The Fleet coinage was a set of bronze coins minted by Mark Antony in the eastern Mediterranean from 40 BC until 30 BC. The coinage introduced Roman-style denominations to the eastern half of the Roman empire and formed the basis for the monetary reforms under Augustus. The coinage is also referred to by numismatists as RPC 1 1453-70 and 4092, after their designation in M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (1975).
In 40 BC, the rivals Mark Antony and Octavian agreed to the Treaty of Brundisium, which assigned the eastern half of the Roman empire to Mark Antony. The fleet coinage was a set of bronze denominations issued to serve as small change for the region under his control. Modern scholars refer to it as the "fleet coinage" because they were minted by three of Antony's fleet prefects, Lucius Calpurnius Bibulus, Lucius Sempronius Atratinus and Marcus Oppius Capito, who are named on the obverse of the issues. There are six denominations, as follows: [1]
Obverse design | Reverse design | Denomination | Image |
---|---|---|---|
Facing busts of Antony and Octavia | Two figures riding a chariot pulled by four hippocamps, HS Δ | Sestertius (4 asses) | RPC 1453 |
Busts of Antony and Octavian at left, facing bust of Octavia | Three ships, a triskeles below, Γ | Tressis (3 asses) | |
Facing busts of Antony and Octavia | Two ships, with two hats of the Dioscuri above, Β | Dupondius (2 asses) | RPC 1455 |
Jugate busts of Antony and Octavia | A ship, with the head of Medusa below, Α | As (12 unciae) | RPC 1456 |
Bust of Antony | Prow of a ship, S | Semis (1/2 as = 6 unciae) | RPC 4092 |
Janiform head (of Antony and Octavian?) | Stem of a ship's prow, three dots | Quadrans (1/4 as = 3 unciae) | RPC 1467 |
Based on where the coins have been found, it appears that there were three separate mints: one at the Roman colony of Corinth, which had been founded in 44 BC; one at a coastal city in the Levant; and probably one in Piraeus, the port of Athens. [2]
The gens Lucilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The most famous member of this gens was the poet Gaius Lucilius, who flourished during the latter part of the second century BC. Although many Lucilii appear in Roman history, the only one known to have obtained any of the higher offices of the Roman state was Lucilius Longus, consul suffectus in AD 7.
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction during the Republic, in the third century BC, through Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, and composition. A feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement of coins over the centuries. Notable examples of this followed the reforms of Diocletian. This trend continued with Byzantine currency.
Fulvia was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, and Mark Antony. All of these men would go on to lead increasingly promising political careers as populares, tribunes, and supporters of Julius Caesar.
Roman Republican currency is the coinage struck by the various magistrates of the Roman Republic, to be used as legal tender. In modern times, the abbreviation RRC, "Roman Republican Coinage" originally the name of a reference work on the topic by Michael H. Crawford, has come to be used as an identifying tag for coins assigned a number in that work, such as RRC 367.
An augustalis or augustale, also agostaro, was a gold coin minted in the Kingdom of Sicily beginning in 1231.
Several men of plebeian status were named Lucius Scribonius Libo during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire; they were members of the gens Scribonia.
The gens Calpurnia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 180 BC, but from this time their consulships were very frequent, and the family of the Pisones became one of the most illustrious in the Roman state. Two important pieces of Republican legislation, the lex Calpurnia of 149 BC and lex Acilia Calpurnia of 67 BC were passed by members of the gens.
Gaius Sosius was a Roman general and politician who featured in the wars of the late Republic as a staunch supporter of Mark Antony. Under the latter's patronage he held important state offices and military commands, serving as governor of Syria and leading the expedition to install Herod as king of Judea. Sosius was consul in the year 32 BC, when the Second Triumvirate lapsed and open conflict erupted between the triumvirs Antony and Octavian. Upon taking office, Sosius opposed Octavian in the Senate, for which he was forced to flee Rome.
The gens Sempronia was one of the most ancient and noble houses of ancient Rome. Although the oldest branch of this gens was patrician, with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus obtaining the consulship in 497 BC, the thirteenth year of the Republic, but from the time of the Samnite Wars onward, most if not all of the Sempronii appearing in history were plebeians. Although the Sempronii were illustrious under the Republic, few of them attained any importance or notice in imperial times.
Lucius Sempronius Atratinus was a Roman politician who was elected suffect consul in 34 BC. He is mentioned in Pro Caelio, a famous speech in defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus by Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The gens Veturia, originally Vetusia, was an ancient patrician family of the Roman Republic. According to tradition, the armourer Mamurius Veturius lived in the time of Numa Pompilius, and made the sacred ancilia. The Veturii occur regularly in the Fasti Consulares of the early Republic, with Gaius Veturius Geminus Cicurinus holding the consulship in 499 BC. Like other old patrician gentes, the Veturii also developed plebeian branches. The family declined in the later Republic, with the last consular Veturius holding office in 206 BC, during the Second Punic War.
The Swiss Numismatic Society was founded in 1879 and is a registered non-profit organization. It is the overall Swiss association of individuals and institutions with an interest in ancient and modern numismatics.
The coinage reform of Augustus refers to the reform of Roman currency undertaken by Augustus in 23 BC.
Carthaginian or Punic currency refers to the coins of ancient Carthage, a Phoenician city-state located near present-day Tunis, Tunisia. Between the late fifth century BC and its destruction in 146 BC, Carthage produced a wide range of coinage in gold, electrum, silver, billon, and bronze. The base denomination was the shekel, probably pronounced in Punic. Only a minority of Carthaginian coinage was produced or used in North Africa. Instead, the majority derive from Carthage's holdings in Sardinia and western Sicily.
The history of ancient Iberian coinage begins as early as the fifth century BC, but widespread minting and circulation in the Iberian peninsula did not begin until late in the third century, during the Second Punic War. Civic coinages - emissions made by individual cities at their own volition - continued under the first two and a half centuries of Roman control until ending in the mid-first century AD. Some non-civic coins were minted on behalf of Roman emperors during this period and continued to be minted after the cessation of the civic coinages. After the cessation of the civic coinages, these Imperial coins were the only coins minted in Iberia until the coins of the Suebi and Visigoths.
Michel Amandry is a French numismatist.
The gens Publicia, occasionally found as Poblicia or Poplicia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in history during the period following the First Punic War, and the only one to achieve the consulship was Marcus Publicius Malleolus in 232 BC.
Legionary denarii is the modern name for a series of Roman silver denarius coins issued by Mark Antony in the eastern Mediterranean during the last war of the Roman Republic from 32 to 31 BC, in the lead up to the Battle of Actium. The coinage is also referred to by numismatists as RRC 544/1-39, after its designation in M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (1975).
Suzanne Frey-Kupper is a classical archaeologist and numismatist from Switzerland, who is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. She specialises in the study of Greek, Roman and Punic coinage, in particular examining their role in historical processes and as social agents.