Roman Legionary stamped brick 

A Roman legionary building brick bearing the stamp for Legio I Italica.

The brick measures approx. 190mm x190mm x 90mm

The stamp is very bold and clear.

Substantially intact.

 Most such bricks on the market are the smaller type, less than half the size of this example. 

Larger bricks are often rather more money than this good example.

https://thelanesarmoury.co.uk/shop.php?code=23424

Legio I Italica was founded by Nero in 66 AD but this brick is probably 3rd century AD and is likely from one of the forts along the Limes Transalutanus, a defensive wall along the Danube and Olt rivers and the Carpathian foothills.
There are still records of the I Italica on the Danube border at the beginning of the 5th century. The emblem of the legion was a boar. The sources mention the peculiar fact that the original legionaries were Italics, all over six feet tall. LEG I ITAL was an expert construction legion but could equally well match the fierce Thracian tribes which had occupied the Lower Danube region for centuries before the Roman Empire reached that part of the world.

This is presently in a collection in Germany.
I will give anyone interested the owner's name and email address.

Price: 775 GBP