It is a quadrifrons trumphal arch, surmounted by an unusual octagonal cupola,and was erected (entirely in marble) by Gaius Calpurnius Celsus, quinquennial duumvir of the city, to commemorate the victories of Lucius Verus, junior colleague and adoptive brother of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, over the Parthians in the Roman–Parthian War of 161–66.
At the beginning of the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, Vettius Sabinianus was the iuridicus per tractus of three of the Italian regions, Aemilia, Etruria and Liguria.
He is possibly the Harpocration mentioned by Julius Capitolinus (Life of Verus, 2) as the Greek tutor of Lucius Verus (2nd century AD); some authorities place him much later, on the ground that he borrowed from Athenaeus.
He was decorated for services in the Parthian war of Lucius Verus and was appointed by Marcus Aurelius to ensure the armies in Pannonia were supplied by boats on the Danube.
Lucius Verus | Lucius Cornelius Cinna | Lucius D. Clay | Lucius Tarquinius Priscus | Lucius Artorius Castus | Lucius Antonius | Lucius Allen | Lucius Tarquinius Superbus | Lucius Accius | Lucius | Wilbur Lucius Cross | Pope Lucius III | Lucius Scribonius Libo | Lucius Roscius | Lucius Junius Brutus | Lucius Cassius Longinus | Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland | Lucius Beebe | Lucius Annaeus Cornutus | Lucius Aelius | Pope Lucius II | Marcus Annius Verus | Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (II) | Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin | Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Torquatus Asprenas | Lucius Lyon | Lucius de Mello | Lucius Clodius Macer | Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus | Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus |
Some subunits of Fourteenth fought in the wars against the Mauri, under Antoninus Pius, and the legion participated to the Parthian campaign of Emperor Lucius Verus.
His brother may have been Lucius Titius Plautius Aquilinus who served as consul in 162 under the Roman Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
The plot concerns king Vologeso (based on Vologases IV of Parthia, 148-191) who is deposed by Lucio Vero (loosely based on Lucius Verus, 130–169) and restored by another Roman, Flavio (created for the story by Zeno).
Pollio was deputy to Lucius Verus’ co-Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the Marcomannic Wars, where he died during the conflict.