Handsome Ancient Roman Bronze (Belt/Strap) Applique/Embellishment. Made into a Lapel Pin or Plaque.

CLASSIFICATION: Roman Bronze Artifact, Engraved Appliqué. Contemporary pin mounted upon request at no charge. Mounted onto plaque or shadow box upon request (additional shipping charges apply).

ATTRIBUTION: Eastern Roman Empire (Thracia), Third Century A.D.

SIZE/MEASUREMENTS:

Length: 19 millimeters.

Breadth: 13 millimeters.

Weight: 1.70 grams.

NOTES: Upon request can be mounted with a jewelry pin (see below) at no additional charge for use as a lapel pin, or mounted onto a framed display plaque (see details below).

CONDITION: Very good. Applique/lapel pin is of sound integrity. Very light porosity (surface pitting caused by contact with earth while buried). Professionally conserved.

DETAIL: This is a very handsome, decorative piece of ancient Roman bronze ornamentation. It was clearly an ornamental appliqué for a belt or strap, you can see the attaching pins on the underside of the artifact. The appliqué was discarded or lost almost two thousand years ago. The artifact remains in wonderful condition, the engraving sharp, and the artifact is quite handsome. It is the type of decorative ornamentation one would have expected to find on a belt or strap employed by a Roman Soldier. Many pieces of equipment and weaponry were carried on the person of a Roman Legionnaire, many held in place with belts (and buckles), and such ornamental appliqués were quite popular. Though intended as a belt or strap ornament, we hope you will agree it makes a handsome lapel pin. With the addition of a contemporary pin, it can be worn and enjoyed – an authentic “souvenir” of the Roman Empire.

Though securely fastened, the pin could be removed at a later date without injuring the artifact. Worn as a lapel pin, we are sure that the original owner would not disapprove, as the Romans were quite fond of wearing ornamental brooches and pins. As a brooch or lapel pin it is a very handsome piece of jewelry, of very nice design and workmanship, an evocative memory of the glory and grandeur which was the world of Rome. It is a very solid piece, well constructed, and in a very good state of preservation. The artifact evidences only a very minimal porosity (fine surface pitting due to burial in soil), telltale evidence that it spent many centuries buried. Oftentimes such small bronze artifacts are completely destroyed by the corrosion they are subjected to over the millennia they spend buried. By good fortune this particular artifact happened to come to rest in fairly benign soil conditions. It possesses a gorgeous antique bronze patina, and there are no cracks, chips, or other impairments its integrity.

The Romans were very fond of jewelry and personal ornamentation, making wide use of very ornate belt buckles, brooches, appliqués, bracelets worn both on the forearm and upper arm, rings, earrings, hair pins, and pendants. This artifact is quite handsome, and it makes a very distinct and uncommon lapel pin. The appliqué possesses a medium, almost golden tone so characteristic of ancient bronze. The appliqué is quite sturdy and substantial, its integrity is undiminished by the passage of time, and it has been professionally conserved. There are no cracks, chips, or other impairments to its integrity.

The Romans were of course very fond of ornate personal jewelry including bracelets worn both on the forearm and upper arm, brooches, pendants, hair pins, earrings, intricate fibulae and belt buckles, and of course, rings. If you request (follow the links below), we could mount the appliqué onto a framed display plaque (see it here), and it would make a great gift. The plaque narrates a brief outline of the history of ancient Rome along with an image of some very famous architectural remains in Rome. Mounted as a plaque the appliqué would make a very handsome gift, for yourself or a friend, and would surely delight a son or daughter. It would not only make a very handsome display, but would be very educational as well.

If you prefer, the appliqué could be installed within a glass-front shadow box with or without printed history (see it here). Whether worn as a lapel pin or displayed on a plaque, this is an exceptional piece of Roman jewelry and a very handsome artifact. Aside from being significant to the history of ancient jewelry, it is also an evocative relic of one of the world’s greatest civilizations and the ancient world’s most significant military machines; the glory, might and light which was the “Roman Empire”. If you are the winner of this piece, please confirm with us how you want it mounted, as the default method of shipping is without any mounting whatever. You must specify that you want a pin installed, and we will do so without additional cost.

HISTORY: One of the greatest civilizations of recorded history was the ancient Roman Empire. In exchange for a very modest amount of contemporary currency, you can possess a small part of that great civilization in the form of a 2,000 year old piece of jewelry. The Roman civilization, in relative terms the greatest military power in the history of the world, was founded in the 8th century (B.C.). In the 4th Century (B.C.) the Romans were the dominant power on the Italian Peninsula, having defeated the Etruscans and Celts. In the 3rd Century (B.C.) the Romans conquered Sicily, and in the following century defeated Carthage, and controlled the Greece. Throughout the remainder of the 2nd Century (B.C.) the Roman Empire continued its gradual conquest of the Hellenistic (Greek Colonial) World by conquering Syria and Macedonia; and finally came to control Egypt in the 1st Century (B.C.).

