80
3094
Mark Antony & Cleopatra VII. Silver Denarius (3.63 g), 34 BC.
Alexandria. ANTONI ARM-ENIA DEVIC-TA, head of M. Antony
right; behind, Armenian tiara.
Reverse:
CLEOPATRAE [REGI-
NAE] REGVM FILIORVM REGVM, diademed and draped bust of
Cleopatra right; below, prow of galley right. Crawford 543/2; HCRI
345; Newman 34.3; Sydenham 1210; RSC 1. Mostly well struck and
perfectly centered with two exceptional portraits. Well toned.
Ex-
tremely Fine.
In the autumn of 34 BC Antony celebrated an unusual and osten-
tatious (even by Roman standards) triumph through the streets of
Alexandria. The event was staged to play up his successes in con-
quering Armenia, although he had summarily failed in the main
objective of the campaign, which was the conquest of Parthia. The
parade ended at the Gymnasium of Alexandria, where the entire
citizen body hand been assembled to witness what has become
known as the ‘Donations of Alexandria’. For the spectacle, Antony
and Cleopatra dressed as Dionysus-Osiris and Isis-Aphrodite, and
sat upon massive golden thrones, with Cleopatra’s young son by
Julius Caesar, Caesarion, dressed as Horus beside them. Cleopa-
tra’s other children were dressed in the attire of the kingdoms they
were to inherit. For the Donations, Antony affirmed Cleopatra as
queen of Egypt, Cyprus, Libya and parts of Syria, and bestowed
upon her children the eastern provinces of Rome from Cilicia to
North Africa, as well as Parthia which remained unconquered.
As for Caesarion, he was proclaimed the son and legitimate
heir of the deified Julius Caesar, and affirmed as King of Egypt.
Antony sent an announcement to the Senate requesting con-
firmation of the Donations, but the Senate refused to coun-
tenance such an affront to the dignity of Rome. Ocatavi-
an, who was Caesar’s heir through adoption, was of course
threatened by Antony’s claiming Caesarion Caesar’s legiti-
mate heir, and this perhaps above all else led to the outbreak
of the final confrontation between Octavian and Antony.
The coin is truly remarkable. Never before had the portrait of a
foreign head of state appeared on a Roman coin. Addition-
ally, the legend joined with Cleopatra’s portrait proclaims “of
Cleopatra, Queen of Kings and of her sons (children) who
are Kings,” thus affirming the Donations that Antony had be-
stowed. Finally, this coin uses a previously unknown die with
a new legend break (DEVIC-TA). Neither are illustrated in Ban-
ti nor the photofiles of either the British Museum or the ANS.
Estimated Value ........................................................ $25,000 - 30,000
Published in the Celator in 2012.
