The Vallum and Murus always contract the width of the interval between

them as they approach a river, apparently for no other purpose than a

close protection of the military way, and the defence of one bridge;

for if they had passed the brooks and rivers on their line at any

considerable distance from each other, two bridges would have been

necessary, and two sets of guards to defend them: and here it is not

unimportant to remark, that the Murus always takes that brow of the

ridge it traverses, which is precipitous to the north, and never

deserts its straightest or most defensible course to find a convenient

situation for a bridge, while the Vallum almost invariably bends

inwards as it approaches a bridge, and diverges outwards as it leaves

it.—_Hist. Nor._ II. iii.

Horsley’s plan of the Barrier between CILURNUM and MAGNA, which is

copied on Plate II., will afford several examples of the truth of these

remarks.

The position of the Vallum and Murus, in relation to the stations,

furnishes additional evidence. The Murus usually forms the northern wall

of the station, or comes up to the northern cheek of its eastern and

western gates, while the Vallum protects its southern rampart, or comes

up to the lower side of its doorways. The two lines give complete

protection to the camps, and to the roads leading to and from them. On

the supposition that the Vallum is an independent fortification, and

that it was constructed nearly a century before the Wall was thought of,

we must concede that its plan was such as to give the stations the least

possible support, to leave them, in short, in a great measure exposed to

the enemy. The manner in which the two walls combine in giving strength

to a station, is very well shewn in Warburton’s plan of the works in the

vicinity of CILURNUM (Plate II). It is scarcely possible to deny the

justice of the remark, which he appends to the title—‘A Plan of CILURNUM

... with part of the Plan of Severus’ Wall and Hadrian’s Vallum, shewing

how they are connected at the stations, and by their mutual relation to

one another, _must have been one entire united defence or

fortification_.'

[Sidenote: SEVERUS REPAIRED THE WALL.]

It is not improbable that Severus may have repaired some portions of the

Wall, and perhaps added some few subsidiary defences. Richard of

Cirencester gives us correct information upon several points connected

with Roman Britain, which we do not learn from other authors; it is not

unlikely that his view of the subject of our present study may be the

correct one. He says—

About this time the emperor Hadrian, visiting this island, erected a

Wall, justly wonderful, and left Julius Severus his deputy in

Britain.... Virius Lupus did not perform many splendid actions, for

his glory was intercepted by the unconquerable Severus, who, having

rapidly put the enemy to flight, _repaired the Wall of Hadrian_, now

become ruinous, and restored it to its former perfection. Had he

lived, he intended to extirpate the very name of the barbarians.

The supposition that Hadrian built the Wall is consistent with the

accounts which historians give us of his attachment to architectural

undertakings. One writer, of great research, says of him—

[Sidenote: HADRIAN A GREAT BUILDER.]

No prince, perhaps, ever raised so many public and private edifices as

Hadrian. In every city of note, throughout the empire, some erection

perpetuated his memory: bridges, aqueducts, temples, and palaces, rose

on every hand. Many cities, likewise, were either wholly built or

repaired by him. _Building seems, indeed, to have been a main feature

in his system of government._ He was the first who appointed that each

cohort should have its quota of masons, architects, and all kinds of

workmen needed for the erection and adornment of public

edifices.—_Hist. Rome_, _Tract Soc. London 277_.

It is perhaps needless to pursue the subject further. More might easily

be said; but I was unwilling, on a point of so much importance, to say

less. The reader will not fail to perceive what an impressive view the

works of the mural barrier, considered as one vast scheme, and not as a

series of after-thoughts, give of the mighty conceptions and energies of

imperial Rome.

In taking leave of those renowned men, Hadrian and Severus, it may be

allowable to advert to the testimony which, before departing this life,

they are said to have given as to the vanity of all earthly things.

Hadrian, who used to say, that an emperor should be like the sun,

visiting all the regions of the earth, found himself then, in darkness.

His knowledge of the Eleusinian mysteries gave him no peace; he

addressed his soul in these words:—

Animula, vagula, blandula

Hospes, comesque corporis

Quæ nunc abibis in loca

Pallidula, rigida, nudula?

Nec ut soles dabis joca.

These lines are thus happily imitated by Prior—

Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing,

Must we no longer live together?

And dost thou prune thy trembling wing,

To take thy flight thou know’st not whither?

Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly,

Lies all neglected, all forgot;

And, pensive, wavering, melancholy,

Thou dread’st and hop’st thou know’st not what.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF HADRIAN AND SEVERUS.]

Severus’ restless pursuit after happiness was equally vain. His dying

words are said to have been, '_Omnia fui et nihil expedit_'—I have tried

everything, and found nothing of any avail. What a contrast to the

language addressed to him by the Ethiopian soldier—'Thou hast been

everything—conquered everything: now, conqueror, be a god!'

[Illustration: Slab, Leg. II. and Leg. XX.]

-----

Footnote 134:

Pinkerton’s Inquiry into the History of Scotland, i. 55.

Footnote 135:

I do not, however, find that the Antonine Wall is now known in the

district by the name of Severus’ Wall.

Footnote 136:

See chronological tables of Roman History in Smith’s Dictionary of

Biography and Mythology.

-----

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Illustration]

~The Roman Barrier of the Lower Isthmus.~

PART VI.

MISCELLANEOUS ANTIQUITIES FOUND ON THE LINE OF THE WALL.

Most apposite is the remark of Dr. Johnson, that ‘Whatever withdraws us

from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or

the future predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of

thinking beings.’ Few things are so well calculated to produce this

effect, as the altars and lettered tablets that have been left on our

soil by the Romans. When we but glance at them, who is not moved at the

reflection, that they were chiselled by hands which for so many

centuries have mouldered nerveless in the dust!

Still on its march, unnoticed and unfelt

Moves on our being. We do live and breathe,

And we are gone! The spoiler heeds us not;

We have our spring-time and our rottenness;

And as we fall, another race succeeds

To perish likewise.

_Kirke White._

On proceeding to decipher the antique records, our emotions are more

varied and more intense. The old Roman seems to arise from the tomb, and

to reveal his modes of thought and principles of action. His breast

heaves; his heart is laid bare. In lines which his own fingers have

carved, the gods before whom he trembled are declared. Looking on the

very altar at which he knelt, we almost seem to see ‘the mean man bowing

down, and the great man humbling himself.’

[Sidenote: LETTERED STONES.]

The region of the Wall has yielded more inscribed stones of the Roman

period than any other portion of the kingdom. Many of them have already

been presented to the reader; a few others will here be described. The

lettered stones of the mural line may be divided into three

classes—altars, funereal slabs, and centurial stones.

ALTARS.

[Sidenote: PARTS OF AN ALTAR.]

The offering of such sacrifices as were supposed to be acceptable to

their deities, formed an essential part of the religion of the Greeks

and Romans. Very numerous are the altars which have been discovered on

the line of the Wall. Many of them are small, some not larger than the

palm of the hand, rough in the workmanship, and without any inscription;

others are of large size, [Illustration: alt=Altar, Deo Vetri] and of

ornate character. The usual form of them is shewn in the annexed cut.

The inscription is on the face of the altar; the base and upper portion

project a little beyond the sides. A small cavity on the top called the

_focus_, or hearth, received the offering. The sides of the altar were

frequently adorned with carvings representing the victims, the

implements used in sacrifice, and insignia of the god. On the altar[137]

before us, we have represented the _præfericulum_, or pitcher, which

contained the wine for the offering; the _patera_, a round, shallow

dish, generally with a handle, which was used in throwing a small

portion of the wine upon the altar; the _securis_, or axe, with which

the animal was slain; and the _culter_, or knife, used in flaying or

dividing it. In the Chesterholm altar, figured _p._ 240, the sacrificial

ox is represented; and on the sides of the altar to Jupiter, which is

shewn on page 290, the thunder-bolt of the god, and the wheel of

Nemesis— the emblem of swift vengeance—are given. The small size of the

_focus_ proves that the offerings presented to the deities occupied a

very small bulk. When an animal was slain, a portion of the entrails was

often all that fell to the lot of the god.

Idibus in magni castus Jovis æde sacerdos

Semimaris flammis viscera libat ovis.[138]

_Ovid’s Fasti_, i. 587.

[Sidenote: NATURE OF THE OFFERINGS.]

Frequently the offering consisted of a little barley-meal, some fruit,

some frankincense, or chips of fragrant wood, with wine or milk.

Occasions of sacrifice were often times of merry-making. The slain

victim and the dedicated wine formed the ready materials of a feast.

Ovid sarcastically represents an old woman performing the rites due to

the goddess of Silence; upon her offering (three grains of incense) she

allows a few drops of wine to fall, and assisted by her companions,

though needing little help, she drinks up the remainder, departing from

her devotions tipsy, and anything but taciturn.

Ecce anus ... annosa,

Et digitis tria thura tribus sub limine ponit

Vina quoque instillat. Vini, quodcumque relictum est,

Aut ipsa, aut comites, plus tamen ipsa, bibit.

... ebriaque exit anus.

_Fasti_, ii. 571.

[Sidenote: ALTAR TO JUPITER.]

As might be expected, many altars are dedicated to Jupiter, the king and

father, as he was styled, of gods and men. The wood-cut represents a

very fine one, which was found in the station at Chesterholm, and is now

preserved under the piazza of the House.

[Illustration: Large Altar to Jupiter]

I[OVI] O[PTIMO] M[AXIMO]

CETERISQUE

DIIS IMMORT[ALIBVS]

ET GEN[IO] PRAETOR[II]

Q[VINTVS] PETRONIVS

Q[VINTI] F[ILIVS] FAB[IA] VRBICVS

PRAEF[ECTVS] COH[ORTIS] IIII

GALLORUM

EX ITALIA

DOMO BRIXIA

VOTVM SOLVIT

PRO SE

AC SVIS

To Jupiter, best _and_ greatest,

And to the rest of the

Immortal gods,

And the genius of the pretorium,

Quintus Petronius

Son of Quintus, of the Fabian family, _surnamed_ Urbicus.

Prefect of the Fourth cohort

Of the Gauls,

From Italy, _and_

Of a house of Brixia,

Performed a vow

For himself

And family.

Two lines have been purposely erased, perhaps in consequence of some

error committed by the sculptor. The town of Brixia, the modern Brescia,

is situated on a feeder of the Po. Petronius, it would appear, still

remembered, and doubtless with affection, his former home in sunny

Italy. Storks adorn both sides of the altar; the object of their

introduction is rather doubtful. In the Risingham slab, now at

Cambridge, to which reference has already been made (_p._ 332), a cock

is associated with the figure of Mars, and a stork with that of Victory.

Can the stork have been the emblem of victory, as the cock was of the

god of war? The powerful wing and stately motions of this bird render it

a fitting emblem of the goddess whose favours Petronius must often have

sought. The inscription is distinct, and strikingly displays the

polytheism of the Romans. Petronius associates with Jupiter, not only

all the immortal gods, but the genius of the pretorium also.

[Sidenote: POLYTHEISM OF ROME.]

Not only were the superior deities and invisible genii blended in one

invocation, but mortal men were not unfrequently associated with the

greatest of the gods on the same altar. This is the case in one already

described (_p._ 63). Quintus Verius, on an altar found at Housesteads,

calls upon Jupiter, the best and greatest, together with ‘the deities of

Augustus.’ The emperor himself is probably intended by this phrase, not

the gods whom the emperor worshipped. The use of the noun in the plural

number, _numina_, is not opposed to this view. Horsley remarks that

_numina_ is frequently, in classical writers, applied to a particular

deity; thus we have _numina Dianæ_ in Horace, and _numina Ph[oe]bi_ in

Virgil. The emperors, we know, were frequently worshipped as gods. The

Mantuan bard, addressing Augustus, has no doubt of his divinity, though

he knows not what region to assign to his especial care;

... urbesne invisere, Cæsar,

Terrarumque velis curam;...

An deus immensi venias maris, ac tua nautæ

Numina sola colant....

_Georg._ I. 25.

[Illustration: Altar, Genio Loci, etc.]

[Sidenote: MARYPORT ALTAR.]

An altar, which is not less remarkable for the ornate character of its

decorations, than for the striking display which it affords of the

polytheism of the Romans, was found in the camp at Maryport, and is now

in the possession of the earl of Lonsdale, at Whitehaven Castle. An

accurate representation is given of it in the preceding engraving.

GENIO LOCI

FORTVNÆ REDVCI

ROMÆ AETERNÆ

ET FATO BONO

G[AIVS] CORNELIVS

PEREGRINVS

TRIB[VNVS] COHOR[TIS]

EX PROVINCIA

MAVR[ITANIÆ] CÆSA[RIENSIS]

DOMOS E . . .

. . . . .

To the Genius of the place,

To returning Fortune,

To eternal Rome,

And to propitious fate,

Gaius Cornelius

Peregrinus,

Tribune of a cohort,

From the province of

Mauritania Cæsariensis,

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

The lower lines of the inscription of this altar are much injured; they

probably refer to the restoration of some buildings. The upper portion

is sufficiently plain. Peregrinus addresses first the deity of the place

over which his arms had triumphed; lest the local god should not smile

benignantly, he resorts to Fortune, who had conducted him safely to the

land of his adoption; if this deity should fail him, he thinks to find a

refuge in the genius of the eternal city; but driven from this resource,

there is nothing for it, but to trust to fate or chance.

On the back of this altar (which as it is at present placed at

Whitehaven Castle, cannot be seen), are inscribed the words, VOLANTI

VIVAS. This was probably the expression of the good wishes of some party

for his friend, inscribed for greater efficacy on the sacred stone; and

may be translated, Volantius, long may you live!

[Sidenote: ALTARS TO MARS.]

Mars is occasionally addressed, though not so frequently as we might

expect in a chain of mural garrisons. Two small altars dedicated to him

have already been introduced. On several altars, chiefly found in

Cumberland, he is addressed by the name [Illustration: Altar, Deo

Cocidio] of Cocidius. One which was found at Bank’s-head, and is now

preserved at Lanercost Priory, is here introduced. An altar found at

Lancaster bearing the inscription, DEO SANCTO MARTI COCIDIO, is the

authority for supposing that Cocidius was a name of Mars. The altar

before us has been dedicated by the soldiers of the twentieth legion,

surnamed the Valiant and Victorious; the boar, the badge of the legion,

is at the bottom of the altar. It appears also that Mars was sometimes

styled Belatucadrus, the expression DEO MARTI BELATUCADRO being found

upon some altars; the altars to Belatucadrus are, however, confined to

Cumberland. One of them is here [Illustration: Altar, Deo Belatucadro]

given. It was found at Walton Castlesteads, where it still remains. The

letters are rudely carved, and the last two lines not very intelligible.

The name Belatucadrus or Belatucader is derived from the words Baal and

Cadir; and probably means—The invincible or omnipotent Baal. The fact

that Baal, the great idol of the east, found votaries in Britain shews

how easy it is to propagate error.

It was the practice of the Romans to adopt the deities of the countries

which they subdued, and they may be supposed to have sought to

amalgamate with their own god of war, the corresponding divinity

worshipped in that part of Britain where these altars were reared.

[Illustration: Altar to Minerva]

[Sidenote: MINERVA.]

The worship of Minerva was not neglected by the soldiers of the Wall.

The wood-cut exhibits an altar to the virgin goddess, which was found in

the station at Rochester; it is now at Alnwick Castle. Several others

exist. Science is required in the arts of war as well as peace. The

victory which mere daring achieved, was by the Greeks and Romans

ascribed to the intervention of Mars; that which was the result of

skilful strategy to the influence of Minerva. This altar was consecrated

by Julius Carantus.

[Sidenote: FORTUNA.]

Fortune was one of the favourite deities of Rome. The great confidence

which the Romans placed in her is expressed in the story related by

Plutarch, that on entering Rome she put off her wings and shoes, and

threw away her globe, as she intended to take up her permanent abode

among the Romans. Several altars addressed to Fortune have been found on

the line of the Wall. One of the most remarkable is shewn in the annexed

cut. It was found in a building in the south-east corner of the station

at Risingham, and is now in the Museum of

Antiquities, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The great peculiarity of it is, that

the projecting base of the altar is provided with a focus, and that on

the projection the inscription is repeated. It reads—

FORTVNAE

SACRVM

VALERIVS

LONGINVS

TRIB[VNVS]

To Fortune

Sacred

Valerius

Longinus

Tribune.

[Illustration: Altar to Fortune]

The altar, when in its original position, was raised by means of two

courses of masonry considerably above the level of the ground. The

object of the second focus is a matter of conjecture. According to the

grammarians, _altare_ (_alta ara_, high altar) was dedicated only to the

gods above, whilst the _ara_ was both lower, and employed in sacrificing

to the gods below as well as those above. Can Fortune have been viewed

in the double capacity of a superior and inferior divinity, and can the

tribune, Valerius Longinus, have sought to secure the favour of the

powerful deity both in this life and the one to come!

[Illustration: Altar to Mithras]

[Sidenote: MITHRAS.]

Several of the altars found on the line of the Wall are dedicated to the

god Mithras. _Mitra_, it appears, is one of the names for the sun in

Sanscrit; and that

Mithras was, by the Romans, identified with the sun, is clearly

proved by many of the inscriptions on the altars of that deity. One,

found in the Mithraic cave at Housesteads, and which is now at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is figured on the former page. The inscription

upon it may be read thus;—

DEO

SOLI INVI

CTO MYTRÆ

SAECVLARI

LITORIVS

PACATIANVS

B[ENE]F[ICIARIVS] COS. PRO

SE ET SVIS V[OTVM] S[OLVIT]

L[IBENS] M[ERITO]

To the god

The Sun the in-

vincible Mithras

The Lord of ages

Litorius

Pacatianus

A consular beneficiary; for

himself and family discharges a vow

Willingly and deservedly.

[Sidenote: WORSHIP OF THE SUN.]

[Illustration]

Another small and roughly-cut altar procured from the same place, and

also now at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has a figure of the sun on its capital:

Hodgson reads the inscription in this manner—Hieronymus, performing a

vow, freely and duly dedicates this to the sun.

When we contemplate the powerful and beneficial influence of the sun, we

cannot be surprised that the worship of this luminary, especially in the

east, constituted the first form of idolatry—

To solemnize this day, the glorious sun

Stays in his course, and plays the alchemist;

Turning, with splendour of his precious eye,

The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.

[Sidenote: WORSHIP OF MITHRAS.]

The various ceremonies which were observed in the worship of Mithras,

are supposed to have been emblematic of the different influences

exercised by the sun upon vegetable and animal life. The notices which

we have of the meaning of these emblems are, however, a mass of

mysticism and absurdity. The god is commonly represented as a youth

wearing the Phrygian cap and attire, and [Illustration: Attendant of

Mithras] kneeling on a bull thrown on the ground, the throat of which he

is cutting. He is usually accompanied by two attendants, the one bearing

an uplifted torch, representing the sun in the vernal equinox, ascending

to the zenith of his power, the other, an extinguished torch, resting on

the ground, emblematic of the orb of day, when hastening to the winter

solstice. The wood-cut here introduced exhibits one of these figures

(now at Newcastle-upon-Tyne), which was found in the cave at

Housesteads.

The Mithraic worship was introduced into the western world, from Persia,

about the time of Julius Cæsar, and speedily spread over all parts of

the empire. It appears to have outlived other forms of idolatry in

Europe. Its favourers seem to have abandoned polytheism; on the line of

the Wall at least, the name of Mithras is not combined with that of any

other deity. This circumstance, together with the laborious, though

vain, researches of its philosophical supporters, recommended it to

those who rejected the pure and simple truths of Christianity.

[Sidenote: MITHRAIC CAVE.]

Another of the Housesteads altars to Mithras is here figured. It is

inscribed—

[Illustration]

D[EO] O[PTIMO] M[AXIMO]

INVICTO MYT

RÆ SAECVLARI

PVBL[IVS] PROCVLI

NYS C[ENTVRIO] PRO SE

ET PROCVLO FIL[IO]

SVO V. S. L. M.

———

D.D. (_dominis_) N.N. (_nostris_) GALLO ET

VOLVSINO CO[N]S[VLIBVS]

CC

To the god best and greatest

The invincible Mith-

ras, lord of ages,

Publius Proculinus,

Centurion, for himself

And Proculus his son,

his vow freely and deservedly pays.

———

Our lords Gallus and

Volusinus being consuls.

The temples of Mithras generally consisted of a cave, or a small

building from which the light was excluded. A cave was adopted,

‘because,’ says Porphyry, ‘a cave is the image and symbol of the world,’

and it was dark, ‘because the essence of the virtues is obscure.’ All

who sought the favour of this god were subjected to a long course of

painful initiatory discipline. Nonnius, a Greek poet, says—

[Sidenote: MITHRAIC RITES.]

No one can be admitted into his mysteries, unless he has previously

undergone all the punishments, the number of which they say is eighty,

some of them of the gentler sort, others more severe. The milder are

undergone first, then the severer; and after the whole course is gone

through, they are initiated. Fire and water are the sorts of

punishment which they endure. These torments are said to be inflicted

to produce examples of piety and greatness of mind under sufferings.

After they have been many days in water, they cast themselves into

fire; then live in desert places, and there subdue the cravings of

hunger; and thus, as we have said, the aspirant goes through the whole

course of eighty torments; which if he survive, then he is initiated

into the mysteries of Mithras.

Human sacrifices seem to have been used in the worship of Mithras.

Photius, in his life of Athanasius, asserts that there was a Greek

temple in Alexandria, in which, in ancient times, the Greeks performed

sacred rites to Mithras, sacrificing men, women, and children, and

auguring from their entrails. Pliny tells us that in the year of Rome

657, a decree of the senate was passed, forbidding the immolation of

man; for till that time monstrous solemnities were openly

celebrated.[139] The emperor Heliogabalus, a native of Syria, styled

himself high priest of Mithras. His assassination is partly ascribed to

the horror with which the people listened to the tales of magic rites in

which he was concerned, and of human victims secretly slaughtered.[140]

[Sidenote: MITHRAIC CAVE.]

The cave at Housesteads in which the Mithraic sculptures were found, was

situated in the valley to the south of the station. It was discovered in

1822 by the tenant of the farm in which it stood, who fixed upon the

spot as one likely to yield him the material which he required for

building a stone fence hard by. The building was square; its sides faced

the cardinal points. It had been originally, as was usually

[Illustration: Zodiacal Tablet, Borcovicus] the case in a Mithraic

temple, permeated by a small stream. Hodgson, who saw it as soon as it

was laid bare, says, ‘The cave itself seems to have been a low

contemptible hovel, dug out of a hill side, lined with dry walls, and

covered with earth or straw.’ Though the building has been entirely

removed, a small hollow is left which marks the spot where it stood. All

the sculptured stones have happily been placed in the custody of the

Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Amongst them, besides the

altars already given, and some which it has not been thought necessary

here to engrave, is the curious stone shewn in the wood-cut. It

represents Mithras, surrounded by the zodiac. The signs of cancer and

libra are omitted. The zodiacal tablet assumes an egg-like form,

probably to symbolize the principle of generation. The god holds a sword

in his right hand, and a peculiar spiral object in his left. It more

nearly resembles an ear of corn than the flame of a torch. We are

reminded [Illustration: Pine-apple Ornament, etc., Cilurnum] by it of

the ornaments resembling pine apples, which are frequently found on the

line of the Wall; and were probably connected with the worship of this

deity. The example here figured, as well as the small altar which

accompanies it, was found at Housesteads; both are now preserved at

Chesters.

[Illustration: Presumed Mithraic Sculpture, Cilurnum]

[Sidenote: MITHRAIC SYMBOLS.]

The accompanying wood-cut represents a subject which is supposed to be

connected with the mysteries of Mithraic worship. The slab was found at

CILURNUM, and is now at Alnwick Castle. Though not satisfied with

Hodgson’s description of it, I am unable to supply a better. He says;—

The sculpture is in two compartments: that on the left seems to

contain a lion, statant, raising the head of a naked and dead man:

that on the right, a figure of Mithras seated on a bench, and having a

flag in one hand, a wand in the other, and on its head the Persian

tiara.(?) I would hazard a conjecture that the whole relates to the

Mithraic rites called Leontica; for the lion, in the zodiac of the

ancient heathens, stood for Mithras, or the sun, which threw its

greatest heat upon the earth during its course through the

constellation Leo.

[Illustration: Altar to Apollo, Cawfield mile-castle]

[Sidenote: ALTAR TO APOLLO.]

Numerous as are the altars on the line of the Wall to the Persian god,

only one has been found dedicated to Apollo, the Grecian representative

of the luminary of day. It was discovered in the summer of 1850, lying

near a spring in the vicinity of the Cawfield mile-castle, about midway

between the Wall and the Vallum, and is now preserved in the collection

of antiquities at Chesters. The following reading must be regarded as,

in a great measure, conjectural; no doubt, however, can exist as to the

deity to which it is dedicated.

DEO APOL

INI ET O[MNIBVS] N[VMINIBV]S

SINIS[TRA] EXPL[ORATORVM]

CVI PR[AEEST] SVLP[ICIVS]

_VOTVM_ S[OLVIT]

L.L. (_libentissime_) M[ERITO]

To the God Apol-

lo and the other deities,

The left _wing_ of guides

Commanded by Sulpicius,

In discharge of a vow

Most willingly and deservedly.

It is believed that this is the only inscription to Apollo yet

discovered in England, though one at least has been found in Scotland.

The Roman soldiers in Britain were probably not much given to the study

of the _belles lettres_, which were under the peculiar patronage of the

god of the silver bow.

The next is an inscription of unusual importance.

Ultima Cumaei venit jam carminis aetas;

Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.

Jam redit et VIRGO.

[Illustration: Inscription to the Syrian Goddess, Magna]

[Sidenote: INSCRIPTION TO THE SYRIAN GODDESS.]

A slab was found at Carvoran in 1816, and is now in the castle of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which contains an exposition in iambic verse of the

creed of a Roman tribune respecting the mother of the gods. Faber

remarks, that Ceres, Cybele, Venus, the Syrian goddess Derceto, the

Ph[oe]nician Astarte, and the Egyptian Isis, were all one and the same

deity. The inscription, which is an unusually long one, is here arranged

in lines of the length which the scansion requires—

IMMINET LEONI VIRGO CÆLESTI SITU

SPICIFERA, JUSTI INVENTRIX, URBIUM CONDITRIX,

EX QUIS MUNERIBUS NOSSE CONTIGIT DEOS

ERGO EADEM MATER DIVUM, PAX, VIRTUS, CERES,

DEA SYRIA; LANCE VITAM ET JURA PENSITANS.

IN CÆLO VISUM SYRIA SIDUS EDIDIT,

LYBIÆ COLENDUM INDE CUNCTI DIDICIMUS,

ITA INTELLEXIT, NUMINE INDUCTUS TUO

MARCUS CÆCILIUS DONATINUS, MILITANS

TRIBUNUS IN PRÆFECTO DONO PRINCIPIS.

The Virgin in her celestial seat overhangs the Lion,

Producer of corn, Inventress of right, Foundress of cities,

By which functions it has been our good fortune to know the deities;

Therefore the same _Virgin is_ the Mother of the gods, _is_ Peace, _is_

Virtue, _is_ Ceres,

_Is_ the Syrian Goddess poising life and laws in a balance,

The constellation beheld in the sky hath Syria sent forth

To Lybia to be worshipped, thence have all of us learnt it,

Thus hath understood, overspread by thy protecting influence,

Marcus Cæcilius Donatinus, a warfaring

Tribune in _the office of_ prefect, by the bounty of the emperor.

Cæcilius probably prepared this exposition of his faith on being

admitted into the mysteries of Ceres. However unintelligible, we cannot

but admire the humility and teachable disposition of the tribune.

Their judge was conscience, and her rule their law,

That rule, pursued with reverence, and with awe,

Led them, however faltering, faint and slow,

From what they knew, to what they wished to know.

But let not him that shares a brighter day,

Traduce the splendour of a noontide ray,

Prefer the twilight of a darker time,

And deem his base stupidity no crime!

[Sidenote: MINOR DEITIES.]

A glance at some of the minor, and local deities must conclude our

review of the gods of the Barrier.

The deities of Greece and Rome were without number. Every fountain and

river, every hill and forest, had its tutelary deity; every product of

earth, air, or sea, its guardian; every place its genius; every

household its _penates_. The antiquities found on the Wall furnish us

with numerous illustrations of this fact. The engraving represents an

altar which was found at Birdoswald, and is now at Lanercost.

[Illustration: Altar to Silvanus, Amboglanna]

DEO SANCTO

SILVANO VE

NATORES

BANNE S.S. (_sacraverunt_)

To the holy god

Silvanus,

The hunters of

Banna

Have consecrated _this_.

[Sidenote: THE NYMPHS.]

Silvanus seems to have presided over woods and boundaries. Several

altars have been erected to him along the line. Forests must at that

time have covered a great portion of the country, and given shelter to

beasts of chase worthy of the martial prowess of the occupants of the

Isthmus.

A host of female forms, denominated nymphs, haunted mountain, valley,

and stream.

When in the Iliad, the father of the gods calls together his council,

Nor of the Floods was any absent thence

Oceanus except, or of the NYMPHS

Who haunt the pleasant groves, or dwell beside

Stream-feeding fountains, or in meadows green.

An interesting altar, dedicated to these deities, was found by the side

of a spring overlooking the station of HABITANCUM. It is now in the

garden of Spencer Trevelyan, esq., of Long Witton.

[Illustration: Altar to the Nymphs, Habitancum]

SOMNIO PRAE

MONITVS

MILES HANC

PONERE IVS

SIT

ARAM QVAE

FABIO NVP

TA EST NYM

PHIS VENE

RANDIS.

The inscription is roughly cut, but quite legible, no contraction is

used in it, and no ligature is admitted, even in the case of diphthongs.

The construction of the sentence is peculiar, and admits of two

renderings. Taking _nupta est_ to signify dedicated, a peculiar use of

the word, suggested perhaps by its etymological relationship with the

one which it governs, _nymphis_, the inscription will read—

A soldier, warned in a dream, directed the erection of this altar,

which is dedicated by Fabius to the nymphs to whom worship is due.

The other method of rendering it is the following,—

A soldier, warned in a dream, directed her (_eam_ supplied) who is

married to Fabius to erect this altar to the nymphs to whom worship is

due.

[Sidenote: THE GODS OF THE MOUNTAINS.]

According to either interpretation the altar was erected to the sylphs

of the fountain, in consequence of a dream. The lively imagination of

the Roman has invested the humble spring where it originally stood with

such an air of romance, as to render it a matter of regret that the

altar does not still grace the spot.

[Illustration: Altar to the Gods of the Mountains, Vindobala]

The adjoining wood-cut represents a small altar found at Rutchester,

VINDOBALA, and now in the Castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The inscription

reads—To the gods of the mountains, Julius Firminus, the decurion,[141]

erected this. Epona, to whom the next [Illustration: Altar to Epona,

Magna] altar is dedicated, was the protectress of horses; images of her

were to be seen in most stables. Juvenal’s dandy jockey swore by her

alone. This altar was found at Carvoran, and is now in the High School

of Edinburgh. The accompanying example [Illustration: Altar, sculptured

with a Toad, Cilurnum] is not the only instance of a toad being

represented on an altar. This was found at Chesters, CILURNUM, where it

is still preserved. Did the Romans stoop so low as to worship reptiles?

If so, the superstitious practice has probably been derived from the

east. Dr. Kitto remarks, ‘The importance attached to the frog, in some

parts of Egypt, is shewn by its being embalmed, and honoured with

sepulture in the tombs of Thebes. In the Egyptian mythology, the frog

was an emblem of man in embryo.’

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: VITERES.]

Many altars have been found on the line dedicated to gods unknown to

Rome’s Pantheon, and supposed to have a purely local celebrity. The

engraving exhibits one of a numerous class.[142] It was discovered near

Thirlwall Castle about 1757, in the course of the formation of the

military road, and shortly after presented to the Society of

Antiquaries. Vitres, or Viteres, or Veteres, is a god whose name is

confined to the north of Britain. Hodgson remarks, that Vithris was a

name of Odin, as we find in the death-song of Lodbroc—'I will approach

the courts of Vithris, with the faltering voice of fear.' If Viteres and

the Scandinavian Odin be identical, we are thus furnished with evidence

of the early settlement of the Teutonic tribes in England. The altar

given on page 395 is [Illustration: Altar to Viteres, Condercum] also

dedicated to Viteres. The occurrence of the name of this god in a plural

form, as in the annexed example, which was found at CONDERCUM, and is

now at Somerset-house, has suggested the idea, that Viteres is not the

proper name of a god, but that _diis veteribus_—the ancient gods—is the

inscription intended. Most probably, however, Viteres was the name of a

local deity.

[Illustration: Altar to the Dea Hamia, Thirlwall-castle]

[Sidenote: LOCAL DEITIES.]

The next altar is also dedicated to a local goddess; at least it is not

easy to give any more satisfactory account of the _Dea Hamia_. The altar

was found near Thirlwall castle, and belongs to the Society of

Antiquaries, London.

[Sidenote: DEÆ MATRES.]

We now proceed to an important group of altars and sculptures, which,

if not strictly local, are yet chiefly found in those regions of

Europe which were swept by the Teutonic wave in its progress westward.

They have been met with in England, the Netherlands, along the banks

of the Rhine and other parts of Germany, and in France. These deities,

when sculptured, are represented as triple, generally seated, clothed

in long flowing drapery, and bearing in their laps baskets of fruit. A

slab, of which a drawing has already been given (p. 140), is inscribed

MATRIBUS CAMPESTRIBUS, to the mothers of the plains; it probably

refers to the deities in question. An altar found in the same

[Illustration: Altar to the Three Lamiæ, Condercum] station,

CONDERCUM, and now in the vaults of Somerset-house, is inscribed

LAMIIS TRIBUS, to the three Lamiæ. The wood-cut accurately represents

it. In Rich’s companion to the Latin Dictionary, the Lamiæ are

represented as ‘Vampires; believed to be malignant spirits of the

female sex, who wandered about at night in the guise of old hags,

sucking blood, and devouring the flesh of human beings. This

superstition,’ continues the writer, ‘originated in Egypt.’ In

corroboration of the Egyptian origin of this class of demons, it may

be stated that small images, arranged in triplets, are of common

occurrence among [Illustration: Egyptian Idols] [Illustration:

Egyptian Idols] the antiquities of Egypt. The cuts here introduced

exhibit two groups of this class of idols, selected from a large

number of similar sets, in the possession of his Grace the duke of

Northumberland, at Alnwick Castle. Their resemblance to some of those

found upon the line of the Wall is striking. The foreign origin of

these mother-deities is further proved by their being denominated in

inscriptions MATRES TRAMARINÆ, Transmarine Mothers. The altar here

figured is an example of this kind; it was found at HABITANCUM, and is

now preserved [Illustration: Altar to the Transmarine Mothers,

Habitancum] at Alnwick Castle. The inscription records, that Julius

Victor dedicated it in discharge of a vow freely and deservedly to the

Transmarine Mothers. This Victor, it appears by another inscription,

was a tribune of the first cohort of the Vangiones, a Germanic tribe.

On none of these altars are the deities distinguished by a proper

name. This would seem to be in conformity with the superstitious

feelings of the middle ages in England and Germany, where it was

thought unlucky to call the fairies and elves by any other

denominations than the respectful titles of ‘the ladies,’ or ‘the good

people.’ Several sculptures representing, as is supposed, the

mother-goddesses, have been found on the line of the Wall. One group,

found at Housesteads, and now in the castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is

drawn (fig. 4) on Plate XI. When seen by Horsley, this slab had in the

upper part of it two fishes and a sea-goat in relief. Two other sets

got at the same place, are figured in the Britannia Romana. In one of

them, the central or chief figure is represented as bound by the legs.

The ancients, in order to prevent a deity, whose favour they coveted,

taking his departure against their will, not unfrequently used

[Illustration: Sculpture to the Deæ Matres, at Netherby] the

unwarrantable liberty of securing him by chains. At Netherby, there

are three sculptures belonging to this class. One of them, shewn in

the wood-cut, is in a perfect condition. The figures are standing, an

ample covering envelopes their heads, and a short tunic scantily

[Illustration: Sculpture to the Deæ Matres, at Netherby] invests their

bodies. Another group, here engraved, has met with the usual fate of

Roman sculptures in the north of England—they have suffered

decapitation; the ample folds of the garments by which they are

[Illustration: Sculpture to the Deæ Matres, at Netherby] clothed have

happily not been disturbed, and the central or chief personage holds a

basket of fruit. The third sculpture is of larger size and has

suffered more extensive injury; the left hand figure of the group only

remains; she is seated, and holds fruit in her lap. The Byzantine

character of the drapery will be noticed. At Nether-hall another

fragment of a [Illustration: Sculpture to the Deæ Matres, at

Nether-hall] group, procured from the neighbouring station, is

preserved—the left hand figure has been broken off; the two remaining

ladies wear the same cowl-like head-dress as the Netherby mothers;

shewn on the former page. Mr. Thomas Wright, speaking of these mythic

personages, says—

The ancient mythology of the Germanic race was not entirely eradicated

by Christianity; and it is interesting to trace it as reflected in the

popular superstitions of the present day. The reverence for the three

goddesses who presided over the woods and fields, pre-arranged the

fates of individuals, and dispensed the blessings of Providence to

mankind, may thus be traced down to a comparatively late period, both

in Germany and in England. They are sometimes regarded as the three

Fates—the _Norni_ of the north, the wælcyrian of the Anglo-Saxons (the

weird sisters, transformed in Shakespeare into three witches),

disposing of the fates of individuals, and dealing out death and life.

But they are also found distributing rewards and punishments, giving

wealth and prosperity, and conferring fruitfulness. They are the three

fairies who are often introduced in the fairy legends of a later

period, with these same characteristics.[143]

[Sidenote: INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.]

After so long a companionship with the heathen relics found on the line

of the Wall, the reader will naturally ask—Have no Christian remains

been found?—Does no memorial record the name of JEHOVAH, the living God?

A negative reply must be given to the inquiry. There is, however,

abundant evidence to prove, that Christianity was extensively diffused

through the world long before the Romans departed from Britain. Tacitus

tells us, that in his day there was a great multitude of Christians at

Rome itself. The younger Pliny, in the second century, addressing the

emperor, complains that the heathen temples were almost deserted. Justin

Martyr says, there is not a nation in which prayers and thanksgivings

are not offered up in the name of the crucified Jesus; and Tertullian,

the most ancient of the Latin fathers, appealing to the magistrates,

says, ‘We are but of yesterday, yet we have filled every place, your

cities, garrisons, and free towns, your camps, senate, and forum; we

have left nothing empty but your temples.’ Britain early received the

glad tidings. ‘The concurrent voice of antiquity,’ says Mr. Thackeray,

‘although it has not designated the individuals who were the immediate

instruments of Providence in enlightening Britain, assigns the year 60

as about the period when the Christian religion was introduced into this

island.’ At this time there were not fewer than 48,000 Roman soldiers,

including their auxiliaries, in this country, some of whom must have

been well acquainted with the name of Christ. In the army there would be

some centurions like Cornelius, some deputies like Sergius Paulus, who,

not content with knowing the truth themselves, endeavoured to

communicate it to others, and yet these Christian soldiers have, along

the line of the Wall, left no memorial of their faith. The God whom they

served required not the erection of an altar of stone, or an offering of

frankincense. Their ‘inscription’ was, a holy life, ‘seen and read of

all men.’ Notwithstanding the example and teaching of such men, it is a

lamentable fact, that heathenism continued to rear its head in Britain

until near the close of the period of Roman occupation, as several of

the altars found on the line of the Wall clearly testify.

[Sidenote: CHRISTIAN SYMBOL.]

Brand conceived that an altar discovered at Rutchester, and now in the

museum at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, exhibited the Christian symbol. It may

well be doubted whether the rude carving to which he refers, is any

thing more than a partially obliterated letter. There are other letters,

evidently of modern fabrication, carved on this altar.

_Fas est ab hoste doceri._ An obvious remark clothed in Horsley’s own

language, and extracted from a work that is now scarce, will form a

suitable conclusion to this section. Speaking of vows in sickness he

says—

There is one thing in these pagan votive altars that may be a shame

and reproach to a great many who call themselves Christians; and that

is, the willingness and cheerfulness with which they paid, or

pretended to pay, the vows they had made. Such as have any

acquaintance with those things, know how commonly these letters V. S.

L. M. or V. S. L. L. M., are added at the end of inscriptions that are

on such altars, whereby they signified how _willingly_ and

_cheerfully_, as well as _deservedly_, they performed the vows they

had made, viz., _votum solvit libens merito_, or _votum solvit libens,

lubens_ (or _lætus_) _merito_. Much more _deservedly_, and therefore

more _willingly_ and _cheerfully_, should the vows made to the Most

High, to the true and living God, be paid or performed to him, and

particularly the vows made in trouble.[144]

SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS.

[Sidenote: MONUMENTAL SLABS.]

Extreme importance was attached by both Greeks and Romans to the due

discharge of the rites of sepulture. Until earth had been three times

sprinkled over the body of the departed, his spirit was conceived to be

denied admission into the Elysian fields. The practice of burning the

dead became common at Rome about the latter period of the republic. The

inconvenience and expense of the process would necessarily restrict it

to persons of some wealth. After the pile was consumed, the ashes of the

deceased were gathered up by the nearest relative, and deposited in an

urn. There are numerous instances in Britain of the Romans having buried

their dead entire. Skeletons have been found in London, which Mr.

Charles Roach Smith considers must have been deposited in the higher

empire. As Christianity gained ground, the custom of burning the dead

fell into disuse; the early Christians were unwilling to do needless

violence to the dust of a fellow disciple, and resolved to discontinue

the superstitious ceremonies which usually attended cremation.

Whether the body was previously reduced to ashes, or deposited in the

ground unburnt, it was usual to raise a mound over the spot.

Ergo instauramus Polydoro funus: et ingens

Aggeritur tumulo tellus.

_Æn._ III. 62.

[Sidenote: FUNERAL URN.]

