Defeat of Sextus Pompey at Naulochus Commemorated

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 651. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $16000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Octavian. 30-29 BC. AV Aureus (7.50 g, 6h). Italian (Rome?) mint. Draped bust of Diana Siciliensis right, her shoulders bare, the hair drawn back and coiled into two rolls on top and back of head; behind neck, bow and quiver / IMP • CAESAR on frieze, tetrastyle temple containing a naval and military trophy set on prow; in pediment, triskelis; above, at corners, aplustra . RIC I 273; CRI 418; Calicó 206; BMCRE 643 = BMCRR Rome 4355; BN 91; Biaggi 105 (this coin). Good VF, lightly toned, a few minor edge marks, some roughness in fields. Rare.

Ex Biaggi Collection, 105.

Sextus Pompey, the younger son of Pompey the Great, inherited his father's vast influence and personal following. He first established himself in Spain in 44 BC as the successful leader of the anti-Caesarian forces and following the death of Caesar, the Senate, believing itself freed from the domination of the Caesarians, bestowed on Sextus the title of praefectus classis et orae maritimae (Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet and of the Sea Coasts). But, four months later the Senate was forced by Octavian and the second triumvirate to rescind this title and Sextus was proscribed. Upon receiving word of the Senate's abrogation of his commission and seeing the hostilities the Caesarians were exacting on the leading figures in Rome, Sextus set sail from Massilia in Gaul and headed for Sicily. Here he would establish a powerful base from which he could blockade Italy and provide a safe haven for those fleeing the proscriptions. Alarmed at the developements, Octavian sent a naval squadron under the command of Salvidienus Rufus to handle the situation, but Salvidienus was defeated off the coast of Rhegium. Following this battle, Sextus took the title of imperator iterum. Sextus would continue the republican struggle against the second triumvirate until his death in 36 BC.