Later Roman Torque

[Nathan Ross]

Can anyone provide any information about the later Roman torque reconstructed here by Al Hamdd? I believe the original item is in the British Museum, and it apparently has a c.3rd century date. Does anyone know more?

Thanks - Nathan

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Robert Vermaat told me it's 4th century and from the Danube Frontier, IIRC. Hold on I think I put it on the SOTW site in the product description.

EDIT: No never updated it with that information. I'll have to dig through my facebook chat messages.

[Nathan Ross]

I've just found this piece on the British Museum catalogue site, and apparently it's actually 6th-7th century, and from the eastern empire (listed as 'early Byzantine'):

British Museum catalogue listing

Another picture

The same torque is shown on p.17 of Osprey's Late Roman Infantryman by Simon MacDowell, with no indication of date or origin.

[M. Val. Naso]

I've only seen these heavy spherical ones on later depictions than the 4th century.

[Robert Vermaat]

Robert Vermaat told me it's 4th century and from the Danube Frontier, IIRC.

No Evan, your memory deceives you. I used the description of the British Museum.
You may be confused by other images posted here and on Facebook that should comparable but similar torcs. These can indeed date back to the 4th c.:


[attachment=11606]torc1.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11607]torc2.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11608]torc3.jpg[/attachment]

The torc from al Hammd;
[attachment=11609]torc4.jpg[/attachment]

[Nathan Ross]

Here's the original, photographed this morning on display in the British Museum:

[attachment=11616]IMG_2904.JPG[/attachment]

The display caption suggests a date of AD300-900, although this also includes the various items of jewellery included with it. It also suggests that the torque is itself an item of female jewellery - the two little rings at the bottom were presumably intended to hold something suspended beneath it, either a gemstone pendant or a medallion of some kind, perhaps not unlike this piece from the Asiut hoard.

However, as Robert's images show, some of these later military/ceremonial torques also seem to have featured medallions or other pendants.