esented
in Figs. 100 and 101, from originals engraved by Montfaucon in his great
work on Roman antiquities. He has published many varieties, for they are
very commonly discovered in all places where the Romans located
themselves. Many have been found in London, York, Lincoln, and other old
cities, as well as in the neighbourhood of Roman camps. The use of these
rings is apparent: they opened the small cabinets or boxes in which the
most precious articles were preserved, and they were less likely to be
lost, mislaid, or improperly used by others, when thus worn night and
day on the finger.

[Illustration: Fig. 100.]

[Illustration: Fig. 101.]

It is recorded of the poisoning Pope Alexander VI. (Borgia), that he
caused a somewhat similar key to be used in opening a cabinet; but the
Pope's key was poisoned in the handle, and provided with a small sharp
pin, which gave a slight puncture sufficient to allow the poison to pass
below the skin. When the Holy Father wished to rid himself of an
objectionable friend, he would request him to unlock his cabinet; as the
lock turned rather stiffly, a little pressure was necessary on the
key-handle, sufficient to give the trifling wound that ultimately proved
mortal. Poisoned rings were known to the ancients; when Hannibal, the
Carthaginian general, was overcome by Scipio Africanus, it is recorded
that he fled to Bithynia, and ended his life by poison, which for that
purpose he had reserved in a ring.

[Illustration: Fig. 102.]

[Illustration: Fig. 103.]

Rings formed of bone, amber, and glass, were provided for the poorer
classes, as was the case in ancient Egypt. They were also used as
mortuary rings, and are found on the hands of the dead in Italian
sepulchres. The Waterton collection supplies us with two specimens. Fig.
102 is of amber, cut to appear as if set with a stone. Fig. 103 is of
glass, also made as if set with a jewel. The body of this ring is dark
brown with bands of white crossing it; the jewel is yellow.

[Illustration: Fig. 104.]

[Illustration: Fig. 105.]

In the later days of the Roman empire the simplicity and purity in
decorative design that the Romans obtained from the Greeks, gave way to
the ostentatious love of gaudy decoration taught at Byzantium. Jewellery
became complicated in design; enrichment was considered before elegance.
The old simple form of finger-ring varied much. Fig. 104 is given by
Montfaucon. Fig. 105 is in the Londesborough collect