| From
the Roman to the Christian Empire The progressive Christianisation of the Roman world lead to the depiction of religious themes and subjects on jewellery, especially on rings. Indeed, Clement of Alexandria had already addressed the Christians, emphasising the right to wear a ring according to one’s work and needs, for example its use as a seal. However he disapproved of their purely ornamental purpose. Nevertheless, at the same time jewellery continued to be produced featuring pagan and magical figures, connected to the persistence of pagan beliefs which greatly worried the Church. After the IV century AD, such features progressively decreased. The socio-economic and political crisis of the late Empire was also important for the production and spread of gold jewellery, which was used as a source of wealth and trade as well as for ornamentation. Inflation and the consequent scarce circulation of coins often lead people to keep and hide valuable objects. However, high ranking people used costly and elegant jewellery such as the gold ornament with a cameo (necklace or diadem?), recovered from a burial site in the basilica of San Miceli at Salemi. |