Nicopolis’ Boundary Marked

Triton XVII, Lot: 608. Estimate $750. Sold for $1500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Octavian. Autumn 30-summer 29 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.86 g, 6h). Italian (Rome?) mint. Laureate head of Apollo of Actium right, with features resembling Octavian / Octavian, as city founder, veiled and wearing priestly robes, plowing right with yoke of oxen, holding whip in outstretched left hand and plow-handle in right; IMP • CAESAR in exergue. CRI 424; RIC I 272; RSC 117; BMCRE 638-40 = BMCRR Rome 4363-5; BN 92-6. Good VF, attractive gray and iridescent tone.

From the Archer M. Huntington Collection, ANS 1001.1.22812.

This issue refers to the foundation of Nicopolis in Epiros by Octavian during the Actian campaign. This scene, in which the founder is plowing with oxen, refers to the Roman custom of fixing a boundary for a new city by marking it with a pomerium, or sacred furrow.