LEG V MAC

442, Lot: 385. Estimate $200. Sold for $260. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Gallienus. AD 253-268. Antoninianus (19.5mm, 2.81 g, 1h). Mediolanum (Milan) mint. Issue 2(2), AD 260-1. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust left, seen from rear, holding spear, pointing upwards, and shield on left shoulder / LEG V MAC VI P VI F, Victory standing right, holding wreath and palm; eagle at her feet. MIR 36, 1004i; RIC V (joint reign) 345; Cunetio –. VF, brown surfaces, minor roughness.

Ex Astarte XVI (26 November 2004), lot 1835.

Legio V Macedonica was the longest lived of all Roman legions, with a history stretching from the last gasps of the Roman Republic to the early Byzantine era. It was likely raised circa 43 BC as one of the last legions loyal to the Republic, before being taken over by Octavian following the battle of Mutina. From the 30s BC to AD 6, Legio V served in Macedonia, from whence it earned its cognomen. It later served in Moesia, Cappadocia, Armenia, and Judaea, before finally settling in at the fortress of Potaissa in Dacia (modern Romania) in the AD 160s, where it remained for more than a century. Vexillations from V Macedonica fought in numerous campaigns on many fronts. After Aurelian abandoned Dacia in AD 271, V Macedonica returned to Moesia, but at least one detachment was sent to Memphis, Egypt and remained there until the Islamic invasion of the later seventh century AD. The legions symbols were a bull and an eagle, seen on the reverse here accompanying Victory.