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<p>[QUOTE="Suarez, post: 3380344, member: 99239"]I just wanted to add that the identification of what Liberalitas holds is controversial. It could be, and I tentatively lean towards, it representing a physical tool but <i>tessera</i> is in any case a misnomer (the term is appropriate to the making of mosaics). So if it is a coin dispenser it had a name in antiquity by which we are unfamiliar with today. Liberalitas may simply be holding an abacus which is representative of dole record keeping.</p><p><br /></p><p>The main problem I see with it being a dispenser is that it would be awkward and inefficient to use a pane stuck on a long handle to function as a tool. First of all you wouldn't be able to stick that thing in a bucket of coins. The coins won't just helpfully part out of the way. You'd have to use it as a scoop. But a scoop would present its own problems with coins getting stuck or too many draining out. You absolutely wouldn't be able to just swish a few coins across an indented board like a penny book and quickly and consistently get the correct amount. It would be hard to do this with modern low-relief coins, never mind ancient handmade ones that are often of very high relief.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ordinary citizens would have received their benefits primarily through a combination of food distribution and relief from public debts. Based on numismatic evidence, direct disbursements would take place when the emperor and/or his assistants tossed coins out into the crowd during a procession free-for-all fashion. For soldiers, donatives must have taken place in the same non-ceremonial manner as ordinary payroll while private monetary gifts to top functionaries would have taken place during banquets and private meetings.</p><p><br /></p><p>Think about this - in an age where there was no personal photo ID it would have been highly impractical to pay ordinary people off a platform as pictorially suggested except for VIPs. It wouldn't work on a scale of mass crowds since there'd be no way of making sure you didn't take multiple trips through the buffet line! We're talking about tens of thousands of people showing up to these events.</p><p><br /></p><p>Still, lack of evidence is not in itself evidence of anything. I don't put it past me that the Romans of all people could come up with some nifty contraption to get the job done :- )[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Suarez, post: 3380344, member: 99239"]I just wanted to add that the identification of what Liberalitas holds is controversial. It could be, and I tentatively lean towards, it representing a physical tool but [I]tessera[/I] is in any case a misnomer (the term is appropriate to the making of mosaics). So if it is a coin dispenser it had a name in antiquity by which we are unfamiliar with today. Liberalitas may simply be holding an abacus which is representative of dole record keeping. The main problem I see with it being a dispenser is that it would be awkward and inefficient to use a pane stuck on a long handle to function as a tool. First of all you wouldn't be able to stick that thing in a bucket of coins. The coins won't just helpfully part out of the way. You'd have to use it as a scoop. But a scoop would present its own problems with coins getting stuck or too many draining out. You absolutely wouldn't be able to just swish a few coins across an indented board like a penny book and quickly and consistently get the correct amount. It would be hard to do this with modern low-relief coins, never mind ancient handmade ones that are often of very high relief. Ordinary citizens would have received their benefits primarily through a combination of food distribution and relief from public debts. Based on numismatic evidence, direct disbursements would take place when the emperor and/or his assistants tossed coins out into the crowd during a procession free-for-all fashion. For soldiers, donatives must have taken place in the same non-ceremonial manner as ordinary payroll while private monetary gifts to top functionaries would have taken place during banquets and private meetings. Think about this - in an age where there was no personal photo ID it would have been highly impractical to pay ordinary people off a platform as pictorially suggested except for VIPs. It wouldn't work on a scale of mass crowds since there'd be no way of making sure you didn't take multiple trips through the buffet line! We're talking about tens of thousands of people showing up to these events. Still, lack of evidence is not in itself evidence of anything. I don't put it past me that the Romans of all people could come up with some nifty contraption to get the job done :- )[/QUOTE]
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