statue; "Hercules"
Description
Hercules was found in a back garden in the village of Laurieston (just east of Falkirk) in 1987. He is of local sandstone and can be dated stylistically to the Antonine period. Hercules is shown bearded with thick locks of hair and a muscular body holding a club in his right hand. The figure is in relief and must have been attached to a building such as a shrine. It is the work of a competent sculptor in the legions.
It is probably associated with an altar found half a mile away in 1841 and now in the National Museum in Edinburgh. This altar reads: Sacred to Hercules Magusanus, Valerius Nigrinus, Duplicarius of the Tungrian cavalry regiment (dedicated this). A duplicarius was the most highly paid soldier in the cavalry unit below the officer class. Hercules was popular with the army, due to his feats of strength, and on the altar is identified with a Teutonic divinity from the Lower Rhine.
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