Erotic Tokens for Sex and ‘Special’ Services: New Spintriae from Archaeological Contexts

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The project "Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean", held at the University of Warwick, is currently examining token production on a wide scale, assessing new finds from European museums. Roman "tesserae" (tokens) may be defined as monetiform objects produced and used instead of money in specific civic contexts. As a Research Fellow in the on-going project, I am now analyzing token circulation in Roman Sicily and exploring collections in local museums. The scope of my paper is to present the production and spread of a specific class of materials, the so-called "spintriae," or erotic tokens. Each token shows a Latin numeral on the obverse and a sex scene on the reverse, similar to those shown on Pompeii’s brothels paintings. Thus, scholars interpret spintriae as tickets for admission to brothels and to obtain specific sex services. First, I will examine a record of finds from European collections, which will allow us to identify specific series and dies of spintriae. Then, I will assess some new archaeological finds from Italy and Sicily, which are extremely rare discoveries. Finally, such tokens represent a vital insight into the daily-life of the Romans, offering many data on numismatics, history, the arts, and social studies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22896