Coin of Justinian II c. 705 - 711

Curator: Here we have a gold coin created by Justinian II, weighing just over two grams. It’s currently held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by the flatness of the figures, the sort of compressed, almost anxious energy within such a tiny space. It reminds me of how power compacts and distorts. Curator: That's interesting. Given Justinian's notoriously brutal reign, that feeling of anxiety might be very apt. The imagery on the coin is loaded with symbolism; it served as a powerful propaganda tool. Editor: Absolutely, the choice of gold itself screams authority and wealth, of course, but the figures holding the cross, it's a direct link to divine power, and an assertion of imperial legitimacy. The flatness almost dehumanizes them, rendering them purely symbolic. Curator: It really makes you wonder about the everyday lives touched by these symbols, what it meant to have this man's face – and his ambitions – literally in your pocket. Editor: Yes, it also makes me think about how deeply intertwined religion and state power were, then as now, a potent, sometimes toxic, combination. Curator: A small object, perhaps, but it holds within it an empire's weight. Editor: Indeed, it really makes you think about the things we value, and why.