Roman gems and jewellery: a quantitative study on trends in Roman gem supply and use from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD
Keywords: amethyst
aquileia
hoard
CHRE
aquamarine
chrysoprase
dataset
quantitative
gaul
Caesarea Maritima
agate
turquoise
peridot
carnelian
lapis lazuli
onyx
maritime trade
xanten
coin hoards of the Roman Empire
garnet
heliotrope
gems
diamond
Jasper
periplus
emerald
hoards
ancient economics
Roman gems
nicolo
trade
jewellery
Roman Egypt
overland trade
Roman Britain
palmyra
Roman trade
pearl
sapphire
gemstones
fayum
sardonyx
Roman economy
carnuntum

Past scholarship on Roman gems has primarily focused on the style and iconography of engraved gems. Recent scholarship by Hélène Guiraud on provenanced gems from Gaul (1988/2008), and by Ian Marshman on provenanced gems from Roman Britain (2016), have set forth methodological guides by which a collection of gems can be collated and assessed from a quantitative perspective, studying their type, style, and iconography. This thesis builds upon the precedent established through their work by moving beyond the limits of a single Roman province, and instead cataloguing and assessing Roman gems from across the Roman Empire. The catalogue of this thesis totals 10,726 pieces from 318 collections, representing the largest assemblage of Roman gems to date. This dataset is not meant to be a complete cataloguing of Roman gems from this period, but instead of a size that mitigates any identification and misclassifications that can be common in the study of ancient gems. Probabilistic chronological distribution and a quantitative methodology have here been employed to identify broad chronological, geographic, and typological trends in Roman gem use from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD.
The first chapter sets forth the research questions that will be asked and answered of each dataset, as well as identifying the biases and challenges inherent to the material. The second chapter presents the types of gems, their characteristics, and mineralogical sources, followed by an analysis of Indo-Roman maritime and overland trading routes. The third, fourth, and fifth chapters are quantitative in their focus, addressing increasingly refined datasets of Roman gems. The third chapter is dedicated to the empire-wide dataset, first broadly looking at all jewellery types, and then focusing on engraved gems, blank gems, and finger rings. The fourth chapter looks to material from Roman sites and provinces focusing on Gaul, Britain, and Egypt, as well as Carnuntum, Caesarea Maritima, Xanten, and Aquileia. The fifth chapter catalogues the gems from Roman coin hoards using data from The Oxford Roman Economy Project’s Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire as its foundation. The quantitative conclusions derived from the refined datasets in chapters three, four, and five present probabilistically secure evidence of chronological, geographic, and typological trends in gem usage. The sixth and final chapter of the thesis looks to visual representations of gems and jewellery on Pompeian frescoes and funerary portraits from the Fayum and Palmyra, focusing specifically on how these carved and painted renditions relate to what is observed in the archaeological record.
The quantitative conclusions presented here represent the first for gems from across the Roman Empire. Where past scholarship has addressed Roman gems and jewellery in broad impressionistic tones, this thesis distinguishes itself by presenting quantitative evidence for commonness, rarity, and use. It considers Roman gems from a material perspective, assessing the geographic and chronological patterns of use through probabilistic distribution and quantitative analysis. Using this methodology gems become indicators of wealth, the safety of Rome’s trading routes, and the health of the Roman economy.