| Note |
The series struck in the name of the proconsul M. Acilius Glabrio is dated to 25 BC, as Augustus is consul for the ninth time. But the coins lack any indication of mint. Babelon, when publishing the specimen of the Waddington collection (RN 1898, p. 629), was the first to propose the attribution of this series to Africa. It is clear that he had in mind the inscription from Ephesus published by Boeckh (GIG 11, 2679), where an Acilius Glabrio is entitled ἀνθύπατος Ἀφρίκ[η]ς, though the Fasti of Africa do not mention a Glabrio as proconsul. This attribution was accepted by Grant, FITA, pp. 81-2, who was inclined to assign the series to a Byzacenian mint. But Groag and Stein (PIR 12, A 71) had already stated that the Ephesian inscription was to be dated to the first century AD and could not refer to the consul suffectus of 33 BC. Therefore the attribution of this series to Africa must really be questioned, and M. Acilus Glabrio's inclusion among proconsuls of Africa is not certain. (Thomasson includes him but not Pflaum.) This series is known from a reasonable number of specimens, but unfortunately they all lack a provenance. The coins are struck on flans with round edges, which excludes Byzacene; if African, a mint like Utica might be proposed. This series has a diameter of 27-31 mm and a weight of 14.88 g, and presumably represents a dupondius. The identification of the portraits on the reverse is problematic. Babelon proposed Caesar and Octavia. But the male head seems too youthful for Caesar. An attribution to Agrippa is possible in 25 BC, but it would be difficult to find a suitable partner for him. The same is true if the female portrait is identified as Octavia. Therefore the solution proposed by Grant is tentatively accepted here: in 25 BC Marcellus married Julia and Glabrio portrayed him and his wife.
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