ANNŬLUS

( δακτύλιος ), a ring. It is probable that the custom of wearing rings was very early introduced into Greece from Asia, where it appears to have been almost universal. They were worn not merely as ornaments, but as articles for use, as the ring always served as a seal. A seal was called sphragis ( σφραγίς ), and hence this name was given to the ring itself, and also to the gem or stone for a ring in which figures were engraved. Rings in Greece were mostly worn on the fourth finger ( παράμεσος ). At Rome, the custom of wearing rings was believed to have been introduced by the Sabines, who were described in the early legends as wearing golden rings with precious stones of great beauty. But, whenever introduced at Rome, it is certain that they were at first always of iron; that they were destined for the same purpose as in Greece, namely, to be used as seals; and that every free Roman had a right to use such a ring. This iron ring was worn down to the last period of the republic by such men as loved the simplicity of the good old times. In the course of time, however, it became customary for all the senators, chief magistrates, and at last for the equites also, to wear a golden seal-ring. The right of wearing a gold ring, which was subsequently called the jus annuli aurei , or the jus annulorum , remained for several centuries at Rome the exclusive privilege of senators, magistrates, and equites, while all other persons continued to wear iron ones. During the empire the right of granting the annulus aureus belonged to the emperors, and some of them were not very scrupulous in conferring this privilege. August us gave it to Mena, a freedman, and to Antonius Musa, a physician. The emperors Severus and Aurelian conferred the right of wearing golden rings upon all Roman soldiers; and Just in i an at length allowed all the citizens of the empire, whether ingenu i or libertini, to wear such rings. The ring of a Roman emperor was a kind of state seal, and the emperor sometimes allowed the use of it to such persons as he wished to be regarded as his representatives. During the republic and the early times of the empire the jus annuli seems to have made a person ingenu us (if he was a libertus), and to have raised him to the rank of eques, provided he had the requisite equestrian census, and it was probably never granted to any one who did not po e this census. Those who lost their property, or were found guilty of a criminal offence, lost the jus annuli. The principal value of a ring consisted in the gem set in it, or rather in the workmanship of the engraver. The stone most frequently used was the onyx ( σαρδῶνος , σαρδόνυξ ), on account of its various colours, of which the artist made the most skilful use. In the art of engraving upon gems the ancients far surpa ed anything that modern times can boast of. The devices engraved upon rings were very various: they were portraits of ancestors or of friends, subjects connected with mythology; and in many cases a person had engraved upon his seal some symbolical allusion to the real or mythical history of his family. The bezel or part of the ring which contained the gem was called pal a . With the increasing love of luxury and show, the Romans, as well as the Greeks, covered their fingers with rings. Some persons also wore rings of immoderate size, and others used different rings for summer and winter. Much superstition appears to have been connected with rings, especially in the East and in Greece. Some persons made it a lucrative trade to sell rings which were believed to po e magic powers, and to preserve the wearers from external danger.