a
signet, having been worn suspended by the owner, instead of on the
hand. A silver ring from the same French department, bears the Latin
inscription ν i ν A s, and in six compartments the following
symbolic figures : a dove holding a branch ; a lamb, above which is a
star; an upright palm; a stag; a fantastic animal figure, and a hare.
These symbols, most of which are characteristically Christian, and the
Latin invocation " mayst thou live," vivas, usually followed by
the words " in Deo " (in God), point clearly to the religious faith of
the owner of the ring. It is true that the presence of a gold solidus
of Valentinian II (375-392) in the mouth of the deceased person, as "
Charon's toll," might be thought to indicate that we had here to do
with a pagan, were it not well known that this custom was maintained to
some extent after the decisive triumph of Christianity.16
According
to Mercato a toadstone set in a silver ring was preserved in the
Monastery of Saint Anne in Rome. The popular belief was that this ring
had belonged to the Virgin Mary, and it was considered to be a cure
for fistulas, if the stone were rubbed around them twelve times.17
The
ring known as the betrothal ring of the Virgin Mary, now in the
cathedral of Perugia, has had a long and eventful history. The
following details are taken from a monograph written by Abbot Adamo
Rossi. According to the legend, this ring was given by Mary to St.
John, the " beloved disciple," and was taken by him to Rome in 95 a.D. Here it seems to have come into the possession of the Romans, and about 275 a.D.
16 M. Deloche, " Étude historique et archéologique sur les anneaux sigillaires," Paris, 1900, pp. 139-142, figs.
17 Mercati, " Metallotheca Vaticana," Romae, 1719, p. 185.
