Roman tombstones have fascinating stories to tell us. One found at South Shields (Roman Arbeia), has a carved relief of a woman sitting on a high-backed wicker chair, working at her wool. The Latin inscription records that her name was Regina (Queen), that she was 30 when she died, and that she was a Catuvellaunian - a member of the largest southern British tribe, whose homeland covered what is now Hertfordshire.

Regina had been the slave of a man called Barates, from Palmyra in Syria, who had freed and then married her. Below the Latin inscription is a line in Barates's own language, Aramaic, which declares, "Regina, freedwoman of Barates, alas!" Barates would also have spoken Greek, the language of the eastern Roman Empire, while Regina grew up speaking a native British language. They would have spoken to each other in Latin, an adopted language for both of them.

See Regina's tombstone here

By an amazing stroke of luck, Barates's own tombstone has also been found, at Corbridge. Its inscription tells us that he was a merchant, who supplied military standards to the Roman army, and that he died in his sixties. We do not know if he outlived Regina by many years, or if he was already much older than her when they married.

It is not surprising to find a Syrian merchant living in South Shields for, in Roman times, this was a bustling port, where most of the supplies for the army based on the wall were brought in by sea. The fort at South Shields was also home to a unit of Arabian boatmen, who had previously served at the other end of the empire, on the upper reaches of the River Tigris (between Syria and Turkey). The cold, wet climate of South Shields must have come as a big shock to them.

Another tombstone from South Shields is of Victor, a 20-year-old North African who, like Regina, was a freed slave. It was set up by his former master, a Spanish soldier called Numerianus. According to the inscription, Numerianus ''devotedly conducted'' Victor to his grave. The carved relief shows Victor, who wears a toga, reclining on a decorated couch, being served wine by a tiny slave.

See Victor's tombstone here

The stories of Regina and Victor show a distinctive feature of Roman society - social mobility. Slaves could earn or buy their freedom, and go on to be slave-owners themselves. In AD 192, a man called Pertinax, whose father had been a slave, even got to be Roman Emperor. Unfortunately for Pertinax, after ruling for just three months, he was murdered.

Regina's and Victor's tombstones can both be seen in Arbeia Roman Museum, South Shields.