classes of Roman pottery, both evidently made in Shropshire. The first
is a white ware, made of what is known as the Broseley clay, and
consisting chiefly of very elegantly formed jugs, with narrow necks;
mortaria, or vessels for rubbing or pounding objects in cookery, the
interior surface of which is covered with grains of hard stone; and
bowls, which are often painted with stripes of red and yellow. The other
Romano-Salopian pottery is a red ware, differing in shade from the red
Roman wares usually found, and also made from one of the clays of the
Severn valley. Among the vessels in this ware are bowls pierced all over
with small holes, so as to have served the purpose of colanders. We find
also some very curious specimens of an imitation of the Samian ware; but
we have as yet no means of ascertaining where it was made.
Many very interesting fragments of glass vessels have also been found in
the excavations at Wroxeter. Two or three other objects intended for
domestic purposes have been met with, such as a small bowl or cup made of
lead, and what appears to have been the handle of some larger vessel,
made of block tin, neither of which metals, used for such purpose, are of
common occurrence among Roman remains in this country. A ladle and
several knives have also been found, and a handle of a knife made of
stone, as well as several whet-stones.
Of personal ornaments the most numerous are the hair-pins, most of which
are made of bone, though there are a few of bronze, and one of wood.
Their use was to hold together the knot into which the Roman women rolled
up their hair behind the head, and through which the pin was thrust.
They are, on an average, about three inches long, with a large head
rudely ornamented; and it will be remarked that the shank is thicker in
the middle, and that it becomes generally thinner near the head, no doubt
to prevent the pin from slipping out of the hair. Some of these pins had
evidently been saturated with an oily substance, which shews that the
ladies in Roman Britain applied oil to their hair. Several fibulæ of the
common Roman forms, have been met with; they are all of bronze, of
superior workmanship to the hair pins, and most of those hitherto found
at Wroxeter are, or have been, enamelled. Their use was to fasten the
mantle and other parts of the clothing. Among the personal ornaments
found already in the excavations are a number of buttons, finger rings,
bracelets, glass beads, and other objects, of which it is not necessary
here to give a particular description. Of two combs, both of bone, one
is remarkably neat in its form and make. Several bone needles may also
be mentioned, and a pair of bronze tweezers for eradicating superfluous
hairs.
Roman coins are found in considerable numbers, but many of them are so
worn and defaced that it is no longer possible to decide to what emperor
they belonged. The earliest met with during the present excavations is
of the emperor Domitian. A great number are small coins of the
Constantine family of emperors. Only two silver coins have yet been
found, the others are of bronze or brass. The peasantry call them
_dinders_, a name which, though it represents the Latin _denarius_, was
no doubt derived from the Anglo-Norman _denier_.
Many objects of a more miscellaneous character have also been found
during the present excavations; or have found their way into the Museum
from former discoveries. Among these are three artists’ pallettes, for
using colour; several weights, some marked with Roman numerals; a
steelyard; several keys; portions of iron chains; styli, for writing on
wax tablets; an iron trident, which may perhaps have been the head of a
staff of office or authority; one or two spear heads; a strigil for
scraping the skin in the sweating baths; a portion of an iron horse-shoe;
and two or three very nice statuettes in bronze. The most curious,
however, of these miscellaneous objects is a medicine stamp, intended to
mark packets or bottles of what, in modern times, would be called patent
medicines. A certain number of these Roman medicine stamps have been
found in Britain and on the Continent, and they are all, like this stamp
found at Wroxeter, for salves or washes for the eyes, diseases of the
eyes having been apparently very common among the inhabitants of the
western provinces of the Roman empire. The Wroxeter stamp, intended for
a collyrium or salve for the eyes called _dialebanum_ or _dialibanum_,
gives us in all probability the name of a physician resident in
Uriconium. The inscription may be read as follows, filling up the
abbreviations:—TIB_erii_ CL_audii_ M_edici_ DIALIBA_num_ AD OMNE VIT_ium_
O_culorum_ EX O_vo_, _i.e._, the dialebanum of Tiberius Claudius the
physician, for all complaints of the eyes, to be used with egg.
