The Rufus Sita Tombstone is the marker of the grave of Rufus Sita, a Roman soldier from the mid 1st Century AD, found near London Road, Gloucester, in 1824.
Description The tombstone depicts a mounted horseman bearing a shield and spear, with a sheathed sword on this flank. He rides to the ride, striking at a defeated enemy prone on the ground beneath him. Above the relief is a Sphinx flanked by a pair of lions. It measures 1.44 m in height and 0.81 m width.
Inscription 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.
Reception The tombstone has been in the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery since 1873.
References
Further reading Anderson, Alastair Scott. Roman Military Tombstones. Aylesbury: Shire Publications, 1984.
See also Roman military tombstones
External links Alternative picture of the Rufus Sita Tombstone. Roman tombstones.