Samian ware bowl

Roman Britain, 3rd century AD
From a Roman cemetery at Ospringe, Kent

Communal feast or funeral banquet?

The graffiti, inscribed around the underside of the bowl, read 'LVCIVS LVCIANVS (I)VLI DIANTVS VICTOR VICTORICVS VICTORINA VAS COMMVNIS', ('Lucius, Lucianus, Julius, Diantus, Victor, Victoricus, Victorina, (their) common dish'). The bowl was most likely shared between the people named on it, perhaps the members of a guild. Guilds were clubs or societies, especially of craftsmen, which tried to protect the interests of their members. Part of belonging to a guild involved social gatherings, centred on dining and drinking.