An exquisite 2,000-year-old sapphire ring which is thought to have belonged to Roman Emperor Caligula – and is one of the ‘Marlborough Gems’ – is being sold for close to £500,000.
The sky blue hololith, made from a single piece of the precious stone, is believed to have been owned by Caligula, who reigned from 37AD until his ᴀssᴀssination four years later.
The face engraved into the bezel is thought to be his fourth and last wife Caesonia, who was said to be so beautiful Caligula paraded her naked in front of his friends.
The sky blue hololith, made from a single piece of sapphire, is believed to have owned by Caligula, who reigned from 37AD until his ᴀssᴀssination four years later
The face engraved into the bezel is thought to be his fourth and last wife Caesonia, who was said to be so beautiful Caligula paraded her in front of his troops and paraded her naked in front of his friends
Caesonia, who was played by Dame Helen Mirren in the 1979 erotic historical drama Caligula, was ᴀssᴀssinated almost immediately after her husband.
Stricken with grief at his death, she reportedly willingly offered her neck to the ᴀssᴀssin, telling him to kill her without hesitation.
