According to Macrobius (Saturnalia, 1.11.49), the most common gifts were candles and figurines known as sigilla. The sigilla - which one of Macrobius' characters, possibly correctly, connects with an ancient religious rite - were usually human-shaped.

Beyond these standards, however, the range of gifts given was vast. Martial provides a humorous list in one of his epigrams (7.53):

"You have sent me as a present for the Saturnalia, Umber, everything which you have received during the past five days; twelve note-books of three tablets each, seven tooth-picks; together with which came a sponge, a table-cloth, a wine-cup, a half-bushel of beans, a basket of Picenian olives, and a black jar of Laletanian wine. There came also some small Syrian figs, some candied plums, and a heavy pot of figs from Libya."

The thirteenth and fourteenth books of Martial's epigrams consist almost exclusively of "labels" for Saturnalia gifts. If these are indicative of gifts actually exchanged, friends might give one other food, wine, writing tablets, dice, games, toothpicks, combs, articles of clothing, weapons, lamps, dumbbells, toys, tooth powder, live birds, gold cups, books, dogs, slaves, or even pastry figurines of Priapus (a fertility god with an enormous phallus).