Sometimes, instead of a mound of earth, a monument of stone covered the

place where the sepulchral urn was deposited. This was the case at

BREMENIUM, as already described (_p._ 326). With the ashes or body of

the deceased, it was usual to deposit a small brass coin to answer the

demands of Charon. 'This custom of burying valuables and coins with the

dead is by no means extinct; the humbler Irish will pawn their clothes

to provide fresh pieces of money to throw into the coffins of their

departed friends.'[145] The Romans, as formerly observed, did not

usually deposit either the unburnt bodies of the dead, or their ashes,

within the walls of towns or stations. A curious exception to this

practice has lately been noticed. In the month of October last (1850), a

funereal urn was discovered within the station of BORCOVICUS, near the

north-west corner. It was sunk in the earth, and was covered by an

oblong flat stone, without inscription. The vase, which was of

earthen-ware, and altogether devoid of ornament, was globular in its

form, and of large dimensions. It measured two feet in diameter, and two

feet in height. It contained ashes, amongst which was found a solitary

silver coin of Hadrian. This urn is preserved at Chesters. On the slab

covering the remains of the deceased person, the name and age were not

unfrequently inscribed. The carving, which sometimes includes an effigy

of the individual, is often very rude; the back of the stone is, for the

most part, undressed. The inscriptions on these ‘frail memorials’ which

in the mural region have come down to our times, and ‘implore the

passing tribute of a sigh,’ almost uniformly commence [Sidenote: DII

MANES.] with the letters D. M.—_diis manibus_. The shades or departed

spirits are, probably, themselves intended in this address, though much

confusion exists upon the subject in the works of the ancient writers.

In the following lines, Ovid represents the manes as being objects of

worship:—

Est honor et tumulis: animas placate paternas;

Parvaque in extinctas munera ferte pyras.

Parva petunt MANES: pietas pro divite grata est

Munere: non avidos Styx habet ima Deos.

Tegula projectis satis est velata coronis;

Et sparsæ fruges, parcaque mica salis.

[Illustration: Sepulchral Altar to the Manes of Fabia Honorata, Cilurnum]

Some of the ceremonies here referred to by the Latin poet, are still in

use, as all know who have visited the cemetery of Père la Chaise, in

Paris. On the sepulchral slab, death is rarely mentioned; but the number

of years, months, and days, that the deceased lived, is recorded with

great particularity. The altar, of which an engraving is here

introduced, was found at CILURNUM, and is now in the Library of the Dean

and Chapter at Durham. It bears the following inscription—

D[IIS] M[ANIBVS] S[ACRVM]

FABIÆ HONOR

ATÆ FABIVS HON

ORATIVS TRIBVN[VS]

COH[ORTIS] I. VANGION[VM]

ET AVRELIA EGLIC

IANE FECER

VNT FILIÆ DVLCISSIMÆ

Sacred to the divine Manes of

Fabia Honorata.

Fabius Hon-

oratius the tribune of the

First cohort of Vangiones,[146]

And Aurelia Eglic-

iane erected _this_

To their most sweet daughter.

[Sidenote: MORTALITY OF THE GARRISON.]

‘Tender souls!’ exclaims Hodgson, ‘your last act of piety to a beloved

daughter has not been forgotten: the altar that bears the memorial of

your affection still exists, though it has been banished from the

custody of the ashes which were committed to its care.’ Though painful,

it is yet pleasant to notice the heavings of natural affection in the

martial bosom of a Roman soldier. This stone differs from most of the

sepulchral monuments, in being an altar instead of a slab, and in not

mentioning the age of the deceased. It has been remarked that the larger

proportion of the tomb-stones of the mural region record the deaths of

young persons. The climate of the north of England, particularly of the

exposed district of the Barrier, must have told with fearful severity

upon the constitutions of those who had been reared under the sunny

skies of Italy and Spain.

[Illustration: Sepulchral Slab to the Manes of Aurelia Faia, Magna]

[Sidenote: SEPULCHRAL SLAB.]

The large slab which is here figured, was found at Carvoran, and is now

in the castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It reads—

D[IIS] M[ANIBVS]

AVRE[LIAE] FAIAE

D[OMO] SALONAS

AVRE[LIVS] MARCVS

Ↄ (_centurio_) OBSEQ[IO] CON-

IVG[IS] SANCTIS-

SIMAE QVAE VI-

XIT ANNIS XXXIII.

SINE VLLA MACVLA

To the divine Manes of

Aurelia Faia,

Of a house of Salona,

Aurelius Marcus

A centurion, out of affection

For his most holy wife

Who lived

Thirty three years,

Without any stain, _erected this_.

[Sidenote: MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS.]

It is not unnatural that a soldier while bemoaning the loss of a beloved

wife in a land of strangers, should so dwell upon her virtues as to

conceive that hers was a faultless character. Gruter gives an

inscription which nearly resembles this. It was erected by Marcus

Aurelius Paullus—

CONIVGI INCOMPARABILI

CVM QVA VIXIT ANNIS XXVII

SINE VLLA QVERELA

To his incomparable wife, with whom he had lived twenty-seven years

without having had a single squabble.

‘This couple,’ says Mr. Akerman, ‘must for ever throw into the shade all

the candidates for the Dunmow flitch.’

[Illustration: Sepulchral Slab to the Memory of Cornelius Victor]

At Chesterholm is a slab which, though suffering from exposure to the

weather, is still distinct:—

DIIS MANIBVS

CORN[ELIVS] VICTOR S. C. (_Sibi Constitvit_)

MIL[ES] ANN[OS] XXVI CIV[IS]

PANN[ONIAE] FIL[IVS] SATVRNI-

NI P.P VIX[IT] ANN[OS] LV. D[IES] XI

CONIVX PROCVRAVI

To the divine Manes; Cornelius Victor ordered this to be erected over

himself. He was a soldier twenty-six years, a citizen of Pannonia, and

the very dutiful (P.P. _pientissime_) son of Saturninus. He lived

fifty-five years and eleven days. I, his wife, saw his order executed.

The tomb-stone to a young physician has already been given, page 227.

CENTURIAL STONES.

[Sidenote: CENTURIAL STONES.]

The only other class of inscribed stones to which reference will now be

made, is that of centurial stones. The centurions seem to have been in

the habit of placing a common stone, inscribed with the name of their

_century_—company or troop, in that section of the Wall which they had

built. The letters are usually very rudely cut; sometimes they are

enclosed in a border, as in the annexed example, which, probably found

in the vicinity of CILURNUM, is now at Alnwick Castle.

[Illustration: Centurial Stone, Coh. V. Cæcilii Proculi, Cilurnum]

COH[ORS] V

> (_centuria_) CAECILI[I]

PROCVLI

The fifth cohort.

The century of Cæcilius

Proculus.

More frequently, however, the stone is entirely unadorned, as in this

example, which, along with [Illustration: Centurial Stone, Cilurnum] the

former, was removed from Walwick Chesters to Alnwick Castle. The letter

C, reversed thus Ↄ, or more frequently an angular mark resembling the

letter V, laid upon its side thus >, is the sign usually adopted for

_centuria_, century. Two centurial stones are shewn in the wood-cut

introduced in page 190. The upper one, that of Valerius Maximus, was

described, a century ago, by Horsley, who found it near

Haltwhistle-burn. Afterwards it was built up in a gable of the Cawfield

farm-house, against which a coal-shed was formed. Here, though sadly

begrimed, it was protected from further injury, until rescued by the

present owner of the farm, and safely deposited in the museum of

antiquities at Chesters.

COINS.

[Sidenote: NUMISMATIC REMAINS.]

Next in importance to the inscribed stones found on the line of the

Wall, the student of history will reckon the coins which the spade and

plough of the husbandman turn up in considerable numbers in the mural

region. In a rude state of society the commercial transactions of the

residents of a district are almost entirely confined to an interchange

of the commodities produced by each. A body of soldiery, however, liable

to be removed from place to place, and compelled to expend their

energies in unproductive industry, are necessarily obliged to resort to

the use of money. It is chiefly in the stations where the Roman legions

lodged, or on the roads which they traversed, that the imperial coin is

found. These metallic pieces, bearing the insignia of Rome, thus become

exceedingly important in tracking the march of Roman armies. As works of

art, the design and execution of many of them are truly admirable. The

copper coins of Hadrian are especially worthy of study. The custom which

prevailed during the best periods of the empire, of rendering the

circulating medium of the market-place the means of commemorating the

leading events of the day, gives them increased value. Were all the

other records of Roman story destroyed, its most stirring incidents

might be recovered by a careful examination of the coins which the

cabinets of the antiquary contain.

[Sidenote: COINS.]

Ample use has already been made of this source of information in the

first Part of this work. Why is it that Britain neglects this means of

rousing the spirit of her people, of communicating information, and of

securing an almost imperishable memorial of her mighty acts? Had she

recorded upon her coinage the events of the last half-century, she would

have transmitted to posterity the memory of a series of warlike

achievements and peaceful triumphs unparalleled in extent and unequalled

in glory. As it is, our metallic currency has little value beyond its

commercial worth, and generation after generation is compelled to

contemplate, with what complacency they may, the same lady sitting

immoveably upon the same enduring rock, and the same mounted knight

making his interminable attempt to slay the same deathless dragon. The

immense number of the coins found upon the line of the Wall, and the

extension of the series from the earliest periods down to the time of

Honorius, prove incontestibly the length of time that the Romans

maintained their hold of this isthmus. The accidental loss of pieces of

money will not, alone, account for the large quantity which has been

found. In times of danger the possessors of treasure seem to have been

in the habit of concealing it in the earth; the secret of their having

done so must often have perished with them. In excavating that portion

of the station of CILURNUM which was opened in 1843, not fewer than

seventy Roman coins were found. In 1833, near the west gateway of

VINDOLANA, three hundred small brass coins, mostly of Constantius and

Mangentius, were found, not in a heap or vessel, but dispersed among the

soil. The Rev. John Walton, who, about a century ago was vicar of

Corbridge, made a considerable collection of Roman coins, by purchasing

such as were turned up in the neighbouring station of Corchester. The

following circumstance is related concerning him. A party of Jews having

established in the neighbourhood a prussian-blue manufactory, felt

disposed to enter the market with the vicar. Mr. Walton, unwilling to

compete with them by offering a larger price, had the fields where the

coins were found, strewed with imitations of the genuine pieces. These,

on being picked up, were freely bought by the Jews, who, soon finding

the trade a losing one, abandoned it altogether.

The station, notwithstanding such systematic gleaning, is not yet

deprived of its treasures. Not long ago, a rustic eked out a livelihood

by searching for its coins, and disposing of them to occasional

customers. The other day a plough-boy being asked if he had found any

lately, produced straight-way from his pocket not less than thirty, most

of them, indeed, highly corroded.

