★ Marcus Aurelius' adlocutio ★

Marcus Aurelius, 161-180. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 30 mm, 29.11 g, 12 h), Rome, 170. M ANTONINVS AVG TRP XXIIII Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right. Rev. ADLOCVT AVG / S C Marcus Aurelius, with two attendants behind him, standing left on platform, holding spear in his left hand and raising his right hand toward three soldiers standing below platform, each holding aquila in their right hands. BMC 1371. Cohen 1. RIC 974. Rare and with an attractive reverse. Some deposits, otherwise, fine.

170 was a bad year for the Romans, as a failed counteroffensive against the various Germanic tribes on the Middle Danube resulted in the loss of 20,000 legionaries. This disaster prompted renewed invasions into the territory of the empire, with some groups penetrating as deep as Aquileia in northern Italy and Eleusis near Athens. It took Marcus Aurelius and his generals a full year to restore order and to expel the invaders. On the present coin, we see the emperor addressing his troops in an adlocutio, a speech to his massed army in preparation for a battle - a fitting motif for such a time of peril.