Antonius - Legionary Coinage, Legio V AlaudaeObv. [ANT AVG] IIIVIR RPC, galley right, mast with banners at prow;
Rev. LEG V, legionary eagle between two standards;
18mm, 3,40 gr.
Patrae, military mint of Antony, 31 B.C.
References: RRC544, RSC 32, Sear 1479
Legio V Alaudae was the first legion to be raised from non-Romans. These men were transalpine Gauls, enrolled by Caesar in 52 B.C, and took to wearing lark's feathers on their helmets - hence their epithet, Alaudae, "the Larks". The Fifth was long believed to have been destroyed in, or dissolved after the Batavian Revolt of 69/70 AD, where they participated with the rest of the Rhine legions and the Treveri and Lingones in the uprising. However, epigraphic material now indicates the presence of the Fifth on the Danube in Flavian times. Records disappear again soon afterward, and it may have been lost in the Dacian Wars under Domitian. Syltorian
|
|
Antonius - Legionary Coinage, Unknown Legion)Obv. [ANT AVG IIIVIR RPC], galley right, masts with banners at prow.
Rev. [LEG ?], legionary eagle between standards,
16 mm; 3,13 g
Patrae, mint moving with Antony, 31 B.C.,
References: RRC544, RSC 32, Sear 1479
On this coin: the number of the legion can no longer be distinguished, though it begins with a V or the upper parts of an X. The obverse features three control punches made by bankers to test the silver.
Syltorian
|
|
Octavian and Antonius, Concordia (Quinarius)Obv. IIIVIR RPC, veiled and diademed head of Concordia right;
Rev. C CAESAR M ANTON, clasped hands with Caduceus;
Gaul, 40/39 B.C.
14 mm, 1,83 gr.
References: RRC429/4b, RSC 67, Sear 1575
The coinage was struck soon after the Treaty of Brundisium, in which the IIIViri Rei Publicae Constituendae (Triumvirs for the Confirmation of the Republic), Octavian (Caesar), Antony and Lepidus divided the Roman sphere of influence amongst themselves. To cement the alliance, Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia. Some have believed to see her features in the face of Concordia, thus showing the importance of the politic marriage. Syltorian
|
|
