Object type
ring
Culture/period
Roman world
Materials
gold
Technique
casting, engraving
Mint
Production date
1 / 100
Museum
Museu de Badalona
Current location
Exposició permanent
Archaeological site
Ciutat romana de Baetulo. Sant Josep i de Rosés
Township
Badalona (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Barcelona, Barcelonès)
Dimensions
1,7 x 1,5 cm
Description
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Gold ring worked with the casting technique, which shows an engraving, very well achieved stylistically, of an imperial eagle looking to the left, in a resting attitude and with its beak open. The bird's legs rest on what has traditionally been described as Jupiter's bow, although it would surely be more correct to consider it Jupiter's thunderbolt, a more typical attribute of the father of the gods. It is a very common iconography in Roman times, which during the Republic was associated with Jupiter and in imperial times it was equated with the emperor and the power of the Roman Empire.
The internal diameter of the ring, detailed above, is very small. This should make us think of two possibilities: if it was designed to be worn, it could only have been worn by a child or it could have been used to decorate a sculpture; but it is most likely that it was simply worn tied around the neck as a pendant, since the general characteristics of the piece make us think that the owner must have been an adult man who would most likely use it as a seal for the certification of documents.
The piece was found in the context of a hoard, in a hole made in the soil and covered by a rectangular stone. The hole had a filling with a lot of ashes, which led the excavators to think that it could be the remains of a small wooden box or some other wrapping of vegetable origin.
© Museu de Badalona
Omeka ID
1896