A few stones, with Roman inscriptions, chiefly of a sepulchral character,
have been dug up at Wroxeter in the course of accidental excavations.
Three of these were found in 1752, and are preserved in the library of
Shrewsbury School. The first inscription may be read thus:—
C. MANNIVS
C. F. POL . SECV
NDVS . POLLEN
MIL . LEG . XX
ANORV . LII
STIP . XXXI
BEN . LEG . PR
H . S . E.
intimating that it marked the grave of a soldier of the twentieth legion
(which was stationed at Chester, the Roman Deva) named Caius Mannius, of
the Pollian tribe. Another commemorated a soldier of the fourteenth
legion, and has been supposed to belong to a very early period, as that
legion was withdrawn from Britain before A.D. 68. It was the legion
which suffered so much in the war against Boadicea, and this soldier may
perhaps have been engaged in that war, although his having died in
Britain does not necessarily imply that the legion to which he had
belonged was there at the time, or indeed that it had ever been there,
unless we had some other reasons for supposing that it had been there.
His name was Marcus Petronius, the son of Lucius, of the Menenian tribe,
and the inscription may be read as follows:—
M. PETRONIVS
L. F. MEN
VIC . ANN
XXXVIII
MIL. LEG
XIIII . GEM
MILITAVIT
ANN. XVIII
SIGN . FVIT
H . S . E.
The third of these inscribed monuments was divided into three columns or
tables, commemorating three members of the family of a citizen of
Uriconium, named Deuccus. The inscription on the third column is
entirely erased, but the two others may be read as follows:
D. M D. M
PLACIDA DEVCCV
AN . LV S . AN . XV
CVR . AG CVR . AG
CONI . A RATRE
XXX
Another sepulchral stone, also preserved in the Library of Shrewsbury
School, was found in 1810, and bore an inscription commemorative of
Tiberius Claudius Terentius, a soldier of the cohort of Thracian cavalry,
which may be read as follows:—
TIB . CLAVD . TRE
NTIVS . EQ . COH
THRACVM . AN
ORVM . LVII. STIP
ENDIORVM
H . S.
In the excavations on the site of the cemetery, in the autumn of 1862, a
sepulchral stone was found, which had not improbably been placed over the
door of a sepulchral chamber of masonry. There had been a figure above,
the lower part of the legs and feet of which alone remain. The slab
bears the following inscription, which from the damage the stone has
sustained is very difficult to decipher, but I owe this reading to the
knowledge and acuteness of my friend Mr. Roach Smith. I may add that
some of the letters are extremely doubtful
AMINIVS . T . POL . F . A
NORVMXXXXVSTIPXXII . MIL . LEG.
IIGEM . MILITAVITAQNVNC HIC SII
LEGITE . ET . FELICES . VITA . FLVS . MINV
IVSTAVINIERAQVATIEGIIIE . INTV
TANARA . DITIS . VIVITE . DVMSPI . . .
VITAE . DAT . TEMPVS . HONESTE.
It is clear, at a glance, that the latter part of this inscription
contains three lines in hexameter verse; unfortunately they are the lines
most rubbed and most difficult to make out. Dr. Mc. Caul, president of
the University of Toronto, in Canada, in his recent work on
“Britanno-Romano Inscriptions,” suggests that they may be—
Perlegite et felices vitâ plus minus jutâ;
Omnibus æqua lege iter est ad Tænara Ditis.
Vivite, dum Stygius vitæ dat tempus, honeste.
The two last words of the first line are extremely doubtful, and I
confess that I do not believe in Dr. Mc Caul’s reading, which, of course
is but conjectural. The second does not appear at all to answer to what
remains of the original, with the exception of the last words Tænara
Ditis. But of the last line, Mr. Smith’s reading is much the best, and
indeed appears to me to be the correct one,—
Vivite, dum spatium vitæ dat tempus, honeste.
