Roman tombstones

Roman tombstone base, 2nd century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

The British Museum had a few Roman tombstones when I visited in 2017. It’s hard, when viewing them, not to think about how many more there must have been that were lost to history. Seeing them in a museum, protected and preserved, allows us a glimpse into history, but also removes them from the area of the graves they were created to mark.

Tombstone for Gaius Saufeius, 1st century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

Tombstone, 1st century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

Tombstone, 3rd century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

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Roman cinerary box

This Roman marble box is used to hold cremated remains. The Minneapolis Institute of Art dates the box to the 1st century and states that the inscriptions indicate the remains are that of a man and woman who were freed slaves.

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A Roman Funerary Relief

I’m probably going to get back into this slowly, especially since my previous attempt to resurrect the blog didn’t take off.

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend an SCA event in Minneapolis, and I turned it into a long weekend including a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where I found this.

It’s a funerary relief from Palmyra, and the informational text specifically mentions that this type of art is the primary form of sculpture we have from Roman Palmyra.

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