Details
LOT 2955
Gordian III AE 27mm of Berytus, Phoenicia. AD 238-244.
Struck AD 241-244. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AVG COS II P P, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / COL IVL AVG FEL BER, temple with four columns enclosing bust of Astarte wearing turreted crown and flanked on each side by cornucopiae and aquilae; on roof, Neptune abducting Beroe flanked by two Victories holding wreath; pellet in pediment; in exergue, lion advancing to right. RPC VII.2, 3558; BMC 236-9; SNG Copenhagen 122. Near Very Fine.(12.53gr, 27mm, 12h.).
Provenance
Private collection, acquired 1980–1985.
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Property of a North London, UK, gentleman.
This artistically fascinating and typologically unique coin refers directly to the victory of Octavian (as was) and Agrippa at Actium over the forces of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony, and to the settlement of veterans in Nemausus. The crocodile, collared around the neck and chained to a palm on the reverse of this coin is a clear reference to the subjugation of Egypt, thus obliquely referring also to Antony and Cleopatra; the wreath above with ties fluttering in the breeze is a reminder that the war was both just and necessary, with the victory having brought about the deliverance and salvation of the Roman people and the state. It is noteworthy also that the portraits of Agrippa and Augustus on the obverse are presented on the same level and back to back, at once recalling the ancient Janiform types once so prevalent on the Roman coinage, and also presenting princeps and general as inseparable and heroic partners - the one adorned with a wreath of laurel, the other with a rostral wreath in recognition for his naval victories.