The pinnacle of Roman power was achieved in the 1st Century (A.D.) as Rome conquered much of Britain and Western Europe. For a brief time, the era of “Pax Romana”, a time of peace and consolidation reigned. Civilian emperors were the rule, and the culture flourished with a great deal of liberty enjoyed by the average Roman Citizen. However within 200 years the Roman Empire was in a state of steady decay, attacked by Germans, Goths, and Persians. In the 4th Century (A.D.) the Roman Empire was split between East and West. The Great Emperor Constantine temporarily arrested the decay of the Empire, but within a hundred years after his death the Persians captured Mesopotamia, Vandals infiltrated Gaul and Spain, and the Goths even sacked Rome itself. Most historians date the end of the Western Roman Empire to 476 (A.D.) when Emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed. However the Eastern Roman Empire (The Byzantine Empire) survived until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 A.D.

At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched from Britain in the West, throughout most of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, and into Asia Minor. Valuables such as coins and jewelry were commonly buried for safekeeping, and inevitably these ancient citizens would succumb to one of the many perils of the ancient world. Oftentimes the survivors of these individuals did not know where the valuables had been buried, and today, two thousand years later caches of coins and rings are still commonly uncovered throughout Europe and Asia Minor. Roman Soldiers oftentimes came to possess large quantities of “booty” from their plunderous conquests, and routinely buried their treasure for safekeeping before they went into battle.

If they met their end in battle, most often the whereabouts of their treasure was likewise, unknown. Throughout history these treasures have been inadvertently discovered by farmers in their fields, uncovered by erosion, and the target of unsystematic searches by treasure seekers. With the introduction of metal detectors and other modern technologies to Eastern Europe in the past three or four decades, an amazing number of new finds are seeing the light of day 2,000 years or more after they were originally hidden by their past owners. And with the liberalization of post-Soviet Eastern Europe, new markets have opened eager to share in these treasures of the Roman Empire.

Bronze is the name given to a wide range of alloys of copper, typically mixed in ancient times with zinc or tin. The Bronze Age followed the Neolithic, and as the name implies, saw the production of bronze tools, weapons and armor which were either hard or more durable than their stone predecessors. Traditionally archaeology has maintained that the earlier bronze was produced by the Maikop, a proto-Indo-European, proto-Celtic culture of Caucasus prehistory around 3500 B.C. Recent evidence however suggests that the smelting of bronze might be as much as several thousand years older. Shortly after the emergence of bronze technology in the Caucasus region, bronze technology emerged in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean), Anatolia (Turkey) and the Iranian Plateau. By the late fourth to early third millennium B.C. many Bronze Age Cultures had emerged. Some of the more notable were the Celtic cultures of Middle Europe stretching from Hungary to Poland and Germany, including the Urnfield, Lusatian, and (Iron Age Transitional) Hallstatt Cultures.

The Shang in ancient China also developed a significant Bronze Age culture, noted for large bronze burial urns. Britain’s Bronze Age cultures included the Beaker, Wessex, Deverl, and Rimbury. Cornwall was the principle source of tin not only for Britain but exported throughout the Mediterranean, and copper was produced from the Great Orme mine in North Wales. Though much of the raw minerals may have come from Britain (and to a lesser extent Spain), it was the Aegean world which controlled the trade in bronze. The great seafaring Minoan Empire appears to have controlled, coordinated, and defended the Bronze Age trade. Tin and charcoal were imported into Cyprus, where locally mined copper was mined and alloyed with the tin from Britain. It appears that the Bronze Age collapsed with the Minoan Empire, to be replaced by a Dark Age and the eventual rise of the Iron Age Myceneans. Evidence suggests that the precipitating event might have been the eruption of Thera and the ensuing tsunami, which was only about 40 miles north of Crete, the capital of the Minoan empire.

It is known that the bread-basket of the Minoan empire, the area north of the Black Sea lost population, and thereafter many Minoan colony/client-states lost large populations to extreme famines or pestilence. Thus with the end to the shipping of tin throughout the Mediterranean the Bronze Age trade network is believed to have failed, and the end of the Bronze Age and the rise of the Iron age is normally associated with the disturbances created by large population movements in the 12th century B.C. The end of the Bronze Age saw the emergency of new technologies and civilizations which heralded the new Iron Age. Although iron was in many respects much inferior to bronze (steel was still thousands of years away), iron had the advantage that it could be produced using local resources during the dark ages that followed the Minoan collapse. Bronze also resists corrosion and metal fatigue better than iron. Bronze was still used during the Iron Age, but for many purposes the weaker iron was sufficiently strong to serve in its place. As an example, Roman officers were equipped with bronze swords while foot soldiers had to make do with iron blades.

Domestic shipping is $3.99 for first class mail or $6.99 for Priority Mail. Domestic rates include USPS Delivery Confirmation (you might be able to update the status of your shipment on-line at the USPS Web Site). Canadian shipments are $3.99 for Air Mail; International shipments are $4.99 for Air Mail (and generally are NOT tracked; trackable shipments are EXTRA). I can add most other items I sell to the shipment for only $0.99 each. Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers. Insurance is available for both domestic and international shipments ($2 for domestic shipments; $3 for international shipments; ONLY required when PayPal is used – you may deduct this amount if you prefer an uninsured shipment AND you pay by check or money order).

We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment. Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily “lost” or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA. If you intend to pay via PayPal, please be aware that PayPal Protection Policies REQUIRE insured, trackable shipments. If you do NOT want an insured shipment, send us a check or money order and deduct the invoiced insurance premium. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. I prefer your personal check or money order over any other form of payment – and I will ship immediately upon receipt of your check (no “holds”). If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price.

Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world – but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.

I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the “business” of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly – even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."