Denarius of Septimius Severus c. 203 - 208

Curator: This is a Denarius of Septimius Severus, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It looks surprisingly weighty for such a small object. The metal seems worn smooth by countless hands. Curator: Indeed. These coins were instruments of imperial power. The portrait of Severus on one side and a depiction of a Roman deity on the other reinforced Roman authority and ideology. It's a narrative about power and legitimacy cast in metal. Editor: And how was this power achieved and maintained? The materiality speaks to me of extraction – where did the silver come from, and what were the conditions of its mining and minting? Curator: Those are essential questions. The circulation of these coins reflects the social, political and economic realities of the Roman Empire, a society built on exploitation and conquest. Editor: Examining something like this denarius, we get to consider not only art, but the labor behind it. Curator: Precisely. It's a lens through which we can view the complexities of Roman society, its representations of power, and its dependence on extracted resources and exploited labor.