Gold ring with quartz intaglio depicting an ant. Roman, 1st-2nd century AD
I wonder who wore this ring. Why did they choose an ant as their symbol? It's interesting to me that the depiction is specific enough that it can't be written off as a general "bug" the mandibles, and body plan make this explicitly an ant.
The ant motif appears on garnets in other rings.
This is up in New Haven at the Yale University Art Collection and I am not contemplating becoming a cat burglar.
As it turns out ant rings were pretty popular. They could be used with wax to create a seal. I really like the one where the ant is walking on her back legs like a person and carrying a scythe as if working in the field.
A hematite Roman ant seal has been carved from careful observation of a real ant. It has antennae and what appear to be maxillary palps. This ant also has a stinger.
I really appreciate that the Roman artists who made these ant rings didn't try to give their ants vertebrate-like mouths. Their ants have mandibles, even the most anthropomorphized one on her hind legs!
The mandibles are an essential feature of an ant. Can it really even be an ant without mandibles? Hm.
As for maxillary palps, these fascinating organs can seem alien if you don't spend a lot of time looking at insects.
In hindsight, it’s not surprising… we know from Aesop that ants were associated with industriousness centuries before that: why wouldn’t a Roman industry magnate or agribusiness tycoon use an ant as their symbol? There are so many things to admire about them!
Well, I'm trying to. But I need to find more information on where exactly the hematite signet was made. Sadly it's privately owned and was "collected" without much attribution.
It seems to have a stinger. But did the artist combine aspects of different ants? I don't think we could say much ...
After looking at more signet rings I think the ant in hematite is holding a seed. I was excited to think those were maxillary palps, but looking again... I think it's a seed.
@futurebird I'm no classicist, but certainly ants had some positive associations; the greek term "myrmidon", applied to the warriors of achilles, literally meant 'ant people'.
@futurebird Apparently in ancient Greece and Rome ants were thought to be able to foretell the future including the weather, and other than that they've been a symbol of industriousness since biblical times, so I can see why people would want to be associated with them in ancient times
Add comment