The part preceding the verses may be read—
Aminius (perhaps Flaminius), T_iti_ Pol_lioni_ F_ilius_, annorum
xxxxv., stip_endiorum_ xxii, mil_es_ leg_ionis_ vii g_e_m_inæ_.
Militavit aq_uilifer_. Nunc hic si_tus est_.
It may be remarked that in many respects this is one of the most curious
Roman inscriptions found in this island, and that it appears to be of
rather an early date.
Another mere fragment of a stone, of the present existence of which I can
learn nothing, is said to have contained the letters:—
LERT
FGAI
...TILES.
Lastly, a monument of stone, which, during the middle ages had been
formed into a holy water stoop, and which is now in the vicarage garden,
presents what has formed part of a Roman inscription—
BONA . REI
PVBLICÆ
NATVS.
It has probably been a dedication to one of the emperors, or an
inscription commemorative of him.
* * * * *
IT has been stated before, that the site of Uriconium is of very great
extent. If the visitor, after having examined the excavations, would
seek an agreeable walk, he may turn off by the smith’s shop already
mentioned, along the northerly continuation of the Watling Street Road,
which soon becomes a deep and pretty country lane, and crosses the Bell
Brook. Soon afterwards, on the rise of a bank, we come to a spot where
the ancient town wall crossed this road, and where there are said to be
traces of one of the gateway entrances to Uriconium. At the latter part
of the year 1862, excavations were made in an adjoining field to trace
the line of the town wall, which was found remaining to a height of three
or four feet; but it was of very rough construction, built merely of
small stone boulders mixed with clay, and had evidently been raised
hurriedly, at a late period of the history of Uriconium, to meet some
sudden emergency. There had evidently been an entrance opening here, but
there were no traces of gateway buildings, which were perhaps only of
timber. Outside the walls, on the bank to the right, was one of the
principal cemeteries, and here the sepulchral inscriptions mentioned
above were found. Successful excavations were made in 1862 on the site
of this cemetery, and many Roman graves were opened which furnished the
Museum in Shrewsbury with another inscribed monument of great interest, a
number of sepulchral urns and vessels of glass, and various other
objects.
If, instead of going northward, the visitor follows the Watling Street
Road towards the south, he will soon reach the village of Wroxeter, and
may examine its church. A new gate to the churchyard has recently been
erected, and Mr. W. H. Oatley, of Wroxeter, who holds the office of
churchwarden, has contributed a shaft of a Roman column, and two Roman
capitals, which, together with another shaft given by the Rev. E.
Egremont, are now placed on each side of this gateway. The two capitals,
which were dragged out of the river Severn, are worthy of particular
attention. They are singularly rich in ornament, and mark that late
period of Roman architecture which became the model of the mediæval
Byzantine and Romanesque. I cannot help wishing that they were safely
deposited in the Museum at Shrewsbury, and I think that the Roman columns
would serve as well for gateway supports without the capitals, which
probably did not belong to them. The church of Wroxeter is a substantial
Norman building, with later alterations, and on the outside of the
southern wall of the chancel are the remains of a very interesting Norman
doorway, which has been built up.
The chancel internally is chiefly remarkable for some fine monuments with
effigies of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries,
interesting especially for their costume. It has at present a low flat
whitewashed ceiling, but there is a fine old timber roof above, and it is
greatly to be regretted that the unsightly ceiling has not been removed,
so that the chancel might again be open to its lofty roof of timber. At
the western end of the church is an early font, _pl._ 7, which has been
formed of a very large Roman capital, taken from some important building
in the city of Uriconium. Such applications of Roman monuments to later
ecclesiastical purposes are by no means uncommon. In the garden of the
vicarage, which adjoins the churchyard, are a few fragments of Roman
architecture and sculpture, which have been carefully preserved by the
present vicar, the Rev. E. Egremont.