The coinage of Rome seems to have continued in circulation in the north

of England for a very short time after the departure of the Roman forces

from Britain. Saxon money is found in Northumberland of a date coeval

with the arrival of that people, but is never mingled with the Roman

coinage. The coins of the Romans, on the other hand, are never

accompanied by those of their successors. Within about forty years after

the departure of the Romans, the circulation of the imperial coinage

seems to have ceased. This circumstance proves incontestibly that a

mighty political revolution had taken place in the interval. The present

appearance of the stations corroborates the idea. The walls have been

forcibly thrown down, the statues and other objects within them

purposely mutilated, and the whole inclosure rendered, as far as

possible unfit for human habitation.

[Sidenote: THORNGRAFTON COINS.]

To attempt a description of even the principal coins that can still be

ascertained to have been procured from the district of the Wall, would

be to compose a treatise upon numismatics. It will perhaps be sufficient

to lay before the reader a brief [Illustration: Vessel, in which the

Thorngrafton Coins were found] account of the hoard which was discovered

in 1837, in an ancient quarry near Thorngrafton. The coins, sixty-five

in number, were contained in a small skiff-shaped receptacle with a

circular handle. The vessel represented in the adjoining wood-cut is

about six inches long; the lid has a hinge at one end, and fastens with

a spring at the other. The coins are at present in the possession of the

brother of the quarryman who discovered them, and he holds them with

such tenacity, that my artist was refused permission to see even the

case which contained them, though he had taken a journey of thirty miles

for the purpose of drawing them. Mr. Fairless, of Hexham, was more

fortunate, and obtained leave to take sealing-wax impressions of the

coins, from which the wood-cuts have been prepared. I am indebted to Mr.

Fairless for the description of the coins, which he took from the pieces

themselves.

GOLD.

[Illustration]

_Obv._ TI. CLAVD. CAESAR. AVG. GERM. P.M. TRIB.POT. P.P.

_Rev._ NERO CLAVD. CAES. DRVSVS. GERM. PRINC. IVVENT.

[Illustration]

_Obv._ NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS.

_Rev._ SALVS.

[Illustration]

_Obv._ IMP. CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ A Victory holding a garland over the head of a Roman soldier, and

in the exergue, COS. VIII.

SILVER.

1. _Obv._ IMP. NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS.

_Rev._ SALVS. Device same as in gold above.

[Illustration]

2. _Obv._ IMP. SER. GALBA CAESAR AVG.

_Rev._ DIVA AVGVSTA.

[Illustration]

3. _Obv._ IMP. SER. GALBA CAESAR AVG.

_Rev._ S.P.Q.R. OB. C.S. (Within a wreath.)

4. _Obv._ SER. GALBA AVG. _Rev._ Same as last.

[Illustration]

5. _Obv._ OTHO CAESAR AVG.

_Rev._ PONT. MAX.

[Illustration]

6. _Obv._ IMP. CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ IMP. XIX. A basket filled with corn or bread.

[Illustration]

7. _Obv._ CAES. VESP. AVG. P.M. COS. III.

_Rev._ CONCORDIA AVGVSTI.

[Illustration]

8. 9. 10. _Obv._ IMP. CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ PON. MAX. TR.P. COS. VI.

[Illustration]

11. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. VESP. AVG. CENS.

_Rev._ PONTIF. MAXIM.

[Illustration]

12. _Obv._ DIVV. AVGVSTVS VESPASIANVS.

_Rev._ No inscription. A figure standing.

[Illustration]

13. _Obv._ IMP. VESP. AVG. P. M. COS. VIII.

_Rev._ VES (figure) TA.

[Illustration]

14. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. VESPASIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ COS. ITER.—(figure)—TR. POT.

[Illustration]

15. _Obv._ Same as last.

_Rev._ COS.—(an eagle standing on cippus)—VII.

[Illustration]

16. _Obv._ Inscription same as last.

_Rev._ Reversed goats’ heads, bearing a shield.

[Illustration]

17. _Obv._ Inscription same as last.

_Rev._ COS. ITER. TR. POT.

[Illustration]

18. _Obv._ Inscription same as last.

_Rev._ GENIVM—(figure)—P.R.

[Illustration]

19. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. DOMITIANVS AVG. P.M.

_Rev._ TR. POT. II. COS. VIIII. DES. X. P.P.

[Illustration]

20. 21. _Obv._ Same as last.

_Rev._ IMP. XXI. COS. XVI. CENS.P. P.P.

[Illustration]

22. 23. _Obv._ CAESAR AVG. DOMITIANVS.

_Rev._ COS. IIII. Pegasus.

[Illustration]

24. _Obv._ CAES. DOMIT. AVG. GERM. P.M. T.R.P.

_Rev._ IMP. XIIII. COS. XIII. CENS. P. P. P.

[Illustration]

25. _Rev._ IMP. XXII. COS. XVI. CENS.P. P. P.

[Illustration]

26. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. DOMITIANVS AVG. P. M

_Rev._ TR. POT. II. COS. VIIII. DES. XII.

[Illustration]

27. _Obv._ CAES. AVG. DOMIT. COS. III.

_Rev._ PRINCEPS IVVENTVT.

[Illustration]

28. _Obv._ IMP. NERVA. CAES. AVG. P.M. TR.P. COS. III. P.R.

_Rev._ FORTVNA P.R.

[Illustration]

29. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. NERVA. TRAIAN. AVG. GERM.

_Rev._ PONT. MAX. TR. POT. COS. II.

[Illustration]

30.31. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. NERVA TRAIAN. AVG.

_Rev._ P.M. TR.P. COS. VI. P.P. S.P.Q.R.

[Illustration]

32. _Obv._ IMP. TRAIANO AVG. GER. DAC. P. M. TR.P.

_Rev._ COS. V. P.P. S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO PRINC.

[Illustration]

33. 34. 35. _Rev._ COS. V. P.P. S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO PRINC.

[Illustration]

36. _Obv._ IMP. TRAIANO AVG. GER. DAC. P.M. TR.P. COS. V. P.P.

_Rev._ S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO PRINCIPI.

[Illustration]

37. _Obv._ Same as last.

_Rev._ S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO PRINCIPI.

_Exergue._ FORT.RED.

[Illustration]

38. Same as before.

_Exergue._ PAX.

[Illustration]

39. _Obv._ IMP. TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG. GER. DAC. P.M. TR.P.

_Rev._ COS. VI. P.P. S.P.Q.R.

[Illustration]

40. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. NERVA TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG. GER. DAC.

_Rev._ P.M. TR.P. COS. VI. P.P. S.P.Q.R.

41. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. NERVA TRAIAN. AVG. GERM.

[Illustration]

42. 43. _Obv._ IMP. CAES. NERVA TRAIAN. AVG. GERM.

_Rev._ P.M. TR. P. COS. II. P.P.

[Illustration]

44. Same as 40. with _Exergue_. TRO—VIO.

[Illustration]

45. _Obv._ IMP. TRAIANO AVG. GER. DAC. P.M. TR.P.

_Rev._ COS.V. P.P. S.P.Q.R. OPTIMO PRINC.

[Illustration]

46. The same as last.

[Illustration]

47. Same as last. Seated figure, the right hand extended, holding a

Victory.

[Illustration]

48. _Obv._ IMP. CAESAR TRAIAN. HADRIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ P.M. TR.P. COS. III.

[Illustration]

49. _Obv._ Same as last.

_Exergue._ FEL. P.R. (doubtful.)

_Rev._ P.M. TR.P. COS. III.

[Illustration]

50. _Obv._ IMP. CAESAR TRAIAN. HADRIANVS AVG.

_Rev._ P.M.TR.P. COS. III.

PIE—TAS, in the field.

51. _Obv._ Same as last.

_Rev._ P.M.TR.P. COS. III.

CONSULAR AND OTHERS.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

This coin symbolizes the peace concluded between the Roman general

Scaurus and the Arabian monarch Aretas.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

MINERALS AND METALS.

In nearly all the stations of the line, the ashes of mineral fuel have

been found; in some, a store of unconsumed coal has been met with,

which, though intended to give warmth to the primeval occupants of the

isthmus, has been burnt in the grates of the modern English. In several

places the source whence the mineral was procured can be pointed out;

but the most extensive workings that I have heard of, are in the

neighbourhood of Grindon Lough, near Sewingshields. Not long ago, a

shaft was sunk, with the view of procuring the coal which was supposed

to be below the surface; the projector soon found, that though coal had

been there, it was all removed. The ancient workings stretched beneath

the bed of the lake.

[Sidenote: MINING OPERATIONS.]

In Allendale and Alston Moor, numerous masses of ancient scoriæ have

been found, which must have resulted from the reduction of lead from its

ore. In the station of Corchester, portions of lead pipe have been

found; it is an inch and a half in diameter, and has been formed by

bending round a flat strip of the metal, and soldering the joint.

Iron has been produced in large quantities. In the neighbourhood of

HABITANCUM masses of iron slag have been found. It is heavier than what

proceeds from modern furnaces, in consequence, probably, of the

imperfect reduction of the ore. In the neighbourhood of Lanchester, the

process seems to have been carried on very extensively. On the division

of the common, two large heaps were removed, the one containing about

four hundred cart loads of dross, the other six hundred. It was used in

the construction of some new roads which were then formed, a purpose for

which it was admirably adapted. In the neighbourhood of one of these

heaps of scoriæ, the iron tongs represented in Plate XVII. fig. 8, so

much resembling those at present used by blacksmiths, were ploughed up.

During the operation of bringing this common into cultivation, the

method adopted by the Romans of producing [Sidenote: BLAST FURNACE.] the

blast necessary to smelt the metal was made apparent. Two tunnels had

been formed in the side of a hill; they were wide at one extremity, but

tapered off to a narrow bore at the other, where they met in a point.

The mouths of the channels opened towards the west, from which quarter a

prevalent wind blows in this valley, and sometimes with great violence.

The blast received by them would, when the wind was high, be poured with

considerable force and effect upon the smelting furnaces at the

extremity of the tunnels.

METALLIC IMPLEMENTS.

Notwithstanding the tendency of iron to oxidize, several weapons made of

this material, and used by the Romans, have come down to our day. Their

general character and form can be better learnt from an inspection of

the drawings which depict them than by verbal description. On Plate X.

are shewn two spear or javelin heads, and on Plate XVII. the iron points

of some arrows.

Vessels of cast-metal, fitted for domestic use, are occasionally met

with. On Plate XVII. fig. 2, is a specimen of a pot or boiler, closely

resembling those in modern use; it was found in cutting the Newcastle

and Carlisle Railway, near Haydon Bridge.

[Sidenote: METALLIC IMPLEMENTS.]

Bronze vessels are occasionally found. The utensils depicted on Plate

XVI. are of this metal. Fig. 1, is a pan, evidently intended for

culinary purposes. The use of the other vessel, fig. 2, so nearly

resembling a modern coffee-pot, is not so apparent, though several of

this form have been found in the Roman stations in the north of England.

