´óÏó´«Ã½

Roman distance slab of the Sixth Legion

Contributed by The Hunterian

Roman distance slab of the Sixth Legion

This Roman was found nearby the Braidfield Farm near Duntocher Fort, Strathclyde Region, Scotland and was picked by Kevin Grant, postgraduate student at the University of Glasgow (Archaeology). Kevin writes - This distance slab was found in 1812 in the Duntocher area of Clydebank, near to a roman fort. These distance slabs were made by the legions to mark the completion of a section of the Antonine wall and have been found in several places along its length. The stone is richly decorated with two roman soldiers flanking two winged females (an unidentified mythological creature) below the central area with the inscription. The inscription translates as: "For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, father of his country, a detachment of the Sixth Victorious, Loyal and Faithful Legion completed the rampart work [over a distance of] 3240 feet". The sickle or axe shaped banners on either side of the inscription plate are similar to animalistic symbols found on other distance slabs and jewellery from the Roman period and may have been influenced by art from other cultures incorporated within the empire.

Comments are closed for this object

Share this link:

Most of the content on A History of the World is created by the contributors, who are the museums and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ or the British Museum. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site’s House Rules please Flag This Object.

About this object

Click a button to explore other objects in the timeline

Location

near Duntocher Roman Fort

Culture
Period

second century AD

Theme
Size
H:
76.5cm
W:
119cm
D:
17cm
Colour
Material

View more objects from people in Glasgow and West of Scotland.

Find out more

Podcast

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.