171, Lot: 320. Estimate $300. Sold for $326. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Cn. Domitius Calvinus. 39 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.40 g). Osca mint. Head of Hercules right / Emblems of the pontificate: simpulum, aspergillum, axe, and apex. Crawford 532/1; CRI 342; Sydenham 1358; Burgos 1509. Near VF, toned, a little porous, reverse lamination flaw.

From the Karl Sifferman Collection.

Cn. Domitius Calvinus was appointed governor of Spain by Octavian after that province was ceded by Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great. The province was in a state of chaos after years of civil war and the rule by Sextus, who governed as little more than a brigand. The stern Calvinus, formerly magister equites under Caesar, pacified the province, putting down a revolt by the Ceretani, although not before subjecting a legionary detachment to the ancient punishment of decimation (executing one out of ten men) for cowardice in the face of the enemy.