Is it a decanter—a sort of wine flagon? Both of these vessels were found

on the line of the Wall, but at what point I have been unable to learn.

Near to Whitfield, were recently found three camp-kettles, of peculiar

make, which are now in the Museum of Antiquities at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

They are formed of bronze, but of exceedingly thin metal; they have

evidently seen much service, and are patched in several places. Owing to

the thinness of the metal they would very readily feel the fire. In

Italy, where during a great part of the year a fire is only lighted when

indispensable, similar vessels are still in use. These three vessels

vary in size, so as to allow of their being placed one within the other.

The smallest of them is shewn on Plate XVII. fig. 3. The strainer, fig.

1, also of bronze, and very finely and tastefully perforated, was found

with them.

The boss of a shield, having something of the appearance of the head of

a snake, Plate VII. fig. 2, is also of bronze. It is preserved at

Chesters.

Fibulæ or clasps, for fastening the loose robes worn by the Romans, are,

as may be supposed, of ordinary occurrence. The one represented, of the

full size, Plate XIV. fig. 2, was found at Carvoran. It is of bronze,

and is of a form of which there are many examples. The tongue is

wanting, but the spiral spring to which it was attached, and the groove

which caught it, are distinctly observed. The small pair of bronze

shears or scissors, which are shewn of their full size, Plate XIV. fig.

1, were also found at Carvoran.

_PLATE XV._

[Illustration:

J. STOREY DEL ET LITH. PRINTED BY A. REID.

Samian Ware, from Wallsend and Lanchester

]

_PLATE XVI_

[Illustration:

J STOREY DEL ET LITH PRINTED BY AND^w REID.

Bronze Vessels

]

_PLATE XVII._

[Illustration:

J STOREY DEL ET LITH PRINTED BY AND^w REID.

Iron Pot, Bronze Vessel, Tongs, etc.

]

_PLATE XVIII_

[Illustration:

J STOREY DEL ET LITH PRINTED BY AND^w REID.

Soles of Sandals, etc.

]

EARTHENWARE AND MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

[Sidenote: ROMAN POTTERY.]

Few subjects possess more interest than the pottery of the Romans.

Whether we regard the shape of the vessels, the beauty of their

ornaments, or the excellence of the material of which they are composed,

they are worthy of our admiration. Fortunately for the present writer,

so much has recently been published upon the subject, as to justify him

in dismissing it with a brief notice.

Among the earthenware vessels found in the mural region are some of

coarse structure, such as _amphoræ_, _mortaria_, pans for common

domestic purposes, and some which have probably been intended for

exposure to the fire. The amphoræ are large narrow-necked vessels,

capable of containing several gallons, and formed of red clay. In

general, they have been furnished with two handles, on one of which the

maker’s name is not unfrequently stamped. They were used for holding

wine. I am not aware of any having been found on the line of the Wall,

in a state at all approaching to completeness.

The mortars are strong shallow vessels, provided with a lip for the

convenience of pouring. They are formed of clay, resembling fire-brick

in colour. On their inner surface, are frequently imbedded angular

fragments of quartz, chert, or iron scoriæ. By this contrivance, the

bruising of parched corn or other articles of food would be more easily

effected.

Various vessels of common earthenware, such as would be required in

every household for holding water, grain, and kindred substances, are

discovered, occasionally nearly perfect. At Nether Hall some very fine

ones are preserved, which were found in the neighbouring station; one is

twelve inches in diameter, and nearly six deep. Another, of globular

form, is ten inches in diameter, and nine in depth.

Besides these, fragments of thick vessels are frequently met with, which

are of a porous nature, and hence well adapted to withstand the sudden

application of heat. In these, when placed upon the fire, we may readily

conceive that food was baked or stewed.

Other vessels, for the most part of smaller size, more elegant shape,

and composed of finer materials, are of common occurrence. Some are

nearly black, others grey or slate-coloured: these are quite plain and

unembossed. A species of yellow earthen-ware is found, tinted with a

brown pigment, by the partial removal of which, a sort of pattern is

given to it. All these are of British manufacture. Many of the potteries

in which they were fabricated, have been clearly ascertained. The

slate-coloured and grey kinds owe their peculiar hue to the action of

what has been called, the smother kiln. During the process of baking the

vessels, the vent of the furnace has been closed, so as to fill the kiln

with smoke. The unconsumed carbon not only communicated its own hue to

the objects exposed to it, but prevented the iron, which usually forms

the colouring matter of clay, from being converted into the peroxide,

which is of a brick-red colour.[147]

[Sidenote: SAMIAN WARE.]

The finest species of earthenware found in Roman camps, is that called

Samian. It is of a bright coral-red colour. It can at once be detected

by its glaze, which has not yet, in modern times, been successfully

imitated. Some vessels are quite plain, but others are very tastefully

embossed. Plates IX. and XV. furnish specimens of the more ornamental

kind. The large fragment, engraved Plate XV. fig. 1, was found in

sinking the shaft of the famous Wallsend pit. No potteries for the

manufacture of this species of ware, have been found in Britain; and as

the maker’s marks, and the patterns of the embossed varieties correspond

with those found on the continent, it is conceived to be of foreign

origin. Gaul and Spain have been pointed out as the countries from which

the specimens exhumed in Britain were probably procured. The vast

quantity of fragments of Samian ware mingled with the rubbish of some of

the stations is truly remarkable; and not less worthy of observation is

the fact, that not only has the clay of which the broken vessels are

composed, undergone no deterioration by being buried for centuries in

the damp earth, but even the glaze is, to all appearance, uninjured.

That even the plainer kinds of Samian ware have been accounted valuable

by their owners, is evident from the circumstance, that marks and names,

by which they might be identified, have in numerous instances been

scratched upon them. In Plate VII. figs. 9 and 11, are two examples of

this kind, found at CILURNUM, and still preserved there. In some cases

where a vessel has been fractured, it has been joined by clasps of lead.

Fig. 1, Plate VII., is an example of this, also found at CILURNUM. The

process of boring the holes to receive the lead must have been one of

some labour, and would not have been undertaken unless the vessel had

been accounted valuable.

An imitation of the Samian ware seems to have been made in Britain

during the continuance of the Roman period. It is not equal to the

original in colour, texture, or design. Fig. 2, Plate IX. differs in

appearance from true Samian—it may be an imitation.

The lamp shewn on Plate XIV. fig. 4, is of red earthenware, covered with

a black pigment; it proves the vast amount of skill and taste which the

Romans lavished even upon articles of minor importance.

[Sidenote: MINOR ANTIQUITIES.]

Mill-stones are among the most frequent of the discoveries made in our

Roman stations. Some, found at CILURNUM, are shewn in Plate XIII. fig.

4. They closely resemble the querns which were used in Scotland and the

rural districts of Northumberland, within a recent period. Many of the

stones consist of the mill-stone grit, basalt, or granite of the

district; others are formed of a species of lava which is not procured

in any locality nearer than Rhine Prussia. The advantage of these

foreign stones is, that, though hard, they are porous, and, as they wear

away, still present a continuity of sharp edges to the action of the

grain.

The process of grinding the corn by hand-mills must have been a most

tedious one. Probably a large proportion of the grain consumed by the

soldiers of the Barrier was simply boiled, after being slightly bruised

in mortars.

[Sidenote: CONCLUSION.]

Here a period must be put to this account of the Roman Wall and its

antiquities. Many topics worthy of fuller discussion have been but

cursorily treated, and some omitted altogether; but it is impossible, in

a work of this extent, to do full justice to a subject of such

magnitude; we content ourselves with imitating the moderation of

Hadrian, who, instead of grasping at universal empire, sought only a

dominion which he might reasonably hope to maintain.

Still, we may reckon on some advantage from the brief communion we have

held with the Mighty among the Ancients. We can hardly tarry, even for

an hour, in association with the palmy days of the Great Empire, without

learning, on the one hand, to emulate the virtues that adorned her

prosperity, and on the other, to shun the vices that were punished by

her downfall. The sceptre which Rome relinquished, we have taken up.

Great is our Honour—great our Responsibility—

... Heavenly wisdom on this ball

Creates, gives birth to, guides, consummates all.

States thrive or wither (as moons wax and wane)

E'en as His will and His decrees ordain;

While Honour, Virtue, Piety, bear sway,

They flourish; and as those decline, decay.

[Illustration: Tail piece—Romæ Æternæ Fortunæ Reduci]

-----

Footnote 137:

This small altar was found at Benwell, and is now in the possession of

the Society of Antiquaries, London—it is drawn to twice the usual

scale.

Footnote 138:

On the ides the undefiled priest in the temple of the great Jove

offers in the flames the entrails of a wether.

Footnote 139:

Archæologia Æliana, i. 306.

Footnote 140:

Smith’s Dictionary of Biography and Mythology.

Footnote 141:

Decurion, a commander of a troop of ten men.

Footnote 142:

This and the two subsequent cuts are drawn to twice the usual scale.

Footnote 143:

For further information on this interesting subject the reader is

referred to two admirable papers by Mr. C. Roach Smith, and Mr. Thomas

Wright, in the second volume of the Journal of the British

Archæological Association.

Footnote 144:

Vows in Trouble, by John Horsley, A.M. London: Printed for Richard

Ford, at the Angel, in the Poultry, near Stocks market. And sold by R.

Akenhead, Bookseller, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1729.—At the time

Horsley published this book, he was engaged in the preparation of the

_Britannia Romana_.

Footnote 145:

Smith’s Collectanea Antiqua i. 21.

Footnote 146:

The first cohort of the Vangiones were in Britain in the time of

Hadrian, from whom some of them, in 132, had a discharge from the

army, with the privilege to marry. They were from Belgic Gaul, and

were a long time quartered at Risingham, at which station eight of

their tribunes have left their names on inscriptions.

_Hist. Nor._ II. iii. 183.

Footnote 147:

See Remains of Roman Art in Cirencester, 78.

-----

------------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX.

ABALLABA, 297.

ÆSICA, Great Chesters, 254.

Agricola lands in Britain, 7.

ALIONIS, 347.

Altars, form of, 395.

AMBOGLANNA, Birdoswald, 278.

Amphoræ, 445.

Ancient Britons, description of, 16.

Apollo, altar to, 411.

Aqueduct at Great Chesters, 257.

Arthur, King, traditions respecting, 205.

Arthur’s Well, 264.

Astures, a people from Spain, 141.

Battle of Heaven-field, 167.

Bede, on the building of the Wall, 379.

Belatucadrus, altar to, 401.

Belted Will, 285.

Benwell, CONDERCUM, 137.

Bewcastle, 344.

Binchester, 344.

Birdoswald, AMBOGLANNA, 278.

