Romano-British Period--Arms--Swords--Spears,
etc.--Knives--Fibulæ--Armillæ--Torques of Gold, etc.--Other
Personal Ornaments--Horse-shoes.
[Illustration: Fig. 301.]
[Illustration: Fig. 302.]
Of ARMS but few examples are found in grave-mounds, although more
abundant in the neighbourhood of Roman stations and towns. They consist
of swords, daggers, spear-heads, and other weapons. They are, however,
perhaps the most scarce of any remains of the period. The swords of
bronze (figs. 299 and 300) which have frequently been ascribed to the
British period, are now pretty generally admitted to belong possibly
to Roman times. The examples engraved are of the most general type, as
are also the next engravings of spear and lance heads. The first (fig.
301), which is of iron, is from Little Chester, where it was found
along with human remains. Fig. 302 is of bronze, and is, as will be
seen, of somewhat unusual form, and has a loop on either side. The next
(fig. 303) is of bronze, and is three and a half inches long. It is of
remarkably good form, deeply socketed, like the preceding example, and
of a kind of leaf shape. Arrow-heads are also occasionally found. Of
these the example here engraved is a good type. It is of bronze, and
measures about an inch and a quarter in length.
[Illustration: Fig. 299.]
[Illustration: Fig. 300.]
[Illustration: Fig. 303.]
[Illustration: Fig. 304.]
Iron knives are occasionally found with interments. Some remarkable
instances of this have been recently brought to light near Plymouth,
and others again at Wetton and other places. The knives are of the form
engraved on fig. 305. They appear to have had wooden handles, which, of
course, except small traces of texture, have entirely decayed away.
Another knife, although not actually found with an interment, shows the
form so well that it is here engraved. It was nine and a half inches
long, of peculiar shape, still retaining its handle of stag’s horn,
rubbed or worn smooth; the good preservation of which we may attribute
to having been imbedded in the fire-hardened earth, and sufficiently
deep to secure it from injury by the fire. With the knives in the
Plymouth cemetery were found portions of scissors, of the form of the
sheep-shears of the present day, and these have also been found in
other localities. They were of iron, and several fragments of other
implements of the same material were at the same time discovered.
[Illustration: Fig. 305.]
[Illustration: Fig. 306.]
Of FIBULÆ an almost endless variety in form, in size, and in material
has at one time or other been exhumed. They are, however, but very
occasionally found with interments. The most usual form, perhaps, is
that which is commonly called harp-shaped, or bowed, and this is of
such extreme variety that scarcely two examples out of the hundreds
that are known are precisely alike. Several have a cross bar at the
top, and are hence called “cruciform” (figs. 307, 310 to 312, and 315).
Others have coiled springs of wire at the top, variously fashioned.
Some of these are extremely complicated and ingenious, as will be seen
by the engraved examples. The more simple of the twisted springs, a
coiled spring only, formed by the end of the bow being attenuated into
the pin, is known as the “rat-trap spring,” from its coiled resemblance
to the spring used in those “vermin killers.” Examples to show this
form are here given (figs. 313, 314, 316, and 317). This form of fibula
is generally known as the “dolphin” shape. Occasionally wire only,
twisted in like manner as recently reproduced for skeleton shawl pins,
are found. Sometimes the fibula really assumed the form of an animal,
a bird or a serpent, with an inflated body. One of this character is
engraved on fig. 318. It is of one continuous piece of bronze, and the
pin, having a coiled spring, answers to the tail of the serpent, and
hooks into a projection on the neck.
[Illustration: Fig. 307.]
[Illustration: Fig. 308.]
[Illustration: Fig. 309.]
[Illustration: Fig. 310.]
[Illustration: Fig. 311.]
[Illustration: Fig. 312.]
[Illustration: Fig. 313.]
[Illustration: Fig. 314.]
[Illustration: Fig. 315.]
[Illustration: Fig. 316.]
[Illustration: Fig. 317.]
[Illustration: Fig. 318.]
The ornamentation is as varied as the form. Sometimes they are chased
or engraved in minute patterns of rows of dots, scales, etc.; at
others, enamelled or inlaid; and at others, again, raised ornaments are
riveted upon their surface. Instances of S-shaped fibulæ also occur, as
do many other grotesque forms.
[Illustration: Fig. 319.]
[Illustration: Fig. 320.]
Circular fibulæ are occasionally met with, and these, like the bowed
forms, vary very considerably in design. Sometimes they are flat on
the face, and enamelled or inlaid in different colours. One of the most
curious, but elegant, modifications of the circular form is fig. 320,
where the ends, which are serpents’ heads, are turned back to the sides
of the body.
ARMILLÆ, or bracelets, are found both in bronze, in silver, and in
gold. They vary very considerably in form. Of these, one example (fig.
321) will be sufficient. The pair here represented are of base silver,
and bear evidence of having been much worn. Examples of analogous type
have been found at Castleford and other places. Other armlets partake
more of the character of torques, torquis, or collar; and others,
again, are simply bars of metal, twisted in one or more coils, like a
spiral spring, around the wrist.
[Illustration: Fig. 321.]
While speaking of armlets and torques, it may not be out of place, as
I purposely omitted them in the Celtic division of this work, to say
a few words about the latter. There can be no doubt that the torque
was worn both by the ancient Briton and by his Roman conqueror, and
therefore it is perhaps best, as it is at present not easy to say which
of the known examples are to be attributed to the earlier and which to
the later of these periods, to speak of them generally under this head.
