PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

It is clear that not even the Roman Senate possessed gold rings for a long time. In fact, rings were only bestowed officially upon those who were about to go as envoys to foreign nations, and only to them—I believe because they were thus recognized as the most highly honored individuals by the foreigners. Nor was it the custom for anyone else to wear a gold ring unless they had received it officially for that reason. In general, Roman generals triumphed without one, and even while a Tuscan gold crown was held over the victor's head from behind, he wore an iron ring on his finger during the triumph, just like the slave holding the crown in front of him. This was the way Gaius Marius celebrated his triumph over Jugurtha, and it is recorded that he did not assume a gold ring until his third consulship. Furthermore, those who had received gold rings because of an embassy only wore them in public; within their homes, they wore iron rings. This is why, even now, an iron ring—and what is more, a ring without a stone—is sent This was called an anulus pronubus or betrothal ring. as a gift to a woman when she is betrothed. Indeed, I do not see that any rings were worn during the Trojan period. Homer certainly mentions nothing of the sort, although he indicates that tablets were sent back and forth in place of letters, and that clothes and vessels of gold and silver were stored away in chests and tied with signet-knots, not sealed with signet-rings. He also records that the chiefs cast lots to settle challenges In the Iliad, they used pots, not rings. without using signet-rings; and he says that the god Hephaestus, the god of fire and metalworking. of handicraft in that early period frequently made brooches and other articles of feminine adornment, like