Black-carts farm, Wall on, 196.

Black-dike, 211.

Blake-chesters, 321.

Blast furnace, 443.

Blea-tarn, 297.

Bloody-gap, 244.

Bogle-hole, traditions of, 245.

BORCOVICUS, Housesteads, 214.

BORCOVICUS, etymology of, 228.

Borcum or Barcombe, quarry on, 231.

Border strife, 296.

Borders, state of, in middle ages, 209.

Bradley, 232.

Brampton, 349.

Bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 130.

Bridge over North Tyne, 170.

Britain, first notice of, 2.

BREMENIUM, High-Rochester, 325.

BREMETENRACUM, 350.

Broaching of the stones, 85.

Brunton, the Wall at, 169.

Bueth’s castle, 345.

Burgh-upon-Sands, 304.

Burnswark, 356.

Busy-gap, 207.

Byker-hill, 118.

Cæsar’s landing in Britain, 3.

Carrawburgh, PROCOLITIA, 197.

Cambeck-fort, PETRIANA, 288.

Camp kettles, 444.

Carausius, 21.

Carlisle, LUGUVALLIUM, 301.

Carvoran, MAGNA, 267.

Castella, 67.

CASTRA EXPLORATORUM, 353.

Caw-gap, 246.

Cemeteries, 183, 262.

Centurial Stones, 429.

Chapel-hill, 224.

Chapel-house, 274.

Chapel-houses, 147.

Chesters, CILURNUM, 171.

Chesterholm, VINDOLANA, 236.

Chew-green, 325.

Chives on Walltown crags, 264.

Christian remains, none on the Wall, 421.

Christianity, early introduction of into Britain, 422.

CILURNUM, Chesters, 171.

_Cippi_, 326.

Coal wrought by the Romans, 442.

Cocidius, altar to, 401.

Coins found on Borcum, 231, 434.

Coins found in Cambeck fort, 289.

Coins found in Newcastle bridge, 131.

Coins, number of Roman, relating to Britain, 37.

Coins, general remarks upon, 431.

Coins, number found on the Wall, 432.

Coins, Roman and Saxon, not commingled, 433.

Coins, spurious, 365.

Concrete, hydraulic properties of Roman, 182.

Constantine proclaimed emperor, 23.

CONDERCUM, Benwell, 137.

Corchester, CORSTOPITUM, 332.

CORSTOPITUM, Corchester, 332.

Cost of the Wall, 94.

Cousin’s-house, 113.

Crags, why the Wall built upon, 201.

Cumming’s cross, 206.

_Dea Hamia_, 417.

_Deæ Matres_, 417.

Denton Hall, 146.

Devil’s Wall in Germany, 96.

Down-hill, 156.

Drumburgh, 309.

Dykesfield, 307.

Earthenware, 445.

Ebchester, 341.

Edward I. at Bradley, 233.

Egyptian triple goddesses, 418.

Ellenborough, 361.

Emperors worshipped, 398.

EPEIACUM, 342.

Epona, altar to, 415.

Fibulæ, 444.

Fisher’s-cross, 311.

Forest, primeval, 310.

Fortune, altar to, 403.

Fosse of the Wall, 51.

Gelt quarry, 385.

Genius, local, altar to, 399.

Genius of the Wall, 353.

Gildas’ account of the miseries of the Britons, 27.

Glass for windows, 222.

Goddess mothers, 417.

Graham’s-dike, 97.

Great Chesters, ÆSICA, 254.

Grooves in thresholds of gates, 220.

HABITANCUM, Risingham, 329.

Hadrian arrives in Britain, 11.

Hadrian, death of, 391.

Hadrian slabs, 383.

Harlow-hill, 155.

Halton-chesters, HUNNUM, 159.

Haltwhistle, 252.

Haltwhistle-burn-head, 254.

Hare-hill, 284.

Heddon-on-the-Wall, 149.

Hedley, Rev. Anthony, 105.

Hexham, 194, 339.

Historical testimonies respecting the building of the Wall, 372.

Hodgson, Rev. John, 106.

Horsley, biographical notice of, 103.

Horsley on Christian vows, 423.

Hospital, camp, 362.

Housesteads, BORCOVICUS, 214.

HUNNUM, Halton-chesters, 159.

Hypocausts at HUNNUM, 162.

Hypocausts, their probable use, 180.

Hypocausts at Chesters, 174.

Inscriptions, value of, 187.

Iron wrought by the Romans, 442.

Irthington, 295.

Itinerary of Antonine, 328.

Jarrow, 323.

Jupiter, altar to, 397.

Keep of Castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 135.

Kiln for drying corn, 223.

Kirk-Andrews, 302.

Lakes of Northumberland, 229.

_Lamiæ_, 418.

Langley castle, 231.

Lanchester, 342.

Lanercost priory, 284.

Lanx, the Corbridge, 334.

Lead wrought by the Romans, 442.

Legio XX. engaged upon the Wall, 247.

Limekiln, 327.

Limestone-bank, 195.

_Lingones_ at Tynemouth, 108.

LUGUVALLIUM, Carlisle, 301.

MAGNA, Carvoran, 267.

Maiden-way, 269.

Malcolm Canmore, 321.

Mars, altars to, 401.

Maryport, 361.

Masonry of the Stations, 84.

Masonry of the Wall, 78.

Maximus, 319.

Middleby, 354.

Mile-castles, 67.

Mile-castle at Cawfield, 248.

Mile-stone, 239.

Mill-stones, 448.

Military-way, 69.

Milking-gap, 234.

Minerva, altar to, 402.

Mithras, altar to, 404.

Monument to Edward I., 306.

Moresby, 366.

Mortar, Roman, 86.

_Mortaria_, 445.

Mountain-god, 415.

Mumps-hall, 275.

Murus and Vallum, one design, 387.

Mythology of Gothic tribes, 421.

Names of stations ascertained, 61.

Naworth-castle, 284.

Netherby, 352.

Nether-hall, 362.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 121.

Nine-nicks of Thirlwall, 265.

North Shields, 321.

Nymphs, 414.

Old Carlisle, 360.

Old Town, 349.

Ouseburn mile-castle, 119.

Pap-castle, 366.

Passage of the Eden, 300.

Passage of the Irthing, 277.

Peel-crag, 243.

Peel-houses, 253.

PETRIANA, Cambeck-fort, 288.

Polytheism of the Romans, 398.

Plumpton, 358.

PONS ÆLII, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 121.

PROCOLITIA, Carrawburgh, 197.

Quarry on Fallowfield fell, 80.

Quarry on Haltwhistle fell, 80.

Quarry, Roman, 292.

Rapishaw-gap, 230.

Richard of Cirencester on the building of the Wall, 390.

Risingham, HABITANCUM, 329.

Rochester, High, BREMENIUM, 325.

Roman emperors, number who visited Britain, 36.

Ruts in gateway of Birdoswald, 280.

Rutchester, VINDOBALA, 150.

Sacrifices, Roman, 396.

Samian ware, 447.

Sandals, Roman, 348.

Secondary forts, 315.

SEGEDUNUM, Wallsend, 105.

Sepulchral inscriptions, 424.

Severus lands in Britain, 15.

Severus, death of, 392.

Sewingshields farm-house, 200.

Shields’-lawe, 322.

Silvanus, altar to, 413.

Speaking pipes in the Wall, 76.

Stags’-horns, 269.

Stanwix, 299.

Stations, description of, 56.

_Stationes per lineam valli_, 60.

Steel-rig, 243.

Stotes-houses, 117.

Streets, narrowness of, 221.

Syrian goddess, 412.

Tepper-moor, 196.

Terraced gardens, 224.

Thirlwall-castle, 270.

Time occupied in building the Wall, 94.

Toads represented on altars, 416.

Tower of Repentance, 307.

Tower-tay, 195.

Traditions regarding CILURNUM, 192.

Traditions, Sewingshields, 203.

Transmarine Mothers, 419.

Troughs of stone, 158.

_Tumuli_, 351, 365.

Turrets, 68.

Twice-brewed-ale (inn), 233.

Tynemouth, 318.

Vallum, description of, 52.

Vallum, additional rampart of, 283.

Vangiones, 427.

Vegetation inimical to the Wall, 93.

Vespasian and Titus in Britain, 5.

Viteres, altars to, 395, 416, 417.

Victory, figure of, 300.

VINDOBALA, Rutchester, 150.

VINDOLANA, Chesterholm, 236.

VINDOMORA, 342.

Wallend, 273.

Wall, in relation to the rivers, 100.

Wallis, 349.

Wall-mill, 262.

Wall, probable height of, 47.

Wallsend, SEGEDUNUM, 105.

Walltown crags, 263.

Walton, 287.

Warden-hill, 194.

Wardley, 324.

Water-course, ancient, 161, 257.

Watch-cross, 298.

Whitley-castle, 346.

Wreckendike, 322.

Written rock on the Gelt, 81.

Zodiacal tablet, #409.#

Transcriber’s Note

On p. 178, footnote 86 appears with no anchor in the text. Judging from

the context, the anchor has been placed at the end of the sentence

beginning ‘The stone pillars are...’, which mentions the balusters

referred to in the note.

On p. 317, based on the context, the word ‘stones’ in the phrase ‘all

the trifling [stones] put together’, is most likely a misprinting of

‘stories’.

Lapses and inconsistencies in punctuation and format in tabular matter,

or in the Index have been silently corrected.

The index entry 'Fosse of the Wall' is out of order, and its position

has been adjusted.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and

are noted here.

p. x. British Archæ[o]logical Association Added.

p. xx. 16. Section of Works, near eighteenth Transposed.

mile-stone [25/52]

p. xxiii. 164. Sc[lu]/ul]pture to the Deæ Matres Transposed.

p. 8 f[ri/ir]ths Transposed.

p. 16 that ascend from these marshes.[”] Removed.

p. 50 T[ih/hi]s portion Transposed.

p. 62 wh[i]ch is thus inscribed Added.

p. 65 n. 34 and in the neig[h]bourhood Added.

p. 103 n. 54 a native of No[r]thumberland Added.

The mi[l]liary which told to Hadrian’s Added.

soldiers

p. 134 suc[c]essor Added.

p. 150 so that a [a ]greater portion Line break

repetition.

p. 204 have bee[e]n widely diffused Removed.

p. 258 artific[i]al mound Added.

Wher[e]ever line break

hyphenation

error.

p. 310 circu[cu]lar Removed.

p. 362 The body of [of] the road Removed.

p. 380 n. 135 is now known in the [p/d]istrict Corrected.

p. 407 dis[c]ipline Added.

p. 423 _deserve[r]dly_ Removed.

p. 430 vi[n]cinity Removed.

p. 447 f[n/u]rnace Corrected.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Roman Wall, by Rev. John Collingwood Bruce