Roman Britain / Learning resources

Objects and inscriptions

Read a Roman building inscription

Use the dedication from Hardknott to investigate names, missing letters and the evidence for construction.

Start here

Open the record for RIB 3219 with its photograph, transcription and translation. Begin with the stone itself: its shape, surviving letters and damaged areas. Keep the printed reconstruction beside the image rather than replacing the object with a clean modern text.

Try the activity

  1. Make three columns: visible on the stone, supplied by the editor, and explained in the commentary. Add at least two observations to each.
  2. Find the emperor and military unit in the translation. Write what those identifications help establish about the building project.
  3. Mark a damaged passage and explain why a restored reading needs evidence. Do not fill a gap simply with the name you expected to find.
  4. Draft a short label explaining the connection between this inscription and Hardknott. Include one statement about what the stone does not tell us.

Discuss and check

  • Does naming an emperor mean he personally visited the fort?
  • How does a building dedication differ from an account of daily life?
  • Why should a reader pay attention to brackets in a transcription?

Review your work

Check every name against the published record. Your label should distinguish an imperial dedication from evidence for a personal visit, and an identified unit from the origins of every soldier who served in it. Explain which conclusion depends on the inscription and which uses the wider archaeological setting.

Sources and further reading

  1. Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Hardknott’s dedication to Hadrian, RIB 3219

Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources