What Roman emperor sold off personal belongings to finance a war?

Answer 1

It was Marcus Aurelius who needed more money to finance the continuation of his Marcomannic Wars. According to the Historia Augusta:

"When he had drained the treasury for this war [the Marcomannic War], moreover, and could not bring himself to impose any extraordinary tax on the provincials, he held a public sale in the Forum of [ ] Trajan of the imperial furnishings, and sold goblets of gold and crystal and murra, even flagons made for kings, his wife's silken gold-embroidered robes, and, indeed, even certain jewels which he had found in considerable numbers in a particularly holy cabinet of Hadrian's. This sale lasted for two months, and such a store of gold was realised thereby, that after he had conducted the remainder of the Marcomannic war in full accordance with his plans, he gave the buyers to understand that if any of them wished to return his purchases and recover his money, he could do so. Nor did he make it unpleasant for anyone who did or did not return what he had bought."