Coin of Deultum under the Empress Otacilia Severa c. 3th century

Curator: Here we have a coin of Deultum under the Empress Otacilia Severa, presently held in the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its patinated surface and the depth of time it embodies. The coin's circular form, pitted and softened, hints at the countless hands it must have passed through. Curator: Indeed, the composition is standard, a portrait on one side, an image of civic virtue or authority on the other. But consider the relief: crisp in intent, softened by corrosion. Editor: That corrosion only intensifies its aura. I see the profile of Otacilia, a symbol of Roman power, now transformed by the elements, her story etched into the metal's very being. It's about the human story within the symbol. Curator: And the way the verdigris interacts with the incised lines—the materiality itself communicates the subject's slow descent into oblivion, an entropic process mirroring the decline of empire. Editor: It's a powerful relic, a tangible connection to a vanished world, a reminder that even empires crumble. Curator: A testament, ultimately, to the enduring power of form despite the ravages of time.