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Tetradrachm (Coin) Portraying Emperor Hadrian

A work made of billon.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of billon.

Date:

131

Artist:

Roman, minted in Alexandria, Egypt

About this artwork

The Good Emperors dedicated themselves to the well-being of the people, but as the back of their coins indicate, each ruler had his own understanding of what made good government.
Although in his Satires Juvenal chided those in power for duping the populace with “bread and circuses,” feeding the people concerned all the emperors. Since Italy could no longer feed itself, rulers depended on the grain-growing provinces of Egypt and Africa to supply its food. On this coin, a figure representing the city of Alexandria presents Egypt’s crops to Emperor Hadrian.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Artist

Ancient Roman

Title

Tetradrachm (Coin) Portraying Emperor Hadrian

Place

Alexandria (Minted in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

131 CE

Medium

Billon

Dimensions

Diam.: 2.5 cm (1 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Robert L. Grover

Reference Number

1980.824

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/139869/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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