casket. The first Roman to own one was Emilius Scaurus, son-in-law of Sylla (138-78 b.c.), who
lived in the early part of the first century before Christ, but for a
long time his example was not followed by the Romans, the next dactyliotheca to
be seen in Rome being that dedicated by Pompey to the Capitol in 61
B.c., out of the spoils of Mithridates the Great, who owned the most
famous gem collection of his time.86 In the first century a.D. these
ring-caskets came into general use, and were regarded as indispensable
parts of a rich man's luxury. This is brought out in one of Martial's
epigrams when, after saying that Charmius wore six rings on each finger
and kept them on at night and even when he took his bath, he proceeds:
"You ask why he does so? Because he has no dactyliotheca."*1 This evidently implies that he lacked one of the elements of Roman " good form " in the fashionable world.
The
Latin epigrammatist whose brief, caustic poems are a mine of
information regarding the customs and costumes of the Romans in the
Imperial age, wrote the following couplet, probably designed for an
inscription upon a dactyliotheca, or ring-case:88
" Often does the heavy ring slip off the anointed fingers; but if you confide your jewel to me, it will be safe."
In
the large ring collections of royal treasuries or of wealthy nobles in
mediaeval times, the rings with precious-stone settings were often
classified according to the particular stones, and then those of each
of these classes were strung on one or more small sticks or wands
86 Plinii, " Naturalis Historia," lib. xxxvii, cap. 11.
87 Martialis, " Epigrammata," xi, 59.
88 Martial, Bk. XIV, No. cxxiii ; from " Martial translated into English prose," London, George Bell & Sons, 1897.
