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Vol. 1 Number 1 - Issued 01/10/99
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Articles
Mark Antony and His Legions (A short history)
By Kevin Barry
In the beginning...
Born Marcus Antonius in 83 BCE, the son of a General Marcus Antonius and Julia, the 2nd cousin of Julius Caesar. He must have inherited some of his fathers abilities, since at age 22 he became a cavalry commander and fought with Caesar in Gaul. During this period he associated himself with Caesar and gradually rose to power as Caesar did. In 48 he became Caesar's chief assistant and Consul with Caesar in 44. At this point Caesar was not only a Dictator in title, but well on his way to becoming the sole ruler of the empire. Of course, we know he was assassinated by Marcus Junius Brutus and Cassius during the Ides of March in 44 BC.
(Numismatic Note: it was in July of 44 that a comet appeared which was taken to be the manifestation of Caesar's soul. A much sought after coin type, featuring the comet on the reverse was minted to commemorate the event.)
The assassination of Caesar left a power vacuum, on one side was the Republican faction lead by the assassins Brutus and Cassius. On the other, the Caesarians with Mark Antony, Caesar's nephew and adopted son Caius Octavianus (Octavian) and an old colleague of Caesar's Marcus Aemillius Lepidus.
Title, title, who's got the title...
There was little love between Antony and Octavian with each seeing the other as a rival to the throne. Eventually, Octavian took the extreme step of raising an army and occupied Rome. Antony decided that it was time to get out of town and retired to Gaul. It was a time of great confusion with Octavian in Rome, Antony in Gaul, Brutus in control of Macedonia, Illyricum, Achaea (where he defeated Antony's brother Caius) and Cassius in Syria and the Roman East. The Senate did not help matters by recognizing the rule of Brutus and Cassius over their provinces.
In 43 Octavian was proclaimed Consul by the Senate (not that they had much choice with Octavian's army still occupying Rome) and his adoption by Caesar was officially recognized. The stage was set for Octavian to take control of the empire. But first, he had take steps to eliminate Antony as a threat.
I didn't think he had it in him...
In a surprise move, Octavian made peace with Antony and Lepidus at Bologna in November of 43. The 3 agreed to take over the state under the title of 'tres viri reipublicae constituendae' or 'three men for the management of the State'. Better known as the 2nd Triumvirate. The triumvirs divided up the empire with Antony in control of Gaul, Lepidus Spain and Octavian Africa and the islands. Italy was to be held in common by all three. At that point, the Triumvirate marched on Rome and forced the Senate to confirm their power for 5 years (until 38 BC). Many consider this to be the end of the Republic and the start of the Imperatorial period.
In October and again in November of 42, the armies of Antony and Octavian met the forces of Brutus and Cassius in a series of battles at Philippi. Brutus and Cassius were defeated and committed suicide. The sole chance for the return of the Republic died with them. Now it was time for the victorious Triumvirate to turn on itself. But not quite yet....
The Interregnum......
In 41, Antony went to Asia Minor on affairs of state. It was during this time that he became reacquainted with Cleopatra. (They first met in 45 or 44 when she came to Rome.) As you may imagine, we will be hearing more about her later.
After the Battle at Philippi, Antony had received the lions share of prestige and had control of the sea. His popularity was never higher and this did not sit well with Octavian. He knew that war was inevitable, but not yet. The 2 met again at Brundisium in 40 to re-divide the empire (note that Lepidus has slowly faded into the background at this point). To Octavian went control of the West, Antony took control of the East. Lepidus was left with a small slice of Africa.
The happy couple...
During the same period as the meeting at Brundisium, Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia. It is safe to assume that this was a marriage of convenience simply to stabilze the alliance between Octavian and Antony. The marriage lasted for 8 years until Antony repudiated Octavia for Cleopatra.
Antony and Octavia had 2 children, Marcus Antonius Jr and Antonia. In later years Antonia became the mother of Germanicus, who would have eventually become the emperor had he lived, and future emperor Claudius. It could reasonably be said that Mark Antony had an indirect influence on the Empire that extended long after his death.
Dividing the Empire....
In 38, the Triumvirate was renewed for another 5 years. As you can see, most of the Empire was now under control of Antony and Octavian. And war was looming....
During this time Mark Antony was very busy adding other conquered kingdoms to the Roman sphere and consolidating his control over the East. Antony was emerging as the dominant figure in the Roman world. Also during this time that Antony started his affair with Cleopatra and eventually they had 3 children. And in 43, Egypt was made a province of Rome with Caesarion, the son of Caesar and Cleopatra, made co-ruler. Cleopatra was proclaimed the 'Queen of Kings'.
