Bill Dalzell
2.7K posts
@Ardatirion
Numismatics. Food. Satire. EDIT: Apparently politics, too. Lots of politics. EDIT 2: Also pictures of plants.
There were many brothels in ancient Rome, but standard Roman coins, Serters and Denars, were not used and were even banned from being there. Store-bought Tokens were used for Denar and Serters and images on them were often obscene. Reason is understandable, because on all Roman coins there was a head image of emperor of that period. Even picture of emperor entering the brothel was synonymous with humiliating and cursing him. Of course, punishment was severe. In resorts like Herculaneum and Pompeii, brothels were much busier places. Over time, such places encouraged their customers to use their own currency, called spintriae in Middle Ages. Prevalence of prostitution in Roman culture can be inferred from concentration of this coin in circulation and abundance of examples at these resorts in southern Italy already mentioned. This was a fairly common phenomenon for those dealing with day-to-day money in brothel coins in Rome. On the obverse and reverse of coins were various sexual images, often depicting people making love. One of theories regarding the purpose of these coins was to advertise price of sexual activities. Moreover, the transfer of this money between two people (the buyer and the “seller”) created a certain privacy. This was especially useful for high-status people to hide what kind of work they did at night. According to some experts, price of event was written on back of pictures of these coins. It was a system that helped break down language barriers. If this theory is correct, it means that these coins are more of an ordering tool than a form of payment. For example, when you say "I want number 4" at McDonalds, the corresponding money is given. A Roman brothel coin found in London in 2012 was under investigation. As it is known, Romans set up tents and camps in Ancient Britain. This strengthens the theory that coins in question were used as a tool to cross language boundaries. In Britain the spread of language was even slower, but these coins served to universalize language. #archaeohistories
