Goldberg Coins and Collectibles



Sale 108
 
Lot 244

Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Silver Tetradrachm (14.97 g), 36 BC. Antioch in Syria. BACIΛICCA KΛEOΠATPA ΘEA NEωTEPA, diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra right. Rev. ANTωNIOC AY[TOKPATωP T]PITON TPIωN ANΔPωN, bare head of Mark Antony right. McAlee 174; Prieur 27; RPC I 4094. Huge flan on fine metal with complete legends. Toned. An incredible coin! Possibly the finest known specimen. Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $50,000 - UP
From the S. Moussaieff Collection, This lot has been officially exported from Israel through the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Cleopatra VII, the last queen of the Ptolemaic kingdom, remains to this day a colossal figure of legend as much as history. Her life and tragic end have been immortalized and popularized by poets, playwrights, and screen actors over the centuries since her death. While the average person is not likely to know the various preceding Cleopatras, Arsinoes, and Berenikes of the Ptolemaic dynasty, almost everyone knows of Cleopatra VII, if only in her latter day guise as Elizabeth Taylor. She remains ever an icon of ancient female power and this remarkable silver tetradrachm features one of her most iconic portraits to survive from antiquity.

The most famous Ptolemaic queen is shown here in rich royal dress and wearing the diadem — a long standing symbol of royal authority in the Hellenistic age, but most commonly worn by kings rather than queens. It serves as a sign that Cleopatra sought to rule entirely in her own right without accepting the second place of power behind a husband, as was customary in the Greek cultural tradition. She had rejected her brother, Ptolemy XIII, as co-ruler (probably also as husband) by the summer of 51 BC, sparking a civil war in Egypt that eventually drew the attention of Julius Caesar who was waging his own civil war (49-45 BC) against Pompey and his senatorial adherents. She initiated a romance with the Roman leader as a means of using his power to defend her position. A son born to them became a new potential tool for guaranteeing the security of Cleopatra's kingdom, but after Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, his adopted nephew, Octavian was recognized as his legitimate heir.

In 41 BC, the triumvir Mark Antony invited Cleopatra to meet him at Tarsus. A romantic relationship developed between the two, but this was in part predicated on the burning desire that each had for power. Antony's grandiose military ambitions would surely benefit from the wealth of Ptolemaic Egypt to underwrite them while Cleopatra might convince the triumvir to restore old Ptolemaic possessions detached by the Romans. Even more, children by Antony, a man deemed by many at the time to be the most powerful of the triumvirs, might even offer Cleopatra a chance to parlay her position as queen of Egypt into that of queen of the entire Roman world. The potential opportunities were far too great for either of them to ignore.

In 40 BC, Cleopatra provided Antony with a fleet and support for his Parthian campaign in return for the restoration of former Ptolemaic territories in Cilicia and Cyprus that had been annexed by the Romans. By the end of the year, she had also given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, both of whom Antony recognized as his own. Despite the arrival of these children, Antony concluded a marriage alliance with Octavia in order to preserve the triumviral arrangement that recognized Antony as master in the East. He returned to the arms of Cleopatra in 36 BC, gaining her financial support for a new and ultimately failed Parthian campaign, and granting her large parts of Phoenicia and Coele Syria, as well as Jericho and parts of the Nabataean kingdom.

This tetradrachm was struck at the time of this renewal of the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra and may perhaps represent part of the monies provided to support the Parthian war. The Greek legend surrounding the portrait of Cleopatra names her as Thea Neotera ("the Younger [or Newer] Goddess") which may have provided some cover of legitimacy for Antony's grants to Cleopatra of territories annexed by Rome. It has been suggested that she is described as Thea Neotera in order to connect her to her ancestor, Cleopatra Thea (i.e. the "Elder Goddess"), the daughter of Ptolemy VI Philometor who ruled as the powerful queen of the Seleukid Empire in 150-126 BC. This Seleukid connection was used to give the impression that Cleopatra was really the rightful ruler of the Levantine territories granted by Antony. On the other hand, Thea Neotera, has also been understood to describe Cleopatra as a living manifestation of Isis-Aphrodite, the goddess with whom Ptolemaic queens were traditionally identified. This title would match that of Neos Dionysos ("New Dionysos") that is known from literary sources to have been received by Antony in the East. However, the legend associated with the portrait of Antony on this coin does not provide him with divine epithets to match Cleopatra, but instead gives the Greek version of his Latin titulature naming him as "Triumvir holding the consulship for the third time."

Antony's grants of territory to Cleopatra in 36 BC and further proposed grants to her and her children (the "Donations of Alexandria") in 34 BC became a propaganda weapon for Octavian, who used them as evidence that his former colleague intended to subvert the Roman Republic and impose an eastern queen on the city of Romulus. While this may have been Cleopatra's true hope it came to nothing once the triumvirate expired in 33 BC and Octavian and Antony prepared for a showdown. Cleopatra provided Antony with a new fleet to wage the war, but cost Antony many Roman allies when she insisted on being present during the campaign. The two were defeated at the battle of Actium in 31 BC and fled to Egypt, where they both committed suicide. Antony killed himself in the mistaken belief that the queen had already done so, but Cleopatra ended her life by poison in order to deny Octavian the chance to parade her in his triumph. In life and in her depiction on this coin juxtaposed with Antony, Cleopatra ruled as an equal to her male lovers and rivals. So too did she choose the death of a king when all hope was finally lost.
 
Realized $258,000



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