Key Artefacts

Archaeological excavation and stray finds along the Antonine Wall have revealed a wide range of Roman artefacts from the military to the domestic.

Wooden barrel, with owner's name scratched into it. © Hunterian Museum

When abandoning a Roman fort, the Romans buried many of the possessions that they did not wish to salvage and take with them, so that they could not be used by native peoples. This has led to the preservation and survival of some incredible organic remains along the Antonine Wall, offering a glimpse of daily life in the forts. It has also ensured the survival of many of the larger artistic and ceremonial pieces that were produced for the forts themselves.

You can read more about some of these classes of artefacts below, or explore the object database for more detailed information about specific objects.

Distance Slabs

Distance slab, Hutcheson Hill. © Hunterian Museum

The Antonine Wall has given us the most important collection of Roman sculpture on any Roman frontier: the legionary distance slabs. Nineteen inscribed stone tablets, originally fixed to the rampart, provide a unique record of the work of building the Wall.

For construction purposes, the wall was divided into sections. As each was completed, the building team celebrated their achievement by creating a stone carved in local sandstone which honoured the emperor, recorded the distance covered in paces or feet, and featured the name of their legion.

The written inscriptions, originally painted red, reveal that the Wall was constructed by the three legions based in Britain: the Second Augustan Legion, the Sixth Victorious Legion and the Twentieth Victorious Valerian Legion. Some of the slabs show the ‘signatures’ of the legions: a boar for the Twentieth Legion, and Capricorn (half-goat, half-fish) or Pegasus (flying horse) for the Second Legion.

Building inscriptions are common throughout the Roman world, but there are no other known discoveries of distance slabs such as these on any other Roman frontier. Much more than just a building record, many of the stones display elaborate sculptures which communicated a powerful message of triumph even to native people unable to read. Carved images of conquering Romans celebrate the invaders’ victory over a downcast enemy; images of beheading and mutilation spell out a threatening warning.

All but two of the surviving slabs are now on display in the Hunterian Museum. A wonderful replica of the famous Bridgeness slab is now on display where it was found in Bo’ness; the original can be seen in the National Museum of Scotland.

Altars

A number of altars, carved in stone, were erected along the line of the Antonine Wall by both soldiers and civilians. A group of five altars set up at Auchendavy fort by the centurion Marcus Cocceius Firmus were dedicated to a variety of gods and goddesses Most are traditional dedications such as to Mars or Silvanus, but the one which is to ‘the Spirit of the Land of Britain’ is unique in Roman Britain.

Altar to ‘the Spirit of the Land of Britain’. © Hunterian Museum

Tombstones

At Shirva, a group of tombstones was found re-used as building material in a souterrain. They included a stone to Flavius Lucianus, a soldier of the Second Legion, one set up by Salamanes to a boy of fifteen of the same name, and one to a woman called Verecunda. It seems likely that they came from a cemetery attached to Auchendavy Fort. Belonging to both soldiers and civilians, the group also includes two monumental relief sculptures, possibly from a mausoleum of a high ranking official, which are extremely rare from a frontier region.

Building Materials

A whole range of building materials have survived at sites along the Antonine Wall. They display the high quality of build that must have been seen at all the sites along the Wall. Roof tiles, carved stone columns and dressed stones indicate impressive administrative buildings, while hypocaust fittings, lead pipes and concrete flooring attest to the luxurious and comfortable bath-house buildings the soldiers would have had access to. There are also a whole range of tools such as axe-heads, chisels and a hammer-head with the owner’s name on it that would have been used for the construction works.

Personal Possessions

Military equipment is to be expected in the forts; the boss of a legionary’s shield, metal swords, fragments of leather tents. So too is the necessary equipment to feed and care for the troops – items such as pottery, glassware and bronze cooking pots from the kitchen, strigils from the bath-house or coins accidentally dropped around the fort buildings. More rare are the well-preserved leather shoes which have survived, belonging not just to men, but to women and children also; the families of those living in, or near, the forts. Items associated with religious belief are also found; such as statues or intaglios featuring gods and goddesses.

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Archaeological excavation and stray finds along the Antonine Wall have revealed a wide range of Roman artefacts from the military to the domestic.