/"tk Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/eburacumoryorkunOOwell Clifton r W ® MODERN YORK ARID ANCIENT EBURAf UM . EBURACUM, OR YORK UNDER THE ROMANS. By C. WELLBELOYED. Hanc Romana manus muris et turribus altam Fundavit primo, comites sociosque laborum Indigenas tan turn gentes adhibendo Britannas. Ut foret emporium terras commune marisque; Et fieret ducibus secura potentia regni Et decus Imperii, terrorque hostilibus armis. Alcuinus. YORK: SOLD BY R. SUNTER AND H. SOTHERAN; AND BY LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON. 1842. LONDON: RICHARD KINDER, PRINTER, GREEN ARBOUR COURT, OLD BAILEY. fcPTTY UD. tit • PREFACE. A brief outline of the following work formed the subject of a paper read by the Author at a weekly meeting of a few of the Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, soon after the opening of a new entrance into York from the North, through the rampart, and the forming of some deep sewers in various parts of the city, had brought to light considerable portions of the wall and other remains of the Roman station of Eburacum. It was thought highly desi- rable that these and several other recent discoveries, which had revealed so much more than had hitherto been known of the state of York under the Romans, should not he suffered to pass into oblivion, or be known only to a few of the residents in York, or casual visitors ; and the Author was strongly urged to enlarge his paper into a work that should not only record these late discoveries, but should bring into one view all the remarkable monuments of Roman York which had been found, and were still existing, or of which any memorial was preserved, from the time of Camden to the present day. The desirableness of such a work was enhanced by additional discoveries of great interest, in the progress of the excavations soon afterwards carried on both within and without the walls of the city, on the south side of the river, by the Companies of the York and North Midland, and the Great North of England Railways. These were still going on and daily disinterring some precious relics IV PREFACE. of the Roman times, when the Author was requested by the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society to deliver a course of lectures on the Antiquities in the Museum of the Society entrusted to his care, in pursuance of a plan which had been suggested, and in respect of the collections in the department of Natural History, admirably executed by his friend Professor Phillips. With this request he was induced to comply, with less reluctance than, under a consciousness of his being but ill qualified to appear as a public lecturer, he would have felt, by the hope, that as the antiquarian collec- tions in the Museum were chiefly Roman remains found in York, and amongst them the most important of those re- cently discovered, the lectures might be so composed, as to form the substance of the work for which he was preparing. Such was the origin of the volume now presented by the Author to the public, with no little anxiety, lest it should not be deemed worthy of the public regard. He would urge his plea for a candid judgment, in the words of the great Roman antiquarian, addressed with a similar purpose to his friend and patron, the Emperor Titus : “ Res ardua, vetustis novitatem dare, obsoletis nitorem, obscuris lucem, fastiditis gratiam, dubiis tidem.” He may also, he hopes, presume to add, without incurring the charge of vanity, “ Itaque etiam non assecutis, voluisse, abunde pulchrum est.” 1 In executing the task he had undertaken, the Author thought that the object of his lectures would be best answered, not by merely exhibiting and describing to his audience the various articles in the antiquarian department of the Museum in detail, but by enlarging upon those general subjects of Roman antiquity, to which these articles had any relation, and illustrating them, as he proceeded, by describing or referring to the most interesting of the Roman remains. He presumed that to many of his hearers such subjects were 1 Fliuii Hist. Nat. lib. i. PREFACE. V not familiar, and that without some information respecting them they would not justly appreciate the antiquarian trea- sures of the Museum, nor feel that interest in them which he was desirous of exciting. And he presumes that among his readers also there may be some who have not had the leisure or the means of turning their attention to such subjects, and to whom therefore the relics of Roman York may be less interesting than they appear, if associated with a previous knowledge of the history, customs and arts of those who founded Eburacum, and of whom these relics are the memorials. He is fully sensible of the deficiencies and imperfections which the well-informed antiquary will readily discover in these portions of his work ; but if he has not brought together all the information that might have been collected, he has been very solicitous not to advance any thing without sufficient authority : he has studiously applied to the best sources within his reach ; he has scrupulously pointed out all those from which he has drawn, and has given the best references within his knowledge to other sources whence further information may be obtained by those disposed to seek it. Originality in such a work cannot be expected : nor does the Author pretend to offer anything new to his readers but what will be found in the history of recent discoveries ; and the description of Roman remains which for ages have lain deeply buried in the ground. And he regrets that as many relics discovered in past ages have been unre- corded, so many have recently appeared only to be deposited in private collections, or removed to a distance, and which, therefore, as to any additional knowledge respecting Roman York to be generally derived from them, might as well have remained in the obscurity from which they have been re- covered. Interesting as the antiquarian department of the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society is, its in- terest and importance would be greatly increased, if it were, VI PREFACE. what it ought to be, the depository of all the existing remains of the great station by the walls of which it is placed. It has been asked, why the Author has departed from the usual orthography of the ancient name of that station ? He would beg leave to say in reply, that it is partly because the name in its more usual form had been appropriated as a title to the far more important work of the learned historian of York ; but chiefly because he considers the form he has adopted to be more in conformity with the etymology of the name. Yet he would not have presumed to vary from the more common orthography unsupported by what he thought sufficient authority. Eburacum is the form in which it appears in the best editions of the Itinerary of Antoninus ; in those of Aldus, Simler and Wesseling. It is so written in the Chorography of Britain, by the anonymous Geographer of Ravenna. Camden, though he adopts the common ortho- graphy, recognises that preferred by the author : “ Eboracum sive Eburacum.” Baxter decides in favour of the latter ; observing, “ Ita enim et Antonino et Anonymo scriptum reperio cum Ptolemaeo sit Eboracum, quod tamen tantundem esse scio.” He refers also to the derivation of the name ; “ De Britannico Eur vel Ebr adjectiva forma fit Evrauc Vicinam etiam flumen Eura (sive Ebura ) di- citur, & C .” 1 Dr. T. Gale, in his “ Antonini Iter, &c.” p. 19, prefers Eburacum, and also appeals to the origin of the name ; “Vis vocabuli est super Urum fluvium, qui licet hodie ad Eburacum Isis vocatur, olim per totum aquarum suarum cursum nomen Uri retinebat, et hinc certe Latini Eburacum expresserunt.” Horsley in his Essay on the Itinerary of Antoninus, citing the names of the station from that work, adopts the spelling in the edition he used, Eburacum ; but adds “ or Eboracum, as it is more usually written,” and thus he elsewhere uniformly writes it. On the authorities now 1 Glossar. Antiq. Brit., Eburacum. PREFACE. Vll cited, the Author has ventured to depart from the more usual orthography, which however he acknowledges, besides long-established usage, has the powerful support of Ptolemy, the ancient geographer ; and of the inscription on the Theca of Diogenes Verecundus the sextumvir . 1 In delivering his lectures, the Author had of course fre- quent occasion to introduce this name, and he excited the surprise of some of his hearers, by pronouncing the a short, Eburacum, instead of Eburacum. He confesses that he did so without much consideration, in compliance, as he thought, with common usage. The remarks then made have led him to examine the subject, and to inquire after the authorities that can be produced in favour of either of the two modes of pronouncing the name. He is not aware of any classical writer to whom an appeal can be made. The writer nearest to the classical times, he believes to be Alcuinus, a native of York, and one of its brightest ornaments, the friend of Arch- bishop Egbert, and the preceptor of Charlemagne. One of his works is a poem entitled, not by himself, probably, but by his editors, “ De Pontificibus et Sanctis Ecclesise Ebora- censis.” In this poem neither Eboracum nor Eburacum occurs, but York is uniformly called Euborica. Thus, speak- ing of Edwin, he says, “ Euborica genitus, dominus per cuncta futurus. Pulsus in exilium fugit puer invida regna.” And thus also, speaking of Wilfrid, “ Qui prius Euboricse fuerat Vice-domnus et Abbas.” May it not be presumed, that if he had adopted the usual orthography, he would have given to the name the same quantity ? The next writer whose authority, so far as the Author knows, can be produced, is Johannes de Garlandia, a 1 See p. 102. Vlll PREFACE. grammarian, born in the village of Garlande in Normandy, who appears to have come into England in the time of William the Conqueror. From his poem, “ De Triumphis Ecclesise,” Archbishop Usher has cited the following passage, in reference to the question concerning the birth-place of Constantine : 1 “ Hsec Constantinum peperit, pater hinc Eboraci Decessit nato,” &c. Thomas Stubbs, in his “Actus Pontificum Eboracensium,” has recorded an Epitaph on Archbishop Thomas, who died in the year 1100; whether composed near the time of that event, or later, does not appear. It begins thus : “ Orba jacet, viduata bono pastore, patrono, Urbs Eboraca dolet, non habitura parem." 2 Henry of Huntingdon, who flourished in the twelfth century, cites a passage from a poem by an anonymous author, describing the principal English cities, in which Eboracum occurs with the penultimate short, “ Batha lacu, Salebira feris, Cantuaria pisce, Eboracum sylvis, Excestria clara metallis.” 3 Camden, in the later editions of his “ Britannia,” quotes, wherever he has an opportunity, from the poems of J. Jonston, of Aberdeen, 4 whose testimony is in favour of the same pro- nunciation : “ Londinium caput est, et regni urbs prima Britanni, Eboracum a prima jure secunda venit.” 5 In a Latin poem of a much later date, by Dr. Dering, Dean of 1 Britt. Eccles. c. viii. 2 Hist. Anglic. Script, vol. ii. p. 1710. 3 Script, post Bedam, p. 171. 4 Nicolson, Scottish Hist. Libr. p. 20 and 81. 5 Britannia, p. 575, edit. Lond. 1607. PREFACE. IX Ripon, entitled “ Reliquiae Eboracenses,” of which three books only were finished, the penultimate of Eboraca, as the term is uniformly written by this author, is short, as may be seen in the first line of the poem, “ Eboracae peragro fines, lustroque viator,” &c. It would be needless to cite any more instances, if more were known to the Author ; since it is evident that the practice has ever varied ; and the quantity of the syllable in question cannot be decided by the authority of mediseval or modern Latin poets. But it would not be right to leave unnoticed the judgment of Ph. Labhe, the learned author of “ Eruditce Pronuntiationis Catholici Indices,” who, without hesitation, places Eboracum among the words the penultimate of which is long. His English Editor however, Edw. Leedes, Master of the Grammar School at Bury St. Edmunds, no less learned perhaps, remarks that such is not the pronunciation to which English scholars are accustomed ; and claims the liberty of adopting that which is commonly used in this country : “ Ita fortasse Bituricus Eboracum, quia ita solent Biturici j 1 quidni igitur Angli Eboracum, ut solent Angli ? Awptffgtv S' tfacTTi (Sokm) to< c Awpi'ffftTt.” It appears, then, that if the Author erred in his pronunciation of Eburacum, he erred in good company. But he does not wish to vindicate himself or those to whose authority he might appeal. On the ground of analogy , 2 he is now rather inclined to prefer the foreign to the English practice. The reader will observe, that the Plan of modern York is not complete : such streets only being laid down as are con- 1 Labbe was “ Bituricus,” being a native of Bourges. 2 “ Bettovaci unde?” inquires Labbe, censuring that pronunciation, “ cum dicat Anderlacum, Cameraco, Tornacum . . .” b X PREFACE. nected with the discoveries of the Roman city and its suburbs. The Plan of Eburacum and its suburbs is given, that persons not acquainted with York who may read the work may be able to form some notion of the localities of the various dis- coveries that have been made of Roman remains. ERRATUM. The Author is painfully apprehensive that the critical eye will discover many errors in his work ; but there is one of considerable importance, into which he has inadvertently fallen, which he must request the reader to correct, by substituting “ Gaul” for “ Rome,” in the last line but one of the text in p. 27. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION ........... 1 PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN ARMS IN BRITAIN ...... 3 LEGIONS, ENCAMPMENTS, AND STATIONS OF THE ROMANS .... 29 ORIGIN, SITUATION, AND EXTENT OF EBURACUM ...... 12 INTERIOR AND SUBURBS OF EBURACUM ....... 59 PRIVATE DWELLINGS, TESSELLATED PAVEMENTS, BATHS .... G6 TEMPLES, ALTARS, VOTIVE TABLETS ........ 73 TOMBS, COFFINS, SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS ...... 94 FICTILE ARTICLES BRICKS, POTTERY . . . . . 1 1 G MINOR ARTICLES OF PRIVATE USE OR ORNAMENT . . . . .129 COINS ............. 133 ROMAN ROADS, CONNECTION OF EBURACUM WITH OTHER STATIONS 145 EBURACUM. INTRODUCTION. The origin of states and cities is generally involved in impenetrable obscurity. The triteness of the observation bears testimony to its truth. Much as it may be regretted, it could scarcely have been otherwise ; since they almost universally arose in times of gross ignorance and barbarism, and for a long period there were none who had either the inclination or the means of accurately recording the events that were passing or had passed. But as civilization advanced, curiosity was awakened, and finding no authentic records by which it could be satisfied, it eagerly seized upon imperfect or fabulous traditions, committed itself to the delusive guidance of etymology, or wandered after vague and fanciful conjectures. To the vanity also which induces families and individuals to claim descent from some remote and illustrious ancestor, states and cities, or those who have pretended to relate their origin, have not been strangers : and it has been deemed no unpardonable violation of truth, to mingle things human with things divine, in order to give to their beginning a more august and sacred character . 1 Although there was nothing in the situation and condition of Britain to connect it with the mythology which brought the Trojan Aeneas to Latium, and traced the origin of Rome to the son of a god- dess , 2 yet our earliest historians , 3 zealous for their country’s glory, and servilely following in the steps of more ancient writers, have peopled 1 Datur Ikec venia antiquitati, ut miscendo humana divinis, primordia urbium augustiora faciant. Liv. Hist. lib. i. Praef. 2 Egypt of Herod, by Rev. J. Kenrick, p. 273. 3 Nennius, Geoffry of Monmouth, Henry of Huntingdon, Matthew of Westmin- ster, &'C. it 2 Britain with the progeny of the Trojan chief, and ascribed the building of its first and principal cities to the descendants of the Im- mortals. For hither, as they tell us, came Brutus, great-grandson of Aeneas, with his companions, after long and perilous wanderings, and having landed on the coast of Devonshire, and subdued the Giants sprung from Neptune, who had desolated the country, divided the land among his sons and followers, and became the founder of the British race. To this Trojan chief the building of the Southern metropolis is ascribed, commemorating in its first name of Troj a Nova, the origin of its founder ; whilst the memory of himself is perpetuated in the appel- lation of Britain, given to the country of which he had taken posses- sion. That the metropolis of the North might not come far behind that of the South in age or dignity, its foundation is assigned to Ebrauc, the fourth in descent from Brutus, and contemporary with David, the Jewish king; “a man of mighty strength/’ who, returning rich and prosperous from the devastation of Gaul, built Caer-Ebrauc, or York. Some indeed, not satisfied with even so remote an sera as that of the Trojan hero, trace the peopling and the name of Britain to Britto, youngest grandson of Japliet; while others, less ambitious, are con- tent with Brutus, the reputed deliverer of Rome from regal tyranny, and its first Consul. All agree in exhibiting long descents of kings, “ that either did nothing or lived in ages that wrote nothing,” 1 weaving in occasionally, indeed, narratives of strange and marvellous events, and describing a general state and condition of society, during many centuries prior to the Christian sera, no less inconsistent with probability than with the accounts, the general accuracy of which can- not be doubted, given by Julius Csesar and Tacitus, Strabo and Mela, Diodorus, Dio, and Herodian . 2 When the Romans first visited Britain, and its affairs became matter of authentic history, inter- course with Gaul had imparted something of civilization to the tribes in the maritime provinces south of the Thames : but all in the interior were in the most rude and barbarous state; clothing themselves in the skins of beasts, puncturing and painting their bodies, dwelling in huts and caverns, and knowing no other cities than woods sur- rounded by a rampart and a ditch . 3 1 Milton, Hist, of Eng. book i. 2 See Camden’s Britannia, sub ink. 3 Oppiduin Britanni vocant quum silvas impeditas vallo atque fossa munierunt, quo, incursionis hostium vitandae causa, convenire consueverunt. Cass, de Bello Gall. v. 21. 3 Rejecting tlien King Ebrauc and Ids city Cacr-Ebrauc, with Britto and Brutus whether Trojan or Roman, King Humber, Queen Sabrina, and all the “ smooth and idle dreams” of bardic or of monkish historians, and applying to the generally faithful records of the undoubted conquerors of ancient Britain, and to the monuments of the progress of their arms, especially in the north, and the memo- rials of their power which yet remain, we shall perhaps be enabled to obtain some clear and satisfactory information concerning the origin of Eburacum or York, and of its extent and character while Britain continued under the Roman dominion. PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN ARMS IN BRITAIN. It was in the morning of August 26, a.u.c. 699, a. a. c. 55, that the first Roman fleet appeared on the coast of Britain ; and in the after- noon of that day, that Julius Ctesar landed at Rutupke, now Rich- borough, near Sandwich in Kent, 1 with two legions, the seventh and the tenth. 2 After a harassing and perilous warfare of about three weeks, he was glad to return with his legions to Gaul, knowing little more of the country than when he landed ; having never ventured to advance out of sight of his camp, or more than three or four miles from the shore. In a second expedition, undertaken in an early part of the summer of the following year, landing at the same place with five legions, all, except the seventh, now unknown, and two thousand horse, 3 Caesar advanced further into the country, crossing the Thames, as it is generally believed, 4 and marching as far as Verulamium, near the 1 Caes. Comm, de B. G. lib. iv. 23. The time is ascertained to have been about 5 p.m. See Horsley’s Brit. Rom. p. 9, 10 ; Dr. Halley ‘ On the time and place of Caesar’s descent on Britain,’ Phil. Trans. No. 193; Lowtliorp’s Abridg. vol. iii. p. 212; Battely Antiq. Rutup. §37, 38. 2 Roy supposes the establishment of the legion at this time to have been 6,000 foot. Mil. Antiq. of the Romans in Brit. p. 4. 3 The foot alone then amounted to 30,000. No auxiliaries are mentioned ; but it is probable that the cavalry was composed chiefly of Gaulish horse. Roy, p. 7. 4 It has been a subject of much doubt and controversy, at what place Caesar crossed the Thames. Camden thought it was at Coway-Stakes, near Oatlands; Bishop Rennet, thirty miles higher at Wallingford ; Horsley and T. Gale, near Kingston; some near London. The Hon. D. Barrington maintains that Caesav never crossed the Thames; but that the river which in his Commentai'ies he calls Tainesis, was the 4 present town of St. Albans, the capital of the territories of Cassivel- laun, whom, after a brave resistance, he compelled to submit to the Roman power. Though more successful in this than in the former expedition, the result added nothing to his own glory, or to the Roman dominion. He routed the Britons who opposed him, he received the submission of a few petty states, he demanded hostages, and imposed a tribute ; but he established no forts, he left no garrisons in the country ; some hostages he received and carried with him, but there is reason to believe the tribute was never required, or if required, never paid. So that as Tacitus has observed, “ he appeal's to have transmitted the knowledge rather than the possession of the country to posterity.” 1 This accords with the testimony of other historians, and with the admission of Caesar himself in his correspondence with Cicero . 2 Of the people whom he so unsuccessfully attempted to conquer, Caesar has left a brief but interesting account ; the earliest ever given. He tells us that Britain was exceedingly populous : that the maritime regions were possessed by colonies from Belgic-Gaul, who erected houses similar to those of the Gauls, bred cattle, engaged in agricul- ture; and surpassed in civilization the inhabitants of the interior, who were supposed to be natives of the soil (of whom however Caesar could know nothing but by report), who raised no corn, but lived on milk and flesh. He calls all the Britons indiscriminately “barba- rians;” he says they painted their bodies to make themselves more terrible in battle ; and that they lived in a state of incestuous con- cubinage. It appears also that they were divided into many separate independent tribes (several of which he has named), each governed by a chieftain or king : and that they professed the doctrines and practised the rites of Druidism ; an idolatrous religion, which, accord- Medway. With him Dr. H. Owen agrees. See Archaeologia, vol. ii. p. 134 — 168. S. Gale follows Camden. Archaeol. vol. i. p. 184. As for the stakes which have been found in the Thames, near Oatlands, and which appear to have influenced the opinion of Camden and others, Barrington has clearly shown from their direction, which is in a line crossing the river, that they could not have been intended to ob- struct the passage of an army. They appear to have been an ancient fishing-weir. 1 Tac. Vit. Agricolae, § 13. 