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Message:: [QUOTE="bosko69, post: 8200409, member: 16283"]In all my Archaeological meanderings,I've never seen anything quite like this.I guess if your Caligula-you do Caligula style BLING ! Caligula & the King (Elvius in Latin) both dug big rings.Here's a long article about Romans,Hyacinths & Sapphores-   ''Sapphires, hyacinthus to the Romans, is a hard stone to carve and is very rarely seen in intaglios. Third century grammarian Gaius Julius Solinus describes it in his<a href="https://topostext.org/work/747" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://topostext.org/work/747" rel="nofollow"> Polyhistor</a>:   Among the things we have spoken of, the hyacinthus, which has a shining sky blue colour, is to be found. It is a valuable stone if discovered without blemish, for it is not a little subject to flaws. It is frequently either tempered with a violet colour, or covered with cloudiness, or softened to a white wateriness. The best type is not blunted by too solid a colour, nor over-clear with an eager transparency, but sweetly draws its bloom from both, dyed with the right proportions of light and purple. This stone perceives the winds and changes with the sky: it is not equally bright when the day is cloudy as when it is clear. In addition, the stone is colder when put into the mouth. It is certainly not suitable for carving, as it defies all grinding. Yet it is not utterly invincible; it can be scratched and inscribed by a diamond.'' Nowadays the deeper the blue, the more desirable the sapphire, but Solinus’ description of the most prized sapphires as a delicate balance of transparent, sky blue and light purple matches the color of the ring exactly. His comment also indicates that the[/QUOTE]

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