Octavian was not idle, he was also busy consolidating his control over the west and soon turned his talents to a war of propaganda against Antony. In 33 he tried to sway public opinion against Antony by portraying him as under the spell of Cleopatra. Ironically, this could very well have been true. Octavian drove Antony's supporters from Rome and declared war on Antony and Cleopatra in 32 BC. The stage was set for the showdown.
Antony's Legions.....
During the preceeding years Antony had raised an army composed of up to 30 Legions (the exact number is open to debate) along with a powerful navy. Each Legion (if at full strength) had up to 6,000 men plus auxilliaries and camp followers for a total of up to 160,000 men-at-arms. Each Legion was numbered from I to XXIII and were known as Legio I, Legio II, etc. Three Legions were also named, they were Legio XII Antiqua, Legio XVII Classica and Legio XVIII Libyca.
To pay the men each Legion had a mint that traveled with them and provided specie in either Silver denarii (singluar - denarius) or Gold aurei (singular - aureus). Most of the Legions were paid in silver with Legions IV, VI and XII - XIV possibly being paid in silver and gold. At right is an illustration of a coin created by the Moneyer T. Carisius during the Republic period just before the assasination of Caesar. The reverse depicts a typical set of tools (anvil, hammer and tongs) used by mints to create coins. It is reasonable to assume that a similiar set of tools was used by the traveling mints to create Antony's coins.
A huge number of coins were required to pay up to 160,000 men. If we assume that Antony maintained the pay rate established by Caesar of 10 Asses (bronze) per day per soldier or 30 Asses per month. Pay day for the Legions occured 3 times a year or every 4 months. At 16 Asses to the denarius (the current rate) we have 75 denarii or 3 aurei, 3 times a year. Just for fun if we do the math, we can see that to meet the payroll the traveling mints would have had to produce 3 million denarii a month!! Or 36 million (36,000,000) per year. A truly amazing number of coins for the period.
A special design was made for the coins paid to the Legions consisting of a warship obverse with the inscription 'ANT. AVG. III VIR. R.P.C.' and a reverse featuring an Aquila between 2 standards with the legion number ('LEG' NNN) across the field at bottom. The three named legions had a slightly different design with the Legion name across the field at top. At right you can see a typical example of a Legionary denarius. The coins were sometimes (but not always) minted out of debased 90% silver. As far as we know, the gold coins were minted with fine gold.
(Fascinating Numismatic Note: Hoard evidence and discoveries made in the ruined cities of Pompeii and Herculeneum indicate that the Legionary coins of Mark Antony remained in general circulation for up to 100 years after he was defeated. For example, his denarii were found in the ancient equivalent of cash registers in shops of the 2 destroyed cities. A strong indication of use in day to day commerce.)
The beginning of the end.....
The die was cast and the stage set for a titanic struggle for control of the Empire. On one side there was Octavian with his friend and most able General Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. On the other Mark Antony and Cleopatra. They finally met in September of 31 in the harbor of Actium. (See the center of the map, above for the location.) Antony's navy was outnumbered and trapped between the shore and Octavian/Agrippa. During the battle Cleopatra's group of ships broke through the center and fled towards Egypt. Soon after Antony with 70 or so ships followed leaving the rest of his force to be destroyed or captured. The battle was over and Octavian the decisive victor.
The end and aftermath.....
Soon after, in 30 BC to be exact, Antony and Cleopatra commited suicide and Octavian (at age 33) became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. A few years later (in 27 BC) Octavian was granted supreme powers and the title of 'Augustus' by the Senate. The title became part of his name and it is by Augustus that we know him today.
(Time for a blatant commercial plug. All of the coins used to illustrate the Legionary article are available for purchase. Please contact Kevin for details.
The Baktrian Kings
By John Darling
Mysterious is the word that attaches itself to the Baktrians, which are of the area portrayed in Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" (great movie, by the way). Baktria is the easternmost conquest of Alexander the Great and was originally part of the Seluekid Empire, created by Alexander's general Seleukis, when the Conqueror died in 323 BCE. The Greeks introduced Western culture and coinage, and Baktrian coins have Greek lettering obverse and Karosthi lettering reverse. The Karosthi says roughly the same thing as the Greek and is translatable by a table on page xliv in Sear's "Greek Coins & Their Values." Baktria was created when a satrap, Diodotos declared independence from Seleukid ruler Antiochos II in 256 BCE and his successors ruled until the dawn of the Common Era, when they were overcome by the powerful Kushans. The last ruler, and a valiant warrior, was Hermaios, who reigned 40-1 BCE and was finally defeated by the Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises.
Specials
(Does not include items listed as specials below. They are already discounted.)
Cassius - Assassin of Caesar!
