Denarius of L. Furius Cn.f. Brocchus, Rome c. 63 BCE

Curator: Here we have a Denarius of L. Furius Cn.f. Brocchus, a Roman coin currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. What strikes you initially about this artifact? Editor: The wear is what grabs me. It’s handled, circulated, a tangible link to the past. I wonder whose hands it passed through, what lives it touched. Curator: Absolutely. Coins are fascinating because they were so ubiquitous. This particular denarius features a head of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, adorned with wheat stalks. The reverse depicts a curule chair, a symbol of magisterial power. Editor: I see those symbols of power, but what did they mean in daily life? Whose power are we talking about and what social strata did it represent? Was it widely shared or narrowly held? Curator: Precisely. By studying these symbols, we can start to understand the values and the power dynamics of Roman society. These objects, worn as they may be, offer such insights. Editor: It is powerful to consider how something so small could carry such weight, both economically and symbolically, across generations. Curator: Indeed, a microcosm of Roman society encapsulated in a single coin.