A Late Roman disc-shaped pendant of rich, blue glass, depicting a lion with a full mane in high relief, viewed in profile. The feline is portrayed in a striding position, with its tail raised upwards and legs suggesting a dynamic movement. Above the lion is an additional, circular relief, which is more obscure. It perhaps depicts the sun or a star. The reverse is flat and unadorned. The suspension loop has been broken off. The pendant features a chip in the edge and earthy encrustations throughout. The mass production of glass in Ancient Rome explains the common use of this material in jewellery-making. In the Roman world, lions maintained a strong association with Hercules, as he famously encountered the Nemean lion as one of his Twelve Labours. The lion was far from a mythological beast, however, and would have been a familiar sight across the Roman Empire. The ‘venationes’ (“hunts”) and other ‘spectacula’ (“shows”) of ancient Rome saw exotic species (including panthers, elephants, and bears) procured from all corners of the Roman Empire – a conscious demonstration in itself of the nation’s extensive reach and authority – and placed in the amphitheatre for gory entertainment. Diameter: 1.7cm Weight: 0.97g Provenance: Ex S.M. Collection, London, Mayfair, acquired 1970s-90s.