The Antonine Wall
THE EASTERN END
Map of the Antonine Wall, with the eastern end of the wall highlighted
THE BRIDGENESS DISTANCE SLAB
Distance slabs are large, decorated stone tablets found along the line of the Antonine Wall. Twenty of these have been found. Each slab bears a Latin inscription describing the contribution of a particular Roman legion to the construction of the Wall.
The Bridgeness distance
slab, made from sandstone, marks the eastern terminus of the
Antonine Wall. It was discovered in 1868, and is the largest
known example of its kind. It can be seen in the National Museums
of Scotland, Edinburgh.
The inscribed central
panel reads as follows:
IMP CAES TITO AELIO/HADRIANTONIO/ AVG PIO PP LEGII/ AVG
PER MP III DCLII/FEC
This can be translated as `For the Emperor Ceasar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius, Father of his Country, the Second Augustan Legion completed (the Wall) over a distance of 4652 paces'.
Above: A drawing of the Bridgeness distance slab, showing the detail of the inscribed and carved panels
Below: Photographs of the left-hand and right-hand panels
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In the left-hand panel,
a sculptured scene depicts a cavalryman in full kit, with is
spear poised to strike and his cloak billowing out behind him,
galloping over four native warriors. Spears and shields lie
strewn on the ground.
In the right-hand panel, a sacrifice is depicted. Within a gabled
arch, four men, perhaps officers or soldiers of the legion, look
on while a toga-clad central figure, possibly the legion's
commander, sacrifices at an altar. The presence of three animals,
a pig, a sheep and a bull, in the lower part of the scene, serves
to identify the sacrifice as a ritual cleansing of the legion,
its soldiers and its standards. Such scenes
offer important clues about the role played by religion in the lives of the soldiers manning the
Antonine Wall.
Photographs of the Bridgness distance slab reproduced by kind permission of the Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland
Line drawing of the Bridgeness distance slab reproduced by kind permission of the Hunterian Museum
