Ancient Roman Bronze legionary ring with names - 19 mm

"Roman Bronze Legionary Ring with Inscribed Names
Culture / Period: Roman
Date / Period: Roman Imperial Period, circa 2nd–4th century A.D.
Material: Bronze
Dimensions: Not provided
Condition: Good condition, with age-related surface wear and patination. The incised inscription remains clearly visible.

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Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 1017
The current owner (S.N.J. S.) purchased the legionary ring with names from B.N. in Schiedam, the Netherlands.
The previous owner, B.N. from Schiedam, stated that the object had been in his collection, but the date of acquisition was not provided.
According to the previous owner, the object had previously formed part of a private collection in the Netherlands; the date of this earlier ownership is unknown.
No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the object was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
Bronze rings of this character are associated with the personal material culture of the Roman Imperial period and could have been worn by soldiers serving throughout the Empire. Rings formed part of the personal possessions carried by Roman legionaries and auxiliary soldiers alongside brooches, belt fittings, amulets and other small objects.

This example has a broad elongated bezel divided into two registers by a deeply incised horizontal line. Both fields contain individually engraved letters, apparently representing personal names or abbreviated names. One possibility is that the inscriptions referred to the wearer and another person close to him, perhaps his wife or partner. Personal names on Roman jewellery could express ownership as well as personal relationships, although without a secure reading of the inscription this interpretation cannot be confirmed.

Such a personal association would fit well within the wider social world of the Roman army. Soldiers were not isolated from civilian society: military communities developed around forts and legionary bases, while soldiers maintained family and personal relationships during their service. Following the legal changes under Septimius Severus around A.D. 197, serving soldiers were generally permitted to contract recognised marriages, further strengthening the formal place of family life within military communities.

The ring was produced within the established tradition of Roman bronze working, with the basic form cast and finished before the lettering and dividing line were engraved by hand. Military movement helped such objects and styles circulate over considerable distances, particularly along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and the extensive network of roads connecting military and civilian centres.

The combination of a military-associated ring form with a deliberately engraved personal inscription gives the object an individual character. Whether the names referred to the soldier himself, his wife or another person cannot now be determined, but they demonstrate that the ring carried a meaning beyond simple ornament. It forms a tangible connection to Roman military life and to the personal relationships maintained by the men who served in the Roman army."