TheBridgeness Slab is a Roman distance slab created around 142 CE marking a portion of theAntonine Wall built by theSecond Legion.[1] It is regarded as the most detailed and best preserved of the Scottish distance slabs.[2] The sandstone tablet was found at Bridgeness inBo'ness,Scotland in 1868 on a promontory close to Harbour Road.[3] The original is in theNational Museum of Scotland inEdinburgh, while a replica is near the site of its discovery.
The slab was erected 142 CE to mark the completion of a section of theAntonine Wall. It was uncovered during excavations in 1868 on land owned by Henry Mowbray Cadell, whose son DrHenry Cadell was an eyewitness of its discovery.[4] Cadell offered it to theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland[5] for display in theNational Museum of Scotland inEdinburgh if they would provide a copy for display locally.[6][7]
The first on-site replica includes only the centre panel of the original. A second replica, including the side panels, was unveiled by Bo'ness Community Council andFalkirk Council on 7 September 2012 at56°0′58.45″N3°35′1.31″W / 56.0162361°N 3.5836972°W /56.0162361; -3.5836972 in Kinningars Park, Bridgeness, Bo'ness. The replica was based on the original as was an older copy of the stone now in theHunterian Museum. The Bo'ness replica was made usingdigital laser scanning since silicone or othermoulds risked damaging the slab.
Made of sandstone and measuring 9 ft 2ins long by 2 ft 11ins high, the slab is divided into three sections.[6] The inscription in the centre panel reads "Imp CaesTito Aelio / Hadri Antonino Aug Pio p p legII Aug / per m p ĪĪĪĪ DCLII / FEC", which when expanded reads as "Imp(eratori) Caes(ari) Tito Aelio Hadri(ano) Antonino/ Aug(usto) Pio p(atri) p(atriae) leg(io) II Aug(usta) per m(ilia) p(assuum) IIII(milia)DCLII fec(it)". In English this translates as "For the Emperor CaesarTitus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of his Country, the Second Augustan Legion completed [the Wall] over a distance of 4652paces".[9]
In addition to the Latin inscription the original has sculpted panels.[10]
On the left is a victorious, Roman cavalryman with four naked Britons: one being trampled holding a shield, one running with a spear in his back, one sitting in apparent despair, and one of whom is bound and beheaded. It has been suggested that the last act was a show of contempt for Gallo-Briton head veneration.[11] The propaganda, particularly Roman depiction of natives is consistent with other slabs like the ones from Balmuildy andWesterwood.
On the right panel is a depiction of thesuovetaurilia, a ceremony undertaken before important campaigns or in this case before the wall was built. The arch top of a temple is depicted. Four soldiers are shown, one carrying thevexillum, or cavalry flag, of theSecond Legion. A man in a toga, possibly Aulus Claudius Charax, commander of the Second Legion, is depicted pouring a libation on an altar as a preliminary to sacrificing a bull, a pig and a sheep. The sounds of the slaughter may have been drowned out by the musical instruments which are shown being played. The inscription records the building of 4652 paces of the Antonine Wall.[12]
Washing revealed faint traces of pigments, mainly red, have survived on the original stone suggesting that it was once highly coloured.[13]
The slab is reminiscent of one fromSummerston, now in theHunterian Museum inGlasgow, which was also made by theSecond Legion and which similarly depicts a helmeted horseman and naked captives.[14] Other distance slabs by the Second Legion have been mapped withRTI and include one fromBalmuildy[15] and another fromDuntocher.[16] Both of these items are now kept in the Hunterian Museum.[17]
