Crossbow Brooch for a Private Citizen

This brooch would have belonged to a private citizen within the Late Roman Empire.  In terms of how common it was, it lies between that of brooches for civil servants and those for military officials.  As noted earlier, brooches originated for government use, by those of civil servants and the military primarily.  However, private citizens saw brooches as a form of jewelry for them to wear and denote their high status.  This brooch serves as an example of that.  It is in the crossbow shape like the other main governmental types, but has a few alterations.  It is made of solid gold, which is a sign that the owner was not only wealthy enough to commission this piece, but that they choose to make it out of a precious metal.  It also contains the image of a cross within a complicated lattice design.  It is an ornate piece of art that bears Christian iconography, most likely pointing the religious affiliation of the wearer.  It also shows the change in religion that the empire was experiencing at this time.  One of the major differences between this piece and those of the governmental type is the clasp.  Governmental brooches operated a safety pin type clasp, which was easy to use and easy to manufacture.  This brooch is an example of a screw or twist type clasp, and the brooch would be secured by tightening a screw at the bottom of the clasp to hold the pin in place.  This was much more advanced and less practical then the designs of others brooches.  The screw was also seen as a status symbol when it came to jewelry owing to its difficulty to craft.  All of this helps point to the idea and lends further evidence to this being for private use rather than governmental function.