“My name is Maria Paterna; I am a Roman lady of Celtic extraction, as is obvious from my name. My ancestors were local people who were granted Roman citizenship. I am dedicating an altar to Apollo, the god of healing, to thank him for helping my son Nobilianus to recover from illness. That was the promise I made to the gods when he was so gravely ill! I sourced the ashlar that was used to make the altar from the quarries in the Birs Valley and a skilled sculptor added the inscription – it was all very costly, as a gift to the gods should be.”