Borders folk may descend from Africans from Hadrian\'s Wall

[Nathan Ross]

This may be the article from British Archaeology; anyway, it does look as if it gives the gist of it.

..."The Beaumont inscription, which is written in the stylised Latin of a standard Roman military inscription, was carved into an altar stone dedicated to the god Jupiter (king of the gods). It reads:
"To Jupiter Best and Greatest and the Majesty of our two emperors, to the genius (guardian spirit) of the numerus (unit) of Aurelian Moors, Valerianus' and Gallienus' own, Caelius Vibianus, cohort-tribune in charge of the above-mentioned numerus, [set up this altar] through the agency of Julius Rufinus, senior centurion."
As the name Aurelianorum suggests the unit was named in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180). Recently popularised in the film Gladiator by Richard Harris."

This is interesting... The Emperor Richard Harris's full name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (also, confusingly, the real name of Caracalla and Elagabalus) - would a unit raised by him be called Aurelia, or Antoniniana? (Aurelianae occurs on an inscription dating to Aurelian, but he's too late for this Beamont one).

I read a paper recently (I think by Speidel) about the Equites Scutarii Aureliaci, who turn up in Syria in the 4th century but apparently came from the west - the author suggests that the name indicates an origin in Orleans (Aurelianis, or Civitatas Aurelianorum).

So could this unit of Mauri actually come from Orleans? If so, they would be an early example of a 3rd century numerus moved to Britain from the continent - the dedication to Valerian and Gallienus makes this inscription c.AD253-260.

But Vibianus is described as trib(unus) coh(ortis) p(rae)p(ositus) n(umeri) - so either he was a cohort tribune acting as praepositus to a numerus, or the numerus itself was originally, or officially, a cohort...

I think he is conflating Nubia and Numidia

I think so! Very silly all round, anyway. Mauri were not 'black' in the modern sense, as we've discussed before, neither were Numidians and neither was Septimius Severus. Although the HA does mention the emperor meeting 'an Aethiopian' 'near the wall', so there were actual black soldiers (in the modern sense) there.

But if my theory above about this unit is correct, they would not have been there in Severus's day anyway.

we know from the Haddon Hall Alter that the Numidians were in town in the form of Quintus Sittius Caecillianus. Has anyone ever been able to put a date on the Bakewell alter? Does it fit stylistically into any particular century?

Presumably Caecilianus is assumed to be Numidian because of his name Sittius? There was a family of that name in north Africa, descended from a Roman officer of the late republican period I think - but the name could have come from elsewhere.

Stylistically - could be 1st or 2nd century I think. The dedication to Mars Braciaca is unusual - it could be native god, perhaps from the Aquitanian homeland. Although there's a theory on this site that Braciaca was a 'Beer Goddess':

Braciaca - 'Beer Goddess'