Agrippa and the Battle of Actium

Agrippa was the strategic architect of Octavian's naval war against Antony and Cleopatra. Before Actium, he captured key ports, disrupted Antony's supply lines, and forced the opposing fleet into an increasingly difficult position. At the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Agrippa commanded Octavian's naval forces and helped secure the victory that ended the final war of the Roman Republic.

After Antony and Cleopatra died in Egypt, Octavian emerged as the uncontested ruler of the Roman world and later became Augustus. Agrippa received extraordinary honors, married Augustus's daughter Julia, and became a potential dynastic bridge between Augustus and the next generation.

Octavian became Augustus, but Agrippa won many of the wars that made that transformation possible.

The Nemausus Crocodile Coin

One of the most recognizable Roman provincial bronzes shows the heads of Augustus and Agrippa back-to-back. The reverse shows a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the legend COL NEM, referring to the colony of Nemausus, modern Nîmes in southern France.

The crocodile represents conquered Egypt, while Agrippa's portrait usually carries a rostral crown, awarded for naval victory. These coins were struck in several series over a long period and vary in style, metal, weight, and attribution details. Collectors should distinguish earlier and later issues rather than treating all Nemausus bronzes as one identical type.

An accessible way into Agrippa's Augustan world is provincial bronze from the same reign, coinage struck while the political order he helped build was becoming the Roman Empire.

A Coin of Agrippa's Augustan World

Augustus-Era Judaean Bronze Prutah, 27 BC to AD 14

A genuine provincial bronze from the reign of Augustus, the political order Agrippa's victories created. Roman Provincial · Augustan Era · $75

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The Agrippa As with Rostral Crown

Another famous Agrippa coin shows his portrait wearing a rostral crown, with Neptune standing on the reverse. These asses were struck posthumously, especially under Caligula, Agrippa's grandson. They demonstrate how later Julio-Claudian emperors used Agrippa's memory to reinforce their own dynastic legitimacy.

The rostral crown was decorated with ship prows and connected Agrippa permanently with naval victory. On coins, the combination of Agrippa and Neptune made his maritime identity unmistakable.

Agrippa the Builder

Agrippa was not only a commander. He was one of Rome's greatest builders and infrastructure organizers. He sponsored aqueducts, baths, public works, and the original Pantheon. The famous inscription on the later Pantheon, M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT, "Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul for the third time, built this," preserves his name even though the surviving building is largely Hadrianic.

For collectors, that makes Agrippa unusually rich historically: his coins can connect military victory, architecture, Augustan politics, provincial colonization, and Julio-Claudian family history.

How to Collect Agrippa

For a first coin, prioritize a clear portrait and identifiable reverse rather than chasing the rarest variety. Crocodile bronzes can be worn and irregularly struck, so a complete animal, readable COL NEM, and visible portraits can command substantial premiums. Agrippa asses with the rostral crown are also heavily collected and frequently tooled or smoothed, making surface quality especially important.

Hold what the greats held.