Ancient Roman and Pompeian Jewlery

With this Latin project, I wanted to focus my study on something that would really interest me. From always being interested in fashion and jewelry, I figured a topic focused pertaining to that would be fun to look into. I choose jewelry because of its importance and meaning . The fact that something so small can have such great importance pertaining to societal classification. For my product, I decided to create a sketch/model of an ancient roman necklace. I took the most prominent and popular forms of jewelry design and combined them into one. Using my own artistic ideas I came up with a design for a necklaces that encompassed all aspects of roman design; all with putting a little modern twist to it. Before I reveal my product, here is a bit a history to help you understand where I got my inspiration.

During the ancient Roman times, jewelry was a rarity for all citizens to acquire. With that being said, only the upper class was only allowed to wear gold rings as this was a set law made by the government at the time. As jewels and gold became more abundant and popular (after romans moved east and gained territories) the manufacturing of such accessories became a desire for business. metals such as gold, silver, iron, and bronze were molded into the base structure for rings, bracelets, and broaches. Semi precious stones such as pearls, emeralds, opals, and sapphires were adorned to necklaces and rings to give an essence of elegance. Jewelry that was found in Pompeii contained necklaces and bracelets of great detail. Some in the shape of snakes, and some made from individual little strands of gold. One of the popular aspects of design that I added to my sketch was that of the cameo. A cameo was made out of a layered stone by the name Sardonyx. The top layer would be carved into a famous person or a significant symbol, leaving the underneath layers to be seen (as these were darker than the top layer) to be a background. I let the cameo be the center piece to my necklace as this carries the greatest significance. along the chain of the necklace, different styles of glass beads and semi-precious stones will be added. Beads became very popular during this time period as they were easily acquired from inhumation cemeteries (the beads could be found in the graves). Glass beads came in many different colors, from blue to red to green; some were even wrapped in gold foil. They also came in many different shapes and sizes as well. The beads that I added to my necklace were cylindrical, melon, segmented, and gold-in beads. Cylindrical beads can be made by cutting a cylindrical rod of glass into many different sizes (theses were the easiest to make). The melon bead was very common and well known during roman times. The most common color for these bead would be that of turquoise. They could also be painted with various glazes and were also made from a glass like compound called "frit". The last bead that I added to my design were the segmented beads. These beads are known as the Roman bead, as they were extremely popular during that time. They were made by attaching different widths of cylindrical beads together. With all these aspects combined into one, I created my product.

Works Cited

Alchin, Linda. "Roman Jewelry." Roman Jewelry. Siteseen Ltd., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.


"The History of Jewellery: Ancient Roman Jewelry." Jewelry of Ancient Rome. All About Gemstones, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.


Marks, Anthony, Graham Tingay, Ian Jackson, and Gerald Wood. Internet-linked Romans. London: Usborne, 2009. Print.


Swift, Ellen. Roman Dress Accessories. Princes Risborough: Shire, 2003. Print.