2 Epist. ad Q. Fratrem, iii. 1. On the two expeditions of Caesar, see Horsley Brit. Rom. p. 9 — 18. llallcy and Barrington, ubi sup. The latter justly says, “ There seems never to have been a worse planned or conducted enterprize than each of these invasions.” 5 ing to Caesar, had its origin in Britain. The picture he has drawn is manifestly that of a people of very rude and barbarous manners. 1 Nearly a century passed before the conquest of Britain was again attempted by the Romans. During the civil wars which marked the close of the Commonwealth, and even after the establishment of peace, Britain was neglected. Augustus is said to have threatened an invasion, and to have made preparations for effecting it ; but he was satisfied with receiving the submission of the Britons, and levying large duties on British exports to Gaul. 2 Caligula meditated an expedition, but was too fickle and frivolous to execute his design. Claudius accomplished what his predecessor meditated. In the year 43 of the Christian sera, urged it is said by Bericus, a British fugi- tive, he sent over Aulus Plautius, with four legions, the second, ninth, fourteenth and twentieth, with their auxiliaries; the second being under the command of Vespasian, who, as Tacitus observes, “ was now, by his conduct, held forth to the fates.” 3 In the fol- lowing year the Emperor himself arrived in Britain, landing at the same place as Csesar. He immediately gained a signal victory over the Britons of the south-eastern states, and took their capital Ca- mulodunum, now Colchester, in Essex. 4 After a short stay of no more than sixteen days, according to Suetonius, 5 Claudius returned to Rome, and obtained the honour of a splendid triumph, as con- queror of Britain. The conquest, though it extended to a very small portion of the island, was signalised on several coins of the Emperor : 6 and the comparatively insignificant loss sustained by the 1 Caes. Comm. lib. v. c. 12 — 14; vi. 13. For a most able and satisfactory account of the population and early state of Britain, see Dr. Prichard’s Researches into the Pliys. Hist, of Mankind, vol. iii. part i. ch. iii. 2 Dion. Cass. lib. liii. p. 511, 512, Ed. Leunclavii. But no intimation of this in- tended expedition is given by Suetonius or Tacitus. A courtly bard indeed cele- brates the emperor as the conqueror of Britain. See Hor. Od. i. 35, iii. 5, iv. 14. 3 Vit. Agric. § 13. 4 Camden, Burton, Horsley, suppose Maldon : T. Gale, Walden. But see Roy, Mil. Ant. p. 187 ; Archaeol. vol. iii. p. 165 ; Cromwell's Hist, of Colchester, vol. i. 5 Vit. Claud, c. 17. 6 The first Roman coin having any reference to the conquest of Britain was struck in the fifth year of Claudius, a.d. 46. On the obverse is a laureated head of the Emperor, with the legend TI . CLAVD . CAESAR . AVG . P . M . TR . P . VIIII. IMP . XVI. On the reverse, DE . BRITANN. on the front of a triumphal arch, on which is an equestrian statue between two trophies. Another coin is known bearing the head of the Emperor’s son Germanicus, with the title BRITANNICVS. Eckhel Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. vi. p. 240, 254. Akerman's Coins of the Romans relating to Brit. p. 7 — 14, where some other coins and a medallion are noticed. 6 Roman legions, commemorated in an inscription still existing at Rome. 1 After the departure of Claudius, Vespasian appears to have reduced the tribes along the coast of the channel ; but to what ex- tent is not known. 2 Aulus Plautius continued in command till a.d. 50; when he was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula, who by a continual and harassing warfare during more than two years, sub- dued the midland states, and, as it is generally thought, crossing the Severn, added to the Roman province the territory of the Silures and the Ordovices. 3 To this able commander is attributed the erec- tion of the first line of forts in Britain, upon the rivers Antona and Sabrina. 4 It is during his government that we first meet with any notice of the Brigantes, who inhabited the province of which Ebur- acum was afterwards the capital : and it is much to be regretted that the notice is so brief and vague. Tacitus tells us that having defeated the Iceni, and marched against the Cangi, when he had advanced almost to the coast which lies opposite to Hibernia, Ostorius was com- pelled to return by the discords that arose among the Brigantes : that a few of those who had taken arms were put to death ; the rest par- 1 On this inscription see a learned and interesting paper by J. Hogg, Esq., pub- lished in the third vol. of Trans, of Royal Soc. of Literature. 2 Sueton. Vit. Vespas. c.4. 3 But see Horsley B. R. p. 32, who doubts his having made much progress in the conquest of Wales, to which these tribes belonged. 4 Tac. Ann. xii. 31. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, satisfactorily to trace the line of these forts. The words of Tacitus are, “ cinctosque castris Antonam et Sabrinam fluvios, cohibere paret.” The present reading is suspicious, and various emendations have been suggested. Sabrina is, no doubt, the Severn ; Antona is generally thought to be the Neri, which rising on the western border of Northampton- shire, flows eastward, and falls into the Wash. But some would read Aufonam, denoting the Upper Avon, which rises not far from the source of the Nen, and taking a western course falls into the Severn at Tewksbury. Camden proposed to read Aufonas; and understood both the Nen and the Avon to be meant; the name Aufona being, as he supposed, common to both. “These two rivers,” says Roy, “ intersecting the country, have always proved one of its most remarkable natural divisions. In this light it could not fail to be regarded by the Romans, and there- fore along this line they, no doubt, raised the chain of forts mentioned by Tacitus as a boundary to their conquests at that particular period, and a barrier against the attempts of the inhabitants of the more northern provinces of Britain which they had not yet subdued.” — Mil. Antiq. p. 9. Sir H. Dryden of Northamptonshire has been for some time past investigating a number of camps, chiefly on the edge of a range of hills bordering the valley of the Severn and Upper Avon, which he feels confident were a connected chain, used if not constructed by Ostorius Scapula. The author has learnt with great pleasure that Sir H. Dryden intends, if possible, when he has completed the plans, to make them of use to others following the same study. 7 doned, and quiet restored. 1 The Iceni arc placed by Camden about Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. The Cangi, according to Horsley, inhabited Derbyshire and the neighbouring counties. The Brigantes, who troubled Ostorius, were therefore, most probably, on the borders of Derbyshire; and of these alone the Romans had at this time any knowledge. They had not yet penetrated beyond the Humber; perhaps uot beyond the little stream of the Don. We learn, however, that the Brigantes were then under the government of Cartismandua, a woman of infamous memory, from whom Caractacus, chief of the Silures, after being defeated by Ostorius, sought protec- tion ; but how far her kingdom extended, and in what city she held her court, we know not. It was near the beginning of the reign of Nero, when Suetonius Paulinus had the command in Britain, that the ninth legion, of which there are many memorials in York, was almost entirely cut off, by the troops of Boadicea, the heroic queen of the Iceni. The successors of Suetonius were inactive; and during the short reigns of Galba, Otlio, and Yitellius, no advance towards the conquest of the island was made. Nearly a century had elapsed since the first landing of Julius Caesar; and more than thirty years since the arrival of Aulus Plautius, in the reign of Claudius, when the reduction of Britain to a Roman province was seriously entered upon; and these conquerors of the world had not been able to establish their dominion beyond the Mersey and the Dumber ; scarcely perhaps beyond the Trent. “ When at length,” says Tacitus, “ Vespasian received the possession of Britain together with the rest of the world ; the great commanders and well-appointed armies which were sent over, abated the confidence of the enemy ; and Petilius Cerealis struck terror by an attack upon the Brigantes, who were reputed the most populous state in the province. Many battles were fought, some of them attended with much bloodshed, and a great part of the Brigantes were either brought into subjection, or involved in the ravages of war.” 2 Vespasian succeeded to the empire near the close of the year 69; and Pet. Cerealis arrived in Britain in the year 70 or 71. Horsley allows four years for his government ; and during that time he is supposed to have reduced the Brigantes, and to have added that powerful tribe to the subjects of the empire. 3 Yet Tacitus does not 1 Ann. xii. 32. 2 Vit. Agric. c. 17. Lingard. Hist, of Eng. vol. i. p. 30, 40. 8 warrant this assertion. He speaks cautiously and doubtfully of a great part indeed, but not of the whole of the Brigantes ; and of that part, not as completely subdued, but as either conquered, or in a state of war. 1 We have no evidence of his having reached the Tees, as some suppose, and of his having subdued a considerable portion of Lancashire. Horsley limits his operations to the neighbourhood of the great military way that passed through Isurium (Aldborough) by which he thinks the army advanced, and having accomplished his purpose returned to the borders of the Silures, leaving the western territory of the Brigantes unmolested. 2 It is very probable that the expedition of Pet. Cerealis, as well as of Ost. Scapula, was confined to the southern parts of the Brigantian state. There is much uncer- tainty respecting the geography of ancient Britain ; and the country of the Brigantes may have extended, as Horsley himself observes, “ further south than it is usually represented to do.” 3 Both Ost. Scapula and Pet. Cerealis seem to have been too much occupied by the Iceni and Cangi, and by the Silures and the Ordovices, to have been in a condition to venture far into the most numerous and war- like tribe of the Britons. But to whatever extent northward the arms of these eminent commanders may have been carried, the con- quest of the whole province of the Brigantes was, undoubtedly, re- served for Agricola. This illustrious commander, to whose memory his distinguished son-in-law, Cornelius Tacitus, has raised an imperishable monument, worthy of his character and his deeds, arrived in Britain as governor of the province, by the appointment of Vespasian, in the middle of the summer of the year 78. This was not his first appearance in the island. He had begun his military life here, as his biographer in- forms us, under Suetonius Paulinus, in the reign of Nero. Under Petilius Cerealis, also, he had seen much service, as commander of the twentieth legion ; and most probably had become acquainted with the southern parts of the country of the Brigantes. Although the season was far advanced at his arrival, and the troops, not expecting to be called into action so late in the season, were dispersed through the country, Agricola determined to enter on his first campaign ; and before the summer was ended he reduced the Ordovices and 1 “ Magnamque Brigantum partem aut victoria complexus aut bello.” — Vit. Agric. c. 17. 2 Brit. Rom. p. 42. 3 lb. p. .20. 9 Mona (Anglcsea) to obedience. During the winter lie was wisely employed, in suppressing abuses, and redressing many grievances which the Britons were suffering from the caprice and rapacity of the conquerors ; and at the return of summer, at the head of three legions, with their auxiliaries, the second, the ninth, and the twen- tieth, he pursued his conquests northwards. Tacitus, to whom alone we are indebted for an interesting detail of the progress of the Roman arms in Britain under this eminent leader, unfortu- nately is very brief in his account of this second campaign, the only one connected with the history of Eburacum. It is evideut, how- ever, that it was spent in reducing the Brigantes, in establishing the stations and forming the military roads, of which such interesting remains and vestiges are still visible in various parts of the county of York. u At the return of summer,” says the historian, “ Agricola assembled his army. On their march lie commended the regular and orderly, and restrained the stragglers ; he marked out the en- campments, and explored in person the aestuaries and forests. At the same time he perpetually harassed the enemy by sudden incur- sions ; and after sufficiently alarming them, by an interval of for- bearance, he held to their view the allurements of peace and repose. By this management many states which till this time had asserted their independence were now induced to lay aside their animosity and to dehver hostages. These districts were surrounded with castles and forts, disposed with so much attention and judgment, that none of the newly-explored part of Britain was left unguarded.” 1 The reduction of this large province, in one summer, was a great achievement, and could scarcely have been effected under the imme- diate eye even of Agricola alone. It has therefore, with great proba- bihty, been assumed, that “ the army moved in two columns ; that from each of these, divisions were sent off in different directions ; and that the whole constantly secured the lines of their march with roads and fortresses ; while faithful native guides conducted them by the best ancient trackways, and through the most accessible passes, and squadrons of their fleet on each side of the island co-operated with each column of the army, or sailed before them, surveying the coast and nature of the country, and from time to time sending to their general official reports of all their proceedings.” 2 1 Vit. Agric. c. 20. Aikin’s translation. 3 Hodgson’s Ilist. of Northumberland, part ii. vol. iii. p. 250. c 10 The first column is supposed, by the learned historian of Nor- thumberland, to have taken its route from Manchester , 1 (Mancurium) along the western side of the island by Ribchester to Lancaster; and thence in two great divisions, one of which was, in its progress, sub- divided, proceeding to the western part of the isthmus between Car- lisle and Newcastle. The second column, after leaving York, (to which it may have marched through Cambodunum and Legeolium,) and passing through Aldboi’ough (Isurium), is supposed to have formed into two divisions at Catterick, one taking the road over Stanemoor to Carlisle, the other proceeding in a more easterly direction, throwing off in its way subdivisions to Newcastle and South Shields. When the whole forces had arrived at the isthmus, Agricola probably erected across it a chain of forts between Tynemouth and the Solway Firth, the origin of the important barrier afterwards formed there by Ha- drian, called the Piets Wall. 2 We are not, however, to imagine that Agricola built all the stations and made all the roads that run from sea to sea. Many of them may have been commenced by Hadrian and not completed before the time of Severus. But “ there still remains undeniable evidence, in roads and stations, of a grand plan of subju- gating the whole confederate tribes of the Brigantes, from sea to sea, to their utmost northern frontier ; and when Tacitus said, that in this summer the policy and military skill of Agricola had induced several communities to deliver hostages to him for their fidelity, and environed them so securely with garrisons and forts, that they could not rise up against him with impunity, he was not embellishing the life of his father-in-law, as he says, with the decorations of eloquence, but speak- ing ‘ fide rerum/ the truth of the matter. What he says too about the way in which the following winter was spent, is also, no doubt, equally true. He captivated the sons of the nobility with the seduc- tions of Roman luxury, piazzas, and baths, avid the elegancies of banquets ; and curious pillars, baths, and remains of buildings large enough for Roman banquets, have been met with in almost every station along the line of the Roman walls.” 3 1 Perhaps from Chester (Deva). 2 Many of these were probably only earth-works ; yet as we learn from Tacitus, that at the close of his second campaign Agricola instructed and assisted the Britons in building temples, market-places, dwelling-houses, porticoes and baths, it is pro- bable that some of the stations were defended hy walls of stone. See Hodgson, p. 277 and 306. 3 Hodgson, p. 255, 256. See also Roy’s Mil. Antiq. b. i. ch. ii. 11 This second campaign of Agricola, which occupied the greater part of the year 79, was, most probably, the sera of the foundation of Eburacum, or Homan York ; but, perhaps, we are not warranted to assume that Agricola was the founder. If the army proceeded, as the reverend and learned antiquary supposes, there can be little doubt that Agricola himself led the first column through that part of the country of the Brigantes, now Lancashire, Westmoreland and Cumberland, and that the second column, which passed through Yorkshire, was under the command of one of his legates, by whom the chief stations on the line of his march, among which Eburacum may be reckoned, were established. And with this supposition the assertion of Tacitus, that Agricola explored in person the .estuaries, is in perfect accordance ; the western coast being peculiarly distinguished by broad and dan- gerous maritime inlets, while, on the eastern coast, only two, that of the Humber and the Tees, exist. The five remaining years of Agricola’s administration were spent in Caledonia ; where also he erected a line of forts across the isthmus of Glota and Bodotria, between the two Firths. By his victory over Galgacus, in the seventh and last campaign, the Roman dominion in Britain was carried to its utmost extent. And thus, at the distance of nearly a century and a half from the first landing of J ulius Caesar, the conquest of the island, so far as it may be said to have been conquered, was achieved. One remarkable transaction during the government of this excellent man, was the circumnavigation of the island by the Roman fleet. At length he was recalled by the jealous and suspicious tyrant Domitian, the son and successor of Titus, “ under whom great virtue was as punishable as open crime.” 1 The Roman historians have observed a perfect silence respecting the affairs of Britain during the reigns of Nerva and Trajan; but from subsequent transactions, there is reason to suppose that the newly conquered provinces w r ere speedily lost. Trajan sought the fame of which he was ambitious, chiefly in extending the eastern limits of the empire. Hadrian resigned the eastern conquests of his predecessor, intent only upon retaining the provinces that had been previously acquired. For this purpose he visited all the provinces in person, inspecting the state of the legions, strengthening the old, or 1 Tac. Vit. Agric. c. 41. Milton’s Ilist. of Eng. b. ii. c 2 12 raising new barriers, against the incursions of the unconquered bar- barians. Britain was not neglected by him. In the first year of his reign he sent over the sixth legion, (with memorials of which York and the neighbourhood abound,) under the command of M. Pontius : 1 and in his fourth year, a. d. 120, thirty-five years after the departure of Agricola, he himself arrived . 2 Spartiau, who wrote the life of this Emperor, is the only historian from whom we derive any information of his transactions in the pro- vince ; and his account is comprised in two short sentences. “ He visited Britain, where he corrected many things, and first drew a wall (murus) eighty miles in length, to divide the Barbarians from the Romans.” “ Having settled affairs in Britain, he passed over into Gaul, in consequence of an Alexandrian sedition, relating to Apis.” 3 The murus of which the historian here speaks was that erected across the isthmus, from the Firth of Solway to the mouth of the Tyne, which has been before alluded to, but of which much more remains to be said hereafter. We have no direct testimony that Hadrian visited Eburacum; yet if he landed, as is most probable, in the South, he coidd scarcely fail to pass through it, on his way to the isthmus. The learned historian of York, indeed, has stated, not only that the emperor was at Eburacum, but that " he met there with some old soldiers of Agricola’s, who dissuaded him from his design, to endeavoiu* the conquest of Caledonia;” an important fact con- nected with the ancient history of York : but I have in vain at- tempted to discover the authority on which it rests. The successor of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, came not into Britain himself, but gave the command to Lollius Urbicus, who forced back the North Britons from the murus of Hadrian, and carried another 1 An inscription, recording this fact, found in the forum of Trajan, at Rome, is given by Gruter, p. cccclvii. 2, and by T. Gale Antonini It. p. 47. From this it appears that the sixth legion was brought by Pontius from Germany. 2 This event is commemorated on a coin of the larger brass, struck in the following year ; having on the reverse the figures of the genius of Britain and the Emperor sacrificing at an altar with the legend ADVENTVI . AVG . BRITANNIAE. On the reverse of other coins bearing the legend BRITANNIA is a female figure sitting on a rock, representing the province or genius of Britain, from which the usual reverse of our copper money seems to have been borrowed ; and other coins of this Emperor have the legends RESTITVTOItl . BRITANNIAE and EXERC1TVS. BRITANNICVS. Eckhel Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. vi. p. 486, 493. Akerman’s Coins of the Rom. in Brit. p. 15 — 18. 3 Spartiani V'it. Hadr. c. 11, 12. 13 rampart across the isthmus of the Clyde and the Forth ; along the line of forts erected by Agricola. This work was undertaken about the year 140, and the rampart, remains of which, and of the forts, still exist, is known by the name of the Wall of Antoninus. 1 It is during this reign that the first clear and certain evidence of the existence of Eburacum is given by the geographer Ptolemy, who flourished at this time ; and who distinctly mentions this station as the head -quarters of the sixth legion. We know little of the transactions of the Romans in Bi’itain during the reign of M. Aurel. Antoninus. 2 His son and successor, Commodus, was not in Britain himself; but he appears to have been ambitious of the title BRITANNIC VS, though he achieved nothing to merit it. Two medallions, and one large brass coin, bear record of the wars in Britain during his reign, conducted by Ulpius Marcellus, aud other legates. 