Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 502 20 Oct 2021
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Anonymous issues. 1st-3rd centuries AD. PB Tessera (12mm, 2.38 g). Phallus / Blank. Rostowzew –; Overbeck, Milano 146. Light deposits. Good Fine.
Rostowzew grouped the tesserae depicting a phallus with others bearing the legend AMOR and the handful of lead pieces depicting sexual acts, assuming they were all related to the brothels. Thornton ("The Roman Lead Tesserae : Observations on Two Historical Problems Author," in Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 29 [1989]) makes a much stronger case for relating them to the god Mercury. Tesserae types generally depict either two deities, a deity and an attribute, two attributes, or some combination attribute or deity and legend, and the phallus is often found paired with attributes associated with Mercury.
Rostowzew grouped the tesserae depicting a phallus with others bearing the legend AMOR and the handful of lead pieces depicting sexual acts, assuming they were all related to the brothels. Thornton ("The Roman Lead Tesserae : Observations on Two Historical Problems Author," in Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 29 [1989]) makes a much stronger case for relating them to the god Mercury. Tesserae types generally depict either two deities, a deity and an attribute, two attributes, or some combination attribute or deity and legend, and the phallus is often found paired with attributes associated with Mercury.