(1) Hī et genere inter sē coniūnctī fuērunt et adfīnitāte. Nam Vērus Annius Antōnīnus M. Antōnīnī fīliam in mātrimōnium habuit, M. autem Antōnīnus gener Antōnīnī Piī fuit per uxōrem Galēriam Faustīnam iūniōrem, cōnsōbrīnam suam.
(2) Hī bellum contrā Parthōs gessērunt, quī post victōriam Trāiānī tum prīmum rebellāverant. Vērus Antōnīnus ad id profectus est. Quī Antiochīae et circā Armeniam agēns multa per ducēs suōs et ingentia patrāvit. Seleucīam Assyriae urbem nōbilissimam cum quadringentīs mīlibus hominum cēpit; Parthicum triumphum revexit. Cum frātre eōdemque socerō triumphāvit.
(3) Obiit tamen in Venetiā, cum ā Concordiā cīvitāte Altīnum proficīscerētur et cum frātre in vehiculō sedēret, subitō sanguine ictus, cāsū morbī, quem Graecī apoplēxin vocant.
(4) Vir ingeniī parum cīvīlis, reverentiā tamen frātris nihil umquam atrōx ausus. Cum obīsset ūndecimō imperiī annō, inter deōs relātus est.
notes
Lucius Verus' Campaigns in the East (163 CE)
Dio Cassius 71.2; Historia Augusta, Marcus Aurelius 8.6; Verus 7.1; Victor, De Caesaribus 16.4; Orosius, Histories against the Pagans 7.15.2
Hī: Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus
et...et...: "both...and..."
Vērus Annius Antōnīnus: = L. Annius Antōnīnus Vērus, or Lucius Verus
in mātrimōnium habuit: in 145 CE Marcus Aurelius married Antoninus Pius' daughter Anna Galeria Faustina the Younger, who was also Marcus' cousin. Lucius Verus married Marcus' and Faustina's daughter Lucilla in 164.
(2) contrā Parthōs: Lucius Verus nominally had the guidance of the war, but it was carried on by his lieutenants while he lingered in Antioch (Hazzard). In 161 Vologaeses III of Parthia seized Armenia and defeated two Roman armies. Verus arrived in Antioch in early 163, but it was his generals Statius Priscus, who recovered Armenia in 163 and placed a Roman nominee on the throne, and Avidius Cassius, who captured Seleucia and Ctesiphon two years later and made Mesopotamia a Roman protectorate (H.A. Marc. Aur. 12.8-10; Verus 7.9; Victor, De Caes. 16.4; Oros. 7.15.2). (Bird)
Seleucīam: Seleucia or Seluceia, a large city on the right bank of the Tigris.
cum quadringentīs mīlibus hominum: the Greek translation of Eutropius by Paeanius from the fourth century suggests that Marcus captured the city along with 40,000 (not 400,000) enemy soldiers who were garrisoned there (ἑλὼν μετὰ τῶν ἐγκαθημένων αὐτῇ στρατιωτῶν τετρακισμυρίων), rather than using 400,000 soldiers to take the city, which is incredible.
revexit: "won," reveho being used for the more usual reporto to mean "bring back (from a war) a particular outcome" (OLD reporto 3.b). Triumphāvit below refers to the actual procession. The triumph for the Parthian War occurred around 166 CE.
(3) Obiit tamen in Venetiā: Lucius Verus died of a stroke in Venetia in 169 CE.
cāsū morbī: "in an attack of the disease" (LS casus II.C)
(4) Vir ingeniī parum cīvīlis: "a man of insufficiently citizen-like disposition," i.e., his temperament was somewhat arrogant and autocratic. Ingeniī cīvīlis is genitive of quality (AG 345).
Cum obīsset: "when he had died" (> obeō).
inter deōs: See apotheosis.
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
| cōniungō, ere, iūnxī, iūnctus |
to join |
| adfīnitās, ātis [ad + fīnis], f. | relationship (by marriage) |
| Annius, ī, m. | a Roman family name. |
| Antōnīnus, ī, m. |
the name of a dynasty of Roman emperors. (1) T. Aurēlius Antōnīnus Fulvius Bōiōnius Pius, 138–161 A.D.; (2) M. Aurēlius Antōnīnus Vērus, 161–180 A.D.; (3) L. Annius Antōnīnus Vērus, 161–169 A.D.; (4) L. Antōnīnus Commodus, 180–193 A.D.; (5) M. Aurēlius Antōnīnus Bassānius Caracalla, 211–217 A.D.; (6) M. Aurēlius Antōnīnus, Heliogabalus, 218–222 A.D. |
| M. |
M., abbreviation of the praenomen Marcus; M'., abbreviation of the praenomen Manius |
| mātrimōnium, ī [māter], n. | marriage |
| gener, erī, m. | a son-in-law |
| Galēria, ae, f. |
Galēria Faustīna (called Junior to distinguish her from her mother), the daughter of Amira Galeria Faustina. She was the wife of M. Aurelius. |
| Faustīna, ae, f. |
Galēria Faustīna (called Junior to distinguish her from her mother), the daughter of Amira Galeria Faustina. She was the wife of M. Aurelius. |
| cōnsōbrīna, ae, f. | a cousin, first cousin |
| Parthī, ōrum, pl. m. |
a Scythian people southeast of the Caspian Sea 2 |
| Trāiānus, ī, m. |
(M.) Ulpius Crīnītus Trāiānus, Roman emperor 98–117 A.D. |
| rebellō, āre, āvī, ātus | to wage war again, rebel |
| Antiochīa, ae, f. |
the capital city of Syria on the river Orontes |
| Armenia, ae, f. |
a country of Asia southeast of the Black Sea |
| Seleucīa, ae, f. |
(1) a city in Assyria; (2) a city in Cilicia; (3) a city in Syria |
| Assyria, ae, f. |
a division of Asia between Media, Mesopotamia, and Babylon |
| Parthicus, a, um, adj. |
belonging to Parthia, cognomen of Septimius Sevērus |
| triumphus, ī, m. |
a triumph, a splendid procession in which the victorious general entered the city accompanied by his soldiers and the spoil and captives he had taken. The procession passed around the Capitoline Hill into the Via Sacra, then into the Forum, and up to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. |
| revehō, ere, vexī, vectus | to carry back, bring back, return; win |
| socer, erī, m. | father-in-law |
| triumphō, āre, āvī, ātus | to celebrate a triumph |
| obeō, īre, īvī (iī), itus |
to go to meet; attend to, perform; die, perish 3 |
| Venetia, ae, f. |
a district at the head of the Adriatic Sea |
| Concordia, ae, f. |
a Roman colony founded in Venetia |
| Altīnum, ī, n. |
a town of the Veneti in the north of Italy at the mouth of the river Silis |
| vehiculum, ī [vehō], n. | a vehicle, carriage |
| icō, ere, īcī, ictus |
to strike, smite |
| Graecī, ōrum, pl. m. | the Greeks |
| apoplēxis, is, f. | apoplexy |
| cīvīlis, e [cīvis], adj. |
pertaining to a citizen; civil; polite, moderate 4 |
| reverentia, ae [re + vereor], f. | respect, awe, reverence |
| atrōx, ōcis, adj. | savage, fierce, cruel, terrible |