3 In the year 194 Septimius Severus prevailed over three other competitors, and received the purple. About the year 20G or 207, lie arrived with his two sons, M. A. Antoninus (Caracalla) and Geta, at Eburacum, then the chief city of the North, if not of the whole pro- vince of Britain. He appears to have previously sent as pro-praetor, Virius Lupus ; as we learn from an inscription on an altar found at Bowes, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, dedicated to Fortune, on occasion of the rebuilding of some baths, probably at that station, Lavatrse, which had been destroyed by fire. 4 In the year 208, Severus marched to the North, against the Maeatae and the Caledo- nians, who had broken into the province, and were committing there great ravages. These he defeated, with the loss, as it is said, of no less than fifty thousand of his men. Returning from this expedition he is generally supposed (but perhaps, as will be presently seen, 1 These interesting remains are fully exhibited in the splendid work of Major-Gen. Itoy, before cited. See also Gordon’s Iter Septentrionale. - The coins of Antoninus Pius have been found in great number in Britain, several at York, and among them one bearing the legend BRITANNIA. They have, as usual on the obverse, the head of the Emperor, with a legend in the usual form, and on the reverse Victory, or a female figure sitting on a rock or on a globe, surrounded with waves ; in two instances a male figure, with a spear, or a standard, and a shield, and the legend BRITAN, or BRITANNIA. The male figure in one type is evi- dently a portrait of Hadrian. Akerman’s Coins of the Rom. in Brit. p. 18 — 24. Eckli. vol. vii. p. 14. 3 Akerman, p. 24 — 29. Eckhel, vol. vii. p. 113. 4 llorsley, B. Rom. Inscr. Yorkshire, i. p. 304, 352. 14 without sufficient evidence) to have built a stone wall, on the north .side of the vallum of Hadrian, and parallel to it, across the isthmus of the Solway and the Tyne. During the absence of the Emperor from York, his youngest son, Geta, w r as left to administer justice. And it is by no means an un- interesting fact in connection with the history of Roman York, that he was assisted by Papinian, w T ell known as one of the ablest lawyers of ancient Rome, who had accompanied Severus into Britain, and probably resided in York during his continuance in Britain. 1 Shortly after his return to Eburacum, w T orn out by anxiety, fa- tigue, and disease, the Emperor expired, on the 4th of February a.d. 210, at the age of sixtv-five. And where he died, according to some old historians, he w r as buried. “ Being at length slain by the Piets,” says one, 2 “ he rests at York, in the mount called after him, ‘ Severs-ho.’ ” Archbishop Usher thinks the name v r as derived from the Emperor’s funeral pile having been raised on the summit. 3 But the learned historian of Eburacum is somewhat bolder in his state- ment. “ That the memory of the Emperor,” he says, “ might last in Britain as long as the world, his grateful army, with infinite labour, raised three large hills, in the very place where his funeral rites were performed, which hills, after so many ages, being washed with rains, and often ploughed, are still very apparent, but must have been much higher than they are at present.” He owns, indeed, that it had been objected to him “ that these hills seem to be natural ones.” 1 “ The reign of Severus was particularly propitious to the science of the laws ; his chief favourites and counsellors being selected out of that learned order. Among these were Papinian, Jul. Paulus, and Ulpian, three of the most rational and upright civilians that ever graced the profession of jurisprudence. Under their inspection he enacted many wise and equitable laws for the use of the empire at large, and some likewise for the government of Britain in particular, where he resided for the four last years of his life ; keeping his court and administering justice at York, having the excellent Papinian for his assessor. Many of these laws were afterwards adopted by Justinian, and have a place in his digest and code. It is likewise very probable that the numerous principles of the civil law which prevailed in very early ages over the greatest part of this island, especially over the northern provinces, derived their force from the ancient Roman masters of the country, and perhaps chiefly from this Emperor.” — Bever’s Hist, of the Legal Polity of the Rom. State, p. 332. See also p. 390. The Roman law, it is not improbable, continued from that time to be taught in this city. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherburn, who was born a.d. G39, studied the Roman law at York : and Alcuin describes the same school at York, in 804. — Mack- intosh’s Hist, of Eng. vol. i. p. 172. Cab. Cycl. Radulphus de Uiceto. ap. xv. Scriptt. ed. Gale. 3 Usserii Eccles. Brit. Antiq. p. 510. 15 But lie hints that this appearance may he very much owing to the plough, anil contends that they must be artificial, because they have for many ages borne the name of Severus. That they are three in number, lie considers no objection ; for he supposes them “ to have been raised all at the same time, in memory of the dead Emperor, and in honour of the two living ones, his sons and successors.” And to place the matter beyond all further dispute, he directs the attention of his readers to the low-ground of llolgate, at the foot of the least of them, as manifestly occasioned by the removal of the vast quantity of earth, necessary to raise these tumuli . 1 That Severus died at York cannot be doubted : it is a fact sufficient- ly attested by historians. That his body was with all due honour burned at York, is highly credible, although the ancient historians do not perfectly agree in their accounts of his funeral obsequies : one saying that his body was carried to Home, having great respect paid to it as it passed through the provinces ; 2 while others state that the ashes were placed in an urn of gold, or some other costly material, conveyed with suitable solemnity to Rome, and there deposited in the tomb of the Antonines, which had been erected by Severus himself in the Appian way . 3 This last account is the most probable ; and the funeral pile, on which the body was reduced to ashes, may have been erected on one of the eminences now commonly known by the appellation of Severus’ Hills ; and which may have been derived from the tradition of this circumstance. But both the hills, and the hol- low from which Drake supposed them to have been raised, arc clearly natural ; formed by a far mightier power than that of Roman le- gions . 4 1 Drake’s Ebor. p. 14, 15. " Spartiani Vit. Sev. c. 24. 3 Dion. Cass. lib. lxxvi. p. 869 ; who relates that Severus, a short time before his death, ordered the urn (which he says was of porphyry) to be brought to him, and taking it in his hands, said, “ Thou wilt contain a man whom the world could not contain.” Herodian. lib. iv. 1, says the urn was alabaster. 4 In a communication received by the author from his friend Professor Phillips, and which he is kindly allowed to make public, that eminent geologist observes, “ Those hills I have often studied, because they are reliques of great geological in- terest; marks of ancient watery forces in the vale of York, such as Heslington fields exhibit on the other side of the Ouse, and the windmill hills on the north of the Tad- caster road. They are all gravel and clay hills, with here and there banks of sand, often reddish. In what are called Severus’ Hills there is no mark, I think, of any distinct earthwork modifying even slightly the form left by nature ; and there is, in my mind, no doubt, that in the progress of inquiry, the situation, height, and other 16 There is, however, a work undoubtedly artificial, a work of vast labour, with which the name of this Emperor has been long, but perhaps not more correctly, associated ; the great mural barrier raised by the Romans, between the Solway Firth and the mouth of the Tyne. This work has indeed only an indirect connection with the history of Roman York, but its relation to the province of which Eburacum was the capital, and the new light which has been thrown upon it recently by the learned historian of Northumberland, will, it is hoped, justify some notice of it in this place. It forms one of those stupendous memorials of their presence and power, which the Romans have left in most of the countries they subdued, which have withstood the slow and silent ravages of time, and the more un- sparing hand of the husbandman. Such works were not indeed peculiar to them. Asiatic monarchs and Grecian generals had en- deavoured thus to guard themselves from predatory neighbours, or to protect the countries they had subdued, when the natural boun- daries were deemed insufficient for this purpose. And some of these artificial barriers are still traceable in Asia and in Greece. Every one has heard or read of the Great Wall on the northern border of China, fifteen hundred miles long and twenty-five feet high, said to have been erected two centuries before the Christian sera. One still more ancient, being deemed old in the days of Xerxes, was built by the Phocians, to protect themselves from the Thebans, and hence called the Phocian Wall. It extended seventy-two miles, from Ther- mopylse to the gulf of Crissa ; and vestiges of it are said still to remain. Three walls, called the Bosporian Barriers, were erected between the Euxine and the Moeotis ; one is still entire ; and traces of the others were distinctly seen by the late Dr. E. D. Clarke. The wall of Probus, projected by Hadrian, but executed by Probus, built of stone of a considerable height, and strengthened with towers, extended in a winding course of nearly two hundred miles from the Danube to the Rhine ; it was soon overthrown indeed by the Ale- manni, but in its scattered ruins it still excites the attention of the curious traveller . 1 circumstances of these hills, will receive exact explanation from one or other of the rival speculations to which the gravelly deposits in or by the side of great vales, like that of York, really belong.” 1 Hodgson, p. 149 — 157. Gibbon’s Hist. &c. ch. xii. vol. ii. p. 80 — 82, ed. 1797. Archaol. Aeliana, vol. i. p. 219. 17 It lias been before stated, that Agricola, having subdued the Bri- gantes, and arrived with his legions on their northern frontier, before he inarched, in his third campaign, against the Caledonians, erected a line of strong encampments or forts across the island, from Car- lisle, eastward towards the mouth of the Tyne. When Hadrian, or the army under his generals, forty years afterwards, had driven back the Caledonians, who had broken through this line, a more conti- nuous barrier was undertaken, which is still to be traced, and is usually called Hadrian’s Vallum. This is the only act of Hadrian in Britain recorded by Spartian, his biographer. “ He went to Britain, and first drew a wall (murum) eighty miles in length, to divide the barbarians and the Romans.” 1 This work is usually described as consisting of four parts, viz. : — 1. An agger, or mound of earth, on the South, called the south agger, uniformly, as far as can be collected from what remains, of the same height and width ; viz., four feet high, and nineteen feet broad at the base. 2. Another agger, the southern, or inner mound, parallel to the former, at the distance of about sixteen feet ; never more than two feet high, and at the base six or eight feet broad. 2 3. Close by the side of this, on the North, a fosse or ditch: where it is still to be seen most perfect about twenty-one feet broad at the top ; and from six to eight feet deep. And 4. Another agger, about thirty feet distant from the fosse, on the North ; still visible in several places. It appears to have been about six feet high, and thirty feet, or more, in width at the base ; and the crown of it about twelve feet broad. Horsley supposed this to have been the old military way between the stations or forts of Agri- cola. But there is another portion of the great barrier across the isth- mus of the Tyne and Solway which is usually attributed to Severus ; on the authority chiefly of Spartian, who in his life of that Emperor 1 “ Britanniam petiit : in qua multa correxit, murumque per lxxx millia passuum primus duxit, qui barbaros Romanosque divideret.” — Vit. Hadr. c. 11. s “This Horsley by some mistake calls ‘ the principal agger or vallum on the brink ■of the ditch.’ Agriculture has certainly encroached more on the outer than the inner mound ; and in this view, when he says that the southern agger ‘ is generally some- what smaller than the principal vallum, but in some places it is larger,’ he is right; but wherever man has left them untouched, the outer vallum is by much the larger.” Hodgson, p. 259. D 18 observes, “ He fortified Britain by a wall drawn across the island, reaching from ocean to ocean.” He speaks of this as the greatest glory of bis reign ; and says that be thence received the name of Britannicus. 1 This great work he is supposed to have executed on his return towards Eburacum from his expedition against the Cale- donians. It consists of, 1. A murus or wall, with stations, towers, and turrets. 2 The mean height of the wall is thought to have been twelve feet, and its breadth at the base eight feet. Its facings were composed of hewn sand- stones, eight inches square on the surface, and eighteen inches long in the bed of the wall. The interior consisted of stones placed zig- zag, or in the herring-bone manner, and near the top was a platform. It ran in the same general direction, but not parallel with the ac- knowledged works of Hadrian ; the internal space varies considerably ; measuring in one place 1,3G0 feet, in another not more than 35 feet; and sometimes “ they touch each other.” This murus extended from Walls-end on the Tyne to Boulness on the Solway Frith; its whole length being greater than that of the vallum, by about three miles at the western end, and two miles at the eastern end. Fourteen stations, or large castra or camps, were connected in a right line with the murus on the north side, and the vallum on the south, at various distances from each other. Eighty-one castella, or towers, generally square, were attached to the murus, at the distance of a Roman mile from each other ; so that the wall was eighty Roman miles in length. They appear to have varied a little in their dimensions ; but on the average to have been about sixty feet square, uncovered within, and having the entrance uniformly in the middle of the south wall. Between each castellum were four turrets, attached to the wall, about twelve feet square, and in number three hundred and twenty. 2. Two military ways attended the murus, on the South ; the greater running from castellum to castellum, and of course from station to station, though not always parallel with the murus, along which troops could pass from one station or castellum to another, protected by the murus. It is supposed, for it is now very much obliterated, to have been from about thirteen to seventeen feet broad, not so 1 “ Britanniam (quod maximum ejus imperii decus est) muro per transversam insulam ducto, utrimque ad finem oceani munivit : unde etiam Britannici nomen accepit.” — Spart. Vit. Severi, c. 18. 2 Hodgson, p. 27G. 19 high as the north agger, and uniformly paved. Sometimes it seems to have coincided with the north agger : in such cases branches di- verged to the castella. A smaller military way, about twenty-four feet wide and only eighteen inches high, went between the greater and the murus, from turret to turret ; intended, it is thought, for infantry, as the greater way may have served for cavalry and carriages. 3. On the north of the murus was a fosse or ditch, wider and deeper than the former, having been, it is thought, about twenty-five feet wide and about twenty feet deep. It is still traceable; in some places it has been converted by farmers into ponds. Near Portgate and over Wall Fell, “the earth taken out of it,” Mr. Hodgson states, 1 “ lies spread abroad to the North in lines, just as the workmen wheeled it out and left it : even the tracks of their barrows, with a slight mound on each side, remain unaltered in form.” The fosse has been supplied in some parts by the brink of high basaltic cliffs. Such was the Roman or Piets Wall ; a work, as before observed, generally supposed to have been accomplished under the direction of two Roman Emperors, Hadrian and Sept. Severus : and, conse- quently, at an interval of at least sixty years. This is the decided opinion of the learned author of the Britannia Romana, who was born and educated, and spent his life, in the district through which it passes, and who frequently traced its course, above a century ago, when its remains were much more extensive and perfect than they are at present; yet he acknowledges 2 that in his day, “ it was the opinion of some ingenious persons, that both the walls, with all their appurtenances, and the stations upon them, were the work of the same time and the same person : and that the one is only an inner vallum or fosse to the other.” From this opinion Horsley dissents, and for reasons which have since his time been generally, if not universally, deemed satisfactory. But it has lately been revived, by a most accomplished antiquary, the learned historian of Northum- berland, who “ has gradually and slowly come to the conviction, that the whole barrier between the Tyne at Segedunum, and the Solway at Bowness, and consisting of the vallum and the murus, with all the castella and towers of the latter, and many of the stations on their line, were planned and executed by Hadrian ;” and so firmly has he 1 Hist, of North, p.276. : Brit. Rom. p. 124. I) 2 20 established his opinion, that it can hardly fail to be generally re- ceived in future. He has shown that there is a striking unity of design, a fitness for the general purposes for which the whole was intended, that could hardly have been accomplished if part of the vallum had been done by Agricola, the rest of it by Hadrian, (as is commonly supposed,) and the murus, with its castella, towers and military way by Severus . 1 This opinion is corroborated by inscrip- tions on the wall and in several of the stations, belonging to the time of Hadrian, bearing his name or the names of officers and others known to have served under him. Horsley could “ see no circum- stances in the two works arguing them to be done at the same time,, or to have any necessary relation to each other ;” 2 but Hodgson ob- serves, that “ the sites of the stations,” with which the wall is con- nected, and which indeed form a part of that work, “ have been plainly selected in reference to the defence which they and the road between them should receive from the vallum and the murus ; and as if from the first it had been intended to be the great feature and the main member of the whole, the murus, through the whole line, takes its position on the most commanding ground, on the brows of ridges, overlooking the country on the enemies’ side, to the North ; while the vallum, as the weaker work, and designed only to protect the garrisons in their stations or marches against revolts or pre- datory attacks of an allied population, or from mixing with the people, is of frailer materials, and often on a less defensible line than the murus .” 3 The only difficulty in the way of the conclusion that the whole barrier was the work of Hadrian, is a passage before referred to, in the life of Severus by Spartian, the author of the life of Hadrian, in which he expressly asserts, that “ Severus drew a wall (murus) across the island from sea to sea, whence he obtained the title of Britannicus ;” and in this he is followed by some subsequent histo- rians . 4 But Spartian did not write till nearly a century after the death of Severus ; and the more copious histories of Dion and Hero- dian, who were contemporary with the Emperor, say nothing of any wall built by him in Britain. No inscriptions on the wall support 1 Hodgson, p. 309. 5 Brit. Rom. p. 126. 3 Hodgson, p. 277, 278. 4 Aurelius Victor and Eutropius in the fourth century, Orosius in the fifth, Cassio- dorus in the sixth, Bede in the seventh. 21 the assertion of the biographer ; and it is clear, as Hodgson observes, that Severus was too much occupied with a skirmishing and desul- tory warfare to have any leisure to construct new fortifications. 1 It is not pretended that he built the wall before he engaged with the Caledonians, and he died at York shortly after his return from that calamitous expedition. He was ambitious of the title Britannicus, hut he obtained it, with the additional title of MAXIMVS, not by building a wall, hut by his expedition, disastrous as it was, against the Caledonians. Spartian, therefore, appears erroneously to have ascribed to Severus a work which was performed by Hadrian, and the historian of Northumberland has merited the thanks of every an- tiquary for having so laboi’iously and so satisfactorily cleared up this point in the history of Roman-Britaiu. Of Antoninus Caracalla, the eldest son and successor of Severus, nothing occurs to be mentioned in connection with Eburacum, but that he soon left it after his father’s death, and returned to Rome. His younger brother Geta, though he took no personal share in the expedition against the Caledonians, had the title of BRITANNICVS conferred on him by the senate ; who also struck coins in his honour ; of which there are several varieties. It has been inferred from a coin of his bearing the legend COLONIA . DIYANA . LEG . XX . VICTRIX, that Deva (Chester) was made by him a Roman co- lony while he had the care of the southern part of Britain during the absence of Severus and Caracalla in Caledonia, and that the xx legion was then stationed there : 2 but the authenticity of the coin depends upon the very questionable authority of Goltzius. 3 From a.d. 211, when Caracalla returned to Rome, with his brother Geta, and Papinian, the eminent lawyer before-mentioned, and his father’s friend (both of whom he is said to have soon afterwards mur- dered, 4 ) there occurs a long period of seventy-three years, during which scarcely any thing worthy of notice is found in the Roman his- torians relating to the affairs of Britain. An inscription to Alex- 1 P. 272. 5 Horsley, B. R. p. 416. T. Gale, Anton, p. 51. 3 “ Hominem inde ab exortu suo veritatis numismaticae sicarium.” — Eckh.vol. vi. Praef. This coin is not noticed by Eckhel or by Akennan. 4 Drake maintains, very reluctantly, that the murder was perpetrated at York ; but coins of Geta, one of which bears on the reverse the legend ADVENTVS . AU- GVSTI, confirm the testimony of Dion and Herodian, that Geta, at least, returned with his brother to Rome; and was not assassinated till the year 212. — Eckhel, vol. vii. p. 231, 232 ; vol. viii. p. 426 — 428. 22 ander Severus and his mother Mammsea, was long ago found in Cum- berland and given by Horsley. 1 But there is no evidence of that Emperor’s having ever been in this island. An inscription to Decius Callus and his son Volusinianus, on what appears to have been a miliary stone, has been discovered at Greta Bridge; but neither of them was ever in Britain. 2 Though the historian of the Thirty Tyrants, 3 as they are usually called, who created such great disturbances in the empire, in the latter part of the third century, has said nothing of Britain, yet the coins of some of them, particularly of Victorinus, Posthumus, and the two Tetrici (father and son), of Lollianus, and Marius, being fre- quently found in the neighbourhood of Eburacum, might seem to justify the belief of their having exercised imperial power in Britain, and perhaps in this city; or, at least, of their having had partisans here. In the year 288 Carausius, who had the command of a fleet on the coast of Belgium, in the reign of Diocletianus and Maximianus, seized upon the government of Britain, and is said, but perhaps without sufficient authority, to have been proclaimed Emperor at York. His coins, all, it is probable, struck in Britain (one at Rutupiae, some at London), are very numerous. 4 Having held the title of Em- peror seven years, in Britain, he was slain by Allectus, who also assumed the imperial title, and held it during three years. The coins of Allectus are less numerous than those of Carausius, but are more frequently found in the neighbourhood of York. 1 B. R. Cumb. li. p. 274. s Horsley, B. R. Yorksh. iii. p. 305. 3 Trebellius Pollio. ap. Hist. Aug. Script, tom. ii. 8vo. 1671. 4 There have been enumerated five varieties in gold, all very rare (one now in the British Museum cost the late Mr. Cracherode £150), fifty in silver, and upwards of two hundred and twenty in small brass, besides a medallion. The coin supposed to have been struck at Rutupiae is of great rarity. It is of silver, having on the obverse a laureated bust of the Emperor, and the legend IMP . CARAVSIVS . P . F . AV.; on the reverse the Emperor holding the hasta, and joining hands with a female figure who holds a trident, and the legend EXPECTATE . YENI. — “ Thou looked for, come!” This type, as Akerman observes, is singular and interesting, and seems to imply that Carausius had sounded the Britons before he ran off with the fleet from Boulogne. Eckhel thinks the female figure to be the genius of Britain. Other coins of Carausius have on the reverse the badges of several legions, as the fourth, the se- venth, and others, which Akerman supposes accompanied him. But this seems to require better evidence. Akerman, Coins of Rom. &c. p. 53 — 59. Eckh. vol. viii. p. 45, 46. 23 When in the year 304 Diocletian and Maxirainian resigned the empire to the Caesars Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, Britain fell to the share of the latter, who immediately came over and fixed his residence in Eburacum. And there, after two years, he died. After his death, he, like his predecessors, was numbered among the gods; 1 and the ceremony of his apotheosis, or consecration, is supposed by Drake to have b§en performed at York. This is not improbable ; his mortal remains may also have been buried here ; but it is much more probable that his body was burned, and his ashes carried to Rome, and deposited in the family mausoleum. But that his tomb was dis- covered in the church of St. Helen’s on the Walls, when that fabric was taken down, will not now be believed, without better evidence than has yet been offered ; 2 much less the tale that a sepulchral lamp, kindled at his burial, was found still burning when his tomb was opened, though fully believed by the father of English topography, the learned Camden, 3 and thought to be not incredible by the philo- sophical Bishop Wilkins. 4 Constantine, called the Great, succeeded his father, being pro- claimed Emperor by the army, at York, where he was at the time of his father’s death ; and where he is said by some to have been born. This opinion, held by Camden, 5 Usher, 6 and Burton, 7 has been zea- lously though not with perfect confidence maintained by the learned historian of York. 8 For having collected all the evidence he could find, he concludes the subject by saying, — “ I shall not perplex my- self more about it, but leave the matter to better judgments to de- termine. ... If the birth of Constantine cannot be clearly made out, York has more to say for it than any other city in the world.” Yet, as Burton acknowledges, there is no evidence of this in any ancient writer : and the only testimony adduced by Archbishop Usher, who has treated the subject with all his learning and acuteness, is that of the English ambassadors at the councils of Constance and Basel. At the former, held a.d. 1414 — 1418, endeavouring to establish their claim of precedency, in preference to the French, they state, as a well- known fact, that “ the royal house of England produced Helena with her son Constantine the Great, Emperor ; who was born in the royal 1 Eutrop. lib. x. c. i. 2 Eboracum, p. 44. 3 Brit. p. 541. Ed. 1594. 4 Mech. powers. Drake, p. 45. 5 Brit. p. 541. Ed. 1594. 6 Britt. Eccles. Antiq. c. viii. 7 Comment, on Anton. Itin. p. 80 — 82. 8 Eboracum, p. 45 — 47. 24 city of York.” At the council of Basel held a.d. 1431 — 1443, they claim precedency to those of Castile, on the ground that “ Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor who gave liberty to build churches through the world, was born at Perternna in the city of York.” 1 Such, no doubt, was the tradition at that time, but unsup- ported as it is by one single existing ancient testimony, it must be con- sidered as entitled to little or no credit. Drake has indeed pressed one passage into this service from an ancient author ; but all its weight is derived from the addition which it has received in passing through his hands. The passage occurs in the Panegyric of Eumenius, spoken before Constantine at Treves. 2 “ Thou didst enter that sacred palace,” says the orator, “ not as a candidate for the empire, but elected; and the paternal household gods immediately saw thee the lawful successor of thy father . ...” 3 Such is a literal version of the passage ; but according to Drake it was designed to convey much more than at first met the ear, and than now meets the eye. “ To my sense,” says he, “ the orator seems to speak thus to Constantine in it : ‘ Thou didst enter that sacred palace, where thy father lay ex- piring, and where thou drewest thy first breath, not as a candidate, but born to the empire. And no sooner did those paternal household gods behold thee, but they instantly acknowledged thee thy father’s lawful successor.’ ” He is apprehensive that he may appear too partial in applying this passage to his subject, the birth of Constantine in York; and certainly, none who are not disposed to give the weight of evidence to a sally of the imagination, will be induced by 1 “ Domns regalis Anglias (inter plures sanctos palmites quos produxit, qui de facile numerari non poterunt) Helenam cum suo filio Constantino Magno Imperatore, nato in urbe regia Eboracensi, educere comperta est.” “ Basilienses alteri, Constantinum ilium Magnum, (qui primus Imperator Chris- tianas, ut illi inquiunt, licentiam dedit per universam orbem Ecclesias constituere ; immensa ad hoc conferens bona) Perternnae natum in Eboracensi civitate, adjiciunt.” — Usser. ubi sitpr. p. 94. The learned Primate has given no references to the places from which these extracts are taken : after some labour, the author succeeded in dis- covering the former in Append. Concilii Constant. Protest. Anglic. Labbsei Concil. tom. xii. p. 1739 — 1753 ; but he has sought in vain for the latter in the same Col- lection of Councils : the only Collection to which he has access. 2 Not at York, as Drake, without any reason, supposes. 3 Paneg. Vet. N. vii. (Drake ix.) c. iv. “ Sacrum istud palatium non candidatus Imperii, sed designatus intrasti, confestimque te illi paterni Lares successorem videre legitimum.” The title of Cresar was conferred upon Constantine by his father, a. d. 304, but he did not attain to that rank till his father’s death. Hence he is said by the Panegyrist to have been “ designatus.” 25 the few reasons he lias offered in his justification, to deny that his apprehensions were well founded. So far from its being proved that Constantine was born in York, it is highly probable that he was not born in Britain. The claim of Britain, for this honour, rests chiefly on a passage in the Panegyric of an anonymous author, spoken a. n. 307, at Treves, before Maxi- mum and Constantine ; in which the orator, addressing Constantine, says, “ He (Constantius) delivered Britain from slavery, thou also madest it noble by rising (or beginning, or first appearing) there.” 1 No doubt the term “ oriendo,” may be rendered, “ by being born.” But the expression may be as well understood of his accession to the rank of Caesar as of his coming into existence. 2 In the first section of this Panegyric the term occurs in such a figurative sense ; where Constantine is addressed as “ Oriens Iraperator ;” which no one ever imagined to refer to his natural birth. 3 Great stress is also laid upon another passage, in the Panegyric of Eumenius, addressed to Con- stantine, in which the orator apostrophises Britain, as “ fortunate, and happier than all lands, because she first saw Constantine Caesar.” 4 The meaning of which is, not that at his birth Britain first saw Constantine, but first saw him invested with the dignity of Caesar, on his father’s death. 5 The courtly orator proceeds to describe the peculiar happiness of Britain in respect of its climate and produc- tions ; and at the close of the passage exclaims, “ Gracious gods ! what means this, that always from some remote end of the world, new deities descend to be universally revered ? Thus Mercury from 1 “ Liberavit ille Britannias servitute ; tu etiam nobiles illic oriendo fecisti.” — Paneg. Incerti auct. c. iv. Paneg. Vet. No. iv. 3 Among the early coins of Constantine there is one with this unique legend on the reverse, within a wreath of oak, PLVR . NATAL . FEL. i. e. Plures (Plurimos, Eckh.) natales felices. Du Cange thinks it was struck when Constantine obtained from Maximian the dignity of Most Noble Caesar ; and that the legend expresses a wish that he may obtain that also of Augustus and Emperor. He further observes that in the kalendars three birth-days of Constantine are reckoned ; the first, the day of his genuine or natural birth ; the second, that on which he was declared Caesar ; and the third, that on which he was created Emperor. Du Cange, Diss. de num. inf. asvi, § xlix. in Suppl. Carpentieri, tom iv. Eckhel, vol. viii. p. 72. 3 “ Tunc enim cum habita est oratio Constantinus ex Caesare primum dictus est Augustus.” Not. in loc. ed. Lond. 1828. 4 “ O fortunata, et nunc omnibus beatior terris, quae Constantinum Caesarem prima vidisti ! ” — Eumen. Paneg. c. ix. ed. Lond. 1828. Paneg. Vet. vi. ed. Cellarii. 5 The army at York saluted him Augustus and Emperor; but Galerius would acknowledge him only as Caesar; the title on his earliest coins. Eckhel, vol. viii. p. 72. £ 26 the Nile, the source of which river is unknown, thus Bacchus from India, which almost sees the rising of the sun, showed themselves to the nations as propitious gods. Truly places nearer to heaven are more sacred than inland regions ; and it was very proper that an Emperor should be sent by the gods, from the region in which the earth terminates/’ 1 In the florid description of the climate and fertility of Britain, Drake imagines, that “ although the whole island is named, yet that the particular vale of York was in the orator’s eye and from the parallel drawn between Constantine, and Mercury and Bacchus, it has been inferred that in the close as well as the beginning of the paragraph, Eumenius meant to assert that Constantine was born in Britain. But the comparison relates not to the place of the birth of these personages, but to the scenes from which they were said to have come forth to be the benefactors of mankind : As Mercury and Bacchus had come from the farthest limits of the earth, one from the regions near the source of the Nile, and the other from India, Deities propitious to the nations ; so Con- stantine had come from the distant island of Britain, as Emperor or Cffisar, to succour the Roman state. Drake indeed says, 2 “ we are told that the British soldiers in Roman pay saluted their countryman Constantine Emperor at York;” but by whom we are told this he has not stated ; and such an assertion, unsupported by any ancient authority, can have no weight. Arntzenius, the learned commentator on the Ancient Panegyrists, in his notes on the passage above cited from Eumenius, maintains that the opinion that Constantine was born in Britain is inconsistent with chronology ; the birth of Constantine hap- pening a. d. 272 (some say 273, others 274) ; and the first arrival of Constantius in Britain being not earlier than a. d. 286. Constantius died a. n. 306, at which time it is allowed by Drake that Constantine was above thirty years of age ; consequently if Arntzenius be right, he must have been born several years prior to his father’s coming to Britain. It is said indeed that Constantius was sent into Britain by Aurelian, as Proprietor, in the year 272 or 274, and that he re- 1 “ Dii boni ! quid hoc est, quod semper ex aliquo supremo fine mundi nova deum numina universo orbi colenda descendunt? Sic Mercurius a Nilo cujus fluminis origo nescitur; sic Liber ab Indis prope consciis solis orientis, deos se gentibus ostendere prsesentes. Sacratiora sunt profecto mediterraneis loca vicina ccelo, et inde proprius a diis mittitur imperator, ubi terra finitur.” — Eumen. ubi sup. 2 Ebor. p. 45. 27 mained in Britain several years ; but of this there is no satisfactory evidence. He was employed by his father-in-law Maximian to re- cover Britain from Carausius, but before lie had finished his prepa- rations at Gesoriacum (Boulogne), the usurper died by the hand of Allectus ; and this usurper had also fallen when Constantius, for the first time, appeared in Britain, a.d. 295 ; when Constantine was more than twenty years of age. Intimately connected with the question relating to the birth- place of Constantine is the inquiry concerning the native country of his mother. That his mother was Helena, and that she was the lawful wife of Constantius, there is no room to doubt. If (as it has been maintained) she were the daughter of a British King, named Coi’1, who reigned, as some have supposed, in the south of Britain, but as others have asserted in Caledonia, near the wall of Antoninus, Britain might, with somewhat more of probability, claim the honour of giving birth to her son; though, as Gibbon justly says, “ In the wandering life of a soldier, the place of his marriage, and the places where his children are born, have very little connexion with each other.'” 1 But it is generally allowed that Helena was a woman of mean origin, a native either of Drepanum, in Bythynia, afterwards named by her son, and in honour of her, Helenopolis ; or of Naissus, now called Nissa, a town of Moesia, where it is now commonly thought that Constantine the Great was born. 2 Constantine had not accompanied his father to Britain ; but re- mained in the East, serving under Diocletian, till he was summoned to the West by his father, justly anxious for the safety of his son. “ It is commonly said,” observes Larduer, “ by learned moderns” (and not altogether without authority), 3 “ that when he came to York, he found his father dying.” But Eumenius, the Panegyrist, says, in the presence of Constantine himself, that he came to his father (in Gaul) when he was weighing anchor for Britain. And by another author it is said that Constantius afterwards obtained a victory over the Piets. However this may have been, he was certainly with his father at York, when he died ; and soon after that event repaired to Rome, and no more returned to Britain. Of the subsequent connection of York with either Rome or By- 1 Hist, of Decl. &c. ch. xiv. sect. 1. n. 10. 2 See Lardner’s works, vol. iv. p. 139. 8vo. edit, and references there. 3 See Lardner, ubisup. p. 145, note A. E 2 28 zantium, to which city Constantine removed the Imperial residence A.n. 330, we have very little information: not much more than the names of the governors of Britain, and no distinct notice of York itself. If the reading and interpretation of an inscription on a remarkable statue, found at Birrens-work Hill, near Middleby, in Dumfriesshire, about a century ago, as given by It. Gale, and approved by Ward and Horsley, be correct, the Emperor Julian, one of the nephews of Con- stantine, took some interest in the affairs of the province, and endea- voured, in accordance with his well-known bitter hatred of Chris- tianity, to revive or sanction the rites of Heathen worship, even in this distant part of the empire. 1 The Homan forces appear to have been gradually withdrawn from Britain, their services being required nearer home. During many years the South Britons were greatly harassed by the incursions of the Piets : assistance was sent to them by Honorius ; but with- out any permanent advantage ; and the wall of Antoninus, never a very effectual barrier, seems to have been at length almost en- tirely demolished. Instead, therefore, of attempting to re-establish that wall, or to maintain that part of the province lying to the south of it, between the upper aud lower isthmus, and which had obtained the name of Yalentia, in honour of Valentinian I., Gallio of Ravenna, who at the earnest entreaty of the Britons had been sent by Valentinian III., assisted them in repairing the stone wall of Hadrian, which also appears to have fallen into decay, or to have been greatly injured by incursions from the North. This work is said to have been executed partly at the public expense and partly by the contributions of individuals. Having rendered this assistance to their late subjects, the Romans departed from the island, to re- turn no more. 2 This happened a.d. 420; between which time and 1 The statue represents a female figure in a niche, armed and habited like Pallas, her helmet girt with a mural brim, having a spear in the right hand, a globe in the left : a shield at the feet on the left side, and, as it is supposed, a cap of liberty on the right. Below is the following inscription : — BRIGANTIE . S . AMANDVS ARCHITECTVS . EX . IMPERIO . IMP . I. which R. Gale reads thus : “ Brigantiae sacrum Amandus Architectus ex imperio Imperatoris Juliani.” Brigantia is no doubt the name of a local deity : a tutelary goddess of the Brigantes. See Horsley’s B. R. Scotl. No. xxxiv. p. 311 and 353, also p. 179. Hodgson, p. 252. 2 Roy, j>. 26. 29 the arrival of Claudius a.d. 44, there intervenes a period of nearly four centuries, during which the Romans were nominally in pos- session of this island, and, for the far greater part of the period, carrying on the government of the province on the very spot on which the preceding rapid and imperfect sketch of their transactions in Bri- tain has been compiled. LEGIONS, ENCAMPMENTS, AND STATIONS OF THE ROMANS. In the course of the preceding brief review of the progress of the Roman arms in Britain, mention has necessarily been made of the legions by which the conquest of the island was effected, and the various stations and encampments formed and connected together by military roads ; the vestiges of which, especially in the counties anciently inhabited by the Brigantes, furnish so many objects of entertainment and instruction to the antiquarian traveller. Some of the most important of the larger military stations became cities or towns; as York, Tadcaster, Doncaster, the Roman stations of Ebura- cum, Calcaria and Danum ; with many others scattered over Britain, first established and occupied by the legionary soldiers and allies. As a correct idea of the plan and character of such cities, under the govern- ment of the Romans, cannot be formed, nor many of the relics of their founders with which they generally abound, be rightly under- stood or justly appreciated, without some knowledge of the con- stitution of the Roman legions, and of that part of their tactics which relates to their stationary encampments, it seems advisable, as in- troductory to a detailed description of Eburacum and its remains, that something should be briefly said on these subjects. In the most ancient states, it has been observed, the first rule of military police was, undoubtedly, “ Quot cives, tot milites ;” in other words, “ that all who were of an age capable of bearing arms, should be liable to be called out on military service.” But the service of a whole nation, at once, unless the population were very small indeed, could be rarely, if ever, required. So that from a very early period some principle or rule of selection must have been generally adopted, determined, perhaps, by the particular character and circumstances of the people. Hence the term Legion, by which a Roman regiment was denominated ; derived from a Latin word, signifying “ to choose,” or “ to select.” It would not be consistent with the nature and design of this work 30 to enter minutely into the consideration of the military antiquities of the Romans, or to trace the successive changes in the constitution of the Roman army from the time of Servius Tullius, to the later periods of the empire ; but the statement of a few particulars may enable those to whom these subjects are not familiar, to contemplate with greater interest the military remains of the Romans in Ebura- cum and the neighbourhood. In the earliest periods of the commonwealth, every Roman citizen, with the exception of a very few privileged persons, was liable to be called upon, between the ages of seventeen and forty-six years, to perform military service; if a foot-soldier, twenty campaigns; ten campaigns if a horse-soldier. There appears to have been, in the earlier times of the republic, at least, an annual enrolment and election of soldiers at Rome ; but the force annually raised varied ac- cording to the will of the senate, and the exigencies of the state. In the first ages of the republic, each consul had usually the com- mand of two legions of Roman soldiers, and two legions of allies, raised in the states of Italy. When the allied states were admitted to the freedom of the city, their forces were incorporated with those of Rome itself; and troops raised in the conquered countries beyond Italy, and denominated auxiliaries, took their place. The infantry of the allies was the same in number as that of the Roman legion ; but the cavalry was twice as numerous. The number of men composing a legion varied much at different times ; and the number of legions also increased with the increasing extent of the Roman dominion. The strength of the legionary cavalry seems to have been always nearly the same, 300 men ; but the number of the infantry varied from 4,000 to 6,000. The infantry of a Roman legion consisted of three classes. 1. The hastati, so called from the hasta or spear which they carried. In a legion of 4,200 men, they amounted to 1,200 ; and when the army was drawn out in array, they occupied the first line. 2. The prvncipes, men of mature age ; perhaps anciently placed in front, as their name implies; but afterwards forming the second line. These also were equal in number to the hastati. 