Coin (AE4) of Arcadius, Constantinople 388 - 392

Curator: Here we have a coin from the Harvard Art Museums. It's an AE4 coin, minted in Constantinople under the reign of Arcadius. Editor: It's tiny. It looks ancient, like something you'd find buried in a field, pregnant with stories. Curator: Indeed. Coins, in their iconography, speak volumes. Arcadius, though a ruler, might have been a figurehead during a turbulent era. Editor: It's curious how something so small and tarnished once represented authority, power. Now, it's a whisper from the past. Curator: And the symbol endures, doesn't it? The portrait, the legend, forever linked to the emperor and his city. Currency and power, a fascinating study. Editor: Mmm. It's humbling, really, to see the grand ambitions of an emperor shrunk down to this worn, little disc.