Antiquities Exhibits

Fibulae replaced straight pins that were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. The first fibulae design, known as the violin bow fibulae appeared in the late Bronze Age. This simple design, with a unilateral spring, looks remarkably like a modern safety pin. The violin bow fibula has a low flat arch with the body running parallel to the pin so it resembles a violin bow. The bow could be round, square, or flat and ribbon-like in cross-section. Some had simple punched or incised decoration on the bow. Violin bow fibula were  introduced in the 14th century BCE by the Myceneans on the Greek Peloponnesus. The fibula soon spread to Crete, Cyprus and Mycenean trading posts in Sicily.  While the head of the earlier straight pin was often decorated, the bow or plate of the fibula provided a much increased scope for decoration. During the Iron Age, the use of fibulae became more widespread and were usually highly decorated among the elite, with incised or m...

Gilded Lombardic silver fibula from the Tuscany region of Italy dated to 600 CE on display at the British Museum in London The Lombards were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774 CE. The Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, who dwelt in southern Scandinavia before migrating south to seek new lands. In the 1st cent ury CE, they formed part of the Suebi, in northwestern Germany. By the end of the 5th century, they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria and Slovakia north of the Danube river, where they subdued the Heruls and later fought frequent wars with the Gepids. The Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552 CE. His successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids in 567 CE. Then, Alboin decided to lead his people to Italy, which had become severely depopulated and devastated after the long Gothic War (535–554) between the Byzantine Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom. The...

Inscribed Gold crossbow fibula (brooch), Roman, 286-309 CE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This type of fibula, used to fasten a cloak around the neck, became part of the standard insignia of military personnel during the third century C.E. This example is inscribed in Latin on the bow: HERCVLI AVGVSTE SEMPER VINCAS (May you always be victorious, Hercules Augustus!). The titles probably refer to the tetrarch  Maximian, who styled himself as Hercules. The brooch would have been made at an imperial workshop and presented as a gift to a senior member of the imperial staff. Image: Inscribed Gold crossbow fibula (brooch), Roman, 286-309 CE courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.