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Origin of Rings: Gyges

Though the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the king of Lydia, has more of fable than truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss to relate what is said concerning Herodotus, Cælius after Plato, and Cicero, in the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed into a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found, in the belly of a brasen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous size, he pulled from off one of the fingers, a ring of surprising virtue; for the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the collet was turned towards the palm of the hand; so that the party could see, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having made trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means for ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the queen by it. He succeeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead body this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahmin, who in his time was chief of all. The rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great, after the defeat and death of Darius, used his ring for sealing the letters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It was customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before marriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how lasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe together; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a necessity of moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till his third consulship: and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some regulation in the authority of wearing rings; for besides the liberty of birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and grandfather's side.

In the preceding dissertation we have anticipated the MA- TRIMONIAL RING, therefore our further observations need be but few.

Swinburne says, the iron ring was adorned with an adamant, the metal hard and durable, signifying the duration and pros-