Roman Britain / Learning resources

Objects and inscriptions

Read an Antonine Wall distance slab

Use the Bridgeness slab to explore building records, imperial names and images of military power.

Start here

Open RIB 2139 and the National Museums Scotland introduction to Roman Scotland. Start with the whole slab, then look closely at the central inscription and the carved panels. Prepare separate spaces for what you can see and what the catalogue explains.

Try the activity

  1. Locate the emperor’s name and the military unit in the translation. Explain which authority is honoured and which unit claims the work.
  2. Record the distance given by the RIB translation, keeping its unit of paces. Do not silently turn ancient paces into modern single footsteps.
  3. Choose a detail from a carved panel and explain how it supports a message about Roman military power or ceremony. Treat the scene as a deliberate composition.
  4. Write a museum label of about 60 words. Include the findspot, the building connection and one question that the slab cannot answer.

Discuss and check

  • Is an imperial building record a neutral account of conquest?
  • Can an image tell us the exact appearance of one event?
  • Why should a label name the source used for a numerical reading?

Review your work

Review the label for a clear distinction between inscription and imagery. A named emperor need not have visited the construction site. Compare the slab’s findspot and date with a map of the Antonine Wall across the Forth–Clyde region, keeping it separate from Hadrian’s Wall.

Sources and further reading

  1. RIB 2139: Bridgeness distance slab
  2. National Museums Scotland: a brief history of Roman Scotland

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