Tokens made of copper alloy, lead, bone, or other materials, and bearing images or inscriptions on one or both sides are among the most intriguing portable objects produced in the ancient world. A great variety of images and inscriptions are attested in our existing record and finds of molds for casting lead tokens indicate that these were mass produced, but this mass production could be undertaken either centrally, by emperors, or more locally by private citizens. Despite their enormous potential to tell us about ancient societies, however, they have remained relatively understudied until now.
Due to the limited attention that tokens have received in the past, they are unfamiliar to many scholars. Chapter 1 (‘Introduction’) provides a useful overview of the different kinds of tokens known from the Roman world, placing a firm emphasis on the probability that they fulfilled a wide range of functions, as the book discusses at length (and as I will discuss further below). The introduction also makes clear that tokens have earlier origins in Italy, but became far more popular in the Late Republic as a form of mass culture. This study tells their story down to around 300 CE but refers to a wide range of comparative material from both before and after this period. Most of the Italian evidence comes from Rome and Ostia. This may reflect actual practice in the past, as few tokens have been identified in, for example, Pompeii or Herculaneum, despite extensive attention paid to material culture in these cities.
Chapter 2 (‘Tokens and the Imperial Family’) explores the reproduction of imperially sponsored images on some tokens. The great variety of tokens which have come down to us, particularly those made of lead, suggests that tokens were intended for single use before being collected, melted down, and recycled into new tokens. This hypothesis leads Rowan to suggest that some tokens were linked with specific events (e.g., dies imperii, triumphs, etc.), where they might have been used to access distributions or directly in redemption for specific goods. Some of these tokens provide an interesting window into the ways in which existing images of the imperial family could be mobilized or activated to spread a specific message. Particularly effective here is Rowan’s analysis of tokens which evoke the ‘foundational moment’ of the Flavian dynasty—the war in Judea—as a way of consolidating its claim to legitimacy. Similarly fascinating is Rowan’s discussion of ‘talking’ tokens, some of which may bear inscriptions rooted in the acclamations associated with imperial occasions, perhaps even serving as an encouragement to attendees to take part in such acclamations. While much work remains to be done in this field, Rowan underlines that tokens with imperially linked iconography do not have to be made by emperors and can also be appropriated by private citizens, particularly as tokens might have served for non-imperial acts of euergetism. These tokens appear to decline after Hadrian, perhaps reflecting a move towards commemorating imperial generosity in more monumental forms.
Chapter 3 (‘Creating identities in Rome, Ostia, and Italy’) considers the role of tokens as a form of self-representation by the commissioners and identity-formation on the part of the beholders, both of which can be undertaken through shared symbols familiar in their everyday lives. These symbols are often hyper-local expressions of identity, referring for example to a landmark or other specific locality, building, or regio in the city of Rome (and similarly other tokens relate to specific landmarks in Ostia), or sometimes to several of these spatial descriptors in combination with one another. Many of these tokens can conceivably be linked to private individuals who appropriated images for their own purposes, to stress their own personal achievements, whether as benefactors or as part of a specific cult or occupation-linked association. Beyond Rome and Ostia, we have very limited evidence for tokens as markers of identity, except for some tokens which may refer to female worshippers at sanctuaries around Italy. The iconography of such tokens may have reinforced the self-identification of the bearers. Perhaps some of the tokens that Rowan notes, having travelled some distance, served a secondary function as souvenirs or reminders of home. Either way, it is important to consider tokens and their role in literacy—what does this mean for how people would have understood them? Rowan argues that tokens, unlike coins, were created for a more restricted audience, and so any legends could only have had a niche significance which contributed to their shared sense of identity, instead of appealing to a wide audience the way that most coins were seemingly designed to do.
Chapter 4 (‘Cult, Euergetism, and the Imagery of Festivals’) picks up on the connection between tokens and festivals posited in Chapter 2. It is often frustratingly hard to understand the use and meaning of tokens because there are few from secure contexts, but the explicit iconography and accompanying legends presumably would have shaped user experience. Much of the imagery of tokens from across the Roman world evokes good times and abundance, which Rowan argues is fitting because the tokens were likely to create a sense of benefaction, fun, or joy. But this also means that they cannot always be tied to specific events or even types of festivals. In other cases, the tokens are more specific: tokens from Rome and Ostia make strong reference to the festival of Egyptian deities, for example, particularly Isis and Anubis, and evoke the transformation inherent in the cult of Isis, perhaps encouraging participants to identify with object’s iconography. Other tokens may be linked to the Saturnalia, a traditional time for breaking down social boundaries: several tokens bear an abbreviated form of the chant io Saturnalia and gambling scenes may also relate to this festival, though this remains uncertain. Nevertheless, a passage of Martial (Ep. 12.62.11) appears to corroborate the link between Saturnalia and tokens specifically, describing the distribution of ‘nomismata’ during the festival. The festive links of these tokens may also help to explain the apparently satirical scenes which feature on some of them — for example, some of them appear to mock official ceremonies like the triumph. Overall, this is perhaps the most fascinating chapter of the book because despite the paucity of evidence to support the interpretation of tokens’ ‘proper’ function(s)—are they tickets, souvenirs, redeemable for gifts of goods?—Rowan is able to squeeze considerable amounts of information out of these objects.
Chapter 5 (‘Tokens, Finds and Small-Scale Economies’) provides a re-evaluation of the idea that tokens were used as small change, official or otherwise. Rowan finds that there is no real evidence for this supposition but considers the possibility that some tokens might have filled in as redeemable vouchers for goods and services, perhaps as ‘occasional acts of euergetism’ (p. 199). Tokens travelled: more work needs to be done in this area, but they are found both outside of the region where they were made, and some have been recovered from shipwrecks, suggesting that they were given out in advance to be redeemed later but some were never used. The euergetism model may be the best fit for the tokens found either in bathhouses or which reference bathhouses in iconography or through their inscriptions: it is not inconceivable that these tokens were exchangeable for entry, oils, food, massages, etc. We may also see the same type of exchange in the theatre district at Ostia, where Rowan suggests some tokens may relate to the theatre or associated activities. However, a survey of contextual evidence at Ostia presented in this chapter also suggests that tokens circulated widely, and this, in combination with the diversity of designs they bore, may suggest that they had a range of different uses.
The book closes with Chapter 6 (‘Conclusion: ‘Tokens and the History of Roman Imperial Italy’), which draws together many of the key themes to emerge from the study: tokens are a valuable source because of their small and intimate scale and because they reflect the ambitions and self-presentations of a wide range of different agents in ancient society. In this chapter, Rowan is clear that her book was not intended as the final word on Roman tokens, and while there is now a community of scholars working on ancient tokens, much more work remains to be done, both in Italy and in the wider ancient world. That said, this book is a leap forward in the study of tokens and will be valuable not only for established scholars working on portable material culture, but also for postgraduate students and advanced undergraduates, especially those looking to engage with a wider range of Roman material culture.