A Rare Ancient Roman Bronze Armillae { Arm Bracelet} from The Earliest Period of the Kingdom Of Rome into The First Roman Republic. Around 2500 Years Old From The Time of Lucius Junius Brutus, Consul of Rome

Only the second of its type we have the privilege to offer in several years. Armillae were made of either gold, silver or bronze. The status of the recipient appears to have determined whether he would be granted a gold armillae or the lesser silver. Bronze armillae were given as awards for distinguished conduct to soldiers of lesser rank, but were valued no less highly for the prestige they conferred upon their owners. Armillae were usually awarded in pairs and a soldier could win more than one pair. They were not for everyday wear, but generally only worn at military parades or on dress uniform occasions like a general's Triumph, though they could also be worn at certain civic events like religious ceremonies and the games.

Military armillae were modelled on those worn by the Celts. The tradition of using Celtic-style torcs and armillae as Roman military decorations had its beginnings in 361 BC when Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 347 BC) slew a Gallic chieftain of impressive size in single combat. He then stripped the bloodstained torc from the corpse's neck and placed it around his own as a trophy.5 The Romans were initially daunted by the fearsome appearance of the Gauls, whose elite warriors were "richly adorned with gold necklaces and armbands".6 The torc was the Celtic symbol of authority and prestige. By his action, Torquatus in effect took the vanquished chieftain's power for his own, and created a potent, visible token of Roman domination. As such, over time the torc and also the armilla were adopted as official awards for valour, taking on the role of symbolic war trophies.

Armillae were made in a substantial masculine style and produced in a variety of designs: a solid, hinged cuff, sometimes inscribed with legionary emblems or decorated with incised patterns; an open-ended spiral; a chunky, rounded bracelet with open or overlapping ends; or a torc in miniature. Armillae which were open-ended or had overlapping ends often featured knobs or snake-heads as terminals. In the later Imperial period the armilla could have military piercings and engravings. Even though later, the Imperial military decorated examples can now be much sought after and valuable.

Romulus was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these traditions incorporate elements of folklore, and it is not clear to what extent a historical figure underlies the mythical Romulus, the events and institutions ascribed to him were central to the myths surrounding Rome's origins and cultural traditions.
Romulus' first act was to fortify the Palatine, in the course of which he made a sacrifice to the gods. He laid out the city's boundaries with a furrow that he ploughed, performed another sacrifice, and with his followers set to work building the city itself.89 Romulus sought the assent of the people to become their king. With Numitor's help, he addressed them and received their approval. Romulus accepted the crown after he sacrificed and prayed to Jupiter, and after receiving favourable omens.10

Romulus divided the populace into three tribes, known as the Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres,v for taxation and military purposes. Each tribe was presided over by an official known as a tribune, and was further divided into ten curia, or wards, each presided over by an official known as a curio. Romulus also allotted a portion of land to each ward, for the benefit of the people.1112 Nothing is known of the manner in which the tribes and curiae were taxed, but for the military levy, each curia was responsible for providing one hundred foot soldiers, a unit known as a century,vi and ten cavalry. Each Romulean tribe thus provided about one thousand infantry, and one century of cavalry; the three hundred cavalry became known as the Celeres, "the swift", and formed the royal bodyguard.1314

Choosing one hundred men from the leading families, Romulus established the Roman senate. These men he called patres, the city fathers; their descendants came to be known as "patricians", forming one of the two major social classes at Rome. The other class, known as the "plebs" or "plebeians", consisted of the servants, freedmen, fugitives who sought asylum at Rome, those captured in war, and others who were granted Roman citizenship over time
In the 8th century BC, during the reign of Rome's first king, Romulus, the Fidenates (an Etruscan people) decided to suppress Rome as a future threat and began to lay waste to its territory, in opposition to which Romulus marched on Fidenae and camped a mile from it. Setting an ambush in the thickets he brought the rest of the army to the gates of Fidenae to provoke them into exiting the city. Seeing the appearance of disorder the Fidenates sallied out in pursuit and were caught in the ambush. Romulus' troops wheeled, drove the Fidenates through their gates so closely that they were not able to close them, and took the town.

The Veientes were concerned at the situation with Fidenae both because of its proximity to Veii and their consanguinuity with the Fidenates (who were also Etruscan), and accordingly launched an incursion into Roman territory. After having done so, the Veientes returned to Veii with their booty. Romulus and the Roman army followed and met the Veientes in battle outside the walls of Veii. The Romans were victorious and the Veientes fled into the city. The Romans, not having the strength to take the city by storm, instead laid waste their lands. The Veientes sued for peace, and a one-hundred year treaty was concluded upon the Veientes giving to the Romans a part of their own territory.

In the second war with Fidenae and Veii in the 7th century (see below), Livy describes Fidenae as a Roman colony. It may be that a colony was established there after the defeat by Romulus

Lucius Junius Brutus (fl. 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after the suicide of Lucretia, which led to the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was involved in the abdication of fellow consul Tarquinius Collatinus, and executed two of his sons for plotting the restoration of the Tarquins.2

He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Decimus Junius Brutus, and Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Julius Caesar's assassins. Traditions about his life may have been fictional, and some scholars argue that it was the Etruscan king Porsenna who overthrew Tarquinius. The plebeian status of the Junia gens has also raised doubts about his position as a consul and the alleged initial patrician domination of the office. Depicted as the nephew of Tarquinius, he may have symbolized the internal tensions that occurred during the transition between the monarchy and the republic.
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Code: 24775