Spectacular’ Roman Gold-and-Gemstone Ring Found After 1,700-Years
The ring, discovered in an English field and deemed a “treasure,” has ties to a power grab that a military leader made in Roman Britain
An English metal detectorist found a gold ring in a field. The jewelry’s ornately carved setting encompassed a blue gem engraved with a telling image: the Roman goddess Victoria, two wings protruding from her back, driving a horse-drawn chariot.
“It was like being hit by an express train,” recalls the finder, truck driver Kevin Minto, to the Guardian’s Steven Morris. “At first I thought it was a coin, then a brooch, and then realised it was a ring. You’re a little dumbfounded, really. One of the boys I was with was screaming: ‘We’re rich, we’re rich.’”
Previously, Minto had found a hoard of Roman coins and a lead coffin at the site in England’s southwestern Somerset region, near the town of Ilminster. But the gold ring, unearthed in 2018, became the field’s most valuable find.
Along with the 297 Roman coins unearthed there, the ring was declared treasure. So began a long process of payouts and hands-changing. In the end, the South West Heritage Trust charity purchased the ring and coins for nearly $105,000. Half of the treasure’s value was paid to the owner of the field in which it was discovered, reports the Guardian. The other half went to Minto, and he split it with a fellow detectorist.
According to a statement from the Trust, the so-called Ilminster Ring is “a truly remarkable find.” It’s unusually big, weighing nearly 50 grams, and dates back to the late third century C.E.—during the Roman Empire’s occupation of the British Isles.
“The Ilminster Ring is both large and heavy, with elaborate goldwork and a beautifully executed intaglio,” Amal Khreisheh, the trust’s senior curator, says in the statement. “While other examples are known, these elements combine to create a spectacular ring that is only paralleled by continental discoveries.”
Romans began colonizing what’s now England in 43 C.E., under the emperor Claudius. By the end of the first century, their control had spread as far north as present-day Scotland. They named their new province Britannia, and held it until the empire collapsed in the fifth century. Modern archaeologists have found countless artifacts and sites dating back to Britain’s Roman era: villas, interesting burials, mosaics, coins. But the ring is unique.
“Roman gold is really rare,” Khreisheh tells BBC News’s Dan Ayers. “Most jewelry is made out of silver or bronze in this period, so it's really striking to see in such good condition.”
In the third century, there were important trade routes and a number of wealthy Romans living around Ilminster, Khreisheh tells the Guardian. “Perhaps the ring belonged to a governor, merchant or big landowner,” she says.
Khreisheh adds that the ring’s owner may only have worn it on important occasions, or it may have had a ceremonial purpose. She says the engraved gem’s simple, elegant design conflicts with the ring’s “extravagant” amount of gold.
As for how it ended up in a field: Researchers think someone purposefully buried the ring and coins for safekeeping in 297 C.E. The previous decade had been one of political turmoil. In 286, a Roman military commander named Carausius usurped power over the island, creating an independent state that threatened the larger Roman Empire. Carausius’s tenuous rule lasted until 293, when his finance minister, Allectus, killed him and took power. Allectus’s own reign lasted just three years, ending when Roman emperor Constantius I invaded the island and restored imperial order to Britannia.
Artifacts bearing the visage of Victoria have been found in England before: a sandstone relief and another engraved gem, for example. The goddess was an important symbol for ancient Romans, especially, for obvious reasons, soldiers.
Researchers will now attempt to figure out whether the ring was created in England or elsewhere. After the piece is conserved, it will be displayed at the Museum of Somerset, alongside other Roman artifacts.
“I’m chuffed it’s staying,” Minto tells the Guardian. “That seems right to me, somehow.”
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