Roman Horse-Head Brooch

Roman pendant with horse heads.

Here you can buy a Roman pendant in the shape of a tetraskelion with horse heads.

The historical model for the pendant are Roman fittings for horse harnesses in the form of horse heads, which come from ancient Dacia, today's Romania, and were found in the hoard of Baiceni, among other places.

Link to the historical model…

In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, in addition to horse-headed tetraskelion brooches, swastika-shaped fittings whose four arms were designed as horse heads were also widespread in the Roman Empire.

This design element was particularly widespread in the Balkans among the auxiliary units of the Roman cavalry and may have had a religious significance as part of a horse cult.

You can buy this Roman brooch replica in high-quality bronze or genuine silver-plated.
Alternatively, you can also order a brooch made of 925 sterling silver.
Alloy...

The Roman horse head fitting measures 3 x 1.8 cm including the eyelet.

A 1 metre long black leather strap is included.

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Brooches with horse heads in the shape of a tetraskelion were widespread throughout the Roman Empire from the 3rd to the 6th century AD, and were apparently very popular with the eastern foederati as a soldier's brooch in the Roman cavalry.

Brooches of this type originally came from the Balkan region, but with over 50 finds they are widespread across large parts of the Danube lowlands, with most of the finds coming from necropolises or individual graves.

These brooches are more common around Novi Banovci (in Roman times Burgenae), where Roman cavalry corps were stationed until late antiquity and where a production center was probably located. The distribution of these brooches coincides with the presence of Roman foederati (Huns, Goths and Alans) in the Danube lowlands. Many of the horsemen were apparently equipped with such brooches.

Evidence of protomes in the shape of a horse's head can be found among many peoples of the Roman period in south-eastern and Central Europe, for example on belt buckles, brooches and combs. They then became characteristic of Roman cavalry units that the Romans had recruited from Pannonia, whereby the horse motif was mixed with the much older tetraskelion-shaped symbols.