Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Auction 123 23-24 May 2023
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
The Pompeians. Sextus Pompey. 42-38 BC. Æ As (32.5mm, 26.66 g, 12h). Uncertain Sicilian mint. Laureate Janiform head of Pompey the Great / Prow of galley right. Crawford 479/1; Martini, Sextus Emission III, Group 1, Series A; CRI 336; Sydenham 1044a; RBW 1676. Glossy brown patina, light roughness at upper periphery, scratch on obverse. Near EF. In fine style, exceptional.
From the D.K. Collection.
The roller-coaster career of Sextus Pompey, youngest son Pompey The Great, spanned the dying years of the Roman Republic and its rebirth as an Empire. Born around 67 BC in Rome, Sextus came of age during Pompey's ascendancy as the leading general of Rome and the most powerful man in the Republic. After Pompey's defeat by Julius Caesar at Pharsalus in 48 BC, Sextus joined his father's flotilla sailing for the supposed safe haven of Egypt. He thus witnessed firsthand his father's treacherous murder by minions of King Ptolemy XIII. Caesar's assassination on March 15, 44 BC brought a brief revival of Senatorial control during which Sextus, improbably, found himself appointed commander of the Roman fleet. He wasted no time in seizing Sicily and spent the next months building an impregnable power base on the island even as Rome fell under the sway of Caesar's political heirs, Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus. While the Triumvirs hunted down Caesar's assassins, Sextus enjoyed a rollicking life as a pirate king, using his fleet to raid far and wide. Octavian in particular hated the charismatic Sextus and repeatedly sent fleets and armies against Sicily to dislodge him, only to meet humiliating defeat each time. Finally, at the battle of Naulochus in 36 BC, Sextus met his match in Octavian's brilliant commander, Marcus Agrippa. Defeated and stripped of his fleet, he fled to the East and tried to make a separate peace with Mark Antony. Although tempted, Antony was not yet ready to break with Octavian and had Sextus put to death.
From the D.K. Collection.
The roller-coaster career of Sextus Pompey, youngest son Pompey The Great, spanned the dying years of the Roman Republic and its rebirth as an Empire. Born around 67 BC in Rome, Sextus came of age during Pompey's ascendancy as the leading general of Rome and the most powerful man in the Republic. After Pompey's defeat by Julius Caesar at Pharsalus in 48 BC, Sextus joined his father's flotilla sailing for the supposed safe haven of Egypt. He thus witnessed firsthand his father's treacherous murder by minions of King Ptolemy XIII. Caesar's assassination on March 15, 44 BC brought a brief revival of Senatorial control during which Sextus, improbably, found himself appointed commander of the Roman fleet. He wasted no time in seizing Sicily and spent the next months building an impregnable power base on the island even as Rome fell under the sway of Caesar's political heirs, Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus. While the Triumvirs hunted down Caesar's assassins, Sextus enjoyed a rollicking life as a pirate king, using his fleet to raid far and wide. Octavian in particular hated the charismatic Sextus and repeatedly sent fleets and armies against Sicily to dislodge him, only to meet humiliating defeat each time. Finally, at the battle of Naulochus in 36 BC, Sextus met his match in Octavian's brilliant commander, Marcus Agrippa. Defeated and stripped of his fleet, he fled to the East and tried to make a separate peace with Mark Antony. Although tempted, Antony was not yet ready to break with Octavian and had Sextus put to death.