Tombstones and Memorials Video on identity markers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EyStjkII-Y&feature=youtu.be (togas)  Also watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-FDnhKSt5I&feature=youtu.be (mainly at the beginning and end on the status of owners)  This plan of Leicester indicates tombs on the road in from the south west (Western Road, close to Fosse Way/ Narborough Road), from which we have already met the North African occupants illustrated here. Credits: ULAS

Two of the objects you will see come from Lancaster and Arbeia. I’ve travelled all over Britannia to make the special tiles for Roman bath houses, even up to the far north and the Wall. Here’s what you see as you enter Roman settlements. Credit: Primus, Giacomo Savani Two of the objects you will see come from Lancaster and Arbeia. Primus is a well-travelled trader/ craftsman, describing what he’s seen as he enters towns in the Hadrian’s Wall area of the country. Arbeia is now known as South Shields, on the south bank of the Tyne. Roman Britannia Map Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Roads_in_Britannia.svg By Andrei nacu at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Credits: ULAS

[...]IUS CIVE TREVER EQVES ALAE AVG [.] VICTORIS CVRATOR DOMITIA To the shades of the dead, Insus son of Vodullus, citizen of the Treveri, ccavalryman of the ala Augusta, troop of Victor, curator. Domitia his heir had this set up. DIS MANIBUS INSUS VODVLLI [...]IUS CIVE TREVER EQVES ALAE AVG [.] VICTORIS CVRATOR DOMITIA Useful phrases: Dis Manibus: to the shades of the dead -i ending: son of civis-e: citizen Trever: Trier, a city in Germany Alae AVG: an army troop Translation appears on click. Throw discussion open to pupils: what does this tell us about the buried individual?  Why was it on the roadside outside a town?  What impression does it make on a local (think about size, material, cost, iconography)?  If they notice the writing, help them to make a start on translating this or ask them what the language is, but don’t draw it to their attention unless they notice it.  NB I have not given all the vocabulary, encourage them to make guesses, using the context and derivatives in English, e.g. eques – equestrian. Once ideas have been exhausted, point out the writing using the ppt slide and ask which language it is in & how that compares to the identity they thought of originally when viewing the object.  Challenge them to work out what it means: remind about –us/ -a endings for names, using derivatives in English.  When they have exhausted efforts, show translation (clickable on ppt), explain where Trier is (western Germany).  Do they re-interpret the object in light of this?  Is the owner a 'Roman' or a 'barbarian', or both/ neither? Are they surprised that a woman (Domitia) set up the tombstone? DIS MANIBUS [To the shades of the dead], INSUS VODVLLI [Insus son of Vodullus], [...]IUS CIVE TREVER [citizen of the Treveri] EQVES ALAE AVG [cavalryman of the ala Augusta] [.] VICTORIS CVRATOR [troop of Victor, curator].  DOMITIA [Domitia his heir had this set up.] For further information: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/0vCJguhSS0yKtWUCTcjsyg Credit: Lancaster Roman tombstone, Lancashire Museums http://collections.lancsmuseums.gov.uk/narratives/narrative.php?irn=95

A similar example from Ribchester, in Lancashire, is included below. This shows the original colour of the tombstone.  Explain that much of the sculpture etc you see in museums would have originally have been coloured.  How does this change their view of the image, i.e. are Roman soldiers as nice as you think?.  Note the blue of the fallen 'barbarian'; compare the description of Britons covered in blue woad by Julius Caesar. A similar example from Ribchester, in Lancashire, is included below. Credit: Drawing of Lancaster tombstone, David Shotter (2009: 69, fig 4.15) in Lancaster’s Roman Cemeteries. Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies at Lancaster University Credit: Impression of the Lancaster tombstone, Simon James, University of Leicester

Regina, freedwoman of Barate, alas. This is the Barathes tombstone from Arbeia, which demonstrates the multi-cultural nature of Roman Britain with its Palymrean script at the bottom.  For full details see supervisor knowledge document. Also nb Regina was from the Catuvellauni – go back to ppt slide 2 to demonstrate where this tribe was in Britain.  Link to Marcus from Egypt, and explain that Primus might have seen a similar bilingual tombstone on his way into Ratae, since isotopic analysis on the occupants of the Western Road graves suggests two first generation north Africans there. The final line of Regina's epitaph is Barates' personal lament in Aramaic (the language spoken in Palmyra): Regina, freedwoman of Barate, alas.  D[is] M[anibus] To the shades of the Underworld (square brackets indicates letters added to the inscription by comparison with other inscriptions). REGINA LIBERTA ET CONIVGE Regina freedwoman and wife (conjugal is a derivative of coniuge, the v = u) BARATES PALMYRENVS Barates the Palmyrene NATIONE CATVALLAVNA from the nation of the Catavallauni (the tribename is misspelled, nb word order here; the –a ending on Catvallavna indicates it refers to Regina, not Barates) AN[NORUM] XXX 30 years old [hoc monumentum fecit] put up this monument Regina tombstone, Newcastle University, Credit: NU Digital Heritage, Newcastle University

The object to the bottom right is usually described, and reconstructed here, as a wool basket.  A similar example in the Netherlands interprets a similar object as a basket of fruit.  Notice how the writing stands out in its red colouring.  When positioned by the side of the road the effect is of the person setting up the tombstone speaking to those passing, by reading it the buried person’s memory is evoked.  Compare the importance of memory identified in the Death session. A BBC documentary featuring the tombstone (about 2 3/4 minutes) can be viewed here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p064k7ry Credit: Impression of Regina tombstone, http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue12/4/images/regina.jpg

Tomb and friezes on the tomb of Eurysaces the Baker. Credits: By Livioandronico2013 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37589339 By Livioandronico2013 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Alternative examples of Roman tombstones, for details of which see supervisor knowledge document.  All of these were for very wealthy individuals, one of the issues pupils should bear in mind when planning their own memorial is the budget they have for a tombstone.  The baker's tomb is designed to look like an ancient bread oven. Tomb on Via Appia of Rabirii Credits: By Palickap (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons By Palickap (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Pyramid of Cestius, Credit: By Livioandronico2013 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37181274 /

This Roman alphabet could be used when pupils are designing their own tombstone. More Roman inscriptions of Britain on tombstones: https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org

Ribchester tombstone Credit: Ribchester Museum. Photo: Jane Ainsworth