Details

LOT 0708

Roman Ceramic Brick with Military Stamp for Legio I Italica

1ST-4TH CENTURY A.D.

10 7/8 x 5 1/8 in. (2.5 kg, 27.5 x 13 cm).

Of rectangular form, a recessed stamp to one face bearing letters in relief 'LEG I ITAL' for First Italic Legion.

Provenance

Acquired 1960s-1990s.
Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister.

Literature

See Sarnowski, T., 'Die Ziegelstempel aus Novae' in Archaeologia, Warszawa, 1983, 43, pp.17-61; Kurzmann, R., 'Soldier, Civilian and Military Brick Production' in Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 24 (4), 2005, pp.405-414.

Footnotes

The Legio I Italica ('of Italy') was a Roman legion formed by Nero on September 20, 66 or 67 A.D. and it was active until the 5th-6th century AD. The emblems of the legion were a running boar and sometimes a bull. Troops of this legion appear on Trajan's Column bridging a river. The main camp of the Legio was Novae, modern Bulgaria, but it operated in most of the imperial provinces, including Britain, where a vexillatio fought in the wars of Septimius Severus between 202 and 204 A.D.