PAIR OF EARLY ROMAN GOLD EARRINGS

Ca. 100-200 AD. Roman. A striking pair of matching heavy gold earrings, each composed of a curved thick band of gold and with applied granulated pyramids at their base. Excellent condition. Jewels were particularly important for Roman women because they were their own property - not their husbands'. Thus, women could buy, sell, and bequeath their jewellery as they saw fit: they could use jewellery to settle family debts, melt down older pieces to create an updated style, or at their death leave personal ornaments to family members. That women's jewellery served as a visible symbol of their wealth can be illustrated by the Roman 'Lex Oppia', which was enacted in 215 BC during the Second Punic War. This wartime legislation restricted the amount of jewellery that a woman could wear to half an ounce of gold, with the understanding that the rest would be contributed to the treasury for the protection of the state. After the war, Roman matrons led public protests that prompted the repeal of the Lex Oppia in 195 BC, and lavish jewellery was once again in fashion. The precious material and delicate decoration of these earrings suggest that they might have belonged to an aristocratic Roman woman. Cf. Gagarin, M. (2010). 'Jewellery' in: Gagarin, F., Gagarin, M., & Fantham, E. (eds). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press.; cf. Grubbs, J. (2002). Women and the law in the Roman Empire: A Sourcebook on Marriage, Divorce and Widowhood. London: Routledge. To find out more about Roman women, see Balsdon, J. (1983). Roman Women: Their History and Habits. London: Bodley Head.Size: L:37mm / W:38mm ; 37g. Provenance: From the collection of a gentleman based in London; formerly in a private collection formed in the 1990s in Germany; Gorny & Mosch 2012.