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Mark Antony Legionary Denarius LEG XII
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ANT AVG III VIR R P C
galley r. mast with banners at prow
LEG XII
legionary eagle between two standards
Patrae mint 32-31BC
This was Caesar's 12th legion, raised in 58 BC for the campaign against the Helvetii. It served throughout the wars in Gaul (58 to 49), Italy (49), and at Pharsalus (48). It was disbanded 46-45 BC and the colonists were settled at Parma. The legion was reformed in 44-43 BC most likely by Lepidus. The legion was then passed to Antony in 41-31 BC and was present at Actium. It appears on Antony's coinage as LEG XII ANTIQVAE. Colonists were settled at Patrai, Greece alongside men of Legio X Equestris, perhaps by Antony, more likely by Octavian soon after Actium.
The legion's whereabouts during most of Augustus' reign is unclear. The 12th was very possibly the unnamed third legion (with III Cyrenaica and XXII Deiotariana) stationed in Egypt. That unnamed legion disappears from Egypt at just about the same time that Legio XII Fulminata is first found in Syria. By early in the reign of Tiberius, the 12th legion was based at Raphanae.
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