Why is Identity Important?

Throughout this project I have been talking about the concept of identity and how our understanding of it helps with our understanding of the ancient world. I this post I hope to show how identity opens new avenues of research, why it has suddenly become such a ‘hot’ topic academically and why ancient identity is …

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Iconography and Identity: Slavery in Roman Chester

It is common knowledge that the Roman Empire was a slave owning society and that slavery was common practise in Britain both before and during the occupation. According to Strabo, who was writing around 20 AD, Britain exported many slaves (Strabo 4.5) Chester has several tombstones that belong to slaves, two of them are likely …

Iconography and Identity: Curatia Dinysia

During the early 3rd century AD, Chester experienced a huge upheaval in terms of the building work and the quality of the architecture and the archaeological remains. This coincided with the campaigns of the Severan Emperors in Northern Britain, and the reinvigorating impact this had on the towns and fortresses on the Frontier. During this …

Iconography and Identity: The Cavalrymen – Aurelius Lucius

The auxiliary of the Roman Army were units of non-citizens, recruited from conquered peoples who had specialist skills that the Romans could use. For example, in Britain there was a unit of Syrian Archers and many groups from the Western Empire including Germans, Thracians and Celts who provided either cavalry or mixed cavalry (half cavalry/half …

Iconography and Identity: The Cavalrymen – Rider Reliefs

The cavalry of the Roman army was made up of contrasts. The attachment of cavalry that was part of the legion would have been made up of elite citizens, or rather those who could afford the expense of a horse. The auxiliaries were a separate detachment, made up of non-citizens, whose award at the end …

Burial Practice in Roman Chester – The Intact Grave of Flavius Callimorphus and his son Serapion

When you walk through the Grosvenor Museum into the gallery containing the tombstones, the light dims and you enter another age. The stones are arranged in rows on either side of you, as if you are walking on a Roman road out of Deva. The walls are brilliantly painted to appear as the Roman landscape. …

Burial Practice in Roman Chester – The use of lead

The use of lead in the act of burial is a Roman introduction to Britain, as no evidence exists before the conquest (Philpott 1991, 28). Its malleability made it a very versatile material, especially in creating cylindrical objects such as pipes and urns. Looking at the evidence for lead based burial practice, it seems that …

Romano-British Burial Practice – The Heads in the River

Before looking at the details of the funerary art associated with Chester, it makes sense to explore the context that it is situated in. Burial practice (the where, why and how a person is buried) is also an important part of a person’s identity. The position the body is laid, the vessel, grave goods and …