Lucius Aurelius Verus 15 December β 23 January was Roman emperor from until his death in , alongside his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius. He was a member of the NervaβAntonine dynasty. Verus' succession together with Marcus Aurelius marked the first time that the Roman Empire was ruled by more than one emperor simultaneously, an increasingly common occurrence in the later history of the Empire. Born on 15 December , he was the eldest son of Lucius Aelius Caesar , first adopted son and heir to Hadrian.
Raised and educated in Rome, he held several political offices prior to taking the throne. After his biological father's death in , he was adopted by Antoninus Pius , who was himself adopted by Hadrian.
Hadrian died later that year, and Antoninus Pius succeeded to the throne. Antoninus Pius would rule the empire until , when he died, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius , who later raised his adoptive brother Verus to co-emperor. As emperor, the majority of his reign was occupied by his direction of the war with Parthia which ended in Roman victory and some territorial gains. After initial involvement in the Marcomannic Wars , he fell ill and died in Verus had two sisters, Ceionia Fabia and Ceionia Plautia.
When his father died on 1 January , Hadrian chose Titus Aurelius Antoninus as his new heir, giving him the title of caesar. Antoninus was instructed to adopt Lucius alongside Marcus , Hadrian's nephew by marriage. By this scheme, Lucius, who was already Hadrian's adoptive grandson through his natural father, remained as such through his new father.
Antoninus also betrothed his daughter Faustina to Lucius, although the arrangement was canceled soon after. Immediately after Hadrian's death, Antoninus approached Marcus and requested that his marriage arrangements be amended: Marcus' betrothal to Ceionia Fabia would be annulled, and he would be betrothed to Faustina, Antoninus' daughter, instead.
