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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Broucheion, post: 4277678, member: 104887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1088610[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>MARCUS ANTONIUS (44-31/30 BCE)</b></p><p><b>MILITARY MINT: PATRAE (?); EPHESUS (?)</b></p><p><b>Autumn 32 - Spring 31 BCE</b></p><p><b>Size:</b> 17mm</p><p><b>Weight:</b> 3.2 g</p><p><b>Die Axis:</b> 02:30</p><p><b>OBV:</b> Praetorian galley facing right with rowers and standard above prow. Above: ANT ∙ AVG, below: III VIR[ ∙ R ∙ P ∙ C]. Dotted Border.</p><p><b>REV:</b> Three standards (signa) of the COHORTIS SPECVLATORVM showing garlanded eagles facing right above garlanded ship&#039;s prows (rostra).</p><p>Legend starts at 7:00 and goes to 4:00 around edge. Dotted border.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Extended excerpts from Fernando Lopez Sanchez (INR 2010): </i></b></p><p>&quot;The epigraphic formula employed by coin engravers in the seriation of legiones XII Antiqua (RRC:540, No 544/9; Pl 21:1), XVII Classica (RRC:540, No 544/10; Pl 21:2), XVIII Lybica (RRC:540, No 544/114; Pl 21:3) and of cohors speculatorum (RRC:540, No 544/12; Pl 21:4) and cohortes praetoriae (RRC:539, Nos 544/1,8; Pl 21:5) is indeed highly distinctive and original. These five coin types appear to make up together a legionary mini-series of a very limited quantity which differs from Antony’s other legionary issues (Keppie 1983:27). The hoards that contain legionary coins of Antony show lower frequencies of these five types compared with the others (Keppie 2000: 80 and n 51).</p><p><br /></p><p>The denarii for the cohors speculatorum (RRC:540, No 544/12) depict on the reverse three signa, each decorated with two wreaths and a prow. These are per se the most remarkable coin issues of all those in Antony’s legionary series. If the wreaths signal a triumphant military action, then the rostra make it clear that it was naval in character. These two elements, the scout boat together with features of the legend CHORTIS SPECVLATORVM (RRC:540, No 544/12) appear to suggest that it is Antony’s watchful attitude, as described by Cassius (50:11.1) that is specifically referred to in these denarii. Antony’s vigilance proved successful, as Cassius indicates in his statement that Octavian’s fleet was unable to proceed beyond Corcyra and had to return to Brundisium. There can be little doubt that this was viewed as a victory by Antony’s troops, and, consequently, Antony was granted the salutation Imp IIII on the RRC:542-543, Nos 546/1-3c series of Scarpus in Cyrenaica in 31 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>The mention of the Praetorian Guard and of speculatores on Antony’s denarii, with the similar type of coin legend (CHORTIVM PRAETORIARVM and CHORTIS SPECVLATORVM) suggests that the victorious scouts of Antony’s army were not alone in watching over the straits of Otranto and that the Praetorian Guard may have been left there together with them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Antony’s abandonment of Corcyra and its subsequent occupation by Agrippa&#039;s forces may therefore be considered the key moment that shifted the balance of the war in Octavian’s favor. The special distinction bestowed by a peculiar Antonine coin series on legions XII Antiqua, XVII Lybica and XVIII Classica, the cohortes praetoriae, and above all the cohors speculatorum, may thus be better understood in the context of the successful blockade by Antony of Octavian’s first attempt to disembark in Epirus in the beginning of 31 BCE. Scarpus, then commander of all the troops based on the island of Corcyra, won a significant tactical victory for Antony, earning the salutation imperator for himself for the first time, and for the triumvir for the fourth.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>- Broucheion[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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