Ancient Roman ‘hand of god’ discovered near Hadrian’s Wall

The hand is made of 2.3 kilos of solid bronze – and was almost certainly an offering to a military deity for giving the Romans victory in the largest military combat operation ever carried out in Britain, before or since. The Roman invasion of Caledonia was launched in 208 by Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The invasion lasted until late 210 when the emperor became ill and died. Some 50,000 Romans were in the invasion force. Thousands of tribespeople in what is now Scotland were killed. It's likely the bronze hand was ritually buried after the conflict. The bronze hand is associated with a Roman god called Jupiter Dolichenus.