a gem had been lost from a ring was a very bad omen and portended some serious accident.21
Three subjects of the Eastern Emperor Valens (364-378 a.D.), believing
that he had incurred the public hatred to such a degree that he would
soon perish at the hands of his enemies, sought the aid of the
diviners Hilarius and Patricius to learn what would be his fate and
who would succeed him. The diviners, having engraved around the edge of
a basin the characters of the Greek alphabet, suspended above it an
enchanted ring, which, by its vibrations marked in turn the letters
that composed the words of the response of the oracle. It was conceived
in the following terms: " The successor of Valens will be an
accomplished prince. The curiosity of those who have consulted the
oracle will be destruction to them, but their murderers will themselves
incur the vengeance of the Gods." As the oracle had failed to designate
the prince clearly, the inquirers demanded his name. Thereupon the ring
struck successively at the letters τ. η. ε. ο. d., and
one of those present exclaimed that the Gods named Theodore. The others
all accepted this view and the matter appeared so evident that no
further attempt at research was made.22
A
curious type of magic ring is vouched for by St. Augustine, in the
fourth century, who notes as a superstitious practice the wearing of a
ring (or " finger-band " ansula) made from the bone of an ostrich.23
21 Rev.
Oswald Cockayne, "Anglo-Saxon Leechdom," vol. iii, London, 1866, pp.
199, 205, 215 in "A Book of Dreams by the Prophet Daniel."
22Lebeau, "Histoire du Bas-Empire," livre XIX; vol. iv, p. 307, ed. Desaint et Saillant, Paris, 1759.
23 St. Augustine, " De doctrina Christiana," lib. ii, cap. 20.
