Ca. 100-300 AD. Roman. A well-preserved, wearable gold ring with a circular band, flared shoulder, and an oval bezel with inset black gemstone with intaglio depicting a reclining male figure in left profile holding a cornucopia with his left hand. A scorpion is visible on the left-hand side. The intaglio portrays the river god Tiberinus as suggested by the similarities in the iconography of this intaglio with a large statue in the Louvre depicting Tiberinus in a reclining position, as a victor crowned with bay, holding in one hand an oar and in the other a cornucopia (https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010278935). The scorpion was the emblem of the Praetorian Guard, the Roman emperor's personal army elite unit. The praetorian scorpion has long been recognised as a reference to the Emperor Tiberius, who was born under the astrological sign of the Scorpio, and who first concentrated praetorian guard in its own camp in Rome, thus giving it full corporate identity (Russell and Hellström 2020, 135). Hence, it is not inconceivable that this ring might have belonged to a praetorian guard. For more information, see Russell, A., Hellström, M. (2020). The social dynamics of Roman imperial imagery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Size: D: 20.68mm / US: 11 / UK: V1/2; 4g. Provenance: Property of a professional Ancient art and jewelry expert; previously with a London gallery; initially from a private British collection formed in the 1980s.