Cassius (c. 46 BC) RSC Cassius 4
Obv: 'C. CASSI IMP. LEIBERTAS' w/the diademed hd. of Liverty
Rev: Jug and Littus, 'LENTVLVS SPINT' below
It is interesting to note that the reverse design is identical to the one attributed to Brutus as Brutus6. A rare chance to own a coin minted by one of the men who changed the course of history durng the Ides of March.
aVF (a few light bankers marks) - $445.00 (including shipping)
Legionary Denarii
In keeping with our article on Mark Antony, we have a small hoard of Legionary denarii available. They fall into 2 groups, VG - gVG and F - gF. What is the difference? The VG group are good for the type , but the legion number is indistinct. The F group come complete with the legion number. A fascinating bit of history that you can own.
VG .... $25.00 each, plus shipping.
F....... $35.00 each, plus shipping.
Please contact Kevin for details or to order.
Bactrian Tetradrachms
Also, from the Bactrian Kings we have acquired a group of Hermaios tetradrachms, which, with the decline of his fortunes, were being degraded from silver to billon. We have two types:
Hermaios head right, BASILEOS SOTHPOS EPMAIOY (king, savior, Hermaios) / Zeus enthroned 3/4 left, Karosthi legend
aVF .. $30, F .. $25, VG .. $20, G .. $15We also have a group of Indo-Scythian billion tetradrachms of Azes, 57-35 BC, the conqueror of Taxila in the Indus Valley. He is shown equestrian / Athena stg holding Nike and sceptre.
aVF .. $30, F .. $25, VG .. $20, G .. $15Please contact John for details or to order.
Reference Books
For the beginner. We have a small number of reference books available. They include:
Ancient Coin Collecting III by Wayne Sayles
Third in the series of Waynes Sayles overview of ancient coins and civilisations. This one concentrates on the Roman world. Highly recommened.
$24.95 plus $1 shipping.
Identifying Roman Coins by Reece
A useful little book with line drawings and lots of information for the beginning collector.
$18.50 plus $1 shipping.
Dictionary of Roman Coin Inscriptions by Westdahl
No pictures, but loaded with almost every obverse inscription that can be found on Republic, Imperial and Provincial coins. A valuable reference for those hard to identify coins.
$17.50 plus $1 shipping.
Please contact Kevin for details or to order.
Letters
Dear Mr. Barry,
I am seriously interested in learning more about Roman Coins - can you suggest a book title I might buy to better understand what you are selling?
Best wishes,
Tom
Hello Tom,
There are several books I can recommend, depending on if you are looking for a general overview of Roman coins or a good general reference for identifying specific coins.
For a general overview, a book written by Wayne Sayles title 'Ancient Coin Collecting III' and published by Krause Publications is a very good look into the world of roman coins and emperors. It really is not meant to be an aid in identifying coins, except in a very general way.
Another useful book is 'Identifying Roman Coins' by Reece. It is a slim volumn loaded with useful information about roman coins in general and some information about specific coins.
For a good general reference there is 'Roman Coins and their values' written by David Sear and published by Seaby. It is one of the best single volumn references on roman coins (from the Republic to the fall of the empire) and is used by many dealers for coin attribution. Highly recommended. But unfortunetely it is currently out of print. A new, revised edition is expected out sometime later this year.
Regards,
Kevin
BTW...you can also search for ancient coins reference books by using the Amazon.Com search feature, below. Just try searching on 'Ancient Coins' or 'Roman Coins' and see what you will find.Buy the book, before you buy the coin!!
About This Newsletter...
Items offered for sale in our newsletters are available in limited quantites and on a first come, first served basis. The prices and discounts quoted are good for 30 days from the time of first publication. If you have any questions about a particular item, please feel free to contact us.
If you have any suggestions on topics that you would like to see covered in future newsletters please email either Kevin or John. We love to hear from our customers. Don't be shy....
West Coast
John Darling
PO Box 1071
Ashland OR 97520
541.482.3636
jdarling@bitsofhistory.com
East Coast
Kevin Barry
PO Box 614
Point Pleasant, NJ 08742
732.840.8451
kbarry@bitsofhistory.com
All of our coins are guaranteed authentic and as described. We offer a minimum 14 day return policy on all of our attributed coins. Unattributed and uncleaned coins are still guaranteed to be authentic but are not covered under the 14 day return policy.
At this time we do not accept credit cards. So the payment options are money orders or checks for US customers and international money orders, wire transfers or 'speed' checks and transfers. Please note that there are additional fees involved for overseas payments that are not payable in US funds. Normal shipping is via US Post Office 1st class mail or Priority Mail. And a shipping quote will be provided at the time of the order.
Policy for existing customers. If you see something that you would really like, but just don't have the money right now. Email us and we will be happy to put the coin on reserve for you. Coins can usually be held for 2 - 4 weeks, depending on the cash flow situation.
