The Gemstones of Roman Bath: Exploring the Global and Glocal Affordances of the Materials and Images of the Gemstones from Aquae Sulis
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Aquae Sulis, a Roman settlement in modern Bath, England, was home to a temple and bath complex beginning in the late first century CE. In 1895, thirty-three Roman gemstone intaglios and one glass intaglio were identified in the complex’s drainage system. After commenting on the role of archaeological documentation in determining how the gemstones accrued in the drainage system, this thesis seeks to primarily address how the gemstones could have been understood or valued while in use. In order to examine these questions, this thesis identifies global and glocal affordances of the gemstones’ materials and images in the context of lived experience in Roman Britain. Influenced by a host of recent scholarship on the materiality of amulets and gemstones, this thesis explores the affordances of the gemstones’ materials by examining ancient and Late Antique texts concerning the emic capabilities of gemstones in the ancient Mediterranean to determine possible amuletic affordances in the Bath gems. To examine the affordances of the gemstones’ images, this thesis prioritizes the role of context, lived experience, and glocalization. Ancient texts on Roman Britain and medieval texts of mythology provide evidence for the potential local religious and cultural values that individuals could have identified in the Bath gems’ globalized imagery. Material evidence and secondary studies concerning Celtic ritual objects and sites in Britain and beyond also provide evidence for salient images and their local religious and cultural connotations. This thesis concludes that individuals could have potentially valued the gemstone materials of jasper, plasma, chalcedony, heliotrope, sard, carnelian, and amethyst for globalized amuletic capabilities prioritizing protection, agricultural prosperity, and bodily health. The owners of the gems could have also glocalized the iconography of the gemstones and identified locally-salient meanings in the images relating to fertility, military spheres, health, local deities, and the sacred affiliations of specific animals.