Mark Antony, 44-30 BC. Denarius (Silver, 18 mm, 3.88 g, 1 h), with M. Junius Silanus, quaestor pro consule, military mint moving with Antony, probably Athens, summer 32. ANTON•AVG•IMP•III•COS•DES•III•III•V•R•P•C Bare head of Mark Antony to right; behind his ear, small P (engraver's signature). Rev. M•SILANVS•AVG / Q•PRO•COS in two lines. Babelon (Antonia) 97 and (Junia) 172. Crawford 542/1. RBW 1830. Sydenham 1208. Areas of minor weakness, otherwise, very fine.

One might describe M. Junius Silanus as one of the most notorious flip-floppers of the civil wars of 44-30 BC, but his career reflects the precarious position of subordinate Roman politicians during this turbulent period. Individuals like Silanus closely monitored the shifting tides of war while avoiding firm allegiance to any single imperatorial figure - an approach that could mean the difference between survival and execution in an era where neutrality was not an option. Loyal supporters of defeated generals often faced capital punishment, while early defectors were usually pardoned and allowed to continue their careers. Silanus first served under Lepidus before backing Mark Antony at the Battle of Mutina in 43. He later aligned with Sextus Pompey, was pardoned in 39, and subsequently served as quaestor pro consule under Antony in 33-32. On the eve of the Battle of Actium in 31, he defected to Octavian and was later rewarded with the consulship in 25. Silanus was still alive in 11 BC, when he and his brother Lucius are last recorded as augurs in the Fasti Sacerdotum. The coin under discussion was struck in Athens in the summer of 32, as Antony’s forces gathered in Greece in preparation for their final confrontation with Octavian.