Friends of Greek Art Lecture—Breaking the Bank (Literally): The Secret Life of Roman Piggy Banks

How did the Romans collect, carry, and store their coins? Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable variety of money-storage strategies adopted by everyday Romans, including leather purses, ceramic pots, and even simple holes in the ground. Among the most intriguing are decorated savings banks, sometimes compared to modern piggy banks.

These small ceramic boxes, produced in central Italy between the second and third centuries CE, are richly adorned with images of gods, heroes, and athletes. The horizontal slot at the top and the discovery of examples with coins still inside confirm that they held money. Like some of their modern counterparts, the primary way to recover money deposited in them was to break the bank!

In this talk Professor Robyn Le Blanc (UNC Greensboro) explores the decoration of these objects, examines where they were found, and considers the various potential uses for them in ancient Roman society, such as offering boxes for household gods, New Year’s presents, and children’s playthings.

Image: Courtesy of Johns Hopkins University Archaeological Museum, no. 395