Pompeia Green Hairpin – the acus crinalis, history in the hair
The Pompeia Green Hairpin is a handcrafted acus crinalis made of brass with a green natural stone finial, 17 cm long, crafted after archaeological models from the 1st–3rd century AD. Green stones were regarded in the Roman world as signs of wealth and refinement — Pliny the Elder devotes an entire chapter to them in his Naturalis Historia. For living history portrayals, reenactment, and history enthusiasts who value historically plausible accessories.
More than just a pin
Acus crinalis briefly explained:
The Pompeia Green Hairpin is an acus crinalis made of brass with a green natural stone finial, designed after Roman originals — a decorative object that in Imperial Rome served equally as a hairstyling tool and a status symbol.
What did a Roman woman in the 2nd century AD use to hold her hairstyle together?
Rome, early 2nd century AD. A middle-class woman — let us say the wife of a merchant in Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, present-day Cologne — sits before the mirror. Her hair is elaborately piled up, wave upon wave, the parting drawn with precision. What looks from the outside like a sculpture is in fact craftsmanship: slave women have braided, pinned, and secured it. And in the middle of it sits an acus crinalis of metal with a green stone finial, not hidden away somewhere, but deliberately placed where the light can catch the stone.
Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia (Book XXXVII), describes the Romans’ fascination with green stones with almost rapturous precision: smaragdus, prase, malachite, and green glass paste of gem quality are among the most frequently attested ornamental stones in Imperial-period finds. Green was considered restful for the eyes; Pliny even recommended the sight of emeralds as a therapy for exhausted engravers — and as the color of life and growth.
What many people do not know: the towering coiffures seen on imperial portraits, the ones that still amaze museum visitors today, were often not masterpieces made from natural hair alone. Wigs, hairpieces (capillamentum), and woven additions supplemented the wearer’s own hair, and the acus crinalis held the whole construction together. It was tool, ornament, and status signal in one single object.
A real comparable object is preserved in the Roman Museum Augst (Augusta Raurica, Switzerland): among the numerous hairpins from Colonia Raurica are metal examples with colored stone and glass-paste finials that come very close to the Pompeia Green Hairpin in proportion and construction — slender shaft, pronounced finial, careful metalwork at the transitions. Augusta Raurica is one of the best-documented everyday find sites in the Roman northwest; the body of personal adornment found there offers an unvarnished insight into what women of different social levels actually wore.
What is actually in the hair?
The Pompeia Green Hairpin under the microscope
The Pompeia Green Hairpin is a slim, well-proportioned hairpin: the shaft tapers evenly, sits solidly in the hand, and does not flex — which is intentional in brass, because the pin is meant to provide hold, not elasticity. The barrel-shaped green natural stone sits centrally in the upper third, flanked by small brass spacer discs that frame the transition between metal and stone neatly. At the upper end there is a small loop — archaeologically attested on several Imperial-period originals, probably for attaching a pendant or linking it with a second pin. The overall impression of the Pompeia Green Hairpin: restrained, but not plain. Exactly the quality one expects from an object meant to be worn visibly and with intention.
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Length: 17 cm
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Shaft material: matte brass
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Finial material: green natural stone (jade), barrel-cut
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Details: brass spacer discs, loop at the upper end
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Model: comparable objects including the Roman Museum Augst (Augusta Raurica) and the RGM Cologne
How do you wear an acus crinalis properly in 2026?
The Pompeia Green Hairpin is not a decorative piece for a display case — it works. The brass shaft has enough weight of its own to stay in pinned-up hair without slipping, and the loop at the end prevents it from disappearing unintentionally into dense braided hairstyles. Anyone using a long metal pin for the first time notices quickly: Roman women knew exactly what they were doing. One practiced pass through a twisted hair knot, and the pin sits rock-solid.
Three concrete ways to use it:
First: the Pompeia Green Hairpin is ideal for an Imperial-period middle-class female portrayal (1st–2nd century AD), not a senator’s wife, not a slave, but that broad, interesting space in between. The green stone signals prosperity without ostentation; the brass works well with bronze brooches and simpler earrings made of the same metal.
Second: anyone combining several acus crinales — for example the Pompeia Green Hairpin together with an unmounted metal pin — comes very close to the hairstyle reconstructions documented by Janet Stephens in her widely noted work on Roman hair techniques. The loop of the Pompeia Green Hairpin even allows a functional connection between two pins, as has been discussed for original finds.
Third: for market portrayals or open-air museums, where the audience is addressed directly, the Pompeia Green Hairpin is an ideal conversation piece. Hardly any visitor expects a hairpin to be a status symbol with its own chapter in Pliny.
