[ 5430]

ASIA MINOR, Uncertain. Gaius Sosius(?).
Bronze (22mm, 6.95 gm.) Struck c. 39 B.C.
References: RPC I 5409; FITA p. 13.
 Bare head right.
 Fiscus, sella, quaestoria and hasta; Q below.

This issue has previously been attributed to a Macedonian mint with  identification of the portrait as Brutus (Friedlander) or Caesar (Grant). RPC  presents a case for a Cilician or Syrian origin, supported by find data, with a  suggestion that the portrait is Octavian. Issues of similar portrait style,  perhaps by the same engraver, include the Princeps Felix coinage, RPC 4082-3,  from Cilicia.

It is possible that both sets of Cilician or Syrian issues portray Sosius, a  leading general of Mark Antony. Sosius was quaestor (symbolized on this coinage  with a Q and the symbols of the office) in 39 BC. The island of Zacynthus, a  fleet station of Antony's, issued coins in the name of C SOSIVS Q (RPC 1290), C  SOSIVS IMP (RPC 1291), C SOSIVS COS DESIG (RPC 1292), and C SOSIVS COS (RPC  1293). The first of these issues coincides with the dating of this coin. Note  that both include the Q" for questor.

Sosius was governor of Syria in 38 BC. Antony supported Herod the Great against  his rival Antigonus, and Josephus describes how Sosius commanded the Roman  forces in support of Herod's claim. Sosius captured the island and town of  Aradus in 38 BC and Jerusalem in July of 37 BC, for which he was acclaimed  Imperator. Josephus notes that he was about to allow the soldiers to loot the  fallen city and slay its inhabitants, when Herod intervened. Herod asked if the  Romans, by emptying the city of money and men, had a mind to leave him to become  king of a desert and paid the troops a donative instead, with Sosius himself  receiving a "most royal bounty". Sosius called the defeated king the feminine  name "Antigona" and imprisoned him for Antony to later execute.

In 36 BC, Sosius assisted Octavian and Agrippa against Sextus Pompey and  afterward probably stayed in Rome, where he celebrated a triumph in 34 BC and  was consul along with Domitius Ahenobarbus in 32 BC. During his consulship, he  rebuilt the Temple of Apollo, which had been constructed in 431 BC. He  introduced a measure in the Senate to censure Octavian, but this was vetoed by a  tribune. As war between Octavian and Antony approached, Sosius fled Octavian and  Rome along with some 300 senators. At Actium in 31 BC, Sosius commanded the left  wing of Antony's naval forces. This wing of heavy ships entered the battle  first, but was overwhelmed by the smaller, faster ships of Agrippa, commander of  Octavian's fleet. Meanwhile, Cleopatra and Antony escaped through the opening  created by the movement. Sosius fought on, eventually surrendered, and was  spared by Octavian. "