Roman treasures heading to capital

ROMAN treasures which tell of life on the frontier of empire in Northumberland and Tyneside are on their way to the British Museum as part of an upcoming major exhibition.

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums is lending the items from its collections to the British Museum for the exhibition about life in the Roman Army.

The objects include the Regina tombstone and an iron ring-mail shirt from Arbeia Roman fort in South Shields; the tombstone of a doctor called Anicius Ingenuus, a stone image of an archer, and the altar of Egnatius Lucilianus from High Rochester in Northumberland.

The exhibition also explores the reality of daily life for the men, women and children who were part of the machine which allowed Rome to master its vast empire.

Geoff Woodward, Museum Manager at Arbeia, said: “The fact that we’ve been approached to loan these artefacts to the British Museum highlights the significance of the collection at Arbeia, which is one of the best from any Roman fort site in the country.

“Arbeia attracts visitors from all round the world to view the archaeology, the reconstructed buildings and the displays, and we’re delighted to be able to showcase these two particularly stunning objects as part of a major national exhibition.”

Other loan items come from the Great North Museum in Newcastle. Malavika Anderson, museum manager said: “We are delighted to be supporting this significant exhibition through the loan of the objects from the collection at the Great North Museum: Hancock.

“They provide unique and fascinating insights into life in the Roman Army along Hadrian’s Wall and the empire more broadly and an exciting opportunity for wide audiences from near and far to engage with our very special collections.”

The Regina tombstone, which featured in the recent BBC Radio 4 series ‘Being Roman’ by historian Mary Beard, was erected by a man called Barates who came from Palmyra in Syria.

Regina, originally from south east England, had been a slave, but Barates freed and then married her. When she died at 30, he had the expensive tombstone made for her. Discovered in South Shields, it is the only Romano-British tombstone to be found which has an inscription in two languages – Latin and Aramaic, the language of Barates. The iron ring-mail is a complete Roman chain-mail il shirt which was lost durring a fire at the fort in n the late third or early ly fourth century. It was as overlooked before reebuilding work could take place and is unusually well-preserved.

Made up of over 50,000 links, the preservation is so good that the heads of the rivets in the links, less than 1mm across, are still visible.

The tombstone of Anicius Ingenuus dates from around 43-410 AD and was found at Housesteads Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. The inscription on the tombstone reveals that Anicius was a doctor of the First Cohort of Tungrians, from modern Belgium, and that he was 25 years old when he died.

The altar of Egnatius Lucilianus was discovered at High Rochester and dates from 240 AD. Also going to

London is a leather quiver cover from Birdoswald fort from the time of the Roman occupation of Hadrian’s Wall, and a ‘pilum muralis’ – a pole pointed at both ends, which was standard equipment for the Roman army.

The loan item dates from 100 AD and was found at Great Chesters in Northumberland.

■ Legion: life in the Roman army opened on February 1 and runs until June 23.

They provide unique and fascinating insights

into life in the Roman Army along

Hadrian’s Wall

> The Regina tombstone