Sestertius of Philip II c. 244 - 246

Curator: Here we have a sestertius of Philip II, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s striking, the way the metal has aged; the surfaces are worn, imparting a tangible sense of history and economic exchange. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the labor involved in mining the metals, striking the die, and circulating it throughout the Roman Empire. Then reflect on Philip's reign, a period of transition and challenges within the Roman Empire's evolving socio-political landscape. Editor: The very substance of this coin is imbued with the power of empire—its extraction, its distribution, and its accumulation representing a complex web of human endeavor and exploitation. Curator: I see this as a symbol of authority and power, undeniably, but also how the narratives of leaders have been carefully crafted, disseminated, and ultimately judged by the passage of time. Editor: Precisely. Looking at it this way, we see how objects, like this coin, carry histories of labor and power struggles within its material form.