DR-825 | Crawford: 517/2
Marcus Antonius / Marcus Barbatius Pollio
Marcus Antonius / Marcus Barbatius Pollio

Gens: Antonia / Barbatia
Moneyer: Marcus Antonius / Marcus Barbatius Pollio
Date and mint: 41 BC - ?


Obverse: Bust of Mark Antony, right. Dotted border.
Legend: M ANT IMP AVG III VIR R P C M BARBAT Q P

Reverse: Octavian's head, right, with beard. Dotted border.
Legend: CAESAR IMP PONT III VIR R P C

Comment: The gens Antonia was a Roman family of plebeian origin that achieved great prestige in the last century of the Republic thanks to Mark Antony, right-hand man of Julius Caesar and later a member of the Second Triumvirate. The Barbatia gens, on the other hand, is barely known; Its representative in this issue is Marco Barbatio Pollio, whose initials appear in the legend as the technical person responsible for the coinage.

After the two battles of Philippi in October 42 BC, in which Cassius and Brutus committed suicide, the republican cause was extinguished. Power passed definitively to the Second Triumvirate, which divided up the provinces: the East for Antony, the West for Octavian and Africa for Lepidus. The victory was presented as a common triumph, although soon tensions between Antony and Octavian would become inevitable.

In this climate, during the summer of 41 BC, Mark Antony minted a denarius in Ephesus that projected the image of triumviral concord. On the obverse appears the portrait of Mark Antony, accompanied by his titles of Imperator, Augur and Triumvir. On the reverse, the bust of Octavian with those of Caesar, Imperator, Pontiff and Triumvir. The design offered a message of unity and shared legitimacy: both were presented as Caesar's heirs, backed by the victory at Philippi and by the highest military and religious titles.

The coin is actually a piece of political propaganda. Beneath the surface of concord the rivalry between the two young leaders was already hidden, but at that moment it was essential to display the alliance to stabilize power and justify the authority of the Triumvirate before Roma and the provinces.

Provenance: Heritage Auctions (2011)
Price: 8,194 €