Funerary Inscriptions as Evidence for Class and Identity in Northern Hispania (15 min)

Presenters

Scott de Brestian, Central Michigan University

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an examination of a series of Roman funerary monuments reused within the early medieval church of Santa María in San Vicente del Valle (Burgos, Spain). This examination forms part of the Northern Valleys Research Project (NVRP), of which the author is codirector. It builds on the author’s published work examining the ways in which Roman epigraphic commemoration can be used to recover information about ancient identity.

The funerary monuments found within the church demonstrate a wide variation in size, decoration, lettering, and epigraphic format. Although it is not known from what site these stelae originated, internal evidence and comparison with inscriptional assemblages from more distant sites within the valley reveal that most if not all were made by local workshops located within the upper reaches of the Río Tirón. The author interprets the differences among the stelae as indicative of different classes of patron within the valley in the first and second centuries C.E., as each developed its own funerary traditions within the larger epigraphic habit adopted within Roman Hispania generally. The range of stylistic groups suggests a complex mix of emerging identities across space and time among this Roman population, despite its position far from any urban centers. The paper concludes that the widespread adoption of a peculiarly Roman form of epigraphic commemoration was accompanied by adaptation within local frameworks to advertise smaller social networks.