The Antonine Wall
THE WESTERN END
Map of the Antonine Wall, with the western end of the wall highlighted
A DISTANCE SLAB FROM OLD KILPATRICK
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.
This distance slab, made from sandstone, is one of four examples found at or near Old Kilpatrick, at the western end of the Antonine Wall. It was found before 1684.
Above: The Old Kilpatrick distance slab
Below: A drawing of the slab, showing the carved details
The carving on the slab shows the reclining figure of the goddess Victory, within a temple facade flanked by columns. In her left hand, Victory holds a palm frond, and in her right hand she holds a large laurel wreath on which the names and titles of the Twentieth Legion are inscribed. Also depicted on the podium at the base of the stone, is a boar, running towards the left. The full inscription, divided between the pediment set on top of the columns, the central wreath and the podium, reads:
IMP C/T AE HADRIA/NO ANTONINO AVG PIO PP/VEX/LEG XX/V V FEC/ PP IIII CDXI
which can be translated as `For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius, Father of his Country, a detachment of the Twentieth Valerian and Victorious Legion completed (the Wall) over a distance of 4411 feet'
Carvings such as this, depicting Roman gods and goddesses, are evidence of the important role played by religion in everyday life along the Antonine Wall.
Photograph and drawing of the Old Kilpatrick distance slab reroduced by kind permission of the Hunterian Museum
