Flavia Necklace: One Face, One Necklace, Two Thousand Years
The Flavia Necklace is a double-stranded Roman necklace made of brass and set amazonite stones, 48 cm long, crafted after the model of Imperial Roman gold-and-emerald collars of the 1st–2nd centuries AD. Today, such necklaces are known above all through the Fayum mummy portraits – those unique visual sources from Roman Egypt that show how real women of the Imperial period wore their jewellery on the living body. The necklace is suitable for living history portrayals of the affluent urban classes, for museum education, and as a wearable piece of jewellery with historical ambition.
Roman necklace with amazonite stones – briefly explained
The Flavia Necklace is a double-stranded Roman necklace made of brass with a gilded appearance and individually set amazonite beads, whose construction and colour correspond to the Imperial Roman gold-and-emerald collars of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, as known from grave finds and the famous Fayum mummy portraits of Roman Egypt.
Fayum portraits and the Flavia Necklace – the face behind the jewellery
Somewhere between the Nile and the Mediterranean, in the 2nd century AD, a woman sat still long enough for a painter to capture her face. What he painted was not a funerary relief, not an idealized goddess, not a ruler’s pose – but her: with dark eyes, a direct gaze and, clearly visible, a multi-stranded stone necklace around her neck. The Fayum mummy portraits, created in Roman-ruled Egypt between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, are the rare exception in the visual record of antiquity. They do not show jewellery on a pedestal in a museum. They show jewellery on people. That difference is precisely what makes them the most revealing source for what women of the Imperial period actually wore on their bodies – and how.
What the portraits show again and again corresponds to what archaeology confirms in grave finds: multi-stranded necklaces with set coloured stones linked by small gold rings. Green and blue-green stones were especially prized: emerald was regarded as a symbol of fertility and protection, while green jasper and similar stones were more widely used as more affordable equivalents. Anyone wearing such a necklace displayed not only wealth, but also knowledge of fashion – that specifically Imperial Roman aesthetic that spoke the same language from Rome to Alexandria.
The Flavia Necklace connects directly to this tradition. The amazonite stones – a microcline feldspar in a characteristic blue-green – are not an ancient material, but a modern equivalent to the green ornamental stones of the Imperial period, used transparently and by conscious choice. The brass setting takes on the role of gold: visible, warm, representative. What remains is a construction whose basic logic corresponds to what can be seen in the Fayum portraits – and which, placed on the same body, creates the same effect as two thousand years ago: colour, weight, status.
Brass, amazonite, double strand: the Flavia Necklace in detail
The Flavia Necklace consists of two parallel strands, each composed of amazonite beads individually set in brass wire. The stones vary in tone between a pale icy blue and a richer blue-green – a natural colour variation of amazonite that gives the necklace vitality and depth. The brass wire wraps around the beads at both ends and at the same time forms the connecting links between the stones. Both strands are guided through the same fastening mechanism and lie close together around the neck without slipping. The interplay of matte stone and the warm gleam of brass corresponds to the visual impression left by Imperial Roman gold-and-emerald necklaces in the visual tradition.
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Length: 48 cm
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Material: brass (wire setting and connecting links); amazonite (microcline feldspar, natural, green)
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Construction: Double-stranded; wire-wrapping technique (individually set stone beads connected by brass wire)
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Clasp: Simple hook clasp (brass)
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Stone shape: Barrel-shaped to slightly cylindrical beads, varying shades of green
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Type / Dating: Imperial Roman stone-set necklace, 1st–2nd century AD type
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Model / Find context: Comparable in construction and colour to Imperial Roman gold-and-emerald necklaces; visual parallels in the Fayum mummy portraits of Roman Egypt
From portrait to décolletage: who wears the Flavia Necklace and for what purpose?
The Flavia Necklace has an advantage that most pieces of jewellery in this series do not offer: it can be connected directly to a visual source that everyone recognizes. The Fayum mummy portraits hang in the great antiquities collections of Europe – Berlin, London, Munich, Vienna – and show at a glance how a necklace of this kind looks on the body. Anyone placing the Flavia Necklace into someone’s hands in a lesson or guided tour can point to a portrait at the same time and say: exactly like this. This direct bridge between object and image is hard to surpass pedagogically.
In reenactment, the Flavia Necklace is suitable for portrayals of affluent urban Roman women of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The double-stranded construction with set coloured stones signals elevated social status – it suits the wealthy matron just as much as the successful freedwoman making her new rank visible. Combined with the Faustina Earrings (aventurine + pearl) or the Aurelia Earrings from the same series, it creates a coordinated ensemble that corresponds to Imperial Roman wearing practices without appearing overloaded.
In museum education – especially in grades 5 to 8, when everyday life in the Roman Empire is part of the curriculum – the Flavia Necklace is a durable hands-on object. Pupils can put it on, compare it with images of the Fayum portraits, and explore the question “Who could afford this?” directly through material, technique and choice of colour. For private collectors and jewellery lovers, it is also entirely suitable for everyday wear: its length and weight allow comfortable use, and the blue-green of the amazonite fits just as well into a modern wardrobe as into a historical portrayal.
Tip from the Roman Shop team: After use, we briefly wipe our brass necklaces with a soft cloth – this reliably prevents tarnishing and keeps the warm golden tone fresh for a long time. As for amazonite: no perfume, no cleaning agents, no prolonged contact with water. The stone is tougher than it looks, but it does not like acids at all.
Who is the Flavia Necklace worth it for?
Anyone building a portrayal of an affluent Roman woman of the 1st or 2nd century AD and looking for a piece that can be linked directly to a well-known visual source will find the Flavia Necklace the most convincing choice in this series. The double-stranded construction with set stones is documented many times in the Fayum mummy portraits – in a living history context, the piece almost explains itself.
Anyone who already owns the Faustina Earrings or the Pearls of Pompeii Bracelet can combine them directly with the Flavia Necklace: the blue-green of the amazonite harmonizes with the aventurine of the earrings, and the elevated social classification of all three pieces places them in the same portrayal context. An ensemble of necklace, earrings and bracelet corresponds to Imperial Roman wearing practice, in which women wore coordinated jewellery on neck, ears and wrist – and that is exactly what can be seen in the Fayum portraits.
Anyone, however, looking for a single-stranded, more delicate necklace for a simpler portrayal – for example of an urban middle-class woman or for an earlier century of the Republic – will not be ideally served by the Flavia Necklace. The double-stranded form and stone setting place the piece clearly in the affluent Imperial period. Anyone who also uses only silver-coloured metal in their portrayal should note that the brass version of the Flavia Necklace has a warm golden tone; a silver version is also available from the maker.
What the Romans themselves thought about a well-groomed appearance
“Munditiae placeant.”
“A well-groomed appearance should please.”
Ovid, Ars Amatoria III, 129
Two words – and yet the programme of an entire age. The Latin munditiae does not mean mere cleanliness, but a deliberate, carefully staged appearance: the attitude of giving attention to oneself and to one’s presentation. Ovid writes this line in the context of general conduct in life, not about necklaces in particular – but he describes exactly what a double-stranded stone necklace stood for in Imperial Rome. Not ostentation, but care. Not chance, but statement.
Frequently asked questions about the Flavia Necklace
What are Fayum mummy portraits and what do they have to do with Roman jewellery?
Fayum mummy portraits are realistic portraits on wood or canvas that were made in Roman-ruled Egypt between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD as grave goods. They show the deceased as they looked in life – with clothing, hairstyle and jewellery. For jewellery research, they are unique: while archaeological finds show what existed, the portraits show how jewellery was actually worn on the body. Many portraits document double-stranded necklaces with set coloured stones – exactly the type represented by the Flavia Necklace.
How are the stones of the Flavia Necklace attached – is this historically documented?
The stones of the Flavia Necklace are set using a wire-wrapping technique: brass wire wraps around the beads at both ends and at the same time forms the connecting links between the stones. This basic construction – individually set stone beads linked by metal wire or rings – is archaeologically well documented for Imperial Roman jewellery of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, including gold-and-emerald necklaces from Italic and Egyptian grave finds.
Why is amazonite used instead of real emerald?
Amazonite – a microcline feldspar in a characteristic blue-green – is not an ancient material and was not used in the Roman Imperial period. It is deliberately used here as a modern equivalent of the green ornamental stones of the Imperial period: visually convincing, naturally grown, and workable by hand in the same kind of setting as the historical models. Real emerald would be neither practical nor affordable in a replica of this price range. The effect of the colour on the body is the same.
For what historical period is the Flavia Necklace suitable in a portrayal?
The Flavia Necklace is best suited to portrayals of the High Imperial period, that is, the 1st and 2nd centuries AD – the age from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius. Double-stranded stone-set necklaces are documented visually and archaeologically for this period. For a portrayal of the late Republic or Late Antiquity, the piece would be less precisely placed, although similar constructions were still in use in the 3rd century.
Can the Flavia Necklace be combined with other pieces from the Forum Traiani series?
Yes – the Flavia Necklace can be combined well with the Faustina Earrings (aventurine + freshwater pearl) and the Pearls of Pompeii Bracelet. All three pieces share the elevated social status associated with the urban society of the Imperial period and belong to the same portrayal context. The blue-green of the amazonite harmonizes chromatically with the aventurine of the earrings without making the combination appear too uniform – exactly as seen in the Fayum mummy portraits, where women wore jewellery that was coordinated but not identical.
What most people do not know about Roman neck jewellery
The Fayum mummy portraits are not only the most important visual source for Imperial Roman jewellery – they are also the oldest realistic individual portraits in human history to survive in large numbers. More than 900 examples are known today. And on a remarkably large number of them, neck jewellery can be seen – necklaces, collars, amulets. The archaeologist and jewellery researcher Sabine Albersmeier has pointed out that the portraits were not created at the moment of death, but often already during the subject’s lifetime – some hung in the home for decades before they were placed in the grave. The jewellery these women wore was therefore their everyday jewellery, not their funerary jewellery. What glitters in the portraits was truly worn.
Sources and references for the Flavia Necklace
Ancient sources
Ovid, Ars Amatoria III, 129. In: Ovid, The Art of Love. Latin/German, edited and translated by Michael von Albrecht. Tusculum edition, Artemis & Winkler, Munich/Zurich.
Secondary literature
Higgins, R.A.: Greek and Roman Jewellery. University of California Press, 1980.
Deppert-Lippitz, Barbara: Ancient Gold Jewellery. Schnell & Steiner, 1985.
Walker, Susan / Bierbrier, Morris: Ancient Faces. Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. British Museum Press, London, 1997.
Doxiadis, Euphrosyne: The Mysterious Fayum Portraits. Faces from Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, London, 1995.
Updated on: 13 April 2026
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