BROOCH

An incomplete Roman copper-alloy horse and rider brooch, dating to AD 250 - 410. Around 75% of the brooch remains, the horses legs and tail are incomplete and the rider remains from the waist down, the pin is also missing. The horse is advancing right, it has a narrow rectangular undecorated face. The mane is slightly arched, separated from the neck by an incised line and decorated with repeated vertical incised lines to indicate the hair. The body of the horse has an recessed cell across it, two cells have retained a blue enamel, two red, the other two are empty, though traces of red and blue enamel can be seen. The cells follows the lines of the body with the curve of the border continuing into the cell to indicate the line of the back hip. The tail is a small rounded knop ending in a worn break. The back leg is thin and unrecessed and bends forward at the knee. The riders waist and leg can be seen seated upon the horse. The underside of the brooch is undecorated, but has retained a catchplate at the top of the horses front legs and an additional lug at the horses rear.
Length: 28.37 mm
Width: 18.07 mm
Thickness: 1.99 mm
Weight: 2.5 g

Bayley and Butcher (2004: 175-176) suggest horse and rider brooches date from the late third to early fifth centuries. The suggest the brooch type has a strong religious connection due to large quantities discovered at temple sites, such as Hayling Island. Johns (1996, 173-4) suggests these brooches may depict a Romano-Celtic rider god, perhaps a combination of Mars and a native deity, and may have been purchased from shrines as the Roman equivalent of medieval pilgrim badges.