Inscription on Roman Bridge

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 22 Jun 2007

Roman Bridge is really a name rather than an accurate description; an inscription on it makes clear that Lord Blantyre rebuilt it in 1772, and that it was rebuilt again in 1943, following damage sustained in the Clydebank Blitz of 1941. See https://canmore.org.uk/site/43328/clydebank-duntocher (at Canmore); the first paragraph is discussing the pre-1941 bridge. This inscription shown in this photograph appears on the west parapet of the Roman Bridge; for a view of the bridge itself, see: Image The Antonine Wall crossed the river at this point, so it is certain that there has been a bridge near here from at least the second century AD, when the Wall was built. The inscription is written in imitation of the style of a Roman distance slab, but is, of course, more recent: PONTEM.HUNC.EXT- RUI.CURAVIT.IMP.T. ÆL.ANTONIN.HA[D]R. AUG.P.P.QUINT.LOLL. URBIC.LEG.FERE.COL- LAPSUM.RESTITUIT. DOMINUS.DE.BLANT- IRE.A.ÆR.CHR. MDCCLXXII. BLITZED 1941 REPAIRED 1943 Aside from the self-explanatory final two lines, the meaning is as follows (the translation is my own): "For the Emperor Titus Aelius Antoninus Hadrianus Augustus, Father of his Country, the legate Quintus Lollius Urbicus arranged for this bridge to be built. It was restored from its ruined state by Lord Blantyre in the year 1772 AD". [The expression "A.ÆR.CHR." feels out of place in an inscription that is otherwise in the style of a Roman distance slab. It is Late Latin, and literally means "of the Christian era", and is equivalent to "in the year of our Lord" or, more simply, "AD".] This emperor is the Antoninus Pius of "Antonine Wall" fame (see the nearby Image); he appointed Quintus Lollius Urbicus as Governor of Roman Britain in about 138.

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