Possible Ring of Power Found in Ancient Roman Bath House

[Malty Milk Whistle]

I honestly thought it was going to be about a centurion's ring, given the fact that (at a quick glance) it looked a tad like an axe with sticks/bushels either side of it, and the connotations of the surrounded axe (What with it being a symbol of authority in Rome, prominent in fascism and still used in a few modern day police forces)

But the christianity thing may be a bit more interesting though.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Ring of Power? You're saying that the red color and glow of that ring's gem (along with the Christian symbols) made you think of The One Ring when it made me think of this or this?:

Spoiler: You should be ashamed of yourself

I'm kidding by the way.
[sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub]not[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[The Ditz]

Magical? Clearly this is from an advanced civilisation who charged Christians with protecting the Earth. Now all we need is the battery and proper oath....

In brightest day and darkest night,
let those who worship knowledge's light,
burn like his power, cuz' Jehovah is always right!

 

[Something Amyss]

Magical? Clearly this is from an advanced civilisation who charged Christians with protecting the Earth. Now all we need is the battery and proper oath....

In brightest day and darkest night,
let those who worship knowledge's light,
burn like his power, cuz' Jehovah is always right!

I think you just earned an internet. XD.

 

[octafish]

As Jim Nabors might say... what an interesting ring.

 

[Realmikebob]

Binchester is in North East England, not North East Britain. Big difference.

 

[Cartographer]

More apt "ring of power":
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/vyne/things-to-see-and-do/article-1355771357192/
http://www.historytoday.com/lynn-forest-hill/inspiration-tolkiens-ring

In at least there is a (potential) link to Tolkein.

 

[Beliyal]

Many of the Elite Roman families wore rings with the family insignia to demonstrate their power and status. This could easily be a symbol of a family that ran a successful shipping company (many Elite families has their own ships and ports) before any of those symbols meant anything to do with Christianity.

Yeah, this is what I first thought as well. As a matter of fact, in my Early Christianity classes (I'm an archaeologist), our professor said that even though the fish is a symbol for Christianity, it is not always used in that context, especially prior to the 4th century. She explained that finding a fish as a symbol somewhere is not a certain indication that the object or the place in question is related to Christianity per se. It could be, but just spotting a fish and declaring the thing Christian is not good. There needs to be more evidence for this, because a fish is a very common symbol that pops up in a lot of places and has been popping up for a long time before and after Christianity became a thing.

But it would be very interesting if it really was an early Christian ring. I hope they manage to prove that somehow, but something so small and portable could have ended up there in a lot of ways (just like you said, someone could have been visiting them and lost the ring) and could have a lot of meanings.

An even more interesting turn of events would be if the ring indeed ends up being the Ring of Power. One can dream.

 

[FalloutJack]

Keep it away from Timothy Dalton. It might be Rassilon's ring of immortality!