Shropshire Routes to Roots

1. Introduction

Roman lapidary writing

Lapidary writing simply means writing an inscription (also called an epigraph) on stone. Stone inscriptions are sometimes the most common evidence we have for a people or civilisation. The Romans were highly skilled at inscribing on stone, employing specialist letter-cutters to carve the many public dedications, memorials and signs which a sophisticated urban civilisation required.

In Shropshire, we have excellent examples of Roman inscriptions found at Wroxeter.
Wroxeter can be found on a map at grid reference: SJ565085 (Link courtesy of Streetmap.co.uk. Opens in a new window).

Wroxeter

Wroxeter, called Viroconium Cornoviorum by the Romans, was a very important city during the Roman occupation of Britain. The principal settlement of the Cornovii tribe, who inhabited much of the area we now know as Shropshire, Viroconium developed as a fortified base for the Legions and as a Romanised urban centre.

This photograph is of the 'Old Works' at Wroxeter, a standing fragment of the south wall of the Basilica. In the foreground is a portion of the baths site and to the left you can just see the hypocausts, an essential part of the heating system for the bath house rooms.

Wroxeter: Old Works Larger image, in a new window [36kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: PH/W/38/3]

The forum inscription

Wroxeter Forum inscription Larger image, transcription and translation, in a new window [40kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: PH/W/38/3]

In 122 AD, the emperor Hadrian visited Britain (some claim he visited Viroconium itself), encouraging the further development of 'provincial' cities such as Viroconium. As part of this expansion, the forum and bath house were built, the large forum being completed in 130 AD. The dedication inscription of the forum was almost certainly produced at the same time and was discovered lying in 169 fragments by the archeologist Donald Atkinson in 1924.

Inscription Fragments Larger image, in a new window [46kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: PH/W/38/3]

Some of the fragments of the forum inscription in situ during the archeological excavations at Wroxeter of 1923-1924.

We know when the inscription was made, so interpreting the inscription poses two main questions, the 'who' and the 'why':

• Who cut the lettering on the stone?
• Why was it written the way it was?

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