Soldier & Civilian, Roman & Native in Brigantia

A remarkable tombstone of Vedmic.... discovered in 1884 in the garden of the Rose & Crown Hotel in Ilkley, Yorkshire.

This remarkable Roman tombstone shows a young woman sitting in a high backed chair with her hair in what appear to be two long plaits.

The Latin inscription tells us that she originally came from the British tribal area of the Cornovii who lived in Shropshire and the Welsh border with their civitas capital at Wroxeter. The fact that she is identified as a native British woman and the quality of the tombstone suggests that she was part of the tribal aristocracy. Perhaps she was the wife of the fort prefect at Ilkley (Olicana or Verbeia).

This is unusual evidence of native names and for high status hair styles and intermarriage in Roman Britain.

The inscription reads:
DIS MANIBUS
VEDMIC......RICONIS FILIA
ANNORUM XXX CCORNOVIA
H S E

Suggested translation:

To the spirits of the departed
Vedmic..., daughter of ...riconis
aged 30, of the tribe of the Cornovii
lies buried here