Coin of Mallos under Caracalla c. 188 - 217

Curator: This intriguing artifact is a coin of Mallos under Caracalla, currently held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Wow, it looks so weathered! I can almost feel the weight of centuries just looking at it. There is something about its worn surface that speaks to the passage of time, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. It provides a tangible link to Caracalla's reign. Coins like these were not just currency, but also powerful tools of propaganda, projecting the emperor's image and authority throughout the vast Roman Empire. Editor: It's interesting how something so small could carry such weight, culturally and politically. Looking at the figures on the coin, they seem caught in a delicate dance with time itself. What do you make of them? Curator: The figures serve as markers of communal identity and localized expression within the grand narrative of the Roman Empire. For me, that tension between the particular and the universal is part of what makes this object so compelling. Editor: It's a humbling thought, realizing how much history and symbolism can be compressed into a single coin. I'll never look at spare change the same way again.