Roman Britain / Learning resources

People and society

Read Victor’s tombstone

Compare an inscription and a carved scene without assuming that either is a complete biography.

Start here

Read Victor’s profile, then open the images and translation of RIB 1064. Divide a sheet into three areas: words, image and questions. Use the source edition’s description to help locate damaged details.

Try the activity

  1. Record Victor’s age and status and the name of the person who commemorated him. Note which information comes from the inscription.
  2. Describe the reclining figure, cup and smaller attendant without immediately deciding what every feature means.
  3. Choose one detail shared with Regina’s monument and one difference. Consider that memorials use conventions as well as personal information.
  4. Write a short account that includes a supported fact, an interpretation and a question the stone cannot answer.

Discuss and check

  • Who selected how Victor would be remembered?
  • Does a carved scene show an ordinary event from someone’s life?
  • What do we know about his earlier enslavement, and what do we not know?

Review your work

Underline the evidence supporting each claim in your account. Revise any sentence that turns a possible origin, journey or feeling into certainty. Comparing memorials can reveal patterns, but two named people should not be made to stand for everyone with the same legal status or background.

Sources and further reading

  1. Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Victor’s tombstone, RIB 1064
  2. Roman Inscriptions of Britain: Regina’s tombstone

Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources