In Ancient Roman society, jewellery was an essential accessory, providing the wearer with a public display of their wealth, social status, and identity. Gold and silver pieces were worn by the wealthier members of Roman society, while bronze and other metals provided a cheaper alternative for lower social classes. Roman jewellery at first followed the trends set by the Etruscans, employing the use of gold and glass beads. As the power and spread of the Roman Empire increased, jewellery designs became increasingly elaborate, utilising the many different materials, techniques, and styles found across the expanding empire, particularly from Greece, Egypt, North Africa, and the Orient.
Granulation (from the Latin ‘granum’ meaning ‘grain’) was a technique used by Roman jewellers to create the miniature gold spheres which adorn these hoops. It involved making tiny gold granules and then attaching them individually to the base piece. The oldest known examples made with this process date back to 2500BC and were found in the tombs of Ur, in Mesopotamia. From there, the technique spread through Near East and reached its peak with the Etruscans in the 7th-6th centuries BC.
Lunula pendants were piece of jewellery modelled in the shape of a crescent moon worn by girls in Ancient Rome, as a protection against the evil and to attract good fortune. However, lunar motifs became extremely popular in Roman jewellery across all the territories of the Roman Empire, with necklaces featuring lunar pendants recovered in Britain and portrayed in Romano-Egyptian funerary portraits.
To discover more about jewellery in Ancient Times, please visit our relevant blog post: Jewellery in Antiquity.
