Signet Rings Discovered on the Territory of Roman Dacia Cover Image

Inele sigilare descoperite pe teritoriul Daciei Romane
Signet Rings Discovered on the Territory of Roman Dacia

Author(s): Ana Cristina Hamat
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Editura Altip
Keywords: Roman Empire; Dacia; jewellery; rings; gems; 2nd-3rd century AD

Summary/Abstract: The engraved jewelry are some of the most interesting roman discoveries and among these we have the signet rings. The great importance of these jewelry and especially the one of the signet rings, is the personal connection which they have with the wearer and therefore they can provide us whith information on a personal level about the latter. Mostly, the inscriptions contain an abbreviated form or the full name of the owner, along with an important sentence, or an established formula. Alongside with the inscription, we can find a representation that complements the latter and was chosen by the owner based on certain considerations relating to his personal sphere. The inscription can be engraved on either a gem or directly on to the ring. From the 16 artefacts included in this catalog, we have only two rings with gemstone, and the most of them are made from precious materials such as gold and silver. All the engraved names are masculine (Fig. 1) and the rings have been found both in the military and in the civilian enviroment, in funerary contexts or in contexts related to everyday life. The jewelry come from roman settlements and forts like Porolissum, Potaissa, Napoca, Apulum, Ulpia Traiana, Dierna, Drobeta, Slăveni, Romula and Ciucea and they are currently in the collections of several museums from Romania and abroad (Pl. I-II). For the most of artefacts the context information are missing.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 7
  • Page Range: 85-108
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: English, Romanian