Lunula (amulet)

A lunula (pl. lunulae) was a crescent moon shaped pendant worn by girls in ancient Rome.[1] Girls ideally wore them as an apotropaic amulet,[2] the equivalent of the boy's bulla.[3] In the popular belief the Romans wore amulets usually as a talisman, to protect themselves against evil forces, demons and sorcery, but especially against the evil eye. Lunulae were common throughout the entire Medditeranean region while their male counterpart, the bulla, was most popular in Italy.[4] In Plautus' play, Epidicus asks the young girl Telestis: "Don't you remember my bringing you a gold lunula on your birthday, and a little gold ring for your finger?" An explicit definition is provided by Isidore of Seville: "Lunulae are female ornaments in the likeness of the moon, little hanging gold bullae." But in Plautus' play Rudens, Palaestra says her father gave her a golden bulla on the day of her birth.

Detail from the Ara Pacis Augustae showing a Roman girl wearing a lunula.

Necklace with gold "Lunula" and chain links of agate, decorated with filigree. Roman Imperial (1st century AD)

References

DiLuzio, Meghan (2019-11-22). "Religion and Gender in Ancient Rome". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.634. ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
Erlich, Adi (April 15, 2022). "Children in Need: Evidence for a Children's Cult from the Roman Temple of Omrit in Northern Israel". Religions. 13 (4): 362. doi:10.3390/rel13040362.
Olson, Kelly (2012-08-06). Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-134-12120-5.
Dasen, Véronique (2010-12-17), Rawson, Beryl (ed.), "Childbirth and Infancy in Greek and Roman Antiquity", A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 291–314, doi:10.1002/9781444390766.ch18, ISBN 978-1-4051-8767-1, retrieved 2023-05-10

Bibliography

J. C. Edmondson; Alison Keith, eds. (2008). Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture. University of Toronto Press. pp. 42n20, 143–5, 148–9, 152nn45-6, 155n62. ISBN 978-0-8020-9319-6.
Kelly Olson (classicist) (2008). Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society. Routledge. pp. 16, 18. ISBN 978-0-415-41476-0.

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[1] DiLuzio, Meghan (2019-11-22). "Religion and Gender in Ancient Rome". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.634. ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8. Retrieved 2023-05-10.

[2] Erlich, Adi (April 15, 2022). "Children in Need: Evidence for a Children's Cult from the Roman Temple of Omrit in Northern Israel". Religions. 13 (4): 362. doi:10.3390/rel13040362.

[3] Olson, Kelly (2012-08-06). Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-134-12120-5.

[4] Dasen, Véronique (2010-12-17), Rawson, Beryl (ed.), "Childbirth and Infancy in Greek and Roman Antiquity", A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds (1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 291–314, doi:10.1002/9781444390766.ch18, ISBN 978-1-4051-8767-1, retrieved 2023-05-10