Timeless are pleased to offer an unusual example of a Roman Bow Brooch.
The brooch was almost certainly made for (or even by) Roman military conscripts in the ancient province of Pannonia (present-day Hungary/Austria). Pannonia proved to be an excellent recruitment ground for the Imperial Roman army, and legions from this province even made it as far as Hadrian's wall on the northern borders of the empire.
The first recorded inhabitants of Pannonia consisted of dozens of different tribes, including Illyrian, Dalmatian and Greco-Thracian. Prior to the Roman invasion, the Pannonian tribes were defeated by Celts migrating from Western Europe in the 4th century B.C., although they eventually managed to assimilate the invading Celts who then adopted their language and cultural practices. This Celtic influence can clearly be seen in many Romano-Pannonian brooches.
Brooches of Pannonian type (termed ‘Kräftig-profilierte’ or ‘strongly profiled’) have been discovered in small numbers in England, particularly in the East and Southeast of the country, and were thought to have been brought to Britannia by Roman soldiers of the 9th Legion who were recruited in the Pannonian region.
ROMAN BRONZE BROOCH
Acquired by Timeless in 2017, formally part of the internationally respected Chris Rudd collection formed in the 1970s and 1980s