The Regina Tombstone

Key Facts

Where:

The tombstone was found is a fort south of Hadrian's Wall near South Shields.

When was it made?

Sometime in the 2nd Century.

History:

The tombstone tells the story of Regina, a British woman who was enslaved following the conquest of south-east England. She entered into servitude under Barates, a Syrian man who had moved to Britain at some point either by choice or after military service. At some point the two were wed and Barates gave Regina the status of freedwoman. Barates and Regina would become wealthy and likely lived a luxurious life. At the age of 30, Regina passed away and so Barates commissioned for this tombstone to be built.

What Does This Mean?

This tombstone is an extremely early example of gloalization, or the development of a world of societies that thrive off the movement of goods and peoples. In a less global and more isolated world, Barates would never have left Syria. Instead he would have likely remained there his entire life and never even dreamed of leaving. Globalization around this time was pushed by the fact that the Romans controlled such a vast land and needed goods and people to be transported all throughout their empire. This leads to people from places all throughout the emprie learning Latin as a secondary language which in turn leads to language barriers slowly being broken and communication between people from all over. Barates and Regina, both of which would have never been able to see each other, let alone communicate if they did, in a world where the Romans didn't vie for control of a majority of the known world. It is even more impressive when you realize that Barates and Regina, non-Romans by birth, were able to develop riches and afford similar luxuries as Romans born and raised in Italy, albeit likely not the exact same and likely of a lower quality due to the fact that they lived in Britain where it was much harder to get resources to than most places.