Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/05/ancient-inscribed-marble-slab-from-rome-mysteriously-found-in-england-garden.html
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Seems to be Greek lettering, as are the names.
Chris the Swede
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Yes, the stone’s from 2nd century Greece or Anatolia, according to the article.
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The article notes:
"the home’s more recent owner took it to an archaeologist, who dated it to the second century with likely origins in Greece or Anatolia. "
Which means it’s ‘Roman’ in the sense of ‘from the time that the Roman Empire controlled Greece’, not literally from Rome itself.
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Correct. I clarified the headline. Thanks!
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I don’t know why, but I’m hearing…
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
And they’re like, it’s better than yours
Damn right it’s better than yours
I can teach you, but I have to charge
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Ok, now the aliens are just fucking with us.
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I guess when they call it “Roman” they mean it was brought to Britannia during the Roman colonial period. “Roman-era” might’ve been a better descriptor.
Was the owner himself a collector of Greek antiquities? He’s lugging this huge rock over the expanse of Empire to its farthest corner? Or, he was some sort of a Hellenophile and had it made locally? Alternatively, is it a glitch in the Matrix and/or artefact from a lesser-known Bill & Ted time excursion.
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‘Roman’ in the same sense that Canada was ‘British’ for a few hundred years, and California is ‘American’ right now, but probably not 300 years from now.
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And I’ll keep on looking for that $15,000 in my own garden but, well, you know. It’ll never happen.
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A temporary state of affairs lasting for a few hundred years at most…
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Did anyone see a blue police box in the vicinity?
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They mean that Greece and Anatolia became part of the Roman republic in the 2nd century BCE and remained in it and it’s successor states until around 1453 CE, when the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire is considered to have fallen. The marble slab dates from the 2nd century CE, so it is culturally Roman. It was probably brought to Britain around 200 years ago according to the article.
Lemnos became part of Greece just over 100 years ago and the people who lived there were confused by the idea that they were now Greeks. They saw themselves as Romans, the same as their parents, grandparents and ancestors who were the remnants of the Byzantine Empire.
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