An honest practical tip: if you have long, smooth hair, twist it tightly once before inserting the pin — the pin needs resistance, not an empty channel.
Who is the Pompeia Green Hairpin really worth it for?
Anyone putting together an Imperial-period female portrayal and who has so far relied on bone pins or modern hair clips for headwear will find in the Pompeia Green Hairpin the missing final step toward a convincing overall appearance. Brass and green stone are consistent with the sources, the proportions are right, and the price is far below what a blacksmith would charge for a custom-made individual piece.
For history enthusiasts who do not actively do reenactment but value an authentic everyday object: the Pompeia Green Hairpin works in modern daily life just as reliably as it did 1,800 years ago. Updos, knots, braids.
Anyone who already wears other pieces of jewelry from the Forum Traiani range, such as earrings or brooches in bronze or brass, will find in the Pompeia Green Hairpin a complement that fits into the ensemble without overpowering it. The stone adds a calm touch of color, and the metal works with almost every warm tone.
What did Pliny the Elder write about green stones, and why did Nero look through an emerald?
“Nero princeps gladiatorum pugnas spectabat zmaragdo.”
Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia XXXVII, 16 (1st century AD)
Freely translated into English: “Emperor Nero was accustomed to watching gladiatorial combats through an emerald.”
Pliny does not explain this as a whim, but as a rational choice: green stones were regarded in the Roman world as beneficial for overstrained eyes, their color as the most soothing of all. What Nero did with a gemstone the size of a palm, others did with whatever they could afford: green stones in jewelry, in hairpins, in finger rings. Choosing a green stone in Rome was not an aesthetic accident, but an attitude. The Pompeia Green Hairpin carries that idea forward, without requiring an imperial budget.
Five questions that occupy Google and posterity alike
Did Roman women really wear metal hairpins with stone finials?
Yes, and it is archaeologically well attested. In the Roman Museum Augst (Augusta Raurica, Switzerland) and in the RGM Cologne, numerous acus crinales made of bronze and brass have been preserved, including examples with colored stone finials and glass-paste heads. In Imperial everyday life, the hairpin was both a practical object and a visible decorative element.
What does the term acus crinalis mean, and where does it come from?
Acus means needle in Latin, while crinalis derives from crinis (hair). The term appears, among others, in Ovid and in medical texts, and refers specifically to the pin used for hairstyling, as distinct from the garment pin (acus discriminalis) or sewing needle.
Is the Pompeia Green Hairpin suitable for modern hair?
Yes. The brass shaft, with its length of 17 cm, works reliably in pinned-up hairstyles, knots, and braids. The weight of the metal provides hold, and the loop at the upper end prevents unintended slipping. For especially smooth hair, it is advisable to twist the hair lightly before inserting the pin.
Why did Roman women choose green stones for jewelry and hairpins?
Pliny the Elder provides the answer in his Naturalis Historia (Book XXXVII): green stones were considered beneficial for the eyes and the most soothing color of all. Smaragdus, prase, and green glass paste are among the most frequently attested ornamental stones in Imperial-period finds throughout the Empire.
Can I combine the Pompeia Green Hairpin with other Forum Traiani jewelry pieces?
Without any problem. Brass as a base material combines with bronze, copper, and warm metal tones without visual breaks. The green natural stone fits into ensembles with earrings, brooches, or armrings from the Imperial Roman range and adds a calm color accent without dominating the overall impression.
Findspot well: hairpins as votive offerings
Roman hairpins appear strikingly often in excavations in wells and water basins. For a long time, research regarded this as accidental loss. In the meantime, much suggests that at least some of these finds were votive offerings: personal objects deliberately thrown into the water as gifts to gods or spring nymphs. A hairpin worn in one’s own hair was apparently personal enough to serve as an offering. The Roman Museum Augst documents corresponding concentrations of finds in water contexts that can hardly be explained by accidental loss alone.
Bibliography
Title: Roman Hairpin
Author: The Trustees of the British Museum
Publication: British Museum Collection Online Date: Permanently accessible
Title: Naturalis Historia, Book XXXVII, Chapter 16 (De smaragdo)
Author: Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus)
Publication: Perseus Digital Library, ed. Mayhoff, Teubner 1906 Date: 77 AD (first publication); digital edition permanently accessible
Title: Roman Toilet Implements and Medical Instruments from Augst and Kaiseraugst
Author: Riha, Emilie
Publication: Forschungen in Augst, Volume 6. Roman Museum Augst, 1986
Title: Ancient Jewelry
Author: Deppert-Lippitz, Barbara
Publication: Zabern, Mainz 1985
Updated on: 08/04/2026
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