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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ardatirion, post: 1825553, member: 9204&quot;]This is an extremely important piece, both for my collection and for Roman numismatics as a whole. Society&#039;s inability to discuss these types in a mature and open manner has undoubtedly hampered the study of the entire series of Roman lead. Considering the nature of this piece, I humbly request that <span style="color: #ff0000"><b>ONLY SERIOUS NUMISMATIC REPLIES BE POSTED. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18271/normal_phallus1.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><b>ROME</b></span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000">PB Tessera (16mm, 2.92 g, 12 h)</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"><span style="color: #000000">Horse standing right; C above </span></span></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"><span style="color: #000000">Erect phallus; A V flanking</span></span></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"><span style="color: #000000">Rostovtsev -</span></span></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"><span style="color: #000000">Rostovtsev1 gathers into one group all tesserae depicting the phallus, various iterations of the word Amor, and the extremely rare pieces depicting sexual acts. He assumes that these pieces were entrance tickets to the Lupanaria, ancient brothels. This association has caused many scholars to refuse to accept tesserae as currency, as they feel that such crude themes would never have been depicted on currency. Thornton2, however, convincingly argues that, as Mercury is sometimes depicted as a <i>herm</i>, a statuary type consisting of a bust set on a square pedestal adorned with only genitalia, the phallus is in fact an emblem of the god in his guise as a fertility deity.</span></span></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></p></span></p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: #000000"><br /></p><p>1. Rostovtzev, Mikhail. 1905. Römische Bleitesserae. Ed. C.F. Lehmann and E Kornemann. Beiträge z. Liepzig: Theodor Weicher.</span></p><p style="text-align: left"><br /></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><p style="text-align: left">2. Thornton, M. K. 1980. “The Roman Lead Tesserae : Observations on Two Historical Problems Author.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 29 3: 341-3</p><p></span></p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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