Image Details

Courtesy of Eilat Mazar

An army travels on its stomach, and bread was a staple of the Roman army diet. Two stone bread stamps were found in the building: one from the floor of the northern wing and the other out in the courtyard near ovens. Bread stamps were common, and usually bore the name of the baker or of the military unit for which the bread was intended. The first stamp read Auti Lic[i](nius) Priscus, denoting a man named Licinius Priscus who was baking for the century (a military unit consisting of about 100 men) of Autus. The second stamp, which was identical to one found in Britain, was not made of local stone and belonged to Lul(ius) Maxim(us), of the century of Caecil(ius) Ter(tius). Shown here is a contemporaneous Roman army bread stamp of the Tenth Legion in Jerusalem, stamped with the letters PRIM to signify bread of the highest quality (the letters appeared backwards on the bread). Also pictured is a drawing of the inscription on one of the bread stamps from the Megiddo prison. The IAA refused to give BAR a picture of the Sixth Legion bread stamps from Megiddo, despite the fact that they have appeared elsewhere.