Roman window from Scotland

This object from the collection of the Hunterian Museum was chosen, and written about, by Scott Ross, honours student, Department of Classics, University of Glasgow.

This window was found in Bar Hill fort, in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. It is made from four metal strips joining at right angles to form a square. Metal nails hold the iron panels together at each right angle. Inside the metal frame some glass fragments remain - at one point the complete frame was filled with glass. This is a very rare item and truly fascinating.

I picked this object because it is just spectacular, and easy to imagine a Roman peering through this window onto their enemies or even admiring the land which stretched out beyond the fort, or someone looking in the window. I also picked this object because I am nosey, and always stare out my window onto my street. It is nice to imagine that a Roman could have been just as nosey as me.

However, there is also a brutal aspect to this object. The harsh metal panels and iron spikes protruding from each corner shows that this window was on a fort which had seen times of turmoil and gives the viewer an idea of how dreary it would have been to live in