Hello all,
A strange Antony
denarius to share today.
Crawford 536/3, CRI 272;
RSC 18b;
Sydenham 1204. Struck at a
military mint travelling with Antony in northern
Syria, 39-38 BCE,
weight 3.23g,
diameter 21mm,
die axis 5h. The
obverse was probably struck from a pretty worn die, while the
reverse is in much sharper condition. It's usually the
reverse for Roman
denarii.
The fields are darkly
toned which makes it a very photogenic coin.
Antony's third
Imperatorial acclamation takes credit for the victories of Publius Ventidius Bassus (
his lieutenant) over the
Parthians with eleven legions. Antony was distracted by other matters and sent Ventidius on
his behalf to delay a
Parthian invasion of
Syria. However Ventidius did much more than that, winning three decisive engagements. The first was against Quintus
Labienus (a former colleague of
Brutus and Cassius) who was defeated, captured and executed at the Cilician Gates. The second was at Amanus Pass where he forced the
Parthians to withdraw from
Syria in 39 BCE. The
Parthians reinvaded
Syria in 38 BCE led by Pacorus I but Ventidius defeated and killed him at Mt. Gindarus.
Ventidius did not pursue the
Parthians further after this third
victory as he did not wish to tempt Antony's jealousy. He was pensioned off to
Rome and granted a triumph for
his Parthian victories, a stunning turnaround as in
his youth he was marched through
Rome as a prisoner in Pompey Strabo's triumph.
Sear notes that the prow is unusual since there was no significant use of naval power in the
Parthian campaign.
