Maiorina of Decentius 351 - 353

Curator: We're looking at a Maiorina of Decentius from the Harvard Art Museums. It weighs 5.41 grams. Editor: It feels like holding a whisper of history, worn smooth, almost pleading to tell its story. Curator: Indeed. The composition is quite intriguing: On one side, a bust of Decentius, while the reverse features the Chi-Rho symbol, a powerful early Christian emblem. Editor: That Chi-Rho burns with a quiet intensity, doesn't it? Almost like faith forged in fire. It makes you wonder about the weight of belief at that time, pressed onto something so small. Curator: Precisely. The coin's materiality—its very substance—becomes a vessel for ideology, for imperial projection, and for theological expression. Editor: I suppose something so small carried enormous weight, then and now. It’s a tangible piece of a grand, complex, and long-gone world. Curator: A most perceptive point. Thank you for illuminating that.