A mysterious Roman ring’s story that deserves to become a novel…

 

Or, maybe, it has become a novel!

This enigmatic Roman gold ring was found in a plowed field near Silchester in 1785. The square bezel has a portrait of the pagan goddess Venus, inscribed backward SUNEV for use as a signet ring by the owner.

Curiously, around the ten-sided ring is crudely inscribed the identity of a later Christian owner, "Senicianus" who, it proclaims with spelling errors, "lives in god" (vivas in deo) - a ring passing from pagan to Christian hands was certainly possible in the 4th century CE.

The plot thickens when, at a temple to the mysterious British god “Nodens” 80 miles away in Lydney, Gloucestershire, a lead curse tablet (defixio) was later discovered. On the tablet, a man named “Silvianus” complains that his gold ring was stolen and he suspects “Senicianus” was the culprit!

the temple of Nodens, image from Nodens - Wikipedia

The defixio, image from The Roman Preciousss on display at The Vyne

The inscription on the tablet says that Senicianus was the culprit and Silvianus deposited the curse tablet and donated at the temple half the value of his lost ring, in the hope that the gods would "permit no good health to Senicianus."

We might fancifully conclude then that in the mid-4th century CE, Silvianus - a late-Roman man still clinging on to the old pagan gods, had his beloved Venus ring stolen from him by a Christian that he knew named Senicianus. The pious thief then rededicated the pagan ring with his own ironic inscription, saying he "lives in God". The bitter Silvianus then traveled to an ancient pagan temple to deposit a curse on the Christian thief. We know the ring was subsequently lost but are left to imagine if fate ever caught up with Senicianus.

The connection between this curse and the gold ring was made in 1929 by the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, who also consulted a certain young J.R.R. Tolkien, Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, to work on the etymology of the curious deity Nodens and explore the possible connections with the enigmatic Roman gold ring.

Soon afterward Tolkien would begin creating his legendarium of Middle-earth with both “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” revolving around the magical, golden, and often-stolen One Ring that grants the wearer invisibility. Had Tolkien been inspired by the Silvianus ring to write one of the greatest works of fantasy literature?

The Silvianus Ring is displayed at @TheVyneNT, Hampshire.

The curse tablet is displayed at Lydney Park Estate, Gloucestershire.

(Note: It was initially posted in Archaeology Unearthed)

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