Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 720. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Augustus. 27 BC-AD 14. AR Denarius (3.71 g, 6h). Pergamum mint. Struck 19 BC. AVGVSTVS, bare head right / CAESAR DIV F/ARMEN CAPTA/[I]MP VIIII in three lines across field, Armenian standing facing, holding spear in right hand, and holding bow set on ground in left hand. RIC I 520 corr. (rev. legend listed as DIVI); RSC 57; BMCRE 676-7 = BMCRR East 307; BN 1000. Good VF, toned, areas of roughness. Rare.

The eastern part of the Roman empire had long proved a difficult region to control. In 53 BC, Crassus was killed at Carrhae and Rome had lost its legionary standards. The limits of Roman might were severely tested. Keeping Armenia free from Parthian domination was of great importance to Augustus. When the Armenians asked for Rome's help in ridding them of Artaxes in favor of Tigranes, Augustus sent Tiberius to deal with the matter. In the event, the Armenians themselves removed Artaxes, Tiberius arriving late to be of little aid. However, the Romans, always ready to use propaganda to their advantage, treated this 'victory' as a monumental diplomatic triumph. Tiberius "put on a lordly air, especially after sacrifices had been offered up to commemorate the event, as though he had accomplished something by martial prowess." (Dio, liv. 9).