Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVIII 29 Sep 2019
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Traditional Roman Iron Ring. Circa 41 BC. Solid iron ring with flat bezel inset with oval jasper intaglio of a bare male head (Octavian [?]) to left. Length: 30mm, width: 19mm, height: 22mm, weight: 12.51g. Intaglio dimensions: 12x15mm. Cf. Crawford 513/2-3 (denarius; for portrait).
As made, complete, iron completely oxidized but stable.
From a private UK collection;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XIX, 5 January 2016, lot 403.
William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1875) reports "the custom of wearing rings was believed to have been introduced into Rome by the Sabines, who are described in the early legends as wearing gold rings with precious stones (gemmati annuli) of great beauty (Liv. I.11; Dionys. II.38). Florus (I.5) states that it was introduced from Etruria in the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, and Pliny (l.c.) derives it from Greece", where rings served (at least in earliest times) not principally as an adornment but as an article for use, since the ring served as a seal. Regardless of when time rings may have become customary at Rome, they were at first always of iron, as was the reported custom in Sparta (Plin. H. N. XXXIII.4). "Every free Roman had a right to use such a ring, and the iron ring was used down to the last period of the republic by such men as loved the simplicity of the good old times. Marius wore an iron ring in his triumph over Jugurtha, and several noble families adhered to the ancient custom, and never wore gold ones (Plin. H. N. XXXIII.6)."
The portrait on this ring resembles the slightly ambiguous portraits issued around 41 BC by moneyers at Rome who attempted to walk a fine line between declaring for one or another of the rival factions, while hedging their bets and remaining sufficiently on the fence until the outcome of the contest for mastery of the Roman world was resolved. In particular this portrait may be compared to that found on the denarii of M. Arrius Secundus, whose coins are believed to depict a portrait of Octavian.
As made, complete, iron completely oxidized but stable.
From a private UK collection;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XIX, 5 January 2016, lot 403.
William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1875) reports "the custom of wearing rings was believed to have been introduced into Rome by the Sabines, who are described in the early legends as wearing gold rings with precious stones (gemmati annuli) of great beauty (Liv. I.11; Dionys. II.38). Florus (I.5) states that it was introduced from Etruria in the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, and Pliny (l.c.) derives it from Greece", where rings served (at least in earliest times) not principally as an adornment but as an article for use, since the ring served as a seal. Regardless of when time rings may have become customary at Rome, they were at first always of iron, as was the reported custom in Sparta (Plin. H. N. XXXIII.4). "Every free Roman had a right to use such a ring, and the iron ring was used down to the last period of the republic by such men as loved the simplicity of the good old times. Marius wore an iron ring in his triumph over Jugurtha, and several noble families adhered to the ancient custom, and never wore gold ones (Plin. H. N. XXXIII.6)."
The portrait on this ring resembles the slightly ambiguous portraits issued around 41 BC by moneyers at Rome who attempted to walk a fine line between declaring for one or another of the rival factions, while hedging their bets and remaining sufficiently on the fence until the outcome of the contest for mastery of the Roman world was resolved. In particular this portrait may be compared to that found on the denarii of M. Arrius Secundus, whose coins are believed to depict a portrait of Octavian.