AE Julia Paula 

Editor: Here we have a bronze coin of Julia Paula. What strikes me is how this small object carries such weight, representing power and status. How do you interpret its imagery? Curator: This coin provides insights into the construction of female imperial identity. The portrait of Julia Paula was a form of propaganda. How did this coin function within broader power dynamics, and what does it tell us about the roles available to women in the Roman Empire? Editor: That's fascinating. I hadn't considered the power dynamics at play. It makes me see the coin in a completely new light. Curator: Indeed. It invites us to question the ways in which women's images were, and continue to be, used to legitimize authority.