Jewelry was common in Ancient Rome. Romans wore a variety of jewelry including bracelets, necklaces, armlets and earrings. However, the favorite piece of jewelry was the ring.
According to Pliny the Elder, Romans first started wearing rings in the forth century B.C. It became common for Romans to wear rings on every finger excluding the middle finger (this finger was named the digitus impudicus--"imprudent finger"). In some cases, smaller rings to decorate each finger joint were also worn.
A small amount of poison was occasionally hidden inside a ring's gemstone. This was used in case the wearer needed a speedy exit. For example, when about 2,000 pounds of gold was stolen from Jupiter's temple, the temple official on watch was retained for questioning. Before any legal action could be taken, he bit down on his poisoned ring, killing himself.
Jewelry--poisoned or otherwise--is one of those things that I rarely include in character descriptions. However, it is an area that I shouldn't be ignoring. Jewelry can be a very telling detail, whether it is a woman sporting an engagement ring with a gemstone larger than the width of her finger or a small claddagh charm on a necklace.
When crafting characters, do you ever consider what kinds of jewelry the character might wear? Has a piece of jewelry ever figured prominently in one of your stories?
I am definitely going to be writing about a poisoned ring at some point!
9 comments:
Yes, I do consider jewelry! My main character twists a pearl ring when she gets nervous. It was once her mother's.
Another one of my characters loves big, gaudy jewelry. It goes with her colorful personality.
:0)
Awesome. I've read some stories where the character wears iron to ward off evil paranormal things. LOL.
Dawn--I remember that now from one of your awesome getting to know your character exercises!
Liz--Hmmm...I am reading The Replacement right now--I'm not very far in, but it is already clear that iron and metal might function like you suggest in that story.
So very interesting! Love this post.
Ah, interesting post. I actually never consider this, as my main character is a male and living in a defunct missile silo after a massive solar storm. He hasn't got much jewelry LOL:) However, I can see a lot of instances where the characters jewelry choice might give some insight to their personality. Great thoughts!
Wow!!! I never knew about poisoned jewelery!! My goodness!!!
Jewelery can tell a lot about women and their attitude!! Don't forget Riche Rich!!!
with warm regards
CatchyTips for Writers
It cracks me up that the middle finger was called "imprudent."
'Nuff said about that. Another fun post.
Great post. Had never heard of these or thought about character jewelry.
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