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Erotic Tokens and the Business of Prostitution a Study on the Function & Monetary Value of Tokens in Pompeii

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Erotic Tokens and the Business of Prostitution a Study on the Function & Monetary Value of Tokens in Pompeii Department of Archaeology and Ancient History Erotic Tokens and The Business of Prostitution A study on the function & monetary value of tokens in Pompeii Emilia Wall Bachelor Thesis 15 credits in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History Spring 2019 Supervisor: Susanne Carlsson Abstract Wall, E. 2019. Erotic Tokens and The Business of Prostitution: A study on the monetary value of tokens in Pompeii. Wall, E. 2019. Erotiska polletter och affärsverksamheter kring prostitution: En studie om polletter och dess monetära värde i Pompeji. Erotic tokens or the so-called spintriae leave little to the imagination. These coin-like tokens depict acts of love making couples with Roman numerals on the reverse. The tokens are believed to have been in use during the 1st century A.D. and is often attributed to the reign of Tiberius. The material examined in the thesis are the four spintriae from Uppsala University Coin Cabinet. Due to the specific characteristics, scholars have been questioning the function of the erotic tokens. The most accredited hypothesis is that erotic tokens was used as payment in brothels. The purpose of this thesis is to discern whether the erotic tokens had a monetary value in Pompeii. The study also aims to examine if the tokens were used as payment in brothels instead of contemporary currencies and as to why the reason for this could be. To be able to discern a purpose, function and value of erotic tokens, three analyses on the basis of graffiti, iconography and ancient literature are made. Keywords: Roman Empire, Pompeii, spintriae, tokens, prostitution Bachelor Thesis in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History 15 hp. Supervisor: Susanne Carlsson. Ventilated and approved 2019-06-12. © Emilia Wall Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala university, Box 626, 75126 Uppsala, Sweden. Front cover: A spintria depicting a couple copulating while being looked at by xx beneath the bed. Courtesy of Uppsala University Coin Cabinet. Photograph by Emilia Wall & Ragnar Hedlund, 2019. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Susanne Carlsson, without her input and support there would not be a thesis to read. Thank you to Ragnar Hedlund at Uppsala University Coin Cabinet, who gave me access to the material which is central in the thesis. I would also like to give massive thanks to all of my friends, you know who you are. Thank you for all of the support, ideas and inputs. You all made the writing easier. Last but not least, thanks to my family for always believing in my dreams. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Why erotic tokens ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.2. Aims and research questions......................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Material and method ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.4. Previous research .......................................................................................................................... 7 2. Spintriae in the Uppsala University Coin Cabinet (UMK) ........................................................... 10 2.1. The four spintriae and their relation to prostitution .................................................................... 10 2.1.1. Interpretation of sexual activities ........................................................................................ 12 2.1.2. Grouping of the tokens ........................................................................................................ 13 2.1.3. The legend of the tokens...................................................................................................... 14 3. Identifying the value of erotic tokens on the basis of graffiti........................................................ 15 3.1. The symbolic value of erotic tokens and the value of a prostitute ............................................. 15 3.2. Graffiti, prostitution and erotic tokens ........................................................................................ 15 3.2.1. Inscriptions .......................................................................................................................... 16 4. Identifying the purpose and function ................................................................................................. 19 4.1. Identify a purpose of erotic tokens on the basis of iconography ................................................ 19 4.1.1. The Lupanar and the Suburban Baths ................................................................................. 19 4.1.2. Tokens in the private sphere ................................................................................................ 20 5. Ancient literature and its correlations to erotic tokens ....................................................................... 22 6. Discussion and conclusion ................................................................................................................. 25 6. Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 28 6.1. Ancient sources ........................................................................................................................... 28 6.2. Modern literature ........................................................................................................................ 28 7. Appendix: Graffiti from Pompeii associated with prostitution .......................................................... 30 1. Introduction 1.1. Why erotic tokens Roman coinage can shed light on public life and society, so can the material, presented in this thesis. The tokens with erotic motifs, so-called spintriae (s. spintria), circulated in the Roman Empire during the 1st century A.D. In general, these erotic monetiform pieces have no monetary value, only a symbolic value which might correspond with contemporary currencies. Apart from the erotic scenes on the obverse of the tokens, Roman numerals are represented on the reverse, ranging from I-XVI.1 This kind of tokens can give a better understanding to what extent Romans used currencies with no known monetary value in their daily life, or why they were manufactured in first place. It has been suggested that the tokens were used as payment in brothels replacing real money. Three main hypotheses, which will be taken in consideration in the thesis, have been developed by scholars regarding the function and purpose of the erotic tokens: 1) brothel tokens – Roman numeral indicating monetary value (in asses); 2) entryway tokens for imperially sponsored games; 3) gaming tokens.2 In the two last hypotheses the tokens are not considered to have any monetary value. The spintriae were first studied by Ezechiel Spanheim from a numismatic perspective in 1664. Spanheim was the one who applied the Latin word spintriae to the erotic tokens and suggested the connection to prostitution.3 Due to the high level of preservation, Pompeii constitutes an exceptional city when analyzing the tokens in relation to payment in brothels and to prostitutes. The city is infamous for the number of brothels that scholars have been able to discern, many agreeing on approximately 30-35 different brothels distributed throughout the city, the Lupanar is the best known.4 The correlation between prostitution and the erotic tokens is central to analyze, for a better understanding of how the Roman economy and social life worked. 1.2. Aims and research questions The aim of this study is to analyze the purpose and function of brothel tokens. The main question is whether they have been used as payment in brothels and directly to prostitutes in the 1st century A.D. in Pompeii. The archaeological material which is central in this study are the four spintriae kept at Uppsala University Coin Cabinet (hereafter referred to as UMK).5 Throughout this thesis the word spintriae should be used with caution, when describing the archaeological material, the word spintria(e) should be applied. When speaking of spintriae in general the word tokens should be applied as much as possible. The spintriae at UMK are said to have been discovered at the Lupanar in Pompeii. The only documentation verifying that the spintriae from UMK are from the Lupanar is a hand-written note in the coin cabinet saying so. Due to the lack of 1 Buttrey 1973, 52. 2 Jacobelli 1995, 71; Clarke 1998, 244. 3 E. Spanheim, De nummis vulgo Spintriis Tiberi, in Dissertatio de praestantia et usu Numismatum antiquorum, Romae, apud Deversin et Cesarettum, 1664, p. 285, non vidi; Campana 2009, 44–45. 4 McGinn 2010, 196–98; Wallace-Hadrill 1995, 53. 5 Uppsala Universitet Myntkabinett, English; Uppsala University Coin Cabinet (abbrv. UMK). 5 archaeological context and information, the artifacts must be analyzed critically. The hypothesis which this thesis is based upon is that the place of origin, in this case the Lupanar, can shed some light on the function of the archaeological material from UMK in relation to economy and society. Even if the origin of the tokens at UMK is dubious, it should be possible to conceptualize and make interpretations about them on the basis of their place of origin and their specific characteristics.
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