[2] Bronze armillae were given as awards for distinguished conduct to soldiers of lesser rank, but were valued no less highly for the prestige they conferred upon their owners.
Roman military honours were not awarded posthumously, but those won during a soldier's lifetime were often proudly shown on his sarcophagus or cenotaph.
[5] The Romans were initially daunted by the fearsome appearance of the Gauls, whose elite warriors were "richly adorned with gold necklaces and armbands".
As such, over time the torc and also the armilla were adopted as official awards for valour, taking on the role of symbolic war trophies.
Armillae were made in a substantial masculine style and produced in a variety of designs: a solid, hinged cuff, sometimes inscribed with legionary emblems or decorated with incised patterns; an open-ended spiral; a chunky, rounded bracelet with open or overlapping ends; or a torc in miniature.