Crossbow Brooch for a Military Offical
This brooch is of the military style, and can be regarded as less common than the civil servant and private citizen brooches. They are not however rare, but this specific example is one of the less common ones that were produced. Military brooches such as this were designed to hold the cloaks of soldiers in place. The common soldier cloak would be secured to the armor via a clasp, and brooches were reserved for high officials and commanders. They were made of copper or bronze until around the 4th century, at which point gold became the standard material for those wishing to designate their wealth or status. This example is still considered a crossbow shape but it is much more stylized. The deep hook appears to have been for a twofold purpose. Functionally, it would be better able to catch and hold pieces of a cloak then a straight design, as more material could be bunched into the bow. Additionally, the curvature allows for a longer and more complete inscription to be added to the piece. In Latin this one reads “HERCVLI AVGVSTE SEMPER VINCAS (May you always be victorious, Hercules Augustus!)”. Despite being found in Greece, the Latin on the piece leads scholars to believe it was made in an imperial workshop. The Hercules Augustus part is also believed to be a reference to the tetrarch Maximian who styled himself as Hercules. The Roman military would have carried pieces such as this wherever they were deployed, and so this too serves as an important section of the brooches of the empire.