Barates and Regina An ancient love story

The wonderful true story of Barates and his beloved Regina can be pieced together from their tombstones. This is the tombstone of Regina ('Queen'), which can today be found in the Roman museum at South Shields

The sculptor portrayed her in the pose and dress of an upper-class Roman matrona, wearing a necklace of large beads and proudly seated on a high-backed wicker throne chair.

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In her hand, she holds a spindle and distaff, symbols of her role as materfamilias. s/mcmanus_images/spinnin g2.jpg

At her feet are other symbols of her role as a diligent manager of the goods of her husband’s domus: a strongbox for valuables and her basket of wool.

'To the spirits of the departed (and) to Regina (his) freedwoman and wife, a Catuvellaunian, aged 30, Barates of Palmyra (set this up)' D[is] M[anibus] REGINA LIBERTA ET CONIVGE BARATES PALMYRENUS NATIONE CATVALLAVNA AN(norum) XXX

Below the line, the inscription in Palmyrene, Barates’ native language reads, ‘Regina, the freedwoman of Barates, alas‘ The scope of the tomb and length of the inscription means it was costly, a sure sign of Barate’s love for his wife.

Barates was from Palmyra in Syria and Regina was from Verulamium. We don’t know how they met. Barates was a relatively wealthy merchant who sold cloth and jewelry, a vexallarius (flagseller). To marry his beloved Regina, he first had to purchase her freedom from slavery. After her death, he moved and more than likely supplied the Roman army stationed near Hadrian’s Wall at Corbridge which is where his tombstone was found in 1911.

Barates’ tombstone is of poor quality, having been re-purposed as part of a Roman road pavement. The inscription reads: “To the spirits of the departed, Barates of Palmyra, vexillarius, lived 68 years.” DM [BA]RATHES PALMORENUS VEXILA[RIUS] VIXIT AN[N]OS LXVIII His stone is very simple, indicating that his heir did not spend much money erecting it.

Their love is clear evidence for multi-culturalism at South Shields, on the edge of the empire, during the Roman period.

There is no record of any children from this marriage, and it is highly likely that she died in childbirth, a very common occurrence in the ancient world. They probably lived sometime during the 2 nd century CE.

How Regina became enslaved is not known, nor how her husband came to Arbeia (South Shields), a fort that protected the seaport and served military units in the north and along Hadrian’s Wall. Regina's tombstone is evidence of the improbable meeting of two people from provinces of the Empire that were furthest apart, Britannia and Syria; they are but one example of the multi-cultural contacts and relationships that Rome could and did facilitate.

A reconstruction of the Roman Fort at Arbeia where Barates and Regina lived. wall.org/page.aspx/I nteractive- Map/Hadrian's-Wall- and-the-Roman- Sites/Arbeia- Roman-Fort-and- Museum

Foundations of granaries Reconstruction of living quarters. Aerial view, artist’s rendition Roman Fort at Arbeia Reconstruction of a typical dining room. All images: