Record number: CHEGM: 1999 6 37

Object name: inscribed tombstone

Description: Tombstone of Legion XX Valeria Victrix. Made of cream-coloured Manley sandstone, broken horizontally across the figures. A flat-topped niche holds the figures of the centurion Marcus Aurelius Nepos and his wife. Nepos, bareheaded and with clipped beard, holds in his right hand a centurion's straight stick. No attempt is made to distinguish tunic or corselet, but a cloak, draped over both shoulders, is fastened on his right shoulder by a knee-fibula, while a very wide belt is fastened low by a circular clasp above a full kilt falling to the knees. The legs and, in particular, arms are attenuated. His wife, who erected the tombstone and whose name no one later carved, stands higher in the niche, on a step level with Nepos's knees, as if in the background. Minute legs peep from below a full skirt, over which falls a draped over-skirt, which she holds up with her left hand. A distaff appears to be tucked into the waist under her left arm. Her right hand carries an indistinct object, perhaps intended for a weaving comb. Her hair is arranged in tight waves, of early third-century style.

Date: 200 AD-299 AD

Period: Roman3rd century

Place found: North Wall (East), Chester

Date: 9.1887

Material: stone

Dimensions: height 73inches; width 35 inches

Inscription: D M / M AVR NEPOS C LEG / XX VV CONIVX / PIENTISSIMA F C / VIX ANNIS L
D(is) M(anibus) M(arcus) Aur(elius) Nepos c(enturio) leg(ionis) XX V(aleria) V(ictricis); coniux pientissima f(aciendum) c(uravit) vix(it) annis l
To the spirits of the departed, Marcus Aurelius Nepos, centurion of the Twentieth Legion, Valeria Victrix, lived 50 years; his most dutiful wife had this set up.
Latin