Context (Related Documents)
Old exhibition label in archive
Event Date
Author: maa

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Context (Field collection)
Found with 1954.50.2 B by the Roman road from Cambridge to Godmanchester, three miles N.W. of Cambridge.
Event Date 10/1812
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (Field collection)
In his letter to The Gentleman's Magazine, Henry Lloyd Biden describes discovering this milestone 'a few weeks' after the discovery of the first (1954.50.2 B) in October 1812, apparently in a nearby spot. He notes that 'numerous fragments of pottery were found on the spot, indicating that a funeral vase was deposited there, perhaps by Roman soldiers, as a tribute to some deceased companion in arms, whose ashes the urn may have contained' (p. 525).
Event Date 10/1812
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (Field collection)
According to C.C. Babington, the two milestones (1954.50.2 A-B) were found 'by Mr Henry Lloyd Biden, at that time a student of Trinity Hall, projecting from a bank near the present high road, at a distance of nearly three miles from Cambridge, in October 1812' (p. 42). However it seems that perhaps only 1954.50.2 B was found in this context, as 1954.50.2 A was found slightly later and Biden doesn't detail the exact context.
Event Date 19/1812
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

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Context (References)
Biden, Henry Lloyd. (1813). 'Roman Antiquities'. The Gentleman's Magazine. vol. 83, pt. 1. p. 524, Pl. II.7
Event Date 1813
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

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Context (References)
Hubner, Ernst (ed.). (1873). Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. Vol. VII: Inscriptiones Britanniae Latinae. p. 209, No. 1155.
Event Date 1873
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Scarth, P. (1877). 'On the Roman Milliaries found in Britain.' The Archaeological Journal, 34. p. 398
Event Date 1877
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Babington, Charles Cardale. (1883). Ancient Cambridgeshire. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge Antiquarian Society. pp. 40-41 (illustrated, no. 2)
Event Date 1883
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)

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Context (References)
Taylor, M.V., & Collingwood, R.G. (1922). 'Roman Britain in 1923'. Journal of Roman Studies, 12. p. 282
Event Date 1922
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Fox, Cyril. (1923). Archaeology of the Cambridge Region. Cambridge University Press. p. 168
Event Date 1923
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Description (Physical description)
Milestone dedicated to Constantine the Great; The surviving words of the inscription read: NOB ILISSI MVS CAESAR Traces of an earlier rendering also occur:...R.. AVG
Event Date 1954
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Lower part of a limestone milestone, oval in section. Primary text: '...R... Aug(ustus)'. Secondary text: 'nob] ilissi mus Caesar'. (Collingworth and Wright)
Event Date 1965
Author: maa

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Context (References)
For more bibliographic references, see Collingwood and Wright.
Event Date 1965
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (Analysis)
Translated by Collingwood and Wright as '...Augustus' '...most noble Caesar'.
Event Date 1965
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Collingwood, R.G. and Wright, R.P. (1965). The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Vol 1: Inscriptions on Stone. Clarendon Press. pp. 697-698, Number 2236.
Event Date 1965
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Liversidge, Joan. (1968). 'Britain in the Roman Empire'. London: Butler and Tanner Ltd. p. 391
Event Date 1968
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Wilkes, J.J. and Elrington, C.R. (eds). 1978. A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. Vol. VII: Roman Cambridgeshire. Victoria History of the Counties of England series. Oxford University Press. pp. 28-29.
Event Date 1978
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (References)
Taylor, Alison. (1997). 'South West Cambridgeshire'. Archaeology of Cambridgeshire. Vol. 1. p. 53.
Event Date 1997
Author: Eleanor Wilkinson

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Context (References)
Taylor, Alison. (1997). Archaeology of Cambridgeshire, Vol. 1: South West Cambridgeshire. Cambridge: Cambridgeshire County Council. p. 53 (illustrated).
Event Date 1997
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (Amendments / updates)
The CHER record for the two Roman milestones (CHER No. 05542) notes:
'Found Oct 1812. A cylindrical stone 33in long by 12 1/2 in diameter "projecting from a bank near the high road between Cambridge and Huntingdon, nearly 3 miles from the former town...: with the assistance of Mr. Harding of Pembroke College I succeeded in restoring: IMP CAES FLAVI (CONST)ANTINO V LEG CONSTANTINO PIO NOB CAES"
Another fragment, but of a different stone, found a few weeks later adjoining, only legible letters being LISSIMUS CAESAR. Also many fragments of pottery. (Sited from above description in area centred at TL/4090/6200).'
Unfortunately, there was not specific reference for either of these entries.
Event Date 15/2/2017
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (Display)
Prior to being transferred to MAA from the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1954, they were displayed 'not in the Fitzwilliam Museum, but on the portico outside it (to the right of the door).' (see CHER No. 05542)
Event Date 15/2/2017
Author: Imogen Gunn

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Context (Amendments / updates)
The Source field has been updated to include Henry Lloyd Biden as the collector.
Event Date 2/11/2022
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)