3. The triarii : these, always in number 600, were the veterans ; and formed, as their name imports, the third line. They were also called pilani, from the two pila, or short spears which they carried. To every legion was also attached a body of light-armed troops, called velites, 1,200 in number, when 31 the legion consisted of 4,200 men. They did not form a part of the legion, but fought in scattered parties in front, or wherever they were required. In each legion the infantry were divided into ten cohorts ; each cohort into three maniples-, and each maniple into two centuries. The cavalry was divided into ten turmce, of thirty men each ; and each turma was divided into three decurice, or bodies of ten men. The legion was officered under the Imperator or Commander in chief, who was, at first, the Consul or the Dictator, afterwards the Emperor, by Legates, Qutestors, Tribunes and Centurions ; by Pre- fects, or Generals of Horse, and Dccurions. The standard-bearers were called Signiferi and Yexillarii ; one being appointed to each cen- tury, or at least to each maniple. During the earliest ages of the republic, as above stated, four legions, with their allies, constituted the Roman army ; which amounted therefore at that time to little more than thirty-two thou- sand men : but after the first of the wars with Carthage, the number and the strength of the legions was considerably increased. When in the second of these Avars Hannibal had marched into Italy, and nearly reached Rome, eight legions of five thousand men each, with a double contingent from the allies, had been voted by the senate to the two consuls ; and four years after the disastrous battle of Cannae, the number of legions amounted to twenty-three. At the breaking up of the second triumvirate, Octavius is said to have been at the head of forty-five legions ; while no fewer than thirty were serving under Anthony; and Lepidus had the command of twenty. 1 When the civil wars Avere ended, Augustus reduced the number of the le- gions to twenty-three, or, as some say, tAventy-fAe. 2 The latter, according to an enumeration made by Tacitus, 3 Avas their number in the time of Tiberius. At the beginning of the second century they are thought to have amounted to thirty. This Gibbon calls a peace-establishment, forming, most probably, a standing force of nearly three hundred and seventy-five thousand men. 4 The legions were designated by numbers, as Legio i., or Prima ; Leg. ii., or Secunda, &c. ; and also generally by some particular 1 Appian B. C. lib. v. c. 53. Eckli. vol. vi. p. 52, viii . p. 491. 2 Dion. lib. lv. p. 564, ed. Leunclav. 3 Annal. iv. 5, ed. Brot. 4 Hist, of Decl. and Fall, &c. vol. i. cli. i. p. 27, 8vo. ed. 1797. 32 name, denoting where, or by what Emperor they had been raised ; or commemorative of their service, or of some distinctive circum- stance. Thus we find the terms, Legio Augusta, L. Flavia, L. Bri- tannica, L. Hispanica, L. Fulminea, &c. &c. Vidrix, or Conquering, is also sometimes added : and Pia, Fidelis, Dutiful and Faithful ; ex- pressed in inscriptions by the letters P. F. 1 Seven legions, beside the four not named, which Jul. Caesar brought with him on his second expedition, are connected with the history of the Romans in Britain : four of them are often commemorated in inscriptions found in various parts of the island, but especially in the North; and three of them are particularly connected with Roman York. The seven are, Legions ii., vi., vii., ix., x., xiv., xx. Of these, the vii. and x., with the exception of the cavalry, which was detained on the coast of Gaul by adverse winds, formed the army with which Julius Caesar first invaded Britain. The vii., with four unknown, was with him on his second invasion. But neither the vii. nor the x. appear to have been employed in Britain again. The ii., the ix., the xiv., and the xx., came into Britain with Aulus Plautius, in the reign of Claudius, a.d. 43. The xiv. did not remain long, about twenty-six or twenty-seven years, leaving the island a.d. 70. It is recorded to have been a very brave legion. Cerealis is represented by Tacitus 2 as complimenting the veterans 1 On coins struck by M. Antony, Sept. Severus, Gallienus, Victorinus, Carausius, and a few other Emperors, and also on some provincial coins of Asia Minor, the legend of the reverse consists of the number, and sometimes the title of a legion, as LEG. VI., LEG. VIII., LEG. II. ITAL. The highest number that occursis XXX., which is found on the coins of M. Antony, and of all the Emperors just named. But it is remarkable that the third decade is in no instance complete, while in the two first decades no legion is wanting. The same circumstance is observable in the in- scriptions collected by Gruter and others. On the coins of Antony, LEG. XXV., XXVIII. and XXIX. are wanting; on the coins of the Emperors, all between XXII. and XXX. This naming of the legions on coins was designed, it is sup- posed, to conciliate their favour, or to reward some signal service. On the provincial coins it is thought to denote that the place where they were struck had been colonized by veterans of the legions named, or garrisoned by those legions. The absence of the numbers in the third decade may have been owing either to the destruction of the legions not named, or to their having been incorporated with other legions. Inscrip- tions are found in Gruter, having LEG. XXIII., XXIIII., XXIX., and XXXV.; but these are undoubtedly incorrect. Eckh. vol. vi. p. 50, vii. p. 1G8, 402, viii. p. 488 —493. 2 Hist. v. 16. 33 of this legion with the title of “ Domitores Britannise,” ' the con- querors of Britain.’ It is not mentioned on any tile or in any in- scription found in Britain. Such memorials indeed do not appear to have been very common before the time of Hadrian, many years after this legion had returned to the continent. 1 The vi. legion came into Britain with Hadrian, a.d. 117. And from the time of this Emperor, till near the filial departure of the Homans, the legions in Britain were four ; namely, the ii., vi., ix. and xx. Of these it will be proper to take more particular notice. Legio ii. Augusta, also called Britaunica. This legion came over with Claudius, under the command of Vespasian, and was in the North in the time of Hadrian, where, according to Dion, it had its winter-quarters. 2 There is abundant evidence derived from inscrip- tions, of its having been employed on the murus of Hadrian, and in the neighbourhood ; at Vindolana (Little Chesters), at Netherby, at the Birrens of Middleby, and at Bewcastle. It was also em- ployed in the time of Antoninus Pius, in the vallum of the upper isthmus. Au altar recently found at York, dedicated to Fortune, by the wife of a soldier of this legion, affords some evidence of its having been at Eburacum. Its head-quarters, perhaps after the reign of Antoninus Pius, were at Caerleon, in South Wales. This appears from the Itinerary of Antoninus, who in his xii. Iter has, “ Isca Legio ii. Augusta.” In the reign of Valentinian I., according to the Notitia, 3 Rutupise was its commander’s head-quarters : perhaps when it was about to be withdrawn from Britain. Gale says it was at one time stationed at London. 4 A Pegasus and Capricorn or sea- goat are found accompanying inscriptions belonging to this legion : the latter bestowed, as it has been thought, on occasion of their success in some sea-fight; or on account of their being trained as marines. 5 1 From a coin of Gallienus, bearing on the reverse the legend LEG. X II 1 1. GEM. VI. P. VI. F. it appears to have been, at that time, a double legion. Eckh. vii. p. 403. 3 Dion. lib. lv. p. 564. 3 A work composed probably about the time of Theodosius Jun., and containing a list of the several military and civil officers of the Eastern and Western Empire, lower down than the time of Arcadius and Ilonorius. 4 T. Gale, Anton. Iter. p. 125. 5 Hodgson, p. 76. Horsley has a different conjecture. Describing an inscription found at Benwel (Condurcum, a station in the line of the wall), having these figures, with the name of Leg. ii., he says, “ The sea-goat and Pegasus are not uncommon, and seem to denote the maritime situation of the country (Northumberland) on the r 34 Legio vi. Victrix. Pia. Fidelis (or Felix). This legion came over with Hadrian. No mention of this legion is ever found in inscrip- tions belonging to the south of Britain ; but it occurs frequently in those of the north. In Hadrian’s time this legion was employed in the works of the Roman wall about Amboglanna (Burdoswald), Carlisle, and some other stations. It appears to have been afterwards employed in the vallum of Antoninus Pius, at the upper isthmus. When Dion speaks of this legion as stationed in the lower part of Britain, it must be in relation to Caledonia, or the most northern part ; for it is certain, that about the middle of the reign of Anto- ninus Pius, or before a.d. 190, its head-quarters were at York, and continued to be so as long as the Romans remained in the island. No symbols appear connected with this legion. Legio ix. Hispanica. The infantry of this legion, which came into Britain with Claudius, was nearly destroyed by the forces of Boadicea ; and its loss on that occasion was recruited by two thousand men and eight auxiliary cohorts from Germany. It again suffered severely in Scotland in the sixth campaign of Agricola ; when “ the enemy,” says Tacitus, “ making a general attack in the night upon the ninth legion, which was the weakest, slaughtered the centinels, and in the confusion of sleep and consternation, burst through their entrenchments.” 1 It is very probable, as Roy has shown, that this one hand, and the swiftness of the Roman victory on the other.” — B. R. p. 213. But the use of these and other symbolical figures by the Roman legions was too general to admit in any case of so partial an interpretation. The subject of these legionary symbols is curious and interesting, and has been discussed by some learned antiqua- ries, but not perhaps with complete success. It is well known that the common standard of every legion was a silver eagle placed on a spear. But there were also other legionary ensigns, variously ornamented, which are to be seen, either with or without the eagle, on the reverses of several coins, on Trajan’s Pillar, and other ancient monuments. Besides these, the figures of animals, natural and fictitious, as the hull, the boar, the ibis, &c., the Minotaur, the Centaur, Capricorn, Pegasus, &c., were from early times, as Pliny (Nat. Hist. 1. x. c. 5.) and others inform us, carried before the ranks. These, it is highly probable, were standards, not of the legions, but of the cohorts, which are known to have had their peculiar ensigns. On the coins of Gallienus indeed, mentioned above (p. 33), some of these symbolical figures form the types of the reverses on which different legions are named ; but not appro- priated to one legion: the boar, for instance, being assigned to Leg. i. and ii.; the bull to Leg. vii. and x. ; and the Capricorn to no less than five legions. From this circumstance Eckhel concludes that they were ensigns of cohorts or maniples, not of legions. The origin and design of these symbolical badges or cognizances cannot now be ascertained. Le Beau in Mem. de l’Acad. de B. L. vol. xxv. &c. Eckh. vol. vii. p. 402 — 404 ; viii. p. 493 — 496. 1 Vit. Agric. c. 26. 35 disastrous event happened at Dcalgin Ross, in Strathern, near the junction of the rivers Em and Ruagh-huil . 1 It seems to have been stationed at York before the arrival of the sixtli legion; with which, as being in consequence of its losses a weak legion, it is thought to have been incorporated. In one inscription on a Roman brick, it is called Victrix , 2 though this title belonged not to this but to the sixth legion. It is, therefore, conjectured by Horsley, that this honourable title was assumed by the soldiers of the ninth legion, when incorporated with the sixth . 3 In a coin of Carausius it is designated Leg. Gem. or Legio Gemina, the title given to a mixed legion . 4 Hodgson observes, that after the time of Agricola this legion is not heard of . 5 It was recognised, however, it appears, so late as the usurpation of Carausius ; and there are memorials of it in York, posterior to the time of Agricola. On the coins of Gallienus, a bull and a lion appear with this legion. Legio xx. Valeria (or Valeriana, or Valens). Victrix. This legion probably came into Britain with Claudius . 6 In Hadrian’s time it was employed in building the station of Moresby, (near Whitehaven,) and it left its symbols cut in high relief on a stone in some tower or castellum, a little west of (Great Chesters) iEsica. It had also a 1 See Roy’s Milit. Antiq. &c. p. 63 — 65. From the singular construction of the gates of two of the camps on Cawthorne Moor, near Pickering, and their resemblance to those of the camps at Dealgin Ross, Roy, with great probability, conjectures that these camps were formed by the ix. legion, after it had finally left Scotland. But King thinks that the entrances of the camp at Dealgin Ross, were formed by the Caledonians, in after ages. Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 68. 2 LEG. IX. VIC. Philos. Trans, abridged, vol. v. pt. ii. p. 42. Horsley, B. R. Yorksh. No. Lx. p. 309. 3 B. R. p. 80. 4 Brutier, in his notes on Tacitus, Hist. ii. 6, says it is so designated on a coin of Gallienus; but this does not appear from Eck’nel. 5 Hist, of Northumb. ubi sup. p. 312. 6 When Vespasian assumed the purple it was unwilling to own allegiance ; and furnished an opportunity to Agricola of displaying the judgment and prudence of his character. “ Mucianus,” (governor of the city, before the arrival of Vespasian,) “ having approved,” saysTacitus, (Vit. Agric. c. 7.) “ the vigour and fidelity of Agricola in the service of raising levies, gave him the command of the twentieth legion, which had appeared backward in taking the oaths, not without suspicion of his predecessor. This legion had been unmanageable and formidable even to commanders of consular dignity; and their late commander of praetorian rank had not sufficient authority to keep them in obedience ; though it was uncertain whether from his own disposition, or that of his soldiers. Agricola, therefore, was chosen to supersede the commander, and punish the delinquents ; but with a most uncommon degree of moderation he chose rather to have it appear that he had found them obedient, than that he had made them so." — Aikin’s Transl. F 2 36 considerable share in making the vallum of Antoninus Pius . 1 Its head quarters appear to have been at Chester; where bricks and other monuments mentioning this legion have been found. On the authority of some doubtful coins it is supposed to have favoured Carausius. This legion remained long in Britain, but is thought to have been recalled before the Homans finally abandoned the island. The symbolical recognizances of the cohorts of this legion, appear, from monumental inscriptions and coins, to have been a boar, and a Capricorn or sea-goat. There is no satisfactory evidence that any other legions than those which have been now mentioned, served in Britain. On the doubtful authority of a few inscriptions and coins, a different opinion has been held by some learned antiquaries. From a sepulchral inscription found at Bath, erected to the memory of a soldier of the second legion, called Adjutrix, it has been iuferred that this legion was at one period in Britain. But Horsley, with great probability, con- jectures that this soldier had been permitted to leave his legion, in some other province, and to come to Bath on account of his health, and had there died. Leg. ii. Augusta was in Britain from the time of Claudius, but on no other inscription is Leg. ii. Adju- trix mentioned; and Dion speaks of it as stationed in Lower Pan- nonia . 2 Gordon imagined, from an inscription on a tile, LEG. V., found in Scotland, that the fifth legion was in Britain. But Horsley read “ Legio Victrix,” not “ quinta.” The fifth legion appears from Tacitus and others to have been employed elsewhere. Gordon produces the testimony of another inscription on a miliary pillar, which, however, when read and interpreted correctly, has no relation whatever to this legion, but to an auxiliary cohort; perhaps attached to the sixth legion . 3 Dr. T. Gale speaks of several bricks or tiles found at Cser Rhyn, (Conovio,) North Wales, having the impression LEG. X. Horsley suspects that the tiles were imperfect, and that the original impression was LEG. XX . 4 The head-quarters of the twentieth legion are known 1 Hodg. ubi sup. 2 Horsley, B. It. Somerset. No. ii. p. 86, 326. 3 Gordon. It. Sept. p. 56, 62. Horsley, B. R. Scotl. No. xvii. xxv. p. 86, 200, 203. Hodgson, p. 263. 4 T. Gale It. Anton, p. 122. Horsley, B. R. p. 86. 37 to have been at Chester (Deva). The tenth came with Jul. Ctesar, in liis first, and perhaps in his second expedition ; hut on neither occasion could it have advanced into North Wales. He certainly did not leave it in the island ; and no historian mentions its subsequent arrival. There were two tenth legions ; one of which, in the time of Tacitus and of Dion, was in Judaea; the other, first in Spain, after- wards in Moesia and Pannonia. Various legions, as it has been before stated , 1 are named on the reverses of some of the numerous coins of Carausius ; and Mr. Aker- man appeal’s to think that the legions thus recorded accompanied the usurper into Britain . 2 Some of these legions, as Leg. ii. viiii. Gem. and xx. had been in the island long before his arrival ; but the cir- cumstances of his history render it highly improbable that he could bring over the four other legions named on his coins, Leg. iiii. vii. viii. and xxx., the latest notices of which place them in the regions near the Danube. The Roman fleet had been entrusted to him ; and the forces under his command were composed chiefly, it is probable, of marines and recruits from the brave and hardy Franks . 3 Two inscriptions have been found near Durham, in which L. GOR. or Legio Gordiana occurs. No such title of a legion is found else- where ; and it is most probable, that, as R. Gale conjectures, we are to understand by it Legio sexta victrix. Tbe inscriptions relate to the erecting and repairing of some public buildings at the expense of the Emperor, M. Ant. Gordianus; and the title may have been assumed on that occasion by the legion that performed the work in honour of the Emperor . 4 It has been before observed, that when all the towns and states of Italy were admitted to the rights and privileges of Roman citizens, their forces, which had served as allies, were incorporated with those of the republic ; and auxiliary troops, hired from foreign states, were added to the legions ; “ modelled according to the form of the legion- ary forces / 5 It is certain that auxiliaries accompanied the legions that were sent into Britain. From various inscriptions, and the Notitia, Horsley obtained a list of thirty-one cohorts of infantry, and eight alee of cavalry, serving in Britain. The more recent disco- 1 Page 32. 2 Coins of Rom. &c. p. 59. 3 Gibbon Decl. &c. vol. ii. p. 125. 4 Phil. Trans. No. 357. Horsley B. R. Durh. No. xi. xii. p. 79, 289. 38 veries of inscriptions, and of the rescripts of Trajan and Hadrian, have enabled the learned historian of Northumberland to add largely to the number. 1 These cohorts and also are generally distinguished by the name of the countries and provinces in which they had been levied. On leaving this subject, it may not be uninteresting to observe, that as Agricola appears to have had three legions under his com- mand, with their auxiliaries, supposing their establishment com- plete, when he subdued the Brigantes, and constructed the forts in the lower isthmus, his force would probably amount to more than 30.000 foot and 6,000 horse. But the ninth legion was certainly not complete ; having been nearly destroyed in the battle with the troops of Boadicea. The two other legions must also have been much re- duced by detachments left behind in the different stations. Roy concludes, from the size of his large camps in Scotland, that the army of Agricola employed in the field did not amount to quite 26.000 men. 2 It has appeared highly probable that the site of Eburacum was first occupied as a military station by the soldiers of Agricola, when the whole state of the Brigantes was reduced to subjection by that eminent commander in his second campaign. 3 In order to have a clear idea of a city that arose out of such a station, something should be known of the general plan on which Roman encampments were constructed. Writers on the military affairs of the Romans speak of Roman camps (castra) as being principally of two kinds ; castra aestiva and castra hyberna; or summer camps and winter camps. The former, as the name imports, were such as were occupied in summer, when the army was in the field ; the latter were designed to contain and protect the troops during winter. The castra aestiva, or summer camps, are described as being of two kinds; temporary camps, occupied for a very short time, thrown up in a hurry, having only a weak in- trenchment ; and camps in which it might be necessary for the troops to continue for a longer time, or to make use of repeatedly, distin- guished by the name of castra stativa. “ In process of time,” says 1 B. R. p. 86 — 94. Hist, of Northumb. &c. uli sup. p. 312 — 315. 5 Mil. Antiq. p. 68. 3 P. 11. 39 Roy, "many of these camps became fixed stations or towns; and might then be ranked among the number of hybema.” 1 The form of a Roman camp is generally said to have been square, or oblong, more or less regular, according to the circumstances of the place. But it has been observed, that on Trajan’s pillar the camps there represented are for the most part oval or circular ; and from the camp at Elsdcn, in Northumberland, Horsley concludes that the Romans sometimes used circular forts in Britain . 2 The camps of Agricola, as appears from the splendid work of Roy, were of rectangular form ; and such were all the great stations on the military roads laid down by Antoninus . 3 The whole camp was surrounded by a deep trench, a rampart (agger) formed of the earth thrown out of it, which when fortified by stakes or pallisades (valli), was denominated vallum. Besides the occasional notices of the system of castrametation adopted by the Romans to be met with in the works of Livy, Tacitus, Sallust, Josephus , 4 and others, Polybius, the friend and companion of Scipio Africanus the Younger, who therefore flourished diming the Republic, and Hyginus, who lived in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, have furnished us with full and explicit accounts of the construction of temporary encampments in their times . 