Dr Clare Rowan, Associate Professor at Department of Classics and Ancient History, The University of Warwick.

Communities, Festivals and Identities on Roman Imperial Tokens

Tokens in lead, bronze and brass survive in number from Rome and Ostia, but have seen very little analysis in modern scholarship. Examination of these objects reveal that they form an important source base for uncovering local communities within the imperial capital and its port, which are not mentioned in other sources. This paper explores how tokens, created by a wide variety of groups and individuals, acted to call forth particular identities at particular moments in time, and what their imagery and text tell us about different lived experiences in everyday life.