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LOT 0890
Roman Silver Ring with Iron Core and Mars Standing
2ND CENTURY A.D.
1 1/8 in. (16.01 grams, 27.09 mm overall, 23.53 mm internal diameter (approximate size British S, USA 9, Europe 20, Japan 19)).
The hoop with expanded shoulders and a sub-rectangular bezel with a raised oval intaglio image of the God Mars standing right, wearing a helmet.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Marin, E., Longae Salonae, Split, 1994, no.2, p.148, no.4, volume II, for a similar ring in silver with gemstone; for the Mars iconography see Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 405.
FootnotesMars Ultor was linked with Roman war imagery. Mars represented military power, the strength of the army and violence in battle. The ring was probably a gift for a soldier.
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