Tetradrachm of Mithradates VI of Pontus c. 120 - 163

Curator: Here we have a Tetradrachm of Mithradates VI of Pontus, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Its creation is credited to Mithradates VI Eupator himself. Editor: Wow, it's so small, yet brimming with power. That profile view is intensely regal, almost theatrical. Curator: The value isn't simply aesthetic, though. This silver coin speaks volumes about the economic structures and the potent symbolism that legitimized Mithradates' rule. Consider the labor involved in minting these... Editor: But there's an almost unsettling intimacy to it, too. To hold something someone once used to buy a loaf of bread, or perhaps pay a soldier... Curator: Exactly, the material conditions of daily life intertwined with imperial ambition. Editor: It makes you think about power, doesn't it? What we make it out of, what it costs. Curator: Indeed. An artifact that connects us to ancient systems of value and rule. Editor: A little world, telling a big story.