(Vol. vii. _passim._)
The Scriptures prove the use of rings in remote antiquity. In Gen. xli.,
Joseph has conferred on him the king's ring, an instance more ancient
than Prometheus, whom fables call the inventor of the ring. Therefore
let those who will hold, with Pliny and his followers, that its use is
more recent than Homer. The Greeks seem to have derived the custom of
wearing it from the East, and Italy from the Greeks. Juvenal and Persius
refer to {417} rings which were worn only on birthdays. Clemens
Alexandrinus recommends a limit within which the liberty of engraving
upon them should be restrained. He thinks we should not allow an idol, a
sword, a bow, or a cup, much less naked human figures; but a dove, a
fish, or a ship in full sail, or a lyre, an anchor, or fishermen. By the
dove he would denote the Holy Spirit; by the fish, the dinner which
Christ prepared for his disciples (John xxi.), or the feeding of
thousands (Luke ix.); by a ship, either the Church or human life; by a
lyre, harmony; by an anchor, constancy; by fishermen, the apostles or
the baptism of children. It is a wonder he did not mention the symbol of
the name of Christ (~chi-rho~), the cross which is found on
ancient gems, and Noah's ark.
Rings were worn upon the joints and fingers, and hence Clement says a
man should not wear a ring upon the joint (_in articulo_), for this is
what women do, but upon the little finger, and at its lowest part. He
failed to observe the Roman custom of wearing the ring upon the finger
of the left hand, which is nearest the heart, and which we therefore
term the ring-finger. And Macrobius says, that when a ring fell from the
little finger of Avienus' right hand, those who were present asked why
he placed it upon the wrong hand and finger, not on those which had been
set apart for this use. The reasons which are given for this custom in
Macrobius were often laughed at by H. Fabricius ab Aquapendente, viz.
that it is stated in anatomical works, that "a certain nerve which rises
at the heart proceeds directly to that finger of the left hand which is
next the little finger," for nothing of the sort, he said, existed in
the human body.
The ring distinguished the free-born from the servile, who, however,
sometimes obtained the _jus annuli_, or privilege of the ring. It was
used as a seal, a pledge, and a bond. Women, when betrothed, received
rings; and the virgin and martyr Agnes, in Ambrose, says, "My Lord Jesus
Christ hath espoused me with his ring." Theosebius also, in Photius,
says to his wife, "I formerly gave to thee the ring of union, now of
temperance, to aid thee in the seemly custody of my house." He advisedly
speaks of that _custody_, for the lady of the house in Plautus says,
"Obsignate cellas, referte annulum ad me:
Ego huc transeo."
Wives generally used the same seals as their husbands: thus Cicero (_Ad
Attic._ xi. 9) says, "Pomponia, I believe, has the seals of what is
sealed." Sometimes, however, they used their own.
Touching the marriage ring, of what style and material it was, and
whether formerly, as now, consecrated by prayers to God. Its pattern
appears to have been one which has gone out of use, viz. right hands
joined, such as is often observed on ancient coins. Tacitus (_Hist._ i.
ll.) calls it absolutely _dextras_, right hands. Among us it was called
a faith (_una fede._ Comp. Eng. "Plight my _troth_"), and not without
precedent, for on the coins of Vitellius, &c. right hands thus joined
bear the motto _Fides_. An esteemed writer (Nider), in his
_Formicarium_, mentions a rustic virgin who desired to find a material
ring as a token of her espousal "_in signum Christiferæ
desponsationis_," and found a ring of a white colour, like pure silver,
upon which two hands were engraved where it was united. It was formerly
customary to bless a crown or a ring by prayers. The form of
consecration used by the priest is thus given in ancient liturgies:
"Bene [symbol, cross] die Domine, Annulum istum et coronam istam, ut
sicut Annulus circundat digitum hominis, et corona caput, ita gratia
Spiritus Sancti circundet sponsum et sponsam, ut videant filios et
filias usque tertiam et quartam generationem: qui collaudent nomen
viventis atque regnantis in secula seculorum. Amen."
For the crown, see Is. lxii. 1. (E. V. lxi. 10.). The words of Agnes
above cited have reference to giving the right hand and a pledge.
These particulars are from the _Symbol. Epist. Liber_ of Laurentius
Pignorius, Patar. 1628; where, in Ep. I. and XIX., many other references
are to be found.