Ricci, Seymour de: Catalogue of a collection of ancient rings formed by the late E. Guilhou (Paris: Berger, 1912)

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816-817. Gold. Two identical flattened rings with a rectangu-
lar bezel. The bezel bears incised the word FIDEM
while the word CONSTANTINO runs round the ring.

CONS TA N T I NO

FI DEM

CO N1 5 TANTINO FIDEM

Roman workmanship, fourth century A. D.

According to the Corpus inscriptionuni latinarum, xm,
3, p. 628, n. 10021,29, there are thirteen examples known
of rings with this inscription. One was discovered in
1881 at Amiens and belonged later to Rollin and Feuar-
dent. It is probably n. 816 or 817 ; cf. Mowat, Bull, des
Antiquaires de France, 1881, p. 267 and Mem. des Anti-
quaires de France, 1884, p. 335, n. 8; Danicourt, Revue
arch&ologique, vol. vn (1886) p. 88, with an engraving.

818. Gold. A massive ring, the bezel set with a dull-red in-
taglio. A youthful beardless figure, apparently Christ,
standing between two other figures. Above, is the re-
versed inscription :

2) Y OX I

I/Ovc, the sacred name of Jesus Christ, being the acros-
tich of the sentence Iv,-?ov; Xpi^ro; Osov uio; “Jesus
Christ, son of god, the Saviour.”
Thescene represented is apparently the Transfiguration
of the Lord, as related in the Gospel according to Saint
Mark (ix, 4): “And there appeared unto them Elias with
Moses : and they were talking with Jesus.”