309, Lot: 262. Estimate $100. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Mark Antony. Autumn 32-spring 31 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.45 g, 7h). Legionary type. Patrae(?) mint. Galley right / CHORTIS SPECVLATORVM, three signa, each decorated with two wreaths and small galley. Crawford 544/12; CRI 386; Sydenham 1214; RSC 6. Fine, light porosity, banker’s mark on obverse. Scarce.

From the RVP Collection.

Among the rarer issues of the legionary series, this type pays tribute to Mark Antony’s “spies.” The speculatores are first mentioned in Caesar’s Commentarii on his campaigns in Gaul. There, they took on a specifically "intelligence” role and sometimes infiltrated the enemy. Mark Antony formed these men, who had earlier been seconded from time to time out of the legions, into a permanently separate body. As time progressed, these individuals became an indispensable part of the government, gathering information not only about external, but also about internal, enemies of the state.