The torque, or torquis, is said, by ancient writers, to have been first
used by the Persians and by the nations of Northern and Western Europe.
Virgil describes it as worn by the Trojans when they came to colonize
Italy:--
“Omnibus in morem tonsa coma pressa corona,
Cornea bina ferunt præfixo hastilia ferro;
Pars leves humero pharetras; it pectore summo
Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri.”
It is first mentioned in Roman history in the year 360 B.C., when
Manlius, having torn a torque of gold from the neck of a vanquished
Gaul--here is evidence of its being a decoration worn by a similar race
to our ancient British population _before_ being spoken of in Roman
history--placed it on his own, and received, from this circumstance,
the name of Torquatus. From this time the practice was adopted in
the wars with the Gauls--the example set by Torquatus Manlius being
frequently followed by the Roman leaders,--and the torque being
adopted as a reward for military merit. “The Roman writers speak of
them as worn by the Britons; and the Queen of the Iceni, Boadicea, is
described by Dion Cassius as having a torquis of gold round her neck.
This was the metal of which they were usually made. They consisted of
a long piece of gold, twisted or spiral, doubled back in the form of
a short hook at each end, and then turned into the form of a circle.”
The torque was known to, and worn by, the Egyptians, the Persians,
Persepolitans, the Gauls, and the Britons, as well as, later on, to
the Romans, and it was very usual, as is evident by the many examples
which have been found, with the Irish celts. The most usual forms
will be found engraved in the catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy,
the largest known example measuring five feet seven inches in length.
A remarkably fine example of this type, found on the borders of
Derbyshire and Staffordshire, measures three feet nine and a quarter
inches. Many other varieties are found, sometimes formed of square bars
of gold twisted spirally, sometimes of flat bars of the same metal
twisted in a lighter manner, and sometimes, again, of more than one bar
twisted together. The ends, too, are of various forms: sometimes being
simply hooks, and at others swelling out into cup-shaped terminations,
and at others partaking of the form of a serpent’s head, etc. A very
remarkable torque, now belonging to Her Majesty, was found in 1848 in
Needwood Forest, and is here engraved (fig. 322). It is formed of eight
cords of gold plaited together, and weighs 1 lb. 1 oz. 7 dwts. and 10
grains. Another example of a different character, from Ireland, is here
given (fig. 323).
[Illustration: Fig. 322.]
[Illustration: Fig. 323.
_Side View_]
It is safer, perhaps, although there is no doubt that torques were
worn by the Romans, to assign them to the British period than to that
of their conquerors. Much, however, necessarily depends on the remains
found with them, and the locality where discovered.
Other personal ornaments, and bone and bronze pins, hair-pins, etc.,
are occasionally found, but need no special notice here. Instruments of
the toilette, too, are occasionally discovered. Prominent among these
is the mirror, or speculum, which is sometimes found in the graves
of Roman ladies. Among the most interesting of these are some found
in a Roman cemetery at Plymouth. They consist of a circular plate of
polished metal, generally of bronze set in a frame of the same metal or
otherwise, and have a handle to hold them by. They are of much the same
form as the small handled toilet glasses of the present day. The back
was generally, as in the case of the Plymouth examples, “ornamented
with a considerable quantity of scroll engraving. The pattern of one
of these consists of three circular figures, the two bottom ones being
larger than that which I take to be the central top one. Although each
circular scroll differs from the others, they are evidently figured
upon one general plan; the lines within, being segments of circles of
various sizes, form crescents with various modifications. Some portions
of the engraving, in order to give solidity to its character, were
filled in with numerous striated spots, consisting of three lines one
way and three lines at right angles to them. The entire surface of the
mirror was surrounded by a narrow border or rim, which was formed of a
separate piece, and folded over the margin. This specimen was damaged
in many parts, particularly upon the under surface, and some of the
edge was entirely eaten away, but where the rim was preserved the plate
was not only in good preservation, but not even oxidized, retaining
the bright colour of the bronze as perfectly as when, probably, in use
by its ancient possessor. A second had the handle attached to it. The
handle is cast in one piece in the form of a loop, having been made
by folding one half back against the other, and securing them in that
position by a band, the two free ends being spread out to hold the
mirror, which is received in a groove, and supported on each side by a
scroll work of bronze, of much of which, although lost, the impression
still remains upon the plate. The greater diameter of the mirror is
eight inches, that of the handle of the duplicate specimen, which
is supposed to be of the same size as the missing handle, is four
inches.” Several of these mirrors have been found in the cemeteries at
Colchester and in other places.
Combs, both of wood and bone, are also found in the interments, as
are strigils, tweezers, locks and keys of numberless forms and sizes,
remains of small caskets, and a great many other articles. Of combs I
shall say a few words when speaking of those of the Anglo-Saxon period.
Horse-shoes of this period are occasionally met with in interments when
the horse has been buried with his rider, or otherwise. One example,
so as to show the form, will be sufficient. It was found at Gloucester
some years ago, along with the lamp and circular fibulæ here engraved,
and with other relics of the same period. Of the other articles it will
not be necessary to make further mention.
[Illustration: Fig. 324.]