Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XV 5 Apr 2018
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Marc Antony AR Denarius. Uncertain (Corcyra?) mint, Summer 40 BC. Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, imperator. Bare head right; lituus to left; ANT•IMP•III•VIR•R•P•C around / Prow right; star above; CN•DOMIT•AHENOBARBVS IMP around. Crawford 521/2; CRI 258; RSC 10a; Sydenham 1179; BMCRR East 112. 3.82g, 20mm, 5h.
Near Mint State. Very Rare, and among the finest known examples of the type.
From the property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
This rare issue commemorates the reconciliation of Antony with Ahenobarbus in 40 BC. Although he had probably played no part in the assassination of Caesar, Ahenobarbus followed Brutus into Macedonia when the latter was forced to leave Rome, and was consequently condemned by the Lex Pedia in 43 BC as one of the murderers. In 42 BC, with command of a powerful fleet of fifty ships, Ahenobarbus won a considerable victory for the liberators on the first day of the Battle of Philippi, defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus in the Ionian Sea as he was sailing with reinforcements from Brundisium. The triumvirate fleet was destroyed, and Ahenobarbus was saluted as Imperator. Following the Liberator defeat at Philippi, Ahenobarbus conducted operations against the triumvirate independently of Sextus Pompey, and with a fleet of seventy ships and two legions, he devastated the regions under the triumvirs, attacking Brundisium again, where he captured some of Octavian's ships, and burnt others.
In 40 BC, upon learning of the defeat of his brother Lucius and wife Fulvia in the Perusine War, Antony set sail for Italy with a small army and two hundred ships which he had built in Asia. Arriving at Athens, Antony was met by his wife Fulvia and his mother Julia, who had taken refuge with Sextus and been sent by him with warships from Sicily. She was accompanied by some leading Pompeians whose aim was to bring Antony and Sextus into alliance against Octavian. Antony's response to the embassy was to offer alliance in case of war and reconciliation in case of peace, suggesting that Antony believed that a lasting partnership with Octavian was still possible. These new lines of communication with Sextus provided an avenue by which former supporters of the liberators could find their way back from exile; the most prominent of these was Ahenobarbus, who met Antony at sea with his whole army and his fleet rowing at a high rate of striking. Both fleets approached the other with standards flying; Antony's lictor requested Ahenobarbus to dip his standard, as was custom when a commander met another of superior rank, and Ahenobarbus complied, with the combined fleet now moving together to Brundisium, which unsurprisingly closed its gates against Ahenobarbus and Antony.
Near Mint State. Very Rare, and among the finest known examples of the type.
From the property of B.R.S., United Kingdom.
This rare issue commemorates the reconciliation of Antony with Ahenobarbus in 40 BC. Although he had probably played no part in the assassination of Caesar, Ahenobarbus followed Brutus into Macedonia when the latter was forced to leave Rome, and was consequently condemned by the Lex Pedia in 43 BC as one of the murderers. In 42 BC, with command of a powerful fleet of fifty ships, Ahenobarbus won a considerable victory for the liberators on the first day of the Battle of Philippi, defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus in the Ionian Sea as he was sailing with reinforcements from Brundisium. The triumvirate fleet was destroyed, and Ahenobarbus was saluted as Imperator. Following the Liberator defeat at Philippi, Ahenobarbus conducted operations against the triumvirate independently of Sextus Pompey, and with a fleet of seventy ships and two legions, he devastated the regions under the triumvirs, attacking Brundisium again, where he captured some of Octavian's ships, and burnt others.
In 40 BC, upon learning of the defeat of his brother Lucius and wife Fulvia in the Perusine War, Antony set sail for Italy with a small army and two hundred ships which he had built in Asia. Arriving at Athens, Antony was met by his wife Fulvia and his mother Julia, who had taken refuge with Sextus and been sent by him with warships from Sicily. She was accompanied by some leading Pompeians whose aim was to bring Antony and Sextus into alliance against Octavian. Antony's response to the embassy was to offer alliance in case of war and reconciliation in case of peace, suggesting that Antony believed that a lasting partnership with Octavian was still possible. These new lines of communication with Sextus provided an avenue by which former supporters of the liberators could find their way back from exile; the most prominent of these was Ahenobarbus, who met Antony at sea with his whole army and his fleet rowing at a high rate of striking. Both fleets approached the other with standards flying; Antony's lictor requested Ahenobarbus to dip his standard, as was custom when a commander met another of superior rank, and Ahenobarbus complied, with the combined fleet now moving together to Brundisium, which unsurprisingly closed its gates against Ahenobarbus and Antony.