Livilla Earrings

These dazzling earrings feature a beautiful globe at the front comprised of separate disks that glitter in the light, and a characteristic Roman hook at the back. They are inspired by a pair found in the excavations of the ancient luxury villa at Oplontis, in the Bay of Naples, and date to the first century AD.

"Livilla" is the diminutive form of the Roman name Livia. One Livilla was Claudia Livia Julia, who was named after her grandmother, Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus. Called "Little Livia" by her family, this Livilla was also the sister of the eventual emperor Claudius, and aunt of the emperor Caligula. Highly ambitious, Livilla was also quite highly regarded, early on, and was even called a "sovereign beauty" by the historian Tacitus, in his Annals (4.3).