 |
 |
| Home Augusta Raurica || Photographic tour | Map Nr. 12 || <<< Back | Next >>> |
| Lapidarium (stone monuments) | |
| Stone witnesses!
Funerary, votive and building inscriptions are important sources in the interpretation of the Roman past. Numerous stone monuments can be viewed in a new exhibition right beside the Roman house. |
 | |
| The sculptures, building monuments, altars, tombstones and inscriptions shown here constitute a selection of the
most important pieces in Augusta Raurica. Most of them consist of stone from the locality. Very little has been preserved of the stone buildings in the Roman town. Much of the stone was already reused in Late Antiquity in the construction of fortifications; later, it was brought to Basle, where it served as building material in the fast-growing city. The exhibition is divided into four areas: stone monuments in a cult context, architectural elements, tombstones and inscriptions. For curatorial reasons, the monuments presented here are replicas. A description of the exhibited objects is available at the front desk of the museum. | ||
| Inscriptions Most of the inscriptions from Augusta Raurica have only been preserved in small fragments. The reconstructed texts provide insight into life at the time, which would not be possible without these written pieces of evidence. We know, for instance, that it was common practice to keep a pledge made to a god by means of a votive inscription. The names of the deceased on the epitaphs reveal that most of the inhabitants in Augusta Raurica were descendants of the indigenous Celtic population, despite their Roman first names |
 | |
| Tombstones It was customary in Roman times to mark burials with tombstones or even large funerary monuments. The names of the deceased were engraved or painted on the stone. The cemeteries were located outside the built-up area of the towns at the roadside. Some of the most interesting funerary monuments from Augusta Raurica are the tombstone of an iron monger dating from the 1st century AD and the 4th century stela of the late Eusstata, who was probably a Christian. |
   | |
| Cult monuments Besides votive inscriptions, the veneration of the gods is represented by statues and altars. These were usually erected in the sacred districts of the temples and reflected the variety of deities that were worshipped, and the religiousness of the inhabitants of Augusta Raurica. The most outstanding statues include Hercules with Cerberus the Hades dog from the Grienmatt sanctuary and the torso of Venus which was found incorporated into the fort wall in Kaiseraugst. |
   | |
| Architectural elements Not much has been preserved of the rich architectural decoration that once adorned the large temples and the monumental buildings in the town centre. The finds are limited to fragments of friezes, sections of columns, building and honorary inscriptions, and monuments. Fragments depicting captured barbarians and weapons came from a magnificent victory monument. They were found in the area of the fort in Kaiseraugst, where they had been reused as building material. |
 | |
| Milestone Milestones lined the main routes and indicated the distances to the next major settlement. Besides these distances, they also displayed the name of the reigning emperor. The milestone of Emperor Antoninus Pius (AD 139), however, does not contain any distance information and probably stood in the town. It was found in the vicinity of the forum; its original location, however, remains unknown. |
 | |
| Grave plaque of L. Munatius Plancus The plaque came from the funerary monument of Lucius Munatius Plancus in Gaëta near Naples. It announces that the person buried here was a military commander and friend of Julius Caesar and that he founded two colonies in Gaul, one in Lyons and one in Raurica, the Colonia Raurica. |
 | |
| <<< Back | Next >>> | ||
| Back to Top | ||