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Actions Displays	Details Remove from selection Add to selection Object number COLEM:PC.129 Institution name Colchester Collections Object name tombstone, inscription Title Facilis Tombstone Description Roman tombstone of centurion Marcus Favonius Facilis. The inscription reads "Marcus Favonius Facilis, son of Marcus, of the Pollina tribe. Centurion of the Twentieth Legion. Verecundus and Novicus, his freedmen, set this up. Here he lies". Facilis rests his left hand on the pommel of his sword and in his right he holds his centurion’s staff or ‘swagger stick’ (vitis). The tombstone pre-dates the founding of the veteran colony at Colchester in c. AD 49, making this the earliest piece of sculpture from Roman Britain. Facilis was a centurion - an officer in the Roman army in charge of 80 men. He served in the Twentieth Legion, one of the regiments based in the fortress at Colchester (later awarded the title Valeria Victrix, after the Boudican revolt of AD 60/61). Facilis died a few years after the invasion of Britain in AD 43 and would have been buried in a cemetery alongside the main road leading to Roman London. Remarkably Facilis’ cremated remains survive in a lead urn (ossuary), accompanied by grave goods including a glass flask and ceramic cup. The tombstone has suffered some damage including a break at the base and mid-level crack, possibly sustained when it was toppled during the Boudican revolt. This in turn helped preserve the relief, which is in good condition. The style of sculpture represented by the tombstone developed in what is now the Rhineland area of Germany where the twentieth Legion had been based. The stone has been identified as being petrologically and geochemically identical to Lothringer Freestone, sourced in eastern France (Galia Belgica). This stone was also used in mid-first century AD military tombstones along the Rhineland frontier. The tombstone of Facilis would have been carved by a continental craftsman, possibly a legionary. It could have been carved at Colchester or partly worked on the Continent during the lifetime of Facilis and completed at Colchester after his death. Production date 0048 - 0053 Production period Roman Inscription Content M[ARCVS] FAVON[IVS] M[ARCVS] F[ILIVS] POL[LINAE] FACI / LIS > LEG[IO] XX VERECVND / VS ET NOVICVS LIB[ER] POSV / ERVNT H[IC] S[ITVS] E[ST] Inscription Translation Marcus Favonius Facilis, son of Marcus, of the Pollina tribe. Centurion of the 20th legion. Verecundus and Novicus, his freedmen, set this up. Here he lies. Material stone Dimensions width: 700.00 mm height: 1815.00 mm Tags Comments Add tag(s) Add comment

Object number

COLEM:PC.129
Institution name

Colchester Collections
Object name

tombstone, inscription
Title

Facilis Tombstone
Description

Roman tombstone of centurion Marcus Favonius Facilis. The inscription reads "Marcus Favonius Facilis, son of Marcus, of the Pollina tribe. Centurion of the Twentieth Legion. Verecundus and Novicus, his freedmen, set this up. Here he lies". Facilis rests his left hand on the pommel of his sword and in his right he holds his centurion’s staff or ‘swagger stick’ (vitis). The tombstone pre-dates the founding of the veteran colony at Colchester in c. AD 49, making this the earliest piece of sculpture from Roman Britain. Facilis was a centurion - an officer in the Roman army in charge of 80 men. He served in the Twentieth Legion, one of the regiments based in the fortress at Colchester (later awarded the title Valeria Victrix, after the Boudican revolt of AD 60/61). Facilis died a few years after the invasion of Britain in AD 43 and would have been buried in a cemetery alongside the main road leading to Roman London. Remarkably Facilis’ cremated remains survive in a lead urn (ossuary), accompanied by grave goods including a glass flask and ceramic cup. The tombstone has suffered some damage including a break at the base and mid-level crack, possibly sustained when it was toppled during the Boudican revolt. This in turn helped preserve the relief, which is in good condition. The style of sculpture represented by the tombstone developed in what is now the Rhineland area of Germany where the twentieth Legion had been based. The stone has been identified as being petrologically and geochemically identical to Lothringer Freestone, sourced in eastern France (Galia Belgica). This stone was also used in mid-first century AD military tombstones along the Rhineland frontier. The tombstone of Facilis would have been carved by a continental craftsman, possibly a legionary. It could have been carved at Colchester or partly worked on the Continent during the lifetime of Facilis and completed at Colchester after his death.
Production date

0048 - 0053
Production period

Roman
Inscription Content

M[ARCVS] FAVON[IVS] M[ARCVS] F[ILIVS] POL[LINAE] FACI / LIS > LEG[IO] XX VERECVND / VS ET NOVICVS LIB[ER] POSV / ERVNT H[IC] S[ITVS] E[ST]
Inscription Translation

Marcus Favonius Facilis, son of Marcus, of the Pollina tribe. Centurion of the 20th legion. Verecundus and Novicus, his freedmen, set this up. Here he lies.
Material

stone
Dimensions

Details