Genuine Ancient Roman Silver Pendant Intact outlet Handsome AD800 Byzantine Macedonia Legionnaires Cavalry Strap Belt Appliqué Embellishment #47869

Handsome, Intact Ancient Roman-Byzantine Solid Silver Belt/Strap Applique/Embellishment Pendant and Chain.

CLASSIFICATION: Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantium Silver Artifact, Belt or Strap Applique/Embellishment (Pendant). Contemporary Chain and Split Ring.

ATTRIBUTION: Eastern Roman Empire (Macedon), Eighth to Tenth Century A.D.

SIZE/MEASUREMENTS:

Length: 29 millimeters.

Width: 11 millimeters.

Thickness: 4 millimeters.

Weight: 3.19 grams. Chain: Contemporary silver tone 48 centimeters (18 inches). A wide variety of other chains are available upon request in sizes from 16 to 30 inches, and in metals ranging from gold and silver electroplate to sterling silver and solid 14kt gold as well as a bronze-toned copper chain. The default chain (absent contrary instructions) is silver tone, 18 inches. For a more authentic touch, we also have available handcrafted Greek black leather cords.

CONDITION: Excellent. Belt/strap applique is entirely intact. Extremely light porosity (surface pitting caused by contact with earth while buried). Professionally conserved.

DETAIL: This is a very handsome, decorative/functional piece of ancient silver Roman-Byzantine ornamentation. If one examines this intricate piece of silver ornamentation, it is clear that this was most likely an appliqué for a belt or strap. You can see the two holes where studs or rivets would have attached this to a leather strap or belt. It could have been ornamentation used by the cavalry for bridle or halter straps on a horse. However it is much more likely that it might have been used by a Roman-Byzantine soldier as an appliqué on a strap or belt worn by the solider himself (and not the horse). It is indeed the type of decorative ornamentation one would have expected to find on a belt or strap employed by a Roman Soldier.

Many pieces of equipment and weaponry were carried on the person of a Roman (Byzantine) Legionnaire, many held in place with belts (and buckles), and such ornamental appliqués were quite popular. Though intended as a belt or strap ornament, we hope you will agree that with the addition of a contemporary split ring, it makes a handsome pendant. With the addition of a contemporary chain, it can be worn and enjoyed – an authentic “souvenir” of the Eastern Roman Empire. Worn as a pendant, we are sure that the original owner would not disapprove, as the outlet Eastern Empire Roman Byzantines were quite fond of wearing ornamental brooches, pins and pendants. As a pendant it is a very handsome piece of jewelry, of very nice design and workmanship, an evocative memory of the glory and grandeur which was the world of Byzantium. It is a very solid piece, well constructed, and in a very good state of preservation.

As you can see, it is entirely intact and very handsome! Originally it was fastened onto a leather strap or belt, and the appliqué was lost or discarded over one thousand years ago. Although it was of course not originally intended as a piece of jewelry, nonetheless we felt that mounted onto a chain it was quite handsome and a significant artifact of might of the ancient Roman-Byzantine military machine. The Romans and their successors in the East (Byzantium) oftentimes used very ornate belt buckles, as well as many other forms of personal jewelry including bracelets worn both on the forearm and upper arm, rings, pendants, earrings, hair pins, and brooches. It is a very piece, well constructed, and in a great state of preservation. The artifact evidences none of the gross porosity (fine surface pitting due to burial in soil) which so commonly disfigures small ancient metal artifacts.

The chain comes with the appliqué at no additional charge. We also have available gold and silver electroplate chains, as well as solid silver and solid 14kt gold chains in lengths from 16 to 24 inches. If you prefer, upon request, we could mount the belt appliqué onto a framed display plaque (see it here), and it would make a great gift. The plaque narrates a brief outline of the history of the Roman Empire, along with a very nice image of ruins dating from the Roman Empire, and a map of the Roman Empire at its apex. It would not only make a very handsome display, but would be very educational as well. Whether worn as a pendant, displayed or mounted onto a plaque, it is a wonderfully attractive and evocative relic of the grandeur and glory which was Roman Byzantium.


ANCIENT MACEDONIA: Macedon (or Macedonia) is known to have been inhabited since the Neolithic, early inhabitants including Thracians, Pannonians, and Ilyrians. It is believed by anthropologists that the original population was of Indo-European Dorian stock. The Dorians were responsible for the invasion of Myceanean Greece to the south about 1150 A.D., precipitating the “Greek Dark Ages”. Mycenea was sacked, and the archaeological record shows that many other principle cities in Greece and Crete were reduced to villages. It is known that the Greeks considered the Doric Macedonians “barbarians”, and that the Macedonians spoke a distinct language or dialect, and were considered by the Greeks as “non-Greek” speakers.

Up until the time of Alexander the Great Macedonians were not allowed to participate in Olympic Games. However with the Hellenization of the Greek Peninsula, eventually Macedon was considered Hellenic. The area of ancient Macedon was in the north part of the Greek Peninsula, and was bordered by ancient Thrace. Ancient Macedon is now split between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (formerly part of Yugosalvia). Due to the barbarian incursions and depopulation of the region after the fall of the Roman Empire, the surviving Greek population of Macedon fled southwards into what is now the Macedonian region of Greece; while eventually the northernmost regions (present day Republic of Macedonia) became repopulated with Slavic peoples, and even later by Armenians.

The ancient populations coalesced into the Kingdom of Macedonia about 800 B.C. Ancient Macedon fell to the Persian Armies of Darius the Great in the late sixth century B.C. It became more Hellenic in character after King Alexander I of Macedon began promoting the Attic (Greek) dialect and culture in the first half of the fifth century B.C. The Hellenic character of Macedon grew over the next century. Under the rule of Philip II, Macedon extended its power over the rest of northern Greece, including Thrace, Pannonia, and Illyria. Philip's son Alexander the Great conquered not only the remainder of Greece, but also the Persian Empire, Egypt, and Northern India. After his death Alexander's generals divided the empire between them, founding their own states and dynasties.

Macedon was part of the empire created by Antigonus, remaining independent until foolishly engaging the Romans in three successive wars in the late third and early second centuries B.C. The Romans initially divided Macedonia into four republics, client kingdoms of Rome, before finally annexing Macedon as the first Roman Province in 146 B.C. With the division of the Roman Empire, Macedon eventually became part of the surviving Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire. However the population of the entire region was severely depleted by destructive successive invasions of Goths, Avars, Visigoths, Huns, and Vandals. In the fifth and sixth centuries a number of Slavic tribes repopulated the desolated northern regions (what is today the Republic of Macedonia).

Most of inland (Slavic) Macedonia was incorporated into Bulgaria in the ninth century, while the ethnic Greek Aegean coastal regions remained part of the Byzantine Empire. However the period following (one century plus) was punctuated by almost incessant warfare between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, until finally in 1018 A.D. Bulgaria fell and the whole of Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as the province of Bulgaria. Macedonia was ultimately to fall to the Islamic Ottoman Empire in the first half of the fifteenth century. For the next five centuries Macedonia remained part of the Ottoman Empire.

The initial period of Ottoman rule saw the complete desolation of the plains and river valleys of Macedonia. The Christian population there was slaughtered, escaped to the mountains or was forcefully converted to Islam. Towns destroyed during the conquest were repopulated with Turkish Muslim settlers. At the conclusion of World War I and the dismembering of the Ottoman Empire, Macedonia was incorporated with the rest of Serbia into the Kingdon of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). After the fall of the Soviet Empire late in the twentieth century, Slavic Macedonia became the Republic of Macedonia. Greek Macedonia remains of course, part of Greece.


BYZANTINE HISTORY: The Byzantine Empire was the eastern remainder of the great Roman Empire, and stretched from its capital in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) through much of Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and small portions of North Africa and the Middle East. Prior to the fifth century collapse of the Western Roman Empire, one of Rome's greatest emperors, Constantine the Great, established a second capital city for the Roman Empire in the East at Byzantium, present day Turkey. Constantine The Great sought to reunite the Roman Empire, centered upon Christian faith, by establishing a second "capital" for the Eastern Roman, away from the pagan influences of the city of Rome. Established as the new capital city for the Eastern Roman Empire in the fourth century, Constantine named the city in his own honor, “Constantinople”.

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, the “Byzantine Empire”, lasted for another thousand years as the cultural, religious and economic center of Eastern Europe. At the same time, as a consequence of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, most of the rest of Europe suffered through one thousand years of the "dark ages". As the center of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was one of the most elaborate, civilized, and wealthy cities in all of history. The Christian Church eventually became the major political force in the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Constantine the Great is also credited with being the first Christian Roman Emperor, and was eventually canonized by the Orthodox Church. Christianity had of course been generally outlawed prior to his reign.

Under the Byzantine Empire, Christianity became more than just a faith, it was the theme of the entire empire, its politics, and the very meaning of life. Christianity formed an all-encompassing way of life, and the influence of the Byzantine Empire reached far both in terms of time and geography, certainly a predominant influence in all of Europe up until the Protestant Reformation. In Byzantine art, God rather than man stood at the center of the universe. Representations of Christ, the Virgin, and various saints predominated the coinage of the era. The minting of the coins remained crude however, and collectors today prize Byzantine coins for their extravagant variations; ragged edges, "cupped" coins, etc. Other artifacts such as rings, pendants, and pottery are likewise prized for their characteristically intricate designs.

In the ancient world valuables such as coins and jewelry were commonly buried for safekeeping, and inevitably the owners would succumb to one of the many perils of the ancient world. Oftentimes the survivors of these individuals did not know where the valuables had been buried, and today, thousands of years later caches of coins and rings are still commonly uncovered throughout Europe and Asia Minor. Throughout history these treasures have been inadvertently discovered by farmers in their fields, uncovered by erosion, and the target of unsystematic searches by treasure seekers. With the introduction of metal detectors and other modern technologies to Eastern Europe in the past three or four decades, an amazing number of new finds are seeing the light of day thousands of years after they were originally hidden by their past owners. And with the liberalization of post-Soviet Eastern Europe, new markets have opened eager to share in these ancient treasures.