Hand of emperor Augustus wearing a ring
National Archeological Museum, Athens, GreeceMaterial: Bronze
Date range: 12-10 BC
Origin: Found in the Aegean sea between the islands of Euboea and Agios Efstratios
The ring on the emperor's finger has a staff of divination called a lituus carved into it. This symbol shows he held the highest religious office of Pontifex Maximus.
As the supreme religious leader, Augustus used these symbols to show his holy connection to the gods. This helped people see him not just as a ruler, but as a person chosen by the divine.
The statue shows the emperor mounting a horse with his right hand raised in a greeting. Every part of the statue, including the ring, was meant to show his religious and political power.
Here is the full image:
Museum label reference:
X. 23322. Statue of the emperor Augustus (29 BC-AD 14). Bronze. Found in the Aegean sea between the islands of Euboea and Agios Efstratios. The emperor is depicted in mature age, mounting a horse. He wears a tunica with a vertical purple stripe (clavus purpurea) and a fringed paludamentum decorated with a maeander pattern. Iconographic features of the Prima Porta and Actium types are combined in this statue. The right hand is raised in a gesture of official greeting. The hilt of his sword can be seen below the left hand, in which he held the horse's reigns. On the bezel of his finger-ring a staff of divination (lituus) is engraved, symbolising the supreme religious office of Pontifex Maximus, assumed by Augustus in 12 BC. 12-10 BC.
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