Discover Ancient Greece and Rome
at the Leeds City Museum
Floor 2 – The Leeds Story (1)
Gallery Trail – KS4 and 16+
Britain in the Roman Empire
Evidence from inscriptions
Epigraphy – the study of inscriptions – is an important source of evidence about the
Roman world. It tells us what information people wanted to put on display, as well as
providing factual details about names and locations.
This altar is from Adel, Leeds, where the Romans built a
defensive fort. It is dedicated to the goddess Brigantia, a
native goddess of Yorkshire, and the patron goddess of the
Brigantes tribe.
The inscription reads DEΛE BRIGΛN D CINGETISSA P
BRIGAN = Brigantiae
D = donum
P = posuit
So the meaning of the inscription is: ‘To the goddess
Brigantia, Cingetissa set up this offering.’
Why might Cingetissa have set up this altar?
What does the altar tell us about the Romans in Britain?
Epigraphic evidence also includes military stamps on tiles. Roman
legions often stamped the bricks that were produced under their
supervision.
The tile above is from Aldborough, North Yorkshire, and reads
LEGIXHISP. This can be expanded to Legio IX Hispania, the 9th
(Spanish) Legion. The tile below is from Norton, North Yorkshire, and
also bears a fragment of a military stamp.
What can this kind of evidence tell us about the Roman army
in North Britain?
This resource was created by the University of Leeds.
Floor 2 – The Leeds Story (2)
Britain in the Roman Empire (continued)
This milestone was found near Castleford in West
Yorkshire. It is inscribed twice; as you can see from the
illustration, it was turned upside down for the second
inscription.
Expanded and translated, the inscriptions read:
For the Imperator Caesar Gaius Messius Quintus [Traianus]
Decius [Pius Felix Invictus] Augustus, son of Pius, and Gaius
Messius Quintus Etruscus Caesar. (dated 249-251 AD)
For the Imperators, the Caesars [Gaius] Vibius Trebonianus
Gallus [Pius Felix Invictus Augustus] and Gaius Vibius
Volusianus Augustus, son of the Pius. Twenty-two thousand
paces to Eburacum. (dated 251-253 AD).
Trajan Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus died in
251 AD, and were succeeded by Trebonianus Gallus
and his son Volusianus.
Why do you think the Romans chose to display this information?
What do these inscriptions tell us about the Romans?
Floor 3 – Ancient Worlds Gallery
This mosaic is part of a floor decoration from a
Roman villa in Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough),
North Yorkshire.
What is the subject of the mosaic?
Why do you think the owners of the villa
chose this subject?
What does this mosaic tell us about the attitudes towards Rome of people in
this outpost of the Empire?
Floor 3 – Ancient Worlds Gallery (3)
Greek Art: shapes, decoration and uses of vases
The Leeds City Museum collection contains examples of different shapes and styles of
decoration of Greek vases. These include:
•
Black-figure decoration (6th century BC), where the figures are painted black on a
red background;
•
Red-figure decoration (Attic: 5th century BC; South Italian: 4th century BC), where
the figures are outlined in black slip and appear red against a black background
(the reverse of black-figure technique);
•
White ground decoration (5th century BC), where figures are drawn on a
background of white slip.
These are some of the most common shapes of Greek vessels:
Amphora:
for carrying
and storing
liquid
Krater: for
mixing wine
with water
Lekythos: for
storing oil
Kylix: shallow
drinking cup
Skyphos: deep
drinking cup
Spot the pots: find these vessels in the displays, and explain how their shape
and decoration suits their function.
•
White ground lekythos
•
Plain black kylix
•
Red- and black-figure lekythoi
•
Black-figure skyphos
•
Black-figure amphora
•
Red-figure krater
The collection also includes different styles of vessels from different cultures.
This Mycenaean
stirrup jar is from a
much earlier phase of
Greek culture, and
dates to around 16001100 BC.
This juglet from
Cyprus is painted in
Cypriot Black-on-Red
style, and dates to
600-400 BC.
Floor 3 – Ancient Worlds Gallery (4)
Epic and myth
Find these sculptures on display and identify each one:
........................
..................
...................
..................
.....................
Can you match the deity to their literary description? NB: there may be
different Greek and Roman names for the same god or goddess.
Text
Translation
uecta leui curru medias Cytherea per auras
Cypron olorinis nondum peruenerat alis
(Ovid Metamorphoses X.717-718)
Venus, as she drove through the air
in her light chariot drawn by winged
swans, had not yet reached Cyprus.
(tr. M.M. Innes)
Faune, Nympharum fugientum amator,
per meos finis et aprica rura
lenis incedas (Horace Odes III XVIII 1-3)
Faunus, lover of fleeing nymphs,
come gently in over my borders and
my sunny fields (tr. D. West)
...............’nunc, o fortissime,’ dixit
‘fare, precor, Perseu, quanta virtute quibusque
artibus abstuleris crinita draconibus ora.’
(Ovid Metamorphoses IV 770-772)
βῆ δὲ κατ᾽ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων χωόμενος κῆρ,
τόξ᾽ ὤμοισιν ἔχων ἀμφηρεφέα τε φαρέτρην:
ἔκλαγξαν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων χωομένοιο,
αὐτοῦ κινηθέντος: ὃ δ᾽ ἤϊε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.
(Homer Iliad I 44-47)
... in Eurotae ripis aut per iuga Cynthi
exercet Diana choros, quam mille secutae
hinc atque hinc glomerantur oreades; illa pharetram
fert umero, gradiensque deas supereminet omnis:
(Virgil Aeneid I 498-501)
[he said] ‘Now, Perseus, bravest of
heroes, please will you tell us the
story of how your remarkable
courage and skill combined to
remove the head of the snake-haired
Gorgon?’ (tr. D. Raeburn)
Down he came from the peaks of
Olympos with anger in his heart, the
bow on his shoulders, and the
enclosing quiver. The arrows
clattered on [his] shoulders in his
anger, as the god himself rushed
down: and his coming was like night.
(tr. M. Hammond, alt.)
...Diana leading the dance on the
banks of the Eurotas or along the
ridges of Mount Cynthus with a
thousand mountain nymphs
thronging behind her on either side.
She carries her quiver on her
shoulder, and as she walks, she is
the tallest of all the goddesses
(tr. D. West)
Deity