In the course of the fourth century, millions of bronze coins were struck in the Roman Empire: an area extending from modern Britain to Egypt. The iconography present in these modest remnants of a distant past provides a fascinating insight into the realities, hopes and desires not only of the common people, but also of those who ruled over them. It is possible to identify with a remarkable degree of precision where, when and by whom coins of this period were struck. Traditional numismatic works rely heavily on a textual description and assume that one has a perfectly preserved specimen....

In the course of the fourth century, millions of bronze coins were struck in the Roman Empire: an area extending from modern Britain to Egypt. The iconography present in these modest remnants of a distant past provides a fascinating insight into the realities, hopes and desires not only of the common people, but also of those who ruled over them. It is possible to identify with a remarkable degree of precision where, when and by whom coins of this period were struck. Traditional numismatic works rely heavily on a textual description and assume that one has a perfectly preserved specimen....