These genuine Ancient Roman silver denarii have been mounted in a modern pair of stunning 18 Karat gold earring
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the Emperor of Rome from 161 until his death in 180 A.D. Born Marcus Annius Verus, he was adopted by the emperor Antoninus Pius in 138, and married his daughter Annia Galeria Faustina a few years later. He succeeded to the throne without difficulty on Antoninus' death. Marcus Aurelius was educated by the best tutors in Rome and was a devotee of Stoicism. However, he felt with more religious fervor the communion of man in the unity of the universe than most other Stoics. In his later years, he wrote the Meditations as a relief from his lonely office, in which he attempts to reconcile his Stoic philosophy of virtue and self-sacrifice with his role as emperor.

Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus was born on August 31, 161 A.D. to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Faustina Junior. Of their thirteen children, he was the only boy to survive early childhood, thus making him the logical heir to the throne. He was appointed as Caesar at the age of five and was officially presented to the army at the age of twelve in 173 A.D. Two years later, young Commodus was named Princeps Ivventis and coopted in the college of priests. Next, he accompanied his father on a victorious military campaign against the Germans and the Sarmatians. In 177 A.D., the title of Augustus was bestowed upon him and he was lofted to the position of co-ruler alongside his father. That same year, he was married to Crispina, the daughter of one of the dutiful generals on the Sarmatian campaign. The next year, Commodus embarked upon another German campaign that ended with a favorable peace shortly after his father’s death in 180 A.D. Soon afterward, a Senatorial plot was uncovered and suppressed in 182 A.D. Implicated in the conspiracy were both his wife Crispina and his sister Lucilla, both of whom would be exiled to Capri. Ten years later, on December 31, 192 A.D., Commodus was murdered.