Watch List notes:

SYRIA. Antioch. Augustus (27 BC-AD 14), with P. Quinctilius Varus as Legate. Lot of two Eastern AE. Includes the following: SYRIA, Antioch. Æ trichalkon (7.55 gm). 6-4 BC. Laureate head of Zeus right / Tyche of Antioch seated right, holding palm branch; below, river-god Orontes swimming right; in right field, date (ZK). McAlee 87. Butcher 50c. RPC I 4252. Dark green patina with lighter earthen deposits. Very fine. Also: PHOENICIA, Berytus. Æ (7.06 gm). 6-4 BC. Bare head of Augustus right / Two legionary standards. RPC I 4535. Dark sandy green patina. Both coins very rare! Very fine. From The RE Collection. These two coins feature the usual civic types of Beirut and Antioch under Augustus, but bear inscriptions indicating they were struck under the legate P. Quinctilius Varus. Varus, a close friend of Augustus and associate of Tiberius, was given Syria as his province in 7 BC. While serving as the governor of Syria, Varus guarded the borders against the menace of Parthia and violently suppressed revolts in Judaea and Samaria, when it was learned that they had been apportioned to Herod Archelaus in the will of Herod the Great. The military operations in these regions are sometimes known as "Varus' War." Varus, however, is best known for his role in events after he returned from Syria and took up a command in Germany in AD 6. In AD 9, he led three legions against the German tribes at the Teutoberg Forest. He was killed and the legions annihilated in one of the greatest military disasters of Roman history.

Estimate: 600.00-800.00 USD