Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Augustus AV Aureus. Lugdunum, 15 BC. AVGVSTVS DIVI • F, bare head to right / Apollo Citharoedus of Actium, standing to left, holding plectrum and lyre; IMP • X across field, ACT in exergue. RIC 170; Lyon 27/16a (same dies); BMCRE 459; Calicó 215; BN 139. 7.81g, 20mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine; attractive light reddish toning.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
This reverse type is part of the great series of coins struck in recognition and celebration of the great victory won at the Battle of Actium over the combined naval forces of Antony and Cleopatra. The magnitude and importance of this overwhelming military victory cannot be understated and is reflected in the great commemorative works undertaken by Augustus, then Octavian. Apollo Actius is here honoured on account of the fact that on the nearby promontory overlooking the sea stood an ancient Arkadian temple dedicated to Apollo, whose divine patronage we should be in no doubt would have been sought before the battle, and this was seemingly granted and manifested in the utter destruction of the Antonian-Ptolemaic fleet.
The old temple of Apollo was enlarged and renovated; Konstantinos Zachos (The tropaeum of the sea-battle of Actium at Nikopolis: interim report, Journal of Roman Archaeology Volume 16, 2003) suggests this action was intended to underline Augustus' "piety and his gratitude to his patron god, and perhaps to try to win over the local population which was not particularly friends to Caesar's heir". Moreover, "in arsenals located close by the sanctuary he dedicated the principia of the spoils of the sea-battle in the form of 10 whole war ships, a dekania that represented one from each category of ships that participated in the battle, from the smallest the 'ones', to the 'tens' (monokrotoi to dekereis). Strabo (7.7.6) reports that a few years after the dedication both ships and arsenals were destroyed in a fire".
On the very spot where Octavian's own tent had been pitched before the battle, and where the leaders of Antony's defeated forces came to declare their surrender, he built an elaborate tropaeum (trophy monument), the dedication of which by a victorious commander was an ancient Roman custom, "with 36 bronze rostra on its façade in an open-air sanctuary dedicated to his protector gods Mars, Neptune and Apollo. The complex of structures which made up this open-air sanctuary was both a symbol of Octavian's victory and power and also a monument of political and religious propaganda. His dominance was by the will of the gods who had assisted him in the victory and in creating the new order of things, bringing peace on land and sea" (Zachos, 2003).
Not satisfied only with these permanent symbols of his success, an entire 'Victory City' (Nikopolis) was founded and built, populated by the forced merging of several existing local communities including Ambrakia, Anaktorion, Leukas and others. This new urban centre received the statues of a 'civitas libera', and quickly became the principal political, economic and social hub of north-western Greece. In further celebration of this victory, the Actian games were instituted in honour of Apollo Actius, to be celebrated ever four years in a sacred precinct to the north of the city.
Extremely Fine; attractive light reddish toning.
From the inventory of a UK dealer.
This reverse type is part of the great series of coins struck in recognition and celebration of the great victory won at the Battle of Actium over the combined naval forces of Antony and Cleopatra. The magnitude and importance of this overwhelming military victory cannot be understated and is reflected in the great commemorative works undertaken by Augustus, then Octavian. Apollo Actius is here honoured on account of the fact that on the nearby promontory overlooking the sea stood an ancient Arkadian temple dedicated to Apollo, whose divine patronage we should be in no doubt would have been sought before the battle, and this was seemingly granted and manifested in the utter destruction of the Antonian-Ptolemaic fleet.
The old temple of Apollo was enlarged and renovated; Konstantinos Zachos (The tropaeum of the sea-battle of Actium at Nikopolis: interim report, Journal of Roman Archaeology Volume 16, 2003) suggests this action was intended to underline Augustus' "piety and his gratitude to his patron god, and perhaps to try to win over the local population which was not particularly friends to Caesar's heir". Moreover, "in arsenals located close by the sanctuary he dedicated the principia of the spoils of the sea-battle in the form of 10 whole war ships, a dekania that represented one from each category of ships that participated in the battle, from the smallest the 'ones', to the 'tens' (monokrotoi to dekereis). Strabo (7.7.6) reports that a few years after the dedication both ships and arsenals were destroyed in a fire".
On the very spot where Octavian's own tent had been pitched before the battle, and where the leaders of Antony's defeated forces came to declare their surrender, he built an elaborate tropaeum (trophy monument), the dedication of which by a victorious commander was an ancient Roman custom, "with 36 bronze rostra on its façade in an open-air sanctuary dedicated to his protector gods Mars, Neptune and Apollo. The complex of structures which made up this open-air sanctuary was both a symbol of Octavian's victory and power and also a monument of political and religious propaganda. His dominance was by the will of the gods who had assisted him in the victory and in creating the new order of things, bringing peace on land and sea" (Zachos, 2003).
Not satisfied only with these permanent symbols of his success, an entire 'Victory City' (Nikopolis) was founded and built, populated by the forced merging of several existing local communities including Ambrakia, Anaktorion, Leukas and others. This new urban centre received the statues of a 'civitas libera', and quickly became the principal political, economic and social hub of north-western Greece. In further celebration of this victory, the Actian games were instituted in honour of Apollo Actius, to be celebrated ever four years in a sacred precinct to the north of the city.