Kibyra (AD 54-68) AE 19 - Marcellus

Time of Nero, 54-68 AD. AE19 (4.66g, 6h). Marcellus, legate(?). MAP KEΛΛOC, bare head of Marcellus right / KIBY PATΩN, eagle standing left on altar, head right. VF, black-green patina with traces of olive encrustation. Very rare. Ex Villemur Coll.; ex Malter XXXIV (12/1986), lot 371; ex Knobloch Coll. (Stack's, 6/1970), lot 376.

Other than that his name was Marceullus, the identity of and office held by the individual depicted on this issue is uncertain. Certainly he held office worthy of this coinage, but during this period, no Marcellus is known to have served as a proconsul in Asia, nor is there any other reference to such an individual having served in any other important capacity. The only possibility that seems plausible is that he was a legate dispatched to attend to some important duty in Asia in the mid-1st century AD.