The Rufus Sita Tombstone (RIB 121) is the marker of the grave of ''Rufus Sita'', a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

soldier from the mid 1st Century AD, found near London Road,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, in 1824. The stone is approximately 4ft by 3ft in size."ROMAN ANTIQUITIES" in ''The Morning Post'', 17 April 1824, Issue 16638. The tombstone is of a type typically used for Roman soldiers, depicting a horseman spearing a foe on the ground with an epitaph below stating the age and service of the deceased, his origins and who placed the tombstone.Ward, John. ''The Roman Era in Britain''. London: Methuen, 1911, pp. 150-152
Free download here.
/ref> According to the tombstone, Rufus Sita was a horseman of the Sixth

Cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit), ...

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. ...

, who died aged 40 after 22 years service. His heirs arranged to have the tombstone made in accordance with the wishes in his

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

. The Sixth Cohort was one of the Roman military units stationed at Gloucester, or Glevum as it was then known. The Latin inscription on the tombstone reads:

RVFVS · SITA · EQVES · CHO · VI
TRACVM · ANN · XL · STIP · XXII
HEREDES · EXS · TEST · F · CVRAVE
H. S. E.

or:

''Rufus Sita, eques Cohortis VI''
''Thracum, annorum XL, stipendiorum XXII.''
''Heredes ex testamento faciendum curaverunt.''
''Hic situs est.''

Which translates as:

''Rufus Sita, horseman of the Sixth Cohort of Thracians,''
''lived forty years and served twenty-two.''
''His heirs, in accordance to his will, had this erected.''
''He is laid here.''

The tombstone has been in the

Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery The Museum of Gloucester in Brunswick Road is the main museum in the city of Gloucester, England. It was extensively renovated following a large National Heritage Lottery Fund grant, and reopened on Gloucester Day, 3 September 2011. In March 201 ...

since 1873.

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Alternative picture of the Rufus Sita Tombstone.
Roman archaeology Archaeological artifacts History of Gloucester

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Further reading

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