Mark Antony, 44-30 BC. Denarius (Silver, 16 mm, 4.00 g, 6 h), military mint moving with Mark Antony (Patrae?), 32-31. ANT AVG III VIR R P C Galley right, with scepter tied with fillet on prow. Rev. LEG IIX Aquila between two signa. Babelon (Antonia) -. Crawford -. RBW -. Sydenham -. Apparently unpublished in the standard references with the legion written as IIX. Struck from a somewhat worn obverse die, otherwise, good very fine.



Legio XII, very rarely as on this coin written IIX (and priced at £300 in RSC), which later came to be known as Fulminata ('Thunderbolt-bearer'), was levied by Caesar in 58 BC in preparation for the battle against the Nervians. It received its cognomen from its emblem, a thunderbolt, and another cognomen of this legion, also attested by the legionary denarii of Mark Antony, was Antiqua ('the old'). It served under Caesar's command in the wars against the Pompeians, and later went over to Antony. Legio XII survived Actium and Octavian's subsequent reforms, serving for several centuries in the East, where it was still guarding the Euphrates River crossing near Melitene at the beginning of the 5th century.