FLAVIUS ROMANUS R.I.P

[Anonymous]

On a recent trip to the Lake District, Cumbria, England (Old territory of the Brigantes), I paid a visit to the museum in a village called Ambleside (I had intended to visit the remains of the local Roman stone fort (Galava a.k.a. Clanoventa) but alas Foot and Mouth Disease put a stop to that!). In the museum I found the shared gravestone of two Roman military personnel. It read…<br>
<br>
D B M<br>
FLA FUSCINUS EME<br>
EXORDI VISI ANIS LV<br>
D B M<br>
FLA ROMANUS ACT<br>
VIXIT ANNI XXXV<br>
IN CAS INTE AB HOSTI<br>
<br>
…which is obviously abbreviated, but translates as…<br>
<br>
TO THE GOOD GODS OF THE UNDERWORLD<br>
FLAVIUS FUSCINUS RETIRED<br>
FROM THE CENTURIONSHIP(?) LIVED 55 YEARS<br>
TO THE GOOD GODS OF THE UNDERWORLD<br>
FLAVIUS ROMANUS RECORD CLERK<br>
LIVED 35 YEARS<br>
KILLED IN THE FORT BY THE ENEMY<br>
<br>
The second part of the engraving is rougher so was probably added later. The two were maybe related. But what fascinated me was that the poor Record Clerk had a relatively nice office job, yet was killed by the enemy in the fort. In your experience, folks, was this kind of security problem common? Clerks being killed as they go about their business around the Principia? With around 500 auxiliaries on camp, I hope a guard or two got a severe stoning the next day!<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Guest]

Salve,<br>
<br>
That is an interesting text. However the circumstances of his death are not recorded in enough detail how he got to be killed. The Roman army was high on tooth and low on tail. There were no supernumerary clerks and other administrative staff, but these functions were performed by soldiers within the ranks who were to fight as well (the same still holds true today, for example the coffee making company clerk of the Rangers going on a raid as described in <i> Blackhawk down</i>). Only in the later empire the personel which was permanently detached away from the unit at various administrative staffs of the 'civilian' administration were formed into a <i> militia</i> of their own. So chances are he might as well have gone down fighting on the rampart as he could have been filling out triple copies of some form in the office.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>