Watch List notes:

The Collection of Roman Republican Coins of a Student and his Mentor Part III

M. Antonius. Aureus, mint moving with M. Antonius in 34, AV 8.01 g. ANTON·AVG·IMP·III·COS· DES·III·III·V R P·C Head of M. Antonius r. Rev. M·ANTONIVS·M·F·F Head of M. Antonius junior (Antillus) r. Babelon Antonia 92. C 1. Bahrfeldt 93. Sydenham 1207. Sear Imperators 344. Calicó 118a. RBW –. Crawford 541/2.
Extremely rare, apparently only eleven specimens known. An intriguing issue of
great historical importance and fascination. Two lovely portraits struck on
a full flan and good very fine
Ex NAC sale 2, 1990, 492.Known to the Greeks as Antyllus, Marcus Antonius Junior was the eldest son of Marc Antony and his third wife, Fulvia. Throughout his short life Antyllus was groomed to be Antony's heir, and in 37 B.C., as part of the Treaty of Tarentum, he was betrothed to Julia, the only daughter of Octavian. He was six years old and she was perhaps three, which serves to illustrate the precarious roles into which these children were born.Antyllus appears only on this issue of coinage – aurei struck in the East during the spring or summer of 34 B.C., when he was about nine years old. He had joined his father on a punitive expedition against the Armenian King Artavasdus, who two years earlier had betrayed Antony, turning the Roman campaign against Parthia into a disaster. Antony found success in this venture, which Antyllus witnessed firsthand.Early in the summer of 32 B.C., as relations between Antony and Octavian had deteriorated enough to make civil war inevitable, Antyllus made the fateful decision to remain with his father even though the rest of his siblings sailed to Italy with Octavia, the sister of Octavian, whom Antony had just divorced. When the anticipated battle at Actium favored Octavian, the defeated gathered in Alexandria to await their fate.Dio Cassius records details of one attempt made by Antony and Cleopatra to bargain for their lives after Actium (51.8): "Antony then made a third approach, sending his son Antyllus with a large sum of gold. Octavian accepted the money, but sent the boy back empty-handed with no message for Antony." Understandably, many historians doubt the veracity of this account.In any event, as Octavian marched on Alexandria it was only a matter of time before Antyllus and Caesarion, the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, were executed as potential rivals to Octavian. Plutarch (Life of Antony, 71) tells us that in this period Antyllus donned his toga virilis, preparing him for whatever was forthcoming, be it miraculous survival, or execution.When the day of reckoning came at the end of April, 30 B.C., Antyllus seems to have been betrayed by his tutor Theodorus, and he took refuge by an image of the deified Julius Caesar. His pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears and he was beheaded on the orders of Octavian. Theodorus, who had taken a precious stone that Antyllus wore around his neck and hidden it in his belt, was crucified.The younger brother of Antyllus, Iullus Antonius, survived because he was by then living under the care of Octavia in Rome. He must have impressed Octavian, for he became a priest, a praetor, a consul in 10 B.C., was a proconsul in Asia, and married Marcella, the daughter of Octavia and Marcellus. However, his fortunes reversed in 2 B.C. when he was convicted of adultery with the emperor's promiscuous daughter, Julia and was forced to commit suicide.