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Ch. 8: Healing Rings

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VIII
RINGS OF HEALING
C LOSELY allied with the magic rings, so closely indeed that it is often difficult to establish a satis­factory distinction between them, are the rings of heal­ing, those to which were ascribed special and peculiar curative powers. In some instances this was due to a legend connected with a particular ring or with the prototype of a class of rings; at other times the thera­peutic virtue was believed to result from the inscription of certain letters or words. In other cases, again, the belief arose from the form given to the ring.
In the course of his eleventh consulate, Augustus was attacked by a serious illness. None of the remedies prescribed for him were of any avail, until finally he was relieved by following the directions of Antonius Musa, who recommended cold baths and cold drinks. As a reward Musa was granted the privilege of wearing gold rings, and also received a large gift of money from the grateful emperor.1 Although this ring was not in itself a cause of healing it was certainly the memorial of a successful cure.
A strange remedy for sneezing or hiccoughing, recommended by Pliny, was to transfer a ring from one of the fingers of the left hand to the middle finger of the right hand.2 This prescription is copied from Pliny by the physician Marcellus Empiricus 3 who says, how-
1 Cassius Dio, lib. liii.
2 Plinii, " Historia Naturalis," lib. xxviii, cap. 15.
3 Marcelli Empirici, " De medicamentis," cap. 17. 336
Ch. 7: Magic Talismanic Rings Page of 513 Ch. 8: Healing Rings
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