Acquired by Roma Numismatics, London, electronic auction in 2012. From a previous private collection of an English gentleman. The seller of this lot hereby guarantees that this object was obtained legally. 2.24 g, 19x21 mm. Reference for exactely this type of tessera: Marianne Maaskant-Kleibrink, Cachets de terre - de Doliché, in: Bulletin Antieke Beschaving, Orgaan van de Vereeniging Antieke Beschaving, Leiden 1971, 23-63, #8. This rare and wonderful tessera depicts the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), facing each other. In Greek mythology, the Dioscuri are the half-brothers and twin brothers Castor and Polydeukes (Κάστωρ and Πολυδεύκης). They are often called by their Latin names Castor and Pollux, as which they are also the namesake of a bright pair of stars in the winter constellation of Gemini. Their mother was Leda, but they had different fathers. Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan. Roman culture made great bonds in Hellenism, which primarily affected its ideals of education. Thus in the 1st century BC also plays that made up an essential component of Greek literature became increasingly, and more popular in the Roman Rebublic and the Roman Empire. However, the first theater performances in Rome were found in 364 BC in public games (ludi publici) in honor of the gods. Due to the originally religious character, the theater plays were played in the immediate vicinity of a temple. The games should be an offering for the gods. This new form of entertainment was quickly popular with the Romans and was soon established, a period that stretches into the 3rd century AD, before the fall of the Roman Empire. A tessera was the ancient Roman equivalent of a theater ticket. Stamped into a clay shard was an entrance aisle for spectators attending an event at an amphitheater or arena.