Roman sundial from Mainz
Portable Roman sundial
Many ancient cultures regarded the sun as a life-giving celestial body, which was accordingly worshipped in many religious cults. The Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and also the Greeks, who are known to have had a significant influence on Roman culture, paid homage to large and important sun gods who played a central role in their pantheons.
Similarly, the concept of time is often personified in these cults. In a figurative sense, the sundial is a perfect interplay of these two ideas. However, the pragmatic Romans adopted far more than religious elements from the cultures around them, but also scientific and productive concepts, which they developed further with structured mathematics and a clear engineering science.
Tempus fugit - the sundial in ancient Rome
Similarly, the concept of the sundial as a timepiece was by no means a Roman novelty, but was rather adopted by the Empire and refined in many ways. Thanks to precise mathematical calculations, it was already possible to link the length of the days to the respective months and the position of the sun, thus creating a reliable framework for determining the time of day. The sundial thus quickly found its place as an important part of classical Roman architecture and everyday life. As in almost all aspects of Roman society, there was a clear distinction between the classes of the population in the construction of the sundial.
The largest example is one of the many prestige projects of Emperor Augustus: less a clock than a large square, in the center of which stood an obelisk almost 30 meters high, which also served as a pointer. Our wearable example, on the other hand, is based on a rather simpler model, which was found near the Linsenberg in Mainz and still works with its simple principle even after two millennia.
Timeless timepiece
Unlike the original exhibited in the Mainz State Museum, which is made of ivory, which was already prized for its elegance in antiquity, this detailed replica is made of a synthetic resin casting, which ensures lasting quality and high stability. The refined patina not only ensures even greater durability, but also gives the sundial a special style that is more than worthy of the original.
- Diameter approx. 8 cm
- Synthetic resin casting, very stable
- patinated
- incl. leather strap and brass sun pin
- in a cotton bag
Complex and yet simple
Even an everyday and seemingly trivial object such as the portable sundial symbolizes in many ways the spirit and the reason for the success of the Roman Empire: behind the seemingly simple and easy-to-use clocks lie natural philosophical insights, for example into the theory of geometry, thanks to which the interpretation of shadows is made possible.
Both the brass needle and the sundial itself are durable, lightweight and can be operated without a compass. Just like the great generals and statesmen of the empire, take advantage of the hour and measure the time with our portable sundial in Roman style.
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