Unearthed, the lost treasure of Hadrian’s Wall; Fascinating secrets of brooch dropped by Roman soldier 2,000 years ago.

Daily Mail (London) May 17, 2006 Byline: PAUL SIMS TERRIFIED of losing his silver cloak brooch, he etched his name on the back of it.

Despite his precautions, Roman soldier Quintus Sollonius was indeed parted from his prized possession.

But after 2,000 years, his loss has become a spectacular archaeological gain.

The brooch was found during excavations at a former settlement at Hadrian’s Wall.

Historians are continuing to examine the artefact and believe it could reveal more secrets behind the men who helped build the 74-mile wall. It was found at the Vindolanda Roman settlement, near Bardon Mill in Northumberland.

Quintus painstakingly cut a set of small incised dots to make up his name. in our site hadrian s wall

Next to the name was the inscription CUPI.

It is believed that those four letters refer to Cupius, the centurion in command of the soldiers sent by the Second Legion Augusta to help build the wall in AD122.

The brooch, which is just under 2in in diameter, incorporates the figure of Mars, the Roman god of war, wearing body armour and sandals, standing alongside two wide shields.

These shields could mean Quintus was a veteran of campaigns against the Dacians in what is now Romania conducted by the emperor Hadrian’s predecessor Trajan.

Three chains dangling below each hold an ivy or maple leaf.

‘It is an absolutely fantastic find and the most spectacular ever at Vindolanda,’ said excavations director Robin Birley. ‘I don’t think there has ever been a similar find of its type in Britain.’ Mr Birley said it appeared that Quintus was part of a detachment of 80 legionnaires headed by Cupius and sent to Northumberland. go to web site hadrian s wall

Based on tablets already discovered, historians believe they made their way north from their fortress in Caerleon, in South Wales, to oversee the wall project.

Once there, they were assisted by thousands of auxiliary soldiers who provided most of the manpower.

‘We already know from other artefacts that Cupius was a centurion in the Second Augusta, which was one of three legions sent to help build Hadrian’s Wall between AD122 and AD133,’ said Lindsay Allason- Jones, an expert on Roman history at Newcastle upon Tyne University.

‘The inscription on the back suggests that possibly Quintus was a member of his century.

‘They must have been ordered to head north at around the same time Hadrian demanded the wall be built.’ There, they would have joined other legionnaires at Vindolanda.

Each detachment of 80 men would have been responsible for a section of the wall.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before,’ added Miss Allason-Jones.

‘I’m not even convinced that it is a brooch. The pin seems to be very thick for a brooch and there doesn’t seem to be any indication of a catch plate.

‘I’ll need to look at it further, but I suspect it may be a medal or perhaps some kind of decoration placed on a horse.’ The site of the find – a Roman fort and settlement lying to the south of Hadrian’s Wall – became the focus of a massive excavation programme in 1997.

Concentrating on the commanding officer’s residence in the third and fourth century stone forts, archaeologists set about discovering the treasures that lay beneath.

[email protected] MAN WHOSE SKILLS WERE LEGION QUINTUS Sollonius was a legionnaire in the Roman army when work began on Hadrian’s Wall in AD122.

A single man, he would almost certainly have enlisted at 17 and would have been expected to retire around 25 years later.

‘I suspect that he was coming to the end of his career when he dropped the brooch, bearing in mind the elaborate craftwork and the fact that it would have cost a pretty penny,’ said Lindsay Allason-Jones.

As a legionnaire – rather than an auxiliary soldier – he was expected to bring a particular skill to the building of Hadrian’s Wall, whether it be cutting stone, mixing the lime mortar, or heading a team of workers.

Historians believe that many of those who helped build the wall remained in the Vindolanda settlement.

‘They would have been there for between ten and 20 years,’ said Miss Allason-Jones. ‘It is possible, Quintus was there permanently. That is clearly where he lost his brooch.’