The Tombstone of Spes: A Controversial Discovery from Roman Britain

In March 1873, workmen landscaping the gardens of Little Sneyd, Bristol, came across five joining fragments forming the upper part of a large Roman tombstone (RIB 137, now displayed in the M Shed of Bristol City Museum). Initial interest among antiquarians was aroused by the symbol in the gable: could it possibly be a chi-rho, perhaps the earliest evidence of Christianity in Roman Britain? Or might the stone have Mithraic significance? Such views were firmly quashed by the Vatican’s archaeologist, Giovanni Battista de Rossi, who had been sent a photograph and drawings of the tombstone by his English correspondents J. S. Northcote and C.W. Wilshere, the latter adding his thoughts on a Christian interpretation. These documents were recently identified in the holdings of the Vatican Library by David Rini, whose work on editing the letters of Wilshere to de Rossi is currently supported by an AWRC grant. In 1972 the site was re-excavated by the late Julian Bennett. His discoveries, published in 1985, raise interesting questions about the exact nature of the cemetery and who was buried within it. They also suggest a need for a re-evaluation of the tombstone of Spes. Susan Walker will discuss this controversial discovery. 

Members of the Cluster are invited to the reserved AWRC lunch table in Hall starting at 12:30 to meet Susan. Susan’s talk in the Buttery at 13:15 will be catered with cake and tea/coffee (all welcome).