AE Honorius c. 4th century

Editor: Here we have an image of a small coin titled AE Honorius, of unknown date and artist, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. The material impact of such a small object is pretty amazing, isn't it? How might we interpret this humble artifact? Curator: Consider the materiality: base metal, likely bronze. It speaks to mass production, circulation, and the economic underpinnings of power. What kind of labor went into extracting, refining, and striking the metal? Editor: So, you’re saying it's less about Honorius and more about the system that produced this representation of him? Curator: Precisely. The coin served as a tool of governance, a means of projecting imperial authority across geographical space and social strata. Editor: That really shifts my perspective. I was initially focused on the image itself, but now I see the coin as a product of complex systems. Curator: And a driver of them. A simple object, yet densely packed with historical and material significance.