BOOK XXXIII. IV. 8-1 1 



who would not admit this to be more mythical still ? 

 It was the hand and what is more the left ^ hand, 

 that first won for gold such high esteem ; not indeed 

 a Roman hand, whose custom it was to wear an iron 

 ring as an emblem of warHke valour. 



As to the Roman kings I find it hard to make a Ring-': and 

 statement. The statue of Romulus in the Capitol th^e^Roman 

 has nothing, nor has any other king's statue excep- monarchk 

 ting those of Numa and Servius Tullius, and not even 

 that of Lucius Brutus.^ I am especially surprised at 

 this in the case of the Tarquins, who came originally 

 from Greece, the country from which this fashion in 

 rings came, although an iron ring is worn in Sparta 

 even at the present day. But of all, Tarquinius 

 Priscus, it is well known, first presented his son with 

 a golden amulet when while still of an age to wear 

 the bordered robe '^ he had killed an enemy in battle ; 

 and from that time on the custom of the amulet has 

 continued as a distinction to be worn by the sons 

 of those who have served in the cavalry, the sons of 

 all others only wearing a leather strap. Owing to 

 this I am surprised that the statue of that Tarquin 

 has no ring. All the same, I notice that there is a 

 difference of opinion even about the actual word 

 for a ring. The Greek name ^ for it is derived from 

 the word meaning a finger ; ^Wth ourselves, in early 

 days it was called ' ungulus,' ^ but afterwards both 

 our people and the Greeks give it the name of 

 'symbolum.'/ For a long period indeed, it is quite 



* The word survives in fragments of early poetry. 



f Greek avix^oXov, originally meaning two parts of a coin or 

 other object broken in half to serve as a means of identifica- 

 tion because tallying when put together; and so the word 

 was used to denote any token or symbol. 



