Small Roman Omega Brooch

Roman omega brooch.

The Roman omega brooch takes its name from the shape of the Greek letter omega. The omega brooch is a typical garment clasp from the post-Christian Iron Age, and was widespread in the Roman Empire for many generations until the late 4th century.

Omega brooches of this form were widespread in all Roman provinces and were in use in almost unchanged form from the time around the birth of Christ until the 3rd century AD, with the greatest distribution in the 2nd half of the 1st century.

The Omega brooch originally comes from Spain. It spread through the Ibero-Gallic auxiliary troops of the Romans to the Rhine, where it became widespread towards the birth of Christ, particularly in Roman military units.

Roman omega brooches could measure between 2 and 6 cm. However, the smallest omega brooches were probably used more like a buckle, as leather armour is known from Germanic graves of the 2nd century, which were closed with omega brooches attached to the side.

To close it, the pin of the omega brooch is pushed through the fabric and then locked with the movable round part, which closes the brooch. In addition to Roman omega brooches with bent ends, those with button-shaped or snake-headed ends were also common, as were omega brooches with curled ends or acorn-shaped ends.