COELE. Chalkis ad Libanon. Mark Antony with Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Ae (32/31 BC).
Obv: BACIΛICCHC KΛEOΠATPAC.
Diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra right.
Rev: ETOYC KA TOY KAI Ϛ ΘEAC NEWTEPAC.
Bare head of Mark Antony right.
RPC I 4771; SNG Copenhagen 382; BMC 15.
Condition: good fine.
Weight: 6.15 g.
Diameter: 22 mm.
As the struggle between Mark Antony and Octavian dragged on in the 30s B.C., the geographical and political lines became ever more defined. Antony had become entrenched in the Eastern Mediterranean, and in doing so had allied himself with Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt, whose original supporter in Rome, Julius Caesar, had been murdered years before. She had his son, Caesarion, at her side, but she needed an ally like Antony if she hoped to preserve Egypt from the ever-widening grasp of Rome. Importantly, Antony was easier to manipulate than Octavian, who had no sympathy for Cleopatra’s motives. Although this woman of blinding intellect may have found her marriage to Antony a degrading experience, personally, she was crafty enough to realise it was her only chance at survival. Hence, she was probably eager to issue dual-portrait coins, such as the denarius offered here. Little more indication is necessary to recognise that Cleopatra had effectively dominated her husband, the Roman warlord Antony.