Denarius of Severus Alexander c. 225

Curator: Let’s examine this Denarius of Severus Alexander, a small coin housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It seems incredibly fragile, an artifact deeply embedded in its own historical context, evoking an era of imperial power and intricate social dynamics. Curator: Precisely. Note the crisp profile, the clean lines forming Severus Alexander’s image. This coin served a function, but also conveyed a powerful message. Editor: The iconography of Roman coinage was deeply intertwined with notions of power, propaganda, and the emperor’s cult of personality, so to speak. It also circulated throughout the vast empire, touching countless hands. Curator: Indeed, the intentionality behind the image, the deliberate rendering of form… It's a potent symbol, condensed into this diminutive, yet enduring object. Editor: Thinking about who possessed it, how it was used in exchange, really grounds these distant histories within everyday life. What stories might it tell? Curator: Its surface bears the marks of time. One can almost trace the hands that held it. It truly transcends mere monetary value. Editor: A miniature monument embodying both the grandeur and the fragility of an empire. It asks us to reconsider histories from the ground up.