A spintria (plural, spintriae) is a small bronze or brass Roman token. The tokens usually depict on the obverse an image of sexual acts or symbols and a numeral in the range I - XVI on the reverse. [2]
One idea is that it was possibly used in brothels, although none of the literature on the spintriae contains any evidence to support this assertion. Another idea is that they were used as locker tokens in suburban baths. [1]
They were all produced at a single location [1] with the first set of dates putting their production at around 22 to 37 CE [1] and a second set of dates puts their production as 30 - 79 CE. [2]
Spintria was used by Suetonius to refer to young male prostitutes, [3] from Greek σφιγκτήρ (sphinktḗr, [anal] sphincter ). In the 16th century, the name passed from the ancient sense of the persons committing outrageous acts – in other words, sexual and/or sensual acts outside what was considered the norm – (or the place where outrageous acts occurred, such as Tiberius' gardens on the isle of Capri) to the tokens themselves. [4]
Bette Talvacchia identifies the first usage of the term spintriae to refer to the tokens as occurring in Sebastiano Errizo's 1559 treatise, Discourse Concerning Ancient Medals (Sopra le Medaglie Antiche, Venice, 1559). [5]
Some scholars, following Friedlander's (1886) suggestion that the tokens were used to obtain entry to brothels ("auf die man in Bordelle Einlass erhielt"), have argued that spintriae were used to pay prostitutes, although none offer any supporting evidence. Buttrey is dismissive of the brothel token idea, asserting "there is no evidence for any of this". [7] Currently, only Simonetta and Riva are supporters of the brothel token hypothesis, [8] which is also popular with the media; [9] other scholars pursue alternate lines of enquiry (Buttrey; Campana; Duggan; Fishburn; etc.). Under Caracalla, an equestrian was sentenced to death for bringing a coin with the emperor's likeness into a brothel; he was spared only by the emperor's own death. [10] There is no direct ancient evidence, however, to support the theory that spintriae were created as tokens for exchange in place of official coinage.
Spintriae also do not have wearing that is on coins that have been in mass circulation [1] and there are also relatively few compared with the amount of official coins that exist. [1] The spintriae were also all produced at a single location from around 22-37 CE [1] or 30 - 79 CE [2] and this is a short period of time.
Another idea is that they were used as game pieces [11] [12] for playing a board game [13] and the idea was that the number that appears on the token was relevant to playing the board game. [13] Duggan [14] notes there are no archaeological finds to confirm the spintriae were gaming pieces. [4]
Another idea is that they were used as locker tokens in the dressing room of the suburban baths. [1] [4] On the walls of the suburban baths in Pompeii there are frescos that have been painted with sexual scenes that are the same or similar to the ones on the tokens. [1] On these sexual scenes painted on the frescos there were also "...accompanying numerals, as appear on the reverses" [1] [4] of the tokens. It is speculated that the sexual scenes and numerals on the tokens related [1] to the wall paintings of sexual scenes and numerals. [1]
When the token was given to a person it then gave them access to a place to put their clothing. [1] [15] Possibly they may have put their clothing inside the box that was sitting on the wooden shelf in the dressing room. [6]
Another idea is that they were possibly an attempt at increasing revenue. [1] This attempt may have been related to the prohibition of carrying coins into brothels that had an image of the emperor on them. [1] After a short amount of time they may have been able to see that if it were to continue it could have adverse effects for brothels or bring them to a standstill and they ceased being used. [1]
They were usually struck from brass or bronze, and were little smaller than a 50 euro cent coin (€0.50).
They show images of sexual scenes involving female and male figures [4] and five spintriae have been given the description of "Male lovers on bed". [16] [4]
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