Record number: CHEGM: 1999 6 90

Object name: inscribed tombstone

Description: Tombstone, broken at top and bottom and across the knees of the figure and vertically down his right side. In the gabled niche stands the now headless imaginifer, wearing a military kilt and a cloak (sagum) which falls in two points in front. He holds in his right hand an imago, or effigy of the reigning emperor, now defaced, mounted on a pole which rests on the ground. The hand-grip for raising the standard aloft appears, in exaggerated size, on a level with his knees.

An imaginifer was one of the many different types of standard bearer in the legion. The standard which he carried was a bust of the reigning emperor or one of the imperial family. It would have been made out of sheet metal, silvered or gilded. The bust was held aloft on a long wooden pole with two handles, which can be clearly seen on this stone.

Period: Roman

Place found: North Wall (East), Chester

Date: 1887

Material: stone

Dimensions: height 40 inches; width 32 inches

Inscription: D M / AULIVS DIOGEN / GINIFER
D(is) M(anibus) Au[re]lius Diogen[es ima]ginifer [... M ...
To the spirits of the departed, Aurelius Diogenes, bearer of the Imperial Effigy.
His name, which is Greek, suggests that Diogenes was from the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Latin