Near the churchyard stands the residence of Mr. Oatley, who has also
collected in his garden a few fragments from the ancient city and its
neighbourhood. Among these is a cylindrical stone, which at first sight
might be taken for part of a column, but which appears, from a few
remaining letters of an inscription, to have been more probably a Roman
milliarium or mile-stone. Mr. Oatley has placed a Roman capital on the
top of it, and both are represented in _pl._ 6. Several architectural
fragments are also preserved in the garden of Mr. Stanier. Two of the
most interesting of these, belonging to the shaft of the same column, or
to those of two similar columns are represented in _pl._ 15.
The Watling Street Road leads us direct from the gateway of the
churchyard to the river Severn, which is here crossed at present by a
ford. On the right is a large rugged field overlooking the river, and
occupied by Mr. Oatley, which has been trenched in several directions,
but nothing was discovered except a Roman well, ten feet deep, which is
kept open, and is now partly filled with clear spring water. In an
orchard at the corner of this field, near the road, were found a number
of human skeletons, attended with some remarkable circumstances, for an
account of which I refer the reader to Dr. Johnson’s remarks at the end
of this little volume. On the other side of the Watling Street Road, the
ground rises to a little knoll, which looks down upon the river, and
seems to have formed the southern corner of the inclosure of the city of
Uriconium. The top of this knoll has been carefully explored, and the
walls of a square building, perhaps of a tower, were uncovered. Among
the objects found on this spot were a head sculptured in stone, and a
mould for casting Roman coins, both of which are deposited in the Museum
at Shrewsbury. The impress on the coin-mould is that of a coin of Julia
Domna, the wife of the emperor Severus, (the commencement of the third
century); and it is rather a curious circumstance that a silver coin of
this empress, which fits the impress exactly, has been found in the
excavations near the Old Wall. This method of multiplying the imperial
coinage by casts seems to have been very common in these distant
provinces, and was perhaps exercised by the imperial or municipal
officers. Another coin-mould, also with the impress of Julia Domna, was
found at Wroxeter in 1747, and two, one of Severus himself, and the other
of Plautilla, in 1722.
* * * * *
IN conclusion, I may perhaps be allowed to make a remark on some of the
various points on which the excavations on the site of Uriconium have
already thrown more or less illustrative light during the short period in
which they have as yet been carried on. We see how, by examining their
buildings and comparing the objects that are turned up by the pick and
the spade, we get an insight into the condition of the inhabitants of
Roman Britain, and learn to what degree they enjoyed the luxuries and
comforts of life. We see that they possessed a great majority of the
refinements of modern society—far more than can be traced among the
population of the middle ages. We are taught even the character of their
food by remains of edible animals. The comparison of other objects
enables us to judge to a great degree of the state and extent of
manufactures and commerce. We learn from inscriptions on their
sepulchral monuments and altars the names and occupations of some of the
inhabitants of the ancient town, and the races to which they belonged;
and from this partial information we are enabled by induction to obtain a
general view of the whole. We are thus enabled to form a truer notion of
the manner in which this country had been inhabited and governed during
nearly four centuries; and we have the further hope of eventually
discovering monuments which will throw some light on the more particular
history of this neighbourhood in these remote ages. We learn, finally,
from the condition in which the ruins of Uriconium are now seen, and
especially from the numerous remains of human beings which are found
scattered over its long-deserted floors, the sad fate under which it
finally sank into ruin, and thus we are made vividly acquainted with the
character and events of a period of history which has hitherto been but
dimly seen through the vague traditions of writers who at best knew them
only by hearsay.
Catalogue of Wroxeter Antiquities in the Museum at Shrewsbury.
I.
OBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSES AND
OTHER BUILDINGS.
1. Roofing flags, of micaceous sandstone, form generally hexagonal, with
a hole for the nail.—_See pl._ IV., _fig._ 1.
2. Tiles of various kinds:—small square tiles, flue-tiles, roof-tiles,
&c. Large oblong square tiles for bonding-courses in the walls, &c.
Square tiles for making the pillars in the hypocausts.
3. Specimens of the concrete which covered the hypocaust, to the depth
of eight inches or more, forming the floor of the apartment.
4. Eight different specimens of the tessellated, or mosaic, pavement,
taken up as it was found, and framed.
5. Drawings of the same, made by Mr. George Maw, of Broseley, and
presented by that gentleman to the Museum.
6. Sculpture in sandstone; a head of late Roman art, which appears to
have formed part of the architectural ornamentation of a building.
7. Bases, capitals, and shafts of columns.
8. Stucco, covering the walls, coloured, plain, and with some formal
patterns. One specimen, bearing the letters A. R. C. A., having formed
part of an inscription on the wall. Tessellated ornamentation of the
surface of a wall, dark and light tesseræ, so as to form an irregular
pattern.
9. _Umbilicus_, or hinge for a door.
10. Iron bolts, [Picture: T shaped image] shaped iron stancheons, and
nails, for fixing roof and flue-tiles upon the walls.
11. Many tiles bearing the impression of the foot of domestic or wild
animals,—some of the dog; other, of the sheep, pig, horse, and ox.
II.
OBJECTS FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES.
1. POTTERY:—
_a_. Samian ware.
_b_. Upchurch pottery.
_c_. Durobrivian pottery.
_d_. Romano-Salopian ware, made of clay obtained from Broseley.
_e_. Pieces of red earthenware, probably made in Shropshire.
2. GLASS:—
_a_. Fragments of flat or window glass.
_b_. Portions of bottles, &c., generally coloured, some opalescent.
_c_. Fragments of a cup, ornamented with spots of deep purple glass.
_d_. One green glass bottle, 6½ inches high, with narrow neck, found in
the cemetery, quite entire.
_e_. A green glass jar, with wide mouth, about 5 inches high and 6
inches wide, also found in the cemetery. It was full of soil, everywhere
penetrated by roots of plants.
_f_. Two metallic mirrors or _specula_, one in fragments, the other
entire. They are of white metal, a compound of tin and copper, with a
large proportion of the former.—(Cemetery.)
_g_. Three very pretty lamps. One bears the figure of Hercules, another
that of a dolphin, a third that of a boy kneeling.—(Cemetery.)
_h_. A silver fibulæ.
3. Bronze statuette of Venus and Mercury.
4. A _strigil_, (fragment.)
5. Part of an iron horse-shoe. Iron bit of a bridle. Iron spur.
6. Two masks, one made of terra cotta, the other of pottery.
7. Anomalous earthenware vessel.
III.
IMPLEMENTS AND UTENSILS.
1. Weights: one in lead, 20¼oz.; another in stone, 11½oz.
Weight in lead, marked ii., weighs 2¼oz.; another also in lead, weighs
2½oz.
2. Ladle; and neck of some vessel made of block tin.
3. Several keys, of different forms. Iron padlock.
4. Large shackles, chains, &c., of iron.
5. Knives, spear-heads, and portions of other weapons. Two axe-heads.
Bone handle of a sword, _very curious_.
6. Several whet-stones. Stone handle to a knife. Touchstone.
7. Iron trident.
8. Rings of iron, bronze, and lead.
9. _Styli_ of bronze and iron; bronze tweezers; bronze and iron spoons;
steelyard.
10. Small cup of lead; ditto of thin copper.
11. Large plates of lead, purpose unknown.
12. Cock made of lead, a child’s toy.
13. Fragment of a lamp in red pottery.
14. Three painters’ pallettes.
15. A curious iron box—(ointment box?)
16. Iron trowel.
17. Bronze lancet (?)
IV.
PERSONAL ORNAMENTS.
1. Hair pins, in great variety; more than 30 specimens have been found
made usually of bone; with some of bronze, but these are much more
slender. _Pl._ 11.
2. Bodkins or needles made of bone.
3. Fibulæ, and buckles in great variety.
4. Bracelets or armlets, and brooch.
5. Bronze studs or buttons, some flat, and others very convex.
6. Finger rings:—_a_. silver; _b_. yellow bronze; _c_. bronze, with iron
wire; _d_. bronze, with open work on one side; _e_. fragment of one of
wood; _f_. iron signet ring: device engraved upon a blue stone, a fawn
coming out of a nautilus shell.
7. Combs made of bone, one much ornamented. _Pl._ 10, _figs._ 5, 6.
8. Beads of glass of various sizes, some large to suspend round the
neck, others to string together upon a thread.
9. Bronze bracelet of twisted work.
COINS.
1. Coins found in the present excavations at Wroxeter.
2. Coins found at Wroxeter, at different times, and given to the Museum.
3. The coins found with a skeleton in the hypocaust.
4. Coining-mould of baked clay. Julia Domna.
CINERARY URNS.
1. Large red earthenware urn, containing human hones (burnt), inclosed
in an outer urn of lead, which was brought from Wroxeter many years ago.
2. Another Cinerary urn of black pottery, containing burnt human bones,
found in a field adjoining the cemetery, and outside the town walls.
Purchased by the secretary.
3. A large Cinerary urn, found in the recent excavations, ten inches
high, and thirty in circumference, almost entire, containing bones, but
not human.—_See pl._ 13, _fig._ 2.
4. Cinerary urns in red and black pottery of various sizes, from 4 to 12
inches high. Some contained burnt human bones and unguent
bottles.—(Cemetery.) Many small flask-shaped bottles were found, some
broken, some entire, some which had evidently been exposed to heat. Oily
matter was detected in one; hence they have been termed unguent
bottles.—(Cemetery.)
V.
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS.
MEDICINE STAMP, found at Wroxeter in 1808, by Mr. Upton; purchased from
his family in 1859, by the late Beriah Botfield, Esq., M.P., who
presented it to the Museum.
1. Oyster shells in great number; shells of some nut found in an oyster
shell.
2. Remains of small animals and birds.
3. Nondescript articles in iron, shapeless masses of lead, innumerable
fragments of pottery, bone, &c.
4. Fragments of horn and bone which have been cut with a saw or other
tool.
5. Fragments of bone, which have been turned in a lathe.
6. Inscribed sepulchral stone with Latin inscription, partly legible.
There has been a statue on the top.—(Cemetery.)
7. A skiff-shaped vessel in bronze, with round handle, and a lid which
closed with a catch.
8. Several legs of the fighting cock, with very large natural spurs.
9. Roundels, formed chiefly from the bottoms of earthenware vessels,
perhaps used in some game; others made with a hole in the centre.
10. Skulls of the dog; one, that of a dog of the mastiff kind, of an
unknown species. Bones of horse, ox, roe, and red deer, (_Cervus
elaphus_); also fragments of the horn of a species allied to the elk of
Ireland, (_Strongylocerus spelæus_.) Very numerous remains of the wild
boar, including bones of the hoof, jaw, and tusks.
Among other bones of the ox are some of a very large kind, now unknown in
this country.
Also, the crania of the _Bos longifrons_, more than one bearing evident
marks of the fatal blow of the axe on the forehead.
11. Specimens of _mended_ pottery:—1. Samian ware. 2. Upchurch. 3.
Romano-British pottery.
12. Slabs of stone for grinding or mixing colours, painters’ pallettes.
13. Specimen of Hepatic iron ore. Ditto of Barytes or heavy spar.
14. Iron tire of a wheel, 3ft. 3ins. in diameter, 1½ inch in breadth.
Two iron hoops, supposed to have belonged to the nave of the same wheel.