Romanu003cbru003eCaecilius Avitus , Resista and Martia

The Roman legions who occupied Chester also built the city. The XXth
legion , based at the Deva fortress on the Northgate site, whose emblem
was a wild boar, and in honour of this, their symbol of a wild boar has
been used in the logo for the new market.
Many
of the soldiers came from far away lands one such was soldier
was Caecilius Avitus , he was an Optio , second in command to a
centurion, responsible for up to 80 legionaries. He would have carried a
staff to keep the men in order and that can be seen on his gravestone,
otherwise he would have been dressed the same as the legionaries.
Caecilius
was 34 when he died and had been in the Legion since he was
19 years old. He was from Emrita Augusta in Lusitania, Spain. Present
day Mérida. He died far from home.
His grave was discovered close to the Northgate on the city walls
Nearby
were other graves including that of two children, Resista and
Martia
We don’t know much about them. Their grave was paid for by their
parents, they were aged just 7 and 3 years old. On the gravestone is an
image of the girls with a huge shell which may depict a voyage to the
Isles of the Blessed, a Roman mythological island paradise for heroes.