Coin (AE2) of Arcadius, Herakleia 383 - 388

Curator: Here we have an ancient coin of Arcadius, specifically an AE2 from Herakleia, weighing just over six grams. Notice the patinated bronze surface. Editor: There's something melancholy about holding history in your hand like this, the weight of an empire now just a small disc, what can we say about the politics of this time? Curator: Semiotically, the profile portrait on one side and the standing figure with standard on the reverse are conventional visual declarations of power in Roman coinage. Editor: Exactly, and yet these symbols are fraught with the anxieties of late antiquity as well as questions around identity and the decline of Roman influence. Curator: Indeed, but what intrigues me is the coin's physical form itself, its size, the relief of the imagery, the way light plays across its surface, really it's quite lovely. Editor: Yes, a complex relic imbued with the weight of history and an elegant statement of power.