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Lot 63

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Auction date

26-06-2024 15:00 CET

hammer

Finalized

Starting price 2.800 €

SOLD BY 5.750 €

PERIOD FROM JULIUS CAESAR TO AUGUSTUS

PERIOD FROM JULIUS CAESAR TO AUGUSTUS. MARK ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. Denarius. Mobile mint (32 BC). Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra right, prow in front, CLEOPATRA REGINAE REGVM FILIORVM REGVM. Rev. Head of Mark Antony right, Armenian tiara behind; ANTONI ARMENIA DEVICTA. AR 3,48 g. 18.1 mm. CRAW-543. 1; FFC-4. Rough fields. EF-. Rare.
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Numismática
At this time, the definitive rupture between Caesar Octavian and Mark Antony is about to occur. Following the Treaty of Tarentum (38 B.C.), they had extended the triumvirate for five years, but soon after, Antonius deserted his Roman wife, Octavia, and travelled to Egypt to solidify his alliance with Cleopatra and initiate the campaign against the Parthians. This endeavour ultimately failed, largely due to the betrayal of the Armenian king. Meanwhile, Octavian forced Lepidus to resign and seized his territories (36 B.C.) after defeating the resistance of Sextus Pompey. Upon Antony's request for troops, Octavian sent his wife, Octavia, with just two thousand men. Antonius repudiated Octavia and sent her back to Rome. Octavian seized this opportunity to accuse Antonius of betraying Rome in favour of his Egyptian lover. In this context, Antonius, now married to Cleopatra and financed by her, launched a victorious campaign in Armenia, which he celebrated with a triumph in Alexandria. He then declared the rupture of his alliance with Octavianus and carried out what later became known as the Donations of Alexandria (34 BC) among the children he had with Cleopatra. Thus, Alexander Helios was appointed king of Armenia and of Media and Parthia (once conquered), his twin sister Cleopatra Selene received Cyrenaica and Libya, and Ptolemy Philadelphus obtained Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia. Cleopatra herself was recognized as Queen of Kings and confirmed as Queen of Egypt and Cyprus alongside her son Ptolemy Caesar as co-regent and subordinate, who was also declared a legitimate son and heir of the Divine Caesar. Unable to tolerate these assertions, Octavian declined to renew the triumvirate when its term expired in 33 BC, marking the commencement of the final confrontation with Antony. This denarius is minted to commemorate these events: on one side, Antony's victory over Armenia, as indicated by the legend on the obverse, which also features the royal tiara of the Armenian monarchs. The reverse portrays Cleopatra with the inscription CLEOPATRAE REGINAE REGVM FILIORVM REGVM (of Cleopatra, queen of kings whose sons are kings), which directly refers to the aforementioned donations. These denarii, steeped in Roman tradition, find their counterpart in very similar tetradrachms of Hellenistic tradition, symbolizing the fusion of two worlds.

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