5 During the interval of their respective works considerable changes had taken place in the establishment of the Roman troops, and consequently in the method of castrametation. Yet Roy, after carefully examining the camps of Agricola, who lived nearer the time of Hyginus than of Polybius, found reason to conclude that “ the system of castra- metation made use of by Agricola was either the same described by Polybius, or at least one resembling it much nearer than that does which was practised in the time of Hyginus.” 6 Assuming then that Eburacum was a station formed by Agricola, or one of his legates, the description of a Polybian encampment may serve to convey some idea, sufficiently correct, of the general form and arrange- ment of York imder the Romans. 1 Mil. Antiq. p. 42. 2 B. R. p. 101. 3 The camps supposed by Sir H. Dryden to compose the chain of forts formed by Ostorius Scapula, are all irregular ; not one rectangular. See p. 6, note. 4 De Bell. Jud. lib. iii. cap. 6. 5 Polyb. Hist. lib. vi. Hygin. de Castrametatione. Ed. Schelii. Amst. 16G0. 6 Mil. Antiq. p. 191. LEFT PRINCIPAL GATE, 40 PRAETORIAN GATE. A DECUMAN GATE. Visiting sucli a camp, formed to contain two consular legions, with their auxiliaries, and taking General Roy for our guide, 1 we come first to a fosse or trench about nine feet deep and twelve feet wide, on the further edge of which rises a rampart formed of the earth thrown out of the trench, fortified by stakes; both surrounding the camp, and forming a square, each side of which measures 2,150 Roman, or 2077 English feet, or 692J English yards, a a a a. In this rampart we find four openings or gates, bbbb, one in each side, in the middle of the front and rear, but not in the middle of the sides. 2 Entering 1 Mil. Antiq. p. 42 — 46. PI. iv. 3 Polybius, Roy observes, has forgotten to inform us of the number, position, and RIGHT PRINCIPAL GATE. 41 the camp by the gate on the rear, Porta Decumana, or the Decuman gate, and crossing an open space of 200 feet, (the distance on every side between the camp and the intrenchment,) we come to a street, c, 50 feet wide : and proceeding along it 250 feet, we reach another street, d, crossing it at right angles, and 100 feet wide. On the opposite of tliis is the Praetorium, e, the quarters of the Consul, (anciently called Praetor,) or General, occupying a space of 200 feet square. 1 Ou the right of the Praetorium is the Quaestorium, f, occupied by the Quaestor ; and on the left, an equal space for the Legates, g, and the Forum, or market-place, h. Next to these are placed the Select Cavalry of the allies, 1 1 , and again beyond these the Volunteer Horse and Foot, j j, and the Select Infantry of the allies, k k. Along the front of these, on each side, are the tents of the Tri- bunes, l l, and of the Prefects of the allies, m m, in squares of 50 feet. Crossing in front of the Praetorium, a street 100 feet wide, called Via Principalis, or Principal Street, opposite to each end of which is a gate, Porta Principalis Dextra, and Porta Principalis Sinistra, or Right Principal Gate and Left Principal Gate, we come to another street, o o, 50 feet wide, opposite to the end of which is the other gate, Porta Praetoria, or Praetorian Gate ; and parallel to it four other streets of the same width, pppp, all crossed by one at right angles, also 50 feet wide, and called Via Quintana. This portion of the camp, forming about two-thirds of the whole, is allotted to the troops, so arranged, that one legion and its allies is placed on one side of the middle street, and the other legiou and its allies on the other, in the order denoted in the annexed plan. Returning to the rear of the Praetorium, we find on each side of the street c, by which we entered, the quarters assigned to the Extraordinary Horse of the allies, q q, and the Extraordinary Foot of the allies, r r ; and to strangers arriving at the camp on business, s s. names of the gates of the Roman camp : he has therefore endeavoured to collect the information required from Livy and Vegetius. The learned antiquary King denies the accuracy of his conclusions from these writers, and maintains that Roy has fallen into an error, and mistaken the front of a Roman camp for the rear ; and, consequently, the Praetorian for the Decuman gate. He therefore reverses the po- sition of these gates, placing the Praetorian gate in the side nearest to the Praetorium. It is not easy to settle this disputed point ; nor is it necessary to the purpose for which the plan of a Roman camp has been introduced. See Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 12, 15, 143. 1 Here also King differs from Roy ; assigning an area of 400 feet square to the Praetorium. Ib. p. 81, 91. G 42 Such was a Polybiau camp ; and such probably in its general form and character was Eburacum in its earliest period : its defence ori- ginally a ditch and a rampart of earth, which was afterwards reveted or faced with stone. ORIGIN, SITUATION, AND EXTENT OF EBURACUM. When Jul. Caesar invaded Britain, he found the maritime part of the island, or that to which his military operations were confined, inhabited by a very numerous people, that had passed over from Belgic Gaul, for the sake of war and plunder, and having settled in the country, were distinguished by the names of the states from which they came. The interior of Britain, or the country north- ward of the Atrebatii, was all unknown to him ; but supposed to be peopled by Aborigines, or natives of the soil . 1 Tacitus, in a later period, when Britain had been wholly traversed and subdued by the Romans, observes that the question, who were the first inhabitants of the country, whether indigenous or emigrants, was involved in the obscurity usual among barbarians. From their various temperament of body, however, deductions, he tells us, were formed of their different origin. Thus the ruddy hair and large limbs of the Caledonians were thought to point out a German deri- vation. The swarthy complexion and curled hair of the Silures (the inhabitants of the greater part of South Wales), together with their situation opposite to Spain (according to the erroneous notions then formed of the geography of Britain), was thought to render it pro- bable that a colony of the ancient Iberi (a people of Spain) had possessed themselves of that territory. Those who were nearest Gaul were observed to resemble the inhabitants of that country. This might be imputed either to the duration of hereditary influence, or to that similarity of climate proceeding from the mutual approach of the coasts, which occasions similarity of constitution. On a ge- neral view of the matter, however, it appeared probable, he says, that the Gauls took possession of the neighbouring coast. The sacred rites and superstitions of these people were discernible among the Britons. The languages of the two nations did not greatly differ . 2 Interesting and instructive as the Life of Agricola is, how greatly would its value have been increased had the author been able to 1 C;es. B. G. lib. v. c. 12, 14. 2 Vit. Agric. c. xi. •13 introduce the results of his own personal observation of the state of Britain when that great commander tvas completing the conquest of the island, and teaching the rude inhabitants to cultivate the arts of peace ! With how many curious and important particulars, the want of which we have so much cause to regret, would he have furnished us ! Had the philosophical historian accompanied his illustrious father-in-law in his British wars, he would have found these latter circumstances not exclusively characteristic of the inhabitants of the sea-coast, but pervading the whole interior, at least south of the Caledonian isthmus ; and he would have drawn the inference which is now almost universally admitted, that the original population of Britain was derived from Gaul, and composed of the closely-related tribes of the Celtte and the Belgae ; the latter being chiefly in the South, where Caesar found them. But perhaps, as Dr. Prichard has remarked, he did not intend to limit his last observation to the sea-coast Britons. “ The sacred rites of the Britons to which he refers are those of the Druids, of which the most conspicuous display was in Mona or Anglesea ; and the mentioning of them in connection wdth the language of the Britons indicates sufficiently that the allu- sion of the writer extends to the inhabitants of South Britain on a larger scale.” 1 In confirmation of this remark, it may be observed, that the words which immediately follow, and in which the compa- rison is continued, relate to the Britons generally, and not to any particular portion of them. The language, then, of the Britons, when subdued by the Romans, being that of the Gauls, was the Celtic ; the remains of which, ac- cording to Dr. Prichard, have been preserved in the British isles by an unbroken succession from early times ; but on the continent of Europe no undoubted relic of that language exists, except the nu- merous words preserved in topographical names . 2 The same names, or names composed of the same elements, are also found in Britain, and thus afford important evidence respecting the origin of the ancient British population. No one can inspect a map of ancient Britain, and a map of ancient Gaul, or any other country known to have been inhabited by the Celtse, without being struck by the frequent and almost perpetual recurrence of certain elements of compound 1 Researches, &c. vol. iii. part i. p. 108. 2 lb. p. 51, 52. G 2 44 names of places, and in many instances of the names themselves . 1 These names, being transmitted by the Romans, have generally under- gone some change in their termination ; but their Celtic character is distinctly apparent ; and their elements being in most, if not in all in- stances significant, their meaning may be discovered, with more or less clearness and certainty, by aid of the remains of the Celtic dialects. Among various elements of Celtic topographical names, we meet with Briga or Briva ; Ebur or Ebor, and acum. Thus in Celtic Gaul, or its continental colonies, we find such names as Brigobanne, Bri- gania, Brigantia, and Briva; Ebrodunum, Ebrolacum, Eburobrigse, Eburobritium, Ebora, Eboraca, Nemetacum, Camaracum, &c. That the Brigantes whom the Romans found in Britain were originally Celtse, and that Eburacum was a Celtic town of the Brigantes before British Brigantia became a part of the Roman province, appears to be an inference that cannot be reasonably disputed. Of the state of the Brigantes, of which Eburacum, soon after the Roman conquest, it is probable, became the capital , 2 we know very little before the time of Agricola. The name was, no doubt, signi- ficant and characteristic ; but its etymology is obscure and uncertain . 3 Tacitus says it was reputed to be the most populous state of the whole province of Britain : and Ptolemy, about fifty years afterwards, de- scribes the country of the Brigantes as extending from sea to sea; and mentions several towns or stations belonging to it. He also 1 See Researches, &c. p. 113 — 123, for a long and interesting enumeration of Celtic names and elements of such names, in Gaul and in Celtic colonies on the con- tinent, and in Britain. 2 Isurium (Aldborough), called by Antoninus, in his fifth Iter, Isu-Brigantum, seems at first to have enjoyed that rank. Gale, Anton. It. p. 15. 3 The very learned antiquary, William Baxter, says, that the term Brigantes was the common name of the Britons and of all the Gauls before the arrival of the Belgae from Germany. He supposes that in very ancient times the Heneti or Ve- neti, descendants of Japhet, migrated from Asia to Thrace, from the cold of which region, Piyos Pelasgice F piyos, B piyos, they derived the name Brigantes ; which they brought with them in their subsequent migrations westward, into Gaul and Britain. — Glossarium Antiq. Britan., Art. Brigantes. Dr. Prichard observes, that in Welsh, brig means a summit or top, applied to branches, trees, twigs, hair. Bro is a coun- try, chiefly a low and plain country. In Spain, briga occurs very frequently in the Ibero-Celtic countries, generally appropriated to towns on great rivers. But this etymology, he adds, is hardly applicable to such names as that of Brigantes. — Re- searches, p. 126. It is however remarkable, that a large portion of Yorkshire, consequently of the territory of the Brigantes, is an extended plain, the basin of se- veral considerable rivers. Most probably the name, like that of Parisi, was older than the migration of the Celtae into Britain. 45 speaks of tlie tribes adjoining it, both on the north and the south, hut in so brief and indeterminate a manner, as to leave these bounda- ries of the state very uncertain. The northern boundary is generally supposed to he a line drawn from the Tyne to the Solway frith ; and the southern, one drawn from the Humber to the Mersey, the whole country including the present counties of Cumberland, Westmore- land, Durham, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, excepting a small part on the north of the Humber, inhabited by the Parish Perhaps a part of Derbyshire should be added . 1 When the Romans first became acquainted with the Brigantes, they, like the Iceni, were governed by a Queen, named Cartismandua ; not, like Boadicea, in a widowed state, hut whose husband Venusius, according to the conjecture of Milton, reigned elsewhere . 2 The perfidy of Cartismandua in de- livering up to the Romans the heroic Caractacus, who had sought her protection after his defeat by Ostorius Scapula, as it served to adorn the triumph of Claudius, was rewarded by an accession of power and of wealth, and the luxuries attendant upon prosperity. “ Presuming upon the hire of her treason,” she deserted her hus- band, and married one of his officers : the state espoused the part of Venusius; and Cartismandua threw herself on the protection of the Romans. She escaped the fate she merited; Venusius was put in possession of the kingdom; and took every opportunity that pre- sented itself of harassing the Romans. Nearly twenty years after this, Petilius Cerealis is recorded to have subdued the Brigantes. Yet we find the second campaign of Agricola wholly employed in re- ducing them to subjection : and that great general occupying the succeeding winter in reclaiming them from a rude and unsettled state, and instructing and inciting them to build for themselves not only temples and baths, but even dwelling houses . 3 It seems there- fore highly probable that before his time little advance had been made in the country of the Brigantes by the Roman army ; and that the dominions of Cartismandua and Venusius did not extend far beyond the southern boundary. Where York now is, where the station of the sixth legion of the Roman army once was, there existed before the subjugation of the 1 See above, p. 7. - Hist, of Eng. b. ii. Works, vol. iv. p. 48. Tac. Annal. xii. 40. But it is of his origin that Tacitus speaks, when he says, “ Venusius e Jugantum civitate.” And perhaps that reading is corrupt. Tac. Hist. 1. iii. c. 45. Annal. lib. xii. c. 36. * Vit. Agric. c. xxi. 46 Brigantes by Agricola and his legates, a Celtic British city, inhabited by colonists from Celtic Gaul, or their descendants. Of this city indeed there are no visible traces : there is no historical memorial. No visible traces of it could long remain after the Romans had taken possession of it, and established their camp upon its site : since, without doubt, it was such a city as Caesar, Strabo, and others have described. “ The woods,” says Strabo, speaking of the ancient Britons, “ are their towns. For having fenced round a wide circular space with trees hewed down” (Caesar says ‘ with a high bank and a ditch’), “ there they place their huts, and fix stalls for their cattle.” 1 Of the existence of such a city, on the spot where Antoninus in his Itinerary has placed Eburacum, the name itself affords very strong evidence. The name is clearly of Celtic origin, resembling in its Romanized form the names of places almost universally allowed to have been founded by the Celts in Gaul and Spain. By the British inhabitants it was most probably called Eburach or Eborach ; a sig- nificant appellation, no doubt ; the meaning of which might be ascer- tained with greater certainty, if we had a more extensive and perfect knowledge of the dialect to which its elements belong. Dr. Prichard has suggested what will perhaps be generally thought very satisfactory. “ I find,” says that learned and accurate writer, “ no probable etymon for names containing Ebor except the Welsh Aber, which means a confluence of waters.” 2 But he further observes, “ If it should be deemed probable that the words containing Ebor are derived from a lost Celtic word analogous to ufer, banks, in German, Eborach might then express a place on the banks of a river, or of water.” An in- spection of the Plan of York will show that either of these etymologies will agree with the supposed locality of Eburacum. The learned an- tiquary, W. Baxter, derives the name from the ancient British or Celtic dialect ; and supposes it to denote its watery situation . 3 That modern York is, in some part at least, the site of ancient Eburacum, has never, to the author’s knowledge, been disputed. 1 Geogr. lib. iv. 2 Researches, &c. p. 128. 3 “ De Britannico Eur vel Ebr, quod ipsis Graecis esCO vpov (unde adjecta Praeposi- tiva de more nostro fit Diir et Dovr) Adjectiva forma fit Evraiic, Aquosum, unde et urbi Britannicum nomen Caer Evraiic, sive Aquosa Civitas. Quin et ipsis Romanis Ebrius est Bene madidus. Vicinum etiam flumen Eura (sive Ebura) dicitur; cujus nominis et fluvius est in Galliis, ut et populus Eburones ; de quibus et insigne cogno- mentum D'Evreux ; utque oppidum etiam Eburodunun, hodie vitiose Evibrun ." — Glossar. Antiq. Brit, in v. Eburacum. 47 The portion of a Roman wall, and an angle tower, which appear to have withstood the ravages of time and war, ever since the departure of the Romans ; foundations of other portions of that wall, and of various Roman buildings, discovered in the excavations that at differ- ent times have been made in various parts of the city; numerous relics of Roman workmanship, as altars, sepulchral stones, inscrip- tions, coffins, cinerary urns, lamps, fictile vessels, fibulae, coins, per- petually coming to light, together with the perfect correspondence of the situation of modern York with that assigned to Eburacum in the Itinerary of Antoninus, have left no room for doubt or hesitation on this point. But of the exact position and extent of the Roman city, no- thing approaching to certainty was, till lately, known. Generally per- haps it was imagined, that the extent of Roman York had been little if at all less than that of the modern city, occupying both sides of the river, the means of communication between the two portions of the city being a bridge at or very near the place where the present bridge is built, and the walls on the south-western side of the river, occu- pying the same, or nearly the same, place as the more modern walls now existing. Drake appears to have had no doubt that the rampart on that side of the river was a Roman work ; he considers the arch in Micklegate Bar undoubtedly a Roman arch, and conjec- tures that when “ its foundations shall come to be razed, some ages hence, some stone in the building will be found to bear an inscrip- tion sufficient to denote its antiquity, and to be another testimony of the glory of the once-famous Eboracum.” In the mean time he is satisfied to have his opinion confirmed by the authority of Lord Burlington . 1 Sir H. Englefield, and other eminent antiquaries, since the time of Drake, have dissented entirely from this opinion, and pronounced the arch to be of much later date. The recent disco- very of a tesselated pavement, to be hereafter noticed, immediately under the rampart, and not many yards distant from Micklegate Bar on the north-western side, has still further discountenanced the opi- nion of the historian of York, and proved that if any Roman wall and gate were erected on that side of the river, they must have been in some other situation. When that deplorable breach was made in the present rampart near Micklegate Bar, by the directors of the York and North Ebor. p. 60, 226. 48 Midland Railway Company, for the purpose of making an entrance to the station, which ought never to have been admitted within the walls of the city, a portion of a stone wall was found buried in the rampart, which some persons pronounced to be Roman. This, how- ever, is very doubtful. In its construction, it is true, it somewhat resembled the great wall of Hadrian, at the lower isthmus, having a double facing of worked stone, and the interior filled with zigzag masonry. But such a mode of construction was afterwards used by the Saxons ; and to them this wall may with great probability be assigned. If, however, it could be proved to be of Roman origin, it would not follow that it formed any part of a regular fortification contemporaneous with that on the north-eastern side of the river : the character of the work being altogether different. The angle tower before mentioned, usually called the multangular tower, with the portion of wall proceeding from it in nearly a south- easterly direction, in the grounds now in the possession of the York- shire Philosophical Society, see PI. I. fig. 1. A, a, generally indicated to antiquaries one angle of the walls of Eburacum. 1 This interesting and important relic appears to have been first noticed by Dr. Martin Lister. He describes it with great accuracy; has no doubt of its belonging to the time of the Romans, and supposes it “ to run the length of Coney street.” Since the time of Dr. M. Lister, the continuance of the wall in that direction has been clearly ascertained. 1 Not, however, to Sir H. Englefield ; who denied that they were Roman. Though, as he tells us, he carefully examined the wall and tower, he could not see the least difference, either in material or construction, from the rest of the city walls, except the courses of Roman brick, which he was far from looking upon as a certain mark of Roman work. See Archaeol. vol. vi. p. 104. It appears strange that so eminent an antiquary, who could not have been unacquainted with the undoubted remains of Roman buildings at Treves, and at Richborough in our own country, should have formed such an opinion ; happily confuted by recent interesting discoveries. The preservation of these remains, and their being so completely above the present sur- face of the ground, when other remains, as altars, inscriptions, &c., have been uniformly found in digging cellars and foundations, seems to have led him to form this conclusion. His chief reason against the Roman origin of the arch of Micklegate Bar was, “ its being at this time quite out of ground.” But this, of itself, was not a sufficient reason ; for the tesselated pavement found in the neighbourhood of that bar was, as nearly as possible, upon the level with the base of the arch. It is indeed a singular circumstance that this portion of the wall of Eburacum should have escaped “the horrid waste and desolation which ensued on the termination of the empire of the Romans in Britain,” and the subsequent “ fires of the Saxons and Danes,” and have remained unburied ; but the recent disinterment of other portions has afforded ample proof of its high antiquity and genuineness. PLATE 1 ■ Jn?J$rovmt, del? J R . Jobbing , Zi&to Tig. 1 . Flan of joourb of Uw Ronuxn WodO, Towers, ounoi Gale. Tig. 2 . Section/ of Via* Wall and Inner Rampart. 