of a haemorrhage late the next day.On 24 January 138, Hadrian selectedTitus Aurelius Antoninusas his new successor. After a few days' consideration, Antoninus accepted. He was adopted on 25 February 138. As part of Hadrian's terms, Antoninus adopted both Lucius Aelius's son, Lucius Ceionius Commodus, and Hadrian's great-nephew by marriage, Marcus Annius Verus. Marcus became "Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus" (laterMarcus Aurelius Antoninus); and Lucius became "Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus" (laterLucius Aurelius Verus).At Hadrian's request, Antoninus' daughter Faustina was betrothed to Lucius. Marcus Aurelius later co-ruled with Lucius Verus as joint Roman Emperors, until Lucius Verus died in 169, after which Aurelius was sole ruler until his own death in 180. In hisHistory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,Edward Gibbontells of Aelius's brief time as Hadrian's successor-designate in these terms: After revolving in his mind several men of distinguished merit, whom he esteemed and hated, [Hadrian] adopted lius Verus a gay and voluptuous nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty to the lover ofAntinous. But whilst Hadrian was delighting himself with his own applause, and the acclamations of the soldiers, whose consent had been secured by an immense donative, the new Csar was ravished from his embraces by an untimely death.

Price: 255 USD

Location: Reading, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-01-22T01:30:53.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4 USD