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Roman intaglio (Bonus Eventus or huntsman)
Complete setting. A huntsman or Bonus Eventus stands facing forward and left. He is clothed in a tunic, wears boots and a wreath or fillet on his head. His right hand holds the end of a crook or lagobolon, which balances over that shoulder. From one end of the crook hangs a scale-pan, from the other a dead hare. His right hand falls at his side, and holds two ears of corn. A dog barks at his feet. Only slightly worn; a circular hole above the scale-pan is probably a natural flaw.
This is one of 88 engraved gemstones retrieved in 1979, mostly from the filling of a large drain beneath the cold hall of the fortress baths. The gemstones would originally have been set in finger-rings, and served as signets and charms or talismans for their owners. They were products of extremely skilled craftsman who worked on a minute scale without the aid of magnification. The gems are engraved with a wide range of deities, personification and symbols.
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Site Name: Caerleon Fortress Baths, Caerleon
Notes: from the site of the frigidarium at the baths
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