Brooch, made in Roman Britain
This salmon shaped brooch was found near Hull at South Ferriby. Roman women wore a lot of jewellery. Their clothes changed very little so they relied on jewellery and hairstyles to look different from other women. The richer you were, the more fancy jewellery you wore.
The most common kind of Roman jewellery was the brooch. They were popular because their clothes werenât sewn and had to be pinned together with decorative clothes pins.
Other brooches like this have been found in the Humber and Lincolnshire region. Costume in Roman Britain showed a mixture of Roman and Celtic tastes. Woman of all social classes wore jewellery and brightly coloured items were especially popular.
The famous Roman writer Livy wrote in 195 BC that, âelegance, finery, and beautiful clothes are women's badges, in these they find joy and take prideâ.
He was referring to arguments against the Oppian Law. The Oppian Law was a wartime measure which restricted the finery that Roman women could wear. It caused the first recorded demonstration by women. Aristocratic Roman women took to the streets in 195 BC to call for an end to the law. They were successful and the law was repealed.
Fashionable upper-class women wore large amounts of jewellery. Necklaces and bracelets were made out of brightly coloured glass, polished stones and precious metals. Gold bracelets in the form of coiling snakes were popular. Roman women also wore ear-rings and friendship rings.
Functional clothes pins were also worn as jewellery, such as this brooch. Decorated hair-pins were also popular. Roman women had mirrors made of highly polished metal so they could check that all of these additions looked good.