49 Dr. John Burton, in a letter to Dr. Ducarcl, written some time in April 1770, has recorded the discovery of part of the foundations of it near the end of Lendal. “ In the third week in March last,” he says, “ some workmen, digging to make a drain from the north end of Dowgate, 1 in this city, towards the corner of Lcndal-street, about seven feet below the surface of the present street, came to the foun- dation of three walls or buttresses, lying from N.E. by N. to S.W. by S. The breadth of the foundation next to Lendal was 9 ft. 6 in., and the other two were 11 ft. 6 in. each. They were composed of cobbles so strongly cemented, that no iron tools could separate them, till large fires were made upon them to burn the cement, and even then it was with great difficulty that they cut off about two feet depth of them with iron wedges, but how much lower these foundations were we are not likely to know. The space between each wall was three feet and a half, which was filled with clay, and seems to have been tempered, and close rammed. These walls arc supposed to have been built by the Romans, to prevent the river Ouse from over- flowing that part of the city adjoining to it ; and what strengthens this opinion is, that between them and the river, the ground has been raised greatly ; a regular pavement having been found from five to seven feet deep below the present surface.” 2 In the year 1811, when the buildings at the corner of Lendal, now in the possession of the Yorkshire Insurance Company, were erected for the use of the Subscription Library, similar foundations were discovered, not far, it seems, from those just described by Dr. Burton, with which they corresponded in character and direction. More re- cently the foundations of what appeared to be a tower were discovered by the late Mr. Crabtree, near the other end of Lendal, and not far from the entrance into the grounds of the Museum. (PI. I. fig. 1 . F.) Near this spot Drake himself “ saw a piece of this wall laid open; about twenty or thirty yards from the Mint-yard gates.” And at various periods traces of the wall, on the north-east side of Coney-street, have been found by workmen digging drains and cellars. Drake asserts that this wall continued beyond the end of Coney-street, along Castle-gate to the Fosse ; the mount on which Clifford’s Tow r er now stands, and which he pronounces, but erroneously, to have been Roman, commanding that end of it. He says that “ the founda- Qu. Davygate? H 2 Arclueol. vol. ii. p. 181. 50 tions of all the houses in the line discovered marks of it.” 1 But no such discovery eastward of Coney-street has been recorded ; nor have any traces of a wall been perceived since his time, though deep and extensive excavations have been made in that part of the city. “ What this very high wall and particular fortification without any vallum, and on this side of the river, could serve for,” our learned historian says, he could not conjecture. 2 Dr. Burton, as we have seen, supposed it to have been built as a defence against the inun- dations of the river. Recent discoveries have ascertained its original extent, and rendered it in the highest degree probable, that it was one of the four walls enclosing the ancient station of Eburacum. In the year 1833, some workmen employed in digging a common sewer in Fease-gate, came, about ten feet below the present surface, upon the foundations of a wall, evidently Roman, crossing that street in a north-easterly direction, and at right angles to the wall before traced along one side of Coney-street. Larger portions of it, in the same direction, were subsequently found on both sides of the New- Market-street, in Patrick-pool, and in Aldwark, not far within the present wall of the city ; where some indications of a tower were discovered. In his remarks on Dr. M. Lister’s description of the multangular tower, Drake observes, that “ it has a communication with Boo- tham-bar, under the vallum or rampart that hides it that way.” If by a communication he means a wall extending to Bootham-bar, but then buried in the rampart, it may appear strange that he should be in any doubt concerning the nature and design of the corresponding wall proceeding from the tower towards Coney-street. The natural conclusion seems to be, that the tower and the two walls joining it, formed an angle of the Roman city. That conclusion appears to be now fully established. When the members of the Yorkshire Philo- sophical Society obtained permission from the Corporation of the City of York to enclose the multangular tower within their grounds, a vast collection of rubbish was removed from the interior of the tower ; some part of the rampart also, of which Drake speaks, was taken away, and a portion of the wall, adjoining the tower on the side towards Bootham-bar, was exposed. Shortly afterwards, 1 Ebor. p. 57. 2 It is evident from the interior of that part of the wall remaining in the Museum gardens, that there had been originally a vallum or rampart mound. PLATE II Fig' L Jn° Broyrn* d/Z* JJLJobbms.LUho. Fig- 1 Fig-. 2 Reman ut of a Tourer on the Roman Wall . near -V W gale of Eburarum Section of the Tower, Wall and Rampart Sculptures supposed tc hate belonged to the A' If gate of Eburru um 51 when a considerable portion of the modern city wall and rampart ad- joining Bootliam-bar was removed, in order to open, on the south- west side of the Bar, a spacious entrance into the city, now called St. Lconard’s-place, more extensive and interesting remains of the Homan w all than had ever before, it is probable, been discovered, were brought to light. At the distance of eleven feet from the south-west side of the bar, and about six hundred feet from the angle of the multangular tower, with which the portion of the Roman wall above mentioned is con- nected, was found the outer face of a wall, three feet in thickness, at right angles with the rampart wall (PL I. fig. 1. B, b,) and the angle formed by the joining of the two walls, composed of large blocks of coarse grit, one of them measuring 3 ft. 3 in. in breadth by 5 ft. 8 in. in length, and 1 ft. 3 in. in depth. These large stones were closely jointed, but did not seem to have been laid with mortar. They had dove-tailed holes iu them, such as are now called by workmen luis- holes. On a further search, just within the archway of Bootliam- bar, another wall, (PL I. fig. 1. B, c,) of the same breadth, correspond- ing with the former in character and direction, was found, enclosing with the former a space of about twenty feet, and extending towards the city about thirty feet from the face of the rampart-wall. It is highly probable, not to say certain, that this was a remnant of one of the gates of Eburacum. Whether the gate extended outwards could not be ascertained ; but it is reasonable to suppose that it did, so as to correspond with the projection of the multangular tower. Near this opening large stones of grit, some of them rudely sculp- tured, were found, appearing to have formed part of a pediment or frieze. On one of them is seen a quadriga in front ; but by whom driven, or whom the figure standing near it is designed to represent, it is vain even to conjecture. See Pl. Y. On tracing the Roman wall, of which there were considerable re- mains, from this gatew r ay towards the multangular tower, there was found at the distance of about 125 feet, a remnant of a right-angled tower, extending inwards from the face of the rampart-wall about 18 ft. 8 in., having a breadth of about 17 ft. 6 in., and measuring within about 13 feet square. (Pl. I. fig. 1. C, and PL II.) It seems to have been higher than the rampart-wall, as the retiring side walls were perfectly clean iu workmanship, having no tusks, as they are technically called, for any connecting wall. The x’omains of this n 2 52 tower, which stood above the rampart-wall, were composed of three courses of stone, one of brick, three of stone, one of brick, and seven of stone. How much higher it had originally been it was not possible to determine. In front was an opening, which appeared to have been originally divided into two. In the bottom of this opening, and near the sides of it, the stones were worn into a sort of channel, as if some heavy machine had been frequently moved upon them. In each side, and near the front of this tower, was an aperture 3 ft. 4 in. wide, connected with the top of the general wall or rampart. From an appearance of a vertical groove in the jambs of these apertures, it was evident that they could be closed. At the distance of 125 feet from this tower, the angle of what ap- peared to be the remains of another was found. (PI. I. fig. 1. D.) But the rampart not having been removed further, nothing more respecting it could be ascertained. Whatever it may be it remains concealed in the rampart of the modern city wall, used as a garden by R. Davies, Esq. A small portion of the Roman wall between these towers is preserved in the garden belonging to C. H. Elsley, Esq., the Recorder. The rest of the wall, with the tower just de- scribed, were necessarily removed in order to form the present open- ing of St. Leonard’s-place. It had been conjectured, that if the Roman wall could have been traced still further under the present rampart, towards the mult- angular tower, the remains of other towers would be discovered. This conjecture was, in part, verified in the spring of the year 1840, when some workmen employed by the learned Recorder to make a small tunnelled passage through the present rampart, from his gar- den on the outside of the rampart, and under the modem city wall and the garden of Mr. Davies, came, as the author and others had anticipated, to the Roman wall. Having made their way through this, they found themselves in an arched chamber, which being cleared out, proved to be a chamber about seven feet wide, nine feet long, and twelve feet high, having two entrances, two feet eight inches wide, one on each side, opposite to each other, and adjoining the wall ; the exterior access to which can only be imagined, as it is con- cealed by the inner rampart mound, represented in the plate as being removed, forming part of the garden of Mr. Davies. (PI. I. fig. 1. E, and PI. III. fig. 1.) This chamber, a section of which is given, PI. III. fig. 2, may be supposed to have belonged to a small tower, or to have PLATE 111 . Jnf ITr0wn*.^ifT• fi Jobbuu r.u*o T' i S’ . 1 External Vine of a Chamber adjoining the interior of Roman Mail, interna/ / 1* if and Section . served as a depository of arms or military stores. Tt is not improbable that the remains of another tower might yet he discovered between this chamber and the multangular tower. On the north-east side of Bootham-bar, a small portion of the inner surface of the wall of Eburacum is visible, the rampart mound having been cleared away ; and there can be no doubt that it ex- tended, on that side, at least as far as on the south-western side; and perhaps it might, if circumstances permitted, be traced in the rampart which bounds the gardens of the Residence and the Deanery. From the remains of three of the walls of Eburacum which have been discovered, we seem warranted in concluding, that the Roman city was of a rectangular form, of about 650 yards by about 550, enclosed by a wall and rampart mound of earth on the inner side of the wall, and perhaps a fosse without, the wall on the south-west side extending from the multangular tower nearly to Jubber-gate (see Plan) : the south-east wall crossing Fease-gate, the New-Market- street, Patrick-pool, then proceeding north-west of St. Andrew-gate, and terminating in or very near Aldwark : the wall on the north-west extending from the multangular tower, by Bootham-bar, probably to the angle of the present city wall in the Deanery garden. Of a fourth wall, no remains are recorded to have been discovered ; but it is highly probable that some exist in the rampart of the present city wall on the north-east ; or that it was very nearly in the line of that wall. And if the interesting portion of the north-west wall disco- vered between the multangular tower and Bootham-bar, which has been so particularly described, may be considered as a specimen of the construction of the rest, we may conclude that there were four principal entrances, corresponding with the four gates of a Polybian camp, four principal angular towers, and a scries of minor towers or turrets, from twenty-four to thirty perhaps in number. Of the four supposed principal entrances, one only has been found. It may be conjectured, that another, opposite to it, was somewhere near the end of St. Andrew-gate or Patrick-pool. The gate in the south-west wall was probably about the end of Coney-street, near St. Helen’s-square ; from which a road proceeded, across a bridge, and through the suburbs on the other side of the river, to Calcaria. Traces of a paved Roman street were observed a few years ago, lead- ing from the bank of the liver, nearly opposite to the Guildhall, in the direction of Tanner-row. Drake and others, supposing the arch of 54 Micklegate-bar to be Roman, and the road from Calcaria to bave passed through it, would most probably consider Micklegate as originally a Roman street, leading from the gate to a bridge at or near the place where the present bridge is erected. But that opinion receives no countenance from recent discoveries ; several large grit stones, some of them sculptured, were indeed found near the foundations of the old bridge, about the year 1818, when the present bridge was erected, but they were evidently not remains of a Roman bridge, but of other buildings, and casually placed there, without any apparent order or design. 1 The irregular form of Micklegate shows it not to have been originally a Roman street ; and a considerable part of it, at the depth of a few feet, has been found, in some recent excavations, to be filled with remains of Roman buildings. Of a fourth gate on the north- east side of Eburacum we know nothing more than we know of the wall itself on that side. Traces of a paved road have not long since been seen, not far from the present wall, from which, and from the discovery of a few sepulchral remains, it may with great probability be conjectured, that the gate was at some little distance from Monk- bar, on the north-west, and that it was joined to the opposite gate, supposed to be near the river, by a street in the direction of Stone- gate, 2 continued through the choir of the Minster. From this gate the Roman road passing through Crake to the Tees’ mouth, would 1 See Plate VI., which contains representations of two of these grit stones taken by Mr. Browne at the time of their being discovered. They were found in a bed of sandy warp, nearly three feet below the foundation of the piers of the old bridge. Fig. 1 is part of an eagle with a ring round its neck, under an arch of laurel. When first found the sculpture was very sharp ; but exposure to the air, and an accidental injury it received from one of the workmen, have deprived it of some of its beauty. The stone is 10 in. in thickness, 2 ft. 2 in. in breadth, and 2 ft. in height. It is now in the possession of B. Brooksbank, Esq., of Healaugh, near Tadcaster. — Fig. 2 is a segment of a circle 3 ft. 6 in. in diameter ; probably a # portion of an architrave of a door-way. It is adorned with leaves laid in a cavetto, the upper part of the leaves being on a flat projection, in breadth 2 inches; and also charged with a curious sculptured ovolo, and other mouldings. It is 1 ft. 4 in. in thickness, and 1 ft. Sin. in height. It is now in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Many more of a similar character, one of them probably the lower portion of fig. 1, were left in the warp, being found of great use in strength- ening the coffer-dam ; and when the pier was built, the efforts of the workmen to raise more of them were unavailing. Amongst these stones were found two coins of the Emperor Nero; and several of Constantine and Constans, and many fragments of Roman pottery. 2 This conjecture appears to be justified by the discovery of a Roman street, with channel tiles, about forty years ago, when a deep sewer was made along the middle of Stone-gate. PLATE VI . Sculptures found' ntfur U\aj foivnd.oUione> of Urn Old Jiridac 55 proceed in nearly a straight line. The Plan prefixed to this work shows the supposed position of the gates, and the direction of the roads leading from them. It having been necessary to go under the Roman wall, on the north-west side, near 13ootham-bar, in order to make the common sewer for St. Leonard's-place, an opportunity was afforded of ex- amining the structure of the wall from its foundation. The wall was there found to stand upon piles of oak, generally about 2 ft. G in. in length, driven, rather closely together, into the natural soil. (PI. I. fig. 2.) Upon the top of the piles was a mass of concrete, 2 ft. 3 in. in depth, consisting of cobble stones and coarse mortar. This con- crete mass projected two feet in front of an ashlar wall, consisting of a concrete mass of masonry, faced on the outside with stones, about four inches in thickness, and from seven to eleven inches in length, sometimes more, and in breadth about six or seven inches. Of these there were nineteen courses, the lowest course having a projection of seven inches : upon the uppermost course were four courses of bricks, each brick measuring about 2^ in. in thickness, 16| in. in length, and 11£ in. in breadth. These bricks binding with the concrete mass, served much to protect the narrow-bedded ashlars from bulging, especially as they were sometimes laid cross- wise in the wall. Upon these courses of brick were again placed courses of the same stone till the whole was raised to about sixteen feet of visible ashlar and brick wall. How it was finished at the top is uncertain. It may have been covered with brick, and not raised higher than the inner mound. The appearance of the side- walls of the tower above described (p. 51, PI. II.), seems to justify this conjecture. This compound wall averaged about 4 ft. 10 in. in thickness, at its foundation, and about four feet at the height of sixteen feet. 1 1 In the walls of Rutupiae (Richborough) and of Verulamium, the courses of bricks were more frequent. Six double rows of bricks, at the distance of 3 ft. 6 in. or 4 ft. from each other, are seen in the remains of Rutupiae. In the fragments of the walls of Verulamium four layers of bricks are discernible, at the distance of about 2 ft. 8 in. from each other, the lowest tier consisting of four courses of brick, the next of three, and the two uppermost of two courses each : the mortar between the bricks being nearly equal to the thickness of the bricks, or 1-^ inch. In both places the length of the bricks seems to have varied from 12 to about 18 inches. The breadth also was unequal. The distances between the courses of brick in both places were filled up with flint stones and mortar. This difference of material may have 56 The remains of the multangular tower are ashlar wall within and without. The foundation is to all appearance the same as that of the wall. The bottom of the wall of the tower is about 6 ft. 8 in. in thickness. The outer face consists first of eight courses of stone laid vertically ; the wall then recedes fifteen inches through seven courses of stones, upon which are placed vertically, five courses more, raising the wall to the height of about seven feet from the ground or from the concrete foundation. Upon these are laid five courses of brick as in the wall. On these are laid twenty-two courses of stone, which raise the wall to about sixteen feet from the foundation. (PI. IV. fig. 3.) Dr. M. Lister, in his account of this tower before noticed (p. 48), says, that above these last courses of stone were laid five more courses of brick, 1 and then the wall is imperfect, and capped with modern building. Not a vestige of these higher courses of bricks is now to be seen ; yet it is scarcely possible that any change can have taken place in the multangular tower to cause their disappearance. With the exception of these upper courses the present appearance of the tower corresponds with the represen- tation in the plate given in Eboracum. 2 The interior of the tower is not described by Dr. M. Lister ; Drake speaks of it as being the same as the exterior, and as having “ a communication with Bootham-bar under the vallum or rampart that hides it that way.” It is by no means clear from these words of the learned historian of York, how much of the interior of the tower was visible when he wrote. He appears indeed, to have seen a part of the wall connecting it with Bootham-bar, and recently brought so fully to light ; but the upper surface of the remains of that wall adjoining the tower, which was probably all he saw, is very nearly on a level with the highest part of the Roman work in the tower ; the whole of which was concealed, till very lately, by an immense collection of rubbish, apparently the accumulation of ages. For in the removing of this rubbish, English and Saxon coins were met with in the upper part, increasing in age as the depth increased : and in the lowest part Roman coins, and fragments of Samian and other rendered necessary the insertion of more frequent courses of brick than have been found in the walls of Eburacum. See Battely Antiq. Rutupina;, § 11. King's Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 8. Archacol. vol. ii. p. 184. 1 In the plate given by Drake, two courses only are represented. 2 Page 37. PLATE IV . Jn? Brown#, del? J. R . Jobbzna lithe . Fi g . 1 . Jlaterwr of Ihe Miil/bancfutour Tower. Fig Z Interior of Ike Multangular Tower. Fig. 3 . Section of The Walt of the Tower 57 pottery. It is highly probable that only a very small portion, if any, of the inside of the Roman tower was known to Drake. The ap- pearance it exhibited fifty years ago may be seen in PI. II. of Half- penny’s Fragmenta Yetusta. To this accumulation of soil may be attributed the comparatively perfect state and freshness of the in- terior masonry. The wall of the interior of the tower (see PI. IV. fig. 2) is formed of ashlar stones and bricks, of the same size as those of the exterior wall of the tower and the general wall. Fifteen courses of stones from the foundation form a perpendicular face, about 5 ft. 4 in. in height ; there the upper portion recedes, leaving an offset of about three inches. Above this five more courses of stones are laid, which raise the wall to about seven feet from the concrete foundation. Upon these are laid five courses of bricks, as in the general wall ; and upon these twenty-two courses of the squared stones, carrying up the wall 7 ft. 9 in. higher. On the upper course the wall again contracts about seventeen inches, when it is again raised by seven more courses of squared stones about 2 ft. 7 in., making the in- ternal height of what remains about 18 ft. 6 in. from the founda- tion, with no appearance of bricks, which might have been expected here, according to Dr. M. Lister’s description of the exterior. Above this the wall is imperfect, and is coped with about eleven feet of the more modern structure before mentioned. The diameter of the interior of the tower at the base or floor is about 33 ft. 6 in. ; and the plan consists of ten close sides of a nearly regular thirteen-sided figure ; the whole of the ten sides being re- tained internally and externally by the rampart walls, which are curved about 4 ft. 7 in. from the exact line. The interior has been di- vided into two equal portions by a wall 2 ft. 11 in. in thickness. At the height of about five feet, there seems to have been originally a timber-floor; and above this, at the height of 9 ft. 5 in., there ap- pears to have been another floor, the whole size of the interior. The lowest rooms of the tower seem to have had a mortar floor laid upon sand ; and no aperture but the entrance to each. And at pre- sent in the second floor, which appears to have been also divided by the same wall into two apartments, there are only fragments of two apertures, and these seem to have been merely for the purpose of surveying the general line of the rampart wall on each side, and a portion of any forces that might be approaching, without exposing i 58 those in the tower to any annoyance ; the outer opening being no more than six inches in width, but expanding inward to about five feet. The height of these apei’tures, owing to the imperfect state of the wall, cannot be ascertained. The wall dividing the interior of the tower appears to have ex- tended inwards (see PI. I. fig. 1) ; and also a wall on each side, and parallel to it ; but these could not be traced to their full extent. Two offsets from these, at right angles, appear near the entrance of the tower ; to which, it is probable, the doors of the lower rooms were fixed. It is observed by Roy, that the generality of Roman stations in Britain seem to have been originally constructed without turrets at the angles, or even in the intermediate spaces of the walls. But as they are met with now and then, chiefly in places situated towards the south part of the island, of which the Romans were longest in possession, he thinks it natural to suppose that the greater part of them were added by way of improvements to their fortifications, in the subsequent reparations they underwent. 1 That they were not subsequent additions to the walls of Eburacum, is manifest from their perfect union with the walls, and the exact correspondence of their masonry. It is, however, not improbable, that the small chamber, PI. III., was a later addition, the wall appearing to have been cut away to receive it. Of the age of the fortifications of Eburacum, nothing certain is known. No historical record relating to them exists : nor has any inscription been found furnishing any indication of the time at which they were erected. On removing the rubbish from the interior of the multangular tower, and clearing away part of the modern ram- part from the face of the Roman wall adjoining the tower at the north-east side, three of the ashlar stones of the wall were found, placed nearly together, each having a phallus carved upon it, and 1 Mil. Antiq. p. 187. Roy adds, that he remembers not to have seen more than two stations of the square or oblong sort, with towers at the angles : though possibly there may be others which have escaped his notice. The two he had observed were Lincoln, and Borough near Yarmouth. Castor near Norwich, and Cserwent in Monmouthshire, have towers near the gates, but none at the angles. Colchester has towers on one side only, but their age is doubtful. York escaped the notice of Roy ; and also of King, who in his Munim. Antiq. p. 2G, mentions angular towers at Rich- borough, Portchester, and Pevensey. Those of the first he supposes to have been built after the walls ; but those of the two other stations he pronounces to be parts of the original fortifications. PLATE VU. Browne del 1 J R Jobbins ,lUJu> Inscriptions within and near the Multantjular Tower. 59 another with the letter A in relief. (PI. VII. No. 1.) And while this sheet was preparing for the press, Mr. Browne had the good fortune accidentally to discover an inscription cut upon one of the stones of the interior facing of the tower, which, from its low situation, being not far from the ground, and its faintness, had hitherto escaped notice. (No. 2.) It has the characteristic mark of a ccnturial inscrip- tion ; but it seems to have been set up by an officer of the auxiliaries, the reading being ANTONius PRad'ectus Militum. This discovery leading to a more minute inspection of the wall, another centurial stone, having the same name inscribed upon it, was soon found (No. 3), and others (Nos. 4 — 9), scarcely legible, and discernible only on the application of a strong artificial light. They occur in the lowest chambers of the tower, and, with the exception of the two first, seem to be little else than rude scratches by the soldiers of the sixth legion, in their idle hours. No. 10, of which the author ventures not to give any opinion, was found near the tower, worked up in the modern city wall. These inscriptions, insignificant as they may appear, are so far curious and interesting as being the only mural inscriptions of any kind observed at Eburacum, but they supply no information respecting the date of the walls. Most probably they were raised about the time when Eburacum became the head-quarters of the sixth legion. INTERIOR AND SUBURBS OF EBURACUM. The situation, extent, and general form of Eburacum, may now, perhaps, be considered as satisfactorily ascertained. Of the interior we cannot speak with equal confidence. Of its earliest state, indeed, as a temporary camp formed in the time of Agricola, we may obtain some tolerably correct notion by considering it in reference to the Polybian plan of such a camp, given above. We can readily conceive of the area which Eburacum appears to have occupied, surrounded by a trench and a rampart of earth, having four entrances, one in each side, respectively opposite to each other, divided into streets, on each side of which, in the part assigned to the legionaries and the allies, were ranged rows of tents made of skins or other suitable materials, placed at right angles to the streets, each tent containing eight or ten men. The Prsetorium, or tent of the general, with the sacellum or little chapel for the eagles and other ensigns, the tents of the Quaestor and other officers, the Forum, the tribunal, quarters i 2 60 for volunteers, &c., occupying the other part of the area : “ the whole presenting the appearance,” as Josephus has described such a camp, “ of a city built on a sudden.’’ 1 When from being a temporary camp, Eburacum became a permanent station, the head-quarters of a legion, the residence of the Propraetor, and of the Emperor when he visited Britain ; when the rampart of earth was entirely faced with a strong stone wall, or the station being enlarged, a new wall was built, and towers of stone were substituted for the towers of wood by which probably the camp had been before defended, — corresponding changes, it may be reasonably supposed, took place within the station : the tents of the soldiers were converted into barracks of wood, the general arrangements of the streets, and the disposition of the cohorts and turmae continuing the same : the Prsetorium became a palace, constructed perhaps of stone : suitable buildings were erected for the chief officers : temples, halls of justice, porticoes, and baths arose, worthy of the rank of Eburacum as the capital of the province. All this, it must be confessed, is matter only of conjecture. No contemporary description of Roman York has been transmitted to us ; and no traces of the buildings by which the interior was adorned, exist, or are known to have been discovered. In the vicissitudes of fourteen centuries, few of the ordinary works of man, even under the most favourable circumstances, can be expected to remain to tell of the magnificence, the skill, or the taste of those who executed them. And if, to the silent ravages of time, and the natural and inevitable effects of continual change in the condition, habits, and manners of society, be added the unsparing violence of frequent hostile invasions, and of a long succession of civil wars, to which York, in consequence of its situation, has been peculiarly exposed, the wonder is not that there are so few, but that there are any monuments to attest its Roman origin, and to enable us to form any idea of its extent and earliest splendour. A very eminent antiquary is disposed to deny the existence of any superb buildings, either of stone or brick, within the walls of the castra, or fixed stations of the Romans in Britain, since, besides 1 See Joseph. B. J. lib. iii. c. 5, for a very interesting account of the mode of encampment practised by the legions under the command of Vespasian in Judaea, about the time of the supposed occupation of Eburacum by the soldiers of Agricola’s army. See also King’s Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 58, 87, &c. ; Roy’s Mil. Antiq. App. ii. 01 their great military remains, a few fragments of public baths, and a few traces of villas, a few mutilated figures and statues, some tessel- lated pavements, small votive altars, and funeral inscriptions, are all the marks we now have of their oncc-fancied greatness and splen- dour. He conceives that, with few exceptions, their edifices were of wood ; that even upon the various tessellated pavements that have been discovered, and with which it is commonly imagined an elegant superstructure was connected, there were in general no buildings of a very extraordinary kind, but only such as were slightly built, and for the most part only one story high, and often constructed of timber; and that their houses in general in this country, except a small nest of chambers, contained not much more than one good room, for the accommodation either of a centurion, or of a tribune, or of any resi- dent Roman . 1 Others have expressed a very different opinion on this subject. Carter, an architect and antiquary of no little eminence, thought that the works of the Romans in Britain rivalled those in Rome itself . 2 Of this indeed some doubt may very reasonably be entertained. But as remains of magnificent and highly ornamented buildings have been found in several of the smaller stations, espe- cially on the line of the wall of Hadrian, as at Cilurnum or Wall- wick Chesters, Borcovicus or Housesteads , 3 Vindolana or Little Chesters, which is said to have been, “ for time immemorial, the common quarry of the neighbourhood for almost every purpose for which stone is wanted ;” 4 although it be allowed that many of the buildings of Eburacum may have been of wood, yet we may venture to assert that many more must have been constructed of stone, in such a style of magnificence as became the rank it held as the capital of a Roman province. Few remains, it is true, are now existing, or arc known to have been formerly discovered, to warrant this asser- tion : but we know not what may still be concealed beneath the accumulated soil on which the present city stands ; how much may 1 King, Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 162. 3 Ant. Architect, of England, part i. p. 12. 3 Called by Stukeley “ the Tadmor of Britain.” “ It is hardly credible,” says Gordon, “ what a number of august remains of the Roman grandeur is to be seen here to this day : in every place where one casts his eye, there is some curious Roman antiquity to be seen ; either the marks of streets and temples in ruins, or inscriptions, broken pillars, statues, and other pieces of sculpture, all scattered along the ground.” — Itin. Sept. p. 76. ; Hodgson, Hist. &c. ubi sup. p. 185. 4 lb. p. 196. G2 have perished by the conflagrations caused by the Piets and the Danes, or how much after the departure of the Romans may have been worked up into buildings, which the accidents of ages have long since swept away. As Eburacum was undoubtedly the residence of the Emperors who came into Britain after Claudius, and of their vicegerents, the Propraetors, and also, as is most probable, the chief city of the whole province, we may be confident that the original Praetorium of the temporary camp was converted into an Imperial Palace. To the existence of such an edifice in the time of Sept. Severus, Spartian bears indirect testimony, when, speaking of that Emperor’s return from his Caledonian expedition, he says, 1 that “ upon coming to the city,” (by which he evidently means Eburacum,) “ he went to the Palace, to the doors of which he was followed by black victims.” It is to the same palace, as it is generally thought, that the orator Eumenius refers, in his Panegyric addressed to Constantine, when, celebrating his good fortune in having been born to empire, and to which he had been nominated by his dying father, he says, “ Thou didst enter that sacred palace not as a candidate, but elected, and the paternal household gods immediately saw thee the lawful suc- cessor of thy father.” 2 Wyttenbach indeed cites this passage in proof of the existence of an Imperial Palace at Treves, prior to the time of Constantine. It was at Treves, no doubt, that the orator was then addressing Constantine ; but he seems to be referring, not to the palace in which he was then speaking, but to that — “ istud palatium,” — in which Constantius died ; and in which he expressly nominated his son Caesar. 3 It is impossible to ascertain with certainty in what part of Ebu- racum the imperial palace was situated. If it were known which of the gates of Eburacum corresponded with the Decuman gate of the Polybian camp, the situation might with some degree of confidence be determined. For, according to the illustration of the Polybian camp by General Roy, the Praetorium was near the Decuman gate, 1 “ In civitatem veniens .... quum ad Palatium se reciperet negligentia minis- trorum nigra; hostile ad limen domus Palatinae Imperatorem sequutae sunt.” — Vit. Sev. c. 22. 2 Paneg. Vet. vii. c. iv. See above, p. 24. 3 Wyttenbach’s Stranger’s Guide to the Roman Antiq. of Treves, p. 53. G3 and that in the rear of the camp : the whole body of the army being disposed in front, or in other words, on the side most likely to be attacked by the enemy, in order that they might be ready to march out through the Praetorian gate at the shortest notice, and form in order of battle. 1 Supposing, therefore, what seems probable, that an attack of the station of Eburacum was most to be appre- hended on the side towards the north or north-west, it may be reasonably conjectured that the front of the station would be on the north-west side; and the gate lately discovered on the site of the present Bootham-bar was the Praetorian gate, and, consequently, that the Decuman gate, which was opposite to it, was not far from the end of St. Audrew-gate : 2 and near that, first the Prmtorium, and afterwards the Palace, w r as probably situated. In this part of Eburacum, Burton and Drake have placed it : the latter supposing the site to have extended from Christ-church, through all the gardens and houses on the south-eastern side of Goodram-gate, through the Bedern to Aldwark ; which last name, he imagines, “ still retains some memorial of it.” 3 But on this circumstance little stress can be laid, as the “ old w r ork,” to which the name refers, may have been Saxon, or Danish, or even Norman. Nor can any evidence be derived from the existence formerly of a church in this street, dedicated to St. Helena, the mother of Constantine ; since there were two others, one in the city still standing, and another in the suburbs, long ago taken down, bearing the name of the same patron saint. It is indeed remarkable, that “ Christ-church is called in all ancient char- ters, ‘ Ecclesia Sanctte Trinitatis in curia regis/ ” The site of a royal palace must therefore have been near this church ; and if the Saxon and Danish kings made use of the imperial palace erected by the Romans, 4 those ancient charters justify the opinion of the historian of York. In favour of that opinion, the declaration of the English ambassadors at the Council of Basel above-mentioned, 5 that Con- stantine was born at Perterna, in York, is also cited; Perterna being supposed to have been corrupted into the present form of Bedern. 6 1 Mil. Antiq. p. 46. 2 Thus at Treves, the Porta Pretoria was in the direction of Germany, from which quarter Gaul was then exposed to the most formidable incursions. Wyttenbach, ubi sup. p. 19. The translator observes in a note, “ Hyginus and Vegetius inform us, that it was a ride in a Roman camp that the Porta Prastoria should always be placed in front of the enemy.” 3 Ebor. p. 13. 4 lb. p. 319. 5 See above, p. 24. 6 Ebor. pp. 47 and 572. 64 On the whole, perhaps, it is not improbable, that the Praetorium was in this part of Eburacum ; but hardly so near to the wall as the situation fixed upon by Drake for the imperial palace would place it. In speaking of the Praetorium of the great Roman station, Veru- lanium, King says, “ this spot, like the Praetorium in some other stations, has also, throughout all succeeding ages, been rendered very remarkable by continued devotional attention. For here, as at Richborough, Portcliester, and Castor, a Christian church has been built near the site where there is every reason to believe stood the ancient sacellum of the Praetorium.” 1 He refers to the Parentalia of Stepli. Wren for the fact, that “ the first Cathedral of St. Paul’s in London, was also built nearly on the spot where must have been the Roman Praetorian camp, which has continued to be the situation of all the three succeeding venerable metropolitan fabrics to this time.” Hence it might be thought not improbable, that the site of the Praetorium and of the imperial palace at Eburacum, was that occupied by the present Metropolitan Church of St. Peter. But in such a disposition, the Praetorian gate wrnuld be on the banks of the river, the side on which the danger of a sudden attack was least to be apprehended : a position not in accordance with the system of Roman castrametation as explained by General Roy. It has been observed, that wherever the Romans established them- selves, four structures commonly arose, — a theatre, a circus, an amphitheatre, and baths. This was almost constantly the case . 2 To which may be added, a temple or temples. If any such struc- tures ever existed within the walls of Eburacum, all traces of them have long since perished, or remain yet undiscovered below the present surface of the soil. The Emperor Claudius, we know, erected a temple at Camulodunum (Colchester), within the fortifica- tions . 3 Remains of temples have been found within some of the stations on Hadrian’s wall. No such edifice is known to have existed in the interior of Eburacum. Baths, no doubt, were formed within as well as without the walls, according to the usual custom of the Romans, in the arrangements of their stationary camps . 4 But the site of baths within the walls of Eburacum has not been ascer- 1 Munim. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 151. 3 Tac. Annal. xiv. c. 31, 32. : Wyttenb. ubisitp. p. 61. 4 Hodgson, ubi sup. p. 316. Go taincd. Drake indeed mentions a flue tile, part of a hypocaust, formerly found at York, then in the collection of Dr. Langwith ; 1 but he has not recorded in what part of York it was discovered. He also speaks of tessellated pavements, anciently discovered, on the supposed site of the Imperial Palace, which he conjectures to have belonged to some baths : for this discovery he owns that he has no other authority than tradition. Our knowledge of the interior of Eburacum, it must be admitted, is very limited and unsatis- factory. The suburbs of Eburacum are much better known, and abound in objects of no little interest. From a very early period of its existence as a permanent station, it is probable that buildings of various kinds, both public and private, were erected on the outside of its walls : for we find such to have been the case in many of the stations, even on the line of Hadrian’s barrier. At Condurcum (Benwell), a bath has been discovered, at the distance of three hundred yards from the walls. The suburbs of Borcovicus (House- steads), especially on the south, have been very extensive : a hypo- caust, vestiges of a temple, many altars, and ruins of streets and of buildings have been found there; some of them at a considerable distance from the walls. At Vindolana (Little Chesters), altars, sepulchral stones, and urns, have been dug up in the suburbs . 2 The principal suburb of Eburacum appears to have been that through which the road to Calcaria passed, on the south-west side of the station and of the river. In this, which appears to have extended more than a mile from the city, the most numerous and important remains of public and domestic buildings, as well as of tombs, have been found. The suburb on the north-west, through which the road to Isurium passed, was evidently the next in import- ance, nearly of equal length with the former, but less extensive, distinguished chiefly by the sepulchral remains which have been discovered in it. That on the south-east, on the way to Derventio, seems to have been of less importance than the preceding, in conse- quence, probably, of the morass which must have been formed by the unrestrained waters of the river Fosse, near its confluence with the Ouse. The suburb on the north-east cannot be traced far from the 1 Ebor. App. p. xiii. and Addit. Plate No. 9. • Hodgson, ubi sup. pp. 175, 188, 195. K 6G supposed line of the wall on that side of Eburacum. In later times the forest of Galtres is known to have reached very nearly to the present wall ; and it is not improbable that the same forest existed in the time of the Romans, covering at least an equal extent of ground. A few urns and other remains have been occasionally turned up in this suburb ; through which two roads may have passed ; one, as before stated, by Crake, to the Tees mouth ; and another, as Drake supposed, to the Roman station at Malton. He says that in Dean Gale’s time, a firm stone causeway was discovered, at the depth of eight feet, on the north side of Monk-gate ; and though he acknowledges that there were few traces of a Roman road between York and Malton, yet some were obvious enough to an observing person, to render it very probable that such a road had existed, and that it entered Eburacum at or about Monk -bar. 1 Others have sup- posed that the Roman road to Malton passed through Derventio ; in which case it would proceed from the gate on the south-east, or the Decuman-gate. PRIVATE DWELLINGS, TESSELLATED PAVEMENTS, BATHS. If all traces of the Imperial Palace have long since disappeared, in consequence either of its having been early and totally destroyed, or of its remains being still buried under the continually accumulating soil, it cannot be expected that we should meet with many vestiges of private dwellings. Occasionally, however, and especially in the most extensive and important