page_title: Signaculum
section_title: Other forms
hierarchical_section_title: Signaculum / Other forms
caption_attribution_description: English: Signaculum PRIMIT (=First). The signaculums were used to affix the mark of the manufacturer onto an object. Roman era. Campana collection purchase 1861. Louvre museum (Paris, France). Français&#160;: Signaculum PRIMIT (=Premier). Les signaculums servaient à apposer sur un objet la marque du fabricant. Époque romaine. Achat à la collection Campana 1861. Musée du Louvre.
context_page_description: A signaculum was a lead "dog tag" in a leather pouch carried by Roman soldiers around their neck. It seems to have had personal details with a seal or stamp to authenticate it.
  Similar items for identifying civilian goods and equipment have been found as well. Signacula of this variety were not discs that were carried on one's person as with the Roman army equivalent, but are more like modern-day product labels, giving information on the item's manufacturer and affiliates.
context_section_description: Labels
  Signaculum also describes the stamps on some Roman Imperial goods, and are used to identify the manufacturer and/or other pertinent facts about the item.
  Mark of slaves
  Slaves were also known to wear dog tags on their person, typically in the form of an unremovable metal collar that would be inscribed with messages such as:
  If you find this slave, he has run away. Please return him to his owner at the following address. You will be rewarded.
  These, along with branding and tattooing, were common ways for Roman slaves to be separated from the rest of the Roman social system, and easily  punishable should they make their escape.
  Stamps
  It is possible that signacula that were carried by domestic workers were used as stamps to record usage of tools, and debts from one to another.
caption: Signaculum PRIMIT (Primit=first)
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