Mark Antony and Octavian. Aureus (Gold, 20 mm, 8.10 g, 1 h), M. Barbatius Pollio, quaestor pro praetore. Ephesus (?), spring-early summer 41 BC. M•ANT•IMP•AVG•III•VIR•R•P•C•M•BARBAT•Q•P• Bare head of Mark Antony to right. Rev. CAESAR•IMP•PONT•III•VIR•R•P•C• Bare head of Octavian to right. Antike Kunst (1967), pl. 52, 477 (this coin). Babelon (Antonia) 50 and (Barbatia) 1. Bahrfeldt 77. Calicó 109. Crawford 517/1a. RBW 1797. Sydenham 1180. Rare. A lovely example of this intriguing issue. The obverse a bit weak and with light doubling, otherwise, very fine.


The relationship between Mark Antony and Octavian was never easy. As one of Julius Caesar's most experienced generals, Antony saw the rise of his former master's adopted son with great distrust ever since Octavian mustered his own army of veteran Caesarian legionaries and fought against him in 43 BC. With the forming of the Second Triumvirate in November of the same year, however, Antony and Octavian became allies in their fight against Caesar's murderers. To corroborate the alliance, Antony even married off his stepdaughter Clodia to Octavian. In 42, the united armies of the Caesarians headed to the East, where they decisively defeated the armies of Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in the Battle(s) of Philippi.

As the dominant figure among the three triumviri, Antony claimed the bulk of the empire for himself in the aftermath of victory, including all of the eastern provinces, which would form the foundation of his power until his downfall a decade later. This aureus was struck by Antony in Ephesus (?) in the spring or summer of 41 and gives, unsurprisingly, much more prominence to him than to his ally Octavian, seeing as his portrait appears on the obverse of the coin. Furthermore, his head is also clearly larger and more mature, whereas Octavian is shown as the young man he still was, perhaps deliberately to emphasize his inexperience. These features expose the tensions that were once more building up between the two men, which would soon erupt in the Perusine War of 41-40.