Sunday Thoughts....Flavinus

At the bottom of the Night Stairs in Hexham Abbey stands a tombstone to a Roman soldier named Flavinus. It was discovered beneath the Abbey floor in 1881. At nearly nine feet high it's the largest of its kind in England. I'm just sorry my quick phone snap isn't clearer. The original site of the grave marker is unknown but it's thought that it may have come from the nearby Roman settlement at Corbridge. This is where Wilfrid sourced most of the stone to build the original Abbey. Stones bearing Roman carvings and inscriptions can also be found in the 7th Century crypt.

The inscription at the bottom of the tombstone reads as follows,

To the Venerated Departed: Here Lies Flavinus

A Horse Rider of the Cavalry Regiment of Petriana
Standard Bearer of the Troop of Candidus
Aged 25, of 7 Years’ Service

The scene carved on the stone shows a mounted Roman soldier riding over a cowering 'barbarian', a member of one of the ancient British tribes that the Romans defeated when they invaded Britain. The soldier is wearing a helmet with a high crest and plume, round his neck is a 'torque', a thick, often twisted, necklace, made from gold, silver or bronze and which indicates his high rank. He also carries a standard, which displays the sun God in a circle. The defeated Britain, by contrast, is naked and carries a large oval shield and a short, leaf-shaped sword.

After two failed attempts the Romans successfully invaded Britain in the year 43 AD. The Abbey Museum has a reproduction of the grave marker with additional information, it asks you to consider that the tombstone could date from around the middle of the 1st Century, as the Romans moved north, taking more land. 

The Regiment of Petriana, mentioned in the inscription, refers to a distinguished cavalry regiment, stationed in the north. Soldiers in this regiment had been made Roman citizens due to their bravery on the battlefield. Dying at just 25, but with seven years service, Flavinus would have only been around 17 when he joined the Petriana. The regiment was later stationed on Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria. Flavinus could have been in Britain, around the time that Jesus was a young man in and around Jerusalem, posing difficult questions and preaching a gospel of love. Two young men that would meet an early death. 

I am not in general a fan of the Romans, although I admire their building skills, they were an occupying force with expert administrators and accountants. Despite the triumphalism of his tombstone, the story of Flavinus has stayed with me and I find myself feeling sad for this young man, who would die in a foreign and hostile country. I was talking to one of my writing friends, Margaret, about the tombstone and my visits to Hadrian's Wall and she sent me this poem by W H Auden.

Roman Wall Blues                        

Over the heather the wet wind blows,
I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.

The rain comes pattering out of the sky,
I’m a Wall soldier, I don’t know why.

The mist creeps over the hard grey stone,
My girl’s in Tungria; I sleep alone.

Aulus goes hanging around her place,
I don’t like his manners, I don’t like his face.

Piso’s a Christian, he worships a fish;
There’d be no kissing if he had his wish.

She gave me a ring but I diced it away;
I want my girl and I want my pay.

When I’m a veteran with only one eye
I shall do nothing but look at the sky.