The Republicans. Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus. 41-40 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.75 g, 8h). Uncertain mint in the region of the Adriatic or Ionian Sea. Bare head right, wearing short beard; AHENOBAR upward to right / Prow right surmounted by a military trophy; CN • DOMITIVS • IMP around from lower left. Crawford 519/2; CRI 339; Sydenham 1177; Domitia 21; BMCRR East 94–7; RBW 1803. Lovely iridescent toning, small flan flaw on obverse. Near EF. Excellent portrait and well centered.
Ex H. Schulman (14 February 1958), lot 1958.
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus commanded a fleet against the Triumvirs, achieving a minor victory in September of 42 BC. But that very day, the Triumvirs won the battle of Philippi and Ahenobarbus found himself fighting for a lost cause. He became a piratical rogue, terrorizing the ports of the Adriatic like his western counterpart, Sextus Pompey, until he signed the Pact of Brundisium in 40 BC, which reconciled him to Mark Antony in particular. His great-grandson would become the Emperor Nero (AD 54-68). The rare coinage of Ahenobarbus belongs to his stint as a “pirate king” 42-40 BC. This silver denarius bears an appropriately nautical reverse celebrating his victories at sea. The lean, bearded portrait on the obverse remains enigmatic; it may represent Gnaeus himself, or one of his ancestors.
