Altar

Add to album

This altar was found at the site of the Roman fort at Birrens in Dumfriesshire. It is dedicated to 'Mars and the Emperor's Victory' by members of a Roman army unit which had been raised in Belgium.

The Latin inscription reads: 'To Mars and the Emperor's Victory, the Raetian tribesmen serving in the Second Cohort of Tungrians under the command of Gaius Silvius Auspex, the prefect, willingly and deservedly fulfilled their vow.'

The soldiers who erected this altar were recruited to the Roman army while it was serving in Raetia in the eastern Alps. They came to Britain with their unit in the AD 150s and took up residence at Birrens in AD 158.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-100-037-660-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.FV 2
• Date: Between 150 and 180 AD
  
• Material: Stone
  
• Dimensions: 1400 mm H x 400 mm L x 620 mm W
  
• What:
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Dumfriesshire, Middlebie, Birrens
  
• Event:
• Description: Roman stone altar by the Rhaetians in the 2nd Cohort of the Tungrians, dedicated to Mars and the Emperor's Victory, from Birrens
  
• References:
  • Clarke, D.V., Breeze, D.J., and Mackay, Ghillean. The Romans in Scotland. An introduction to the collections of the National Museums of Antiquities of Scotland. Edinburgh: National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, 1980, p 74. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: