Gold, 3.03 grams, 212.88 mm. Late 4th/Early 5th Century. Gold diadem with a stamped repoussé decoration of Sol Invictus. Each side is decorated with vines and leaves all entwined forming a great floral pattern. In the centre is a motif in the form of a radiate Sol Invictus. Either side two perforated holes at the terminals where a thin ribbon would have been, in order to fasten the diadem to the head, probably hanging from the excess ribbon on the back would have been two pearls. The word diadem is derived from the Greek word diadeo meaning to surround. In the late 4th century the gold diadem started to replace the laurel wreath, by the early 5th century the gold diadem became a symbol of wealth, and was used as a signifier of the Emperor, which was previously the laurel wreath. A person of significance and high in the social hierarchy would have proudly adorned this piece to their head. A superb example in Very Fine condition. Ex. A retired London collector.

Roman aristocratic women influenced politics, but they could not serve as magistrates, senators, or military commanders. During the empire, the wives of emperors began to wield more power than women had ever held before. Romans traditionally depicted the ideal woman as a virtuous daughter, brave wife, or devoted mother. Some women were cast into heroic roles in reaction to political persecution; they hid their families, or even followed banished husbands or children into exile. Like men, upper-class women also won praise through public generosity; they built public monuments and temples, subsidized games, and became patrons of their home cities. As a sign of their rank, aristocratic women were given seats with the senators at public games, where they could display fine clothing and jewellery.

Sol, god of the sun and the Roman state originated from Syria. Unlike the earlier, agrarian cult of Sol Indiges ("the native sun" or "the invoked sun" - the etymology and meaning of the word "indiges" is disputed), the title Deus Sol Invictus was formed by analogy with the imperial titulature pius felix invictus ("dutiful, fortunate, unconquered"). The official recognition of sun worship in the Roman Empire began during the time of Aurelian [270 - 275 A.D.] when he instituted the cult of "Sol invictus". Sol Invictus ("the undefeated Sun") or, more fully, Deus Sol Invictus ("the undefeated sun god") was a religious title applied to three distinct divinities during the later Roman Empire, El Gabal, Mithras, and Sol. The Latin god Sol, associated with the Greek god Helios, was the deity who drove his chariot, which carried the sun, across the sky every day. Understandably this made Sol a god of some importance to farming and crops, as well as to the taking of auspices to the ever superstitious Romans. It is in his guise as 'Sol Invictus' that this god became a major deity in later Roman history, when he can be found on many coins. Several emperors of the later era seemed to show preference to Sol in their worship. Some might therefore see this preference for Sol Invictus as a stepping stone from a Roman pantheon littered with hundreds of gods towards Christianity with only one god.