Tombstone

ID:

XWL79[233]<67>

Production date:

Roman; 200-300

Location:

In Store

Tombstone for a ten-year-old girl called Marciana. The tombstone has a carving of girl's bust above an inscription. 'D M' on border of stone and inscription: [..]EMORIAE | [..] TVITATI | [..] MARCIANAE | [..]IT ANN X | [..] AVREL | [..]EC C | [..] | [..]RTI | [..]VS F C. 'To the spirits of the departed (and to) the everlasting memory of ... Marciana who lived 10 years ... months and ... days, Aurelius ... decurion of the colonia[...], had this set up'.
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Tombstone for a ten-year-old girl called Marciana. The tombstone has a carving of girl's bust above an inscription. 'D M' on border of stone and inscription: [..]EMORIAE | [..] TVITATI | [..] MARCIANAE | [..]IT ANN X | [..] AVREL | [..]EC C | [..] | [..]RTI | [..]VS F C. 'To the spirits of the departed (and to) the everlasting memory of ... Marciana who lived 10 years ... months and ... days, Aurelius ... decurion of the colonia[...], had this set up'.

Aurelius was probably Marciana’s father as she was so young and he knew exactly how old she was. Her name is likely to be Aurelia Marciana, after him. The portrait of a girl at the top of the tombstone was meant to represent her.

The phrase ‘everlasting memory’ is found on Roman inscriptions from southern Germany so Marciana and her father were probably not British. As a decurion (member of a town council), Aurelius is likely to have been a wealthy businessman.

Fragments of the tombstone were found between 1980 and 1981 during excavations of the Roman city wall. It had been broken and reused as building material in a late Roman tower. < Hide

Measurements

H 1075 mm; W 745 mm; D 200 mm; WT 117.8 kg (overall)

Materials

stone; limestone

Last Updated

2024-03-14