Whilst taking part in their 21st year on the excavation programme at Vindolanda, veteran volunteers Jim and Dilys Quinlan from Merseyside made the discovery on 1st May: A sandstone relief, believed to depict the Roman goddess of Victory.

The formal identification of Victory on the newly discovered stone relief was made by Rob Collins, Professor of Frontier Archaeology & Head of Archaeology at Newcastle University.

The artefact has been discovered reused in a pile of rubble above infantry barracks at Vindolanda. The stone is thought to belong to a much larger relief which would have framed an inscription in its centre. These particular barracks at Vindolanda were built in c. AD 213, i.e. at the end of a turbulent time for the Romans in Britain, just after the Severan wars. The barracks were once adorned with a large ornamental arch and gate, precisely the location where an inscription may have been present. The relief of Victory is poignant, representing the end of the war and the establishment of the fort at the site.

Victory, known in Latin as Victoria, was the personification of victory in Roman religion and mythology, she was the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike. Victoria was highly revered by the ancient Romans, during times of war she was often credited for battlefield success.

“Finds like this are increasingly rare these days from Roman Britain”—Dr Andrew Birley, the Director of Excavations for the Vindolanda Trust said—“but the beautifully carved figure vividly reminds us that Roman forts were not simply utilitarian, they had grandeur and of course the symbolism was a vital part of the culture here for the soldiers almost 2,000 years ago. I am also delighted for Jim and Dilys for their discovery. It is just reward for their 21 years of hard work and dedication to this site”.

“It is highly likely that this stone would have originally been brightly painted. We will be working with our specialists to see if any traces of the pigment remain, so for now the relief is being stored unwashed ready for that further analysis,” Barbara Birley, curator of the Vindolanda Trust noted, as Roman reliefs like this were often painted with vibrant colours.

This artefact will go on public display in early 2026 at the Vindolanda museum as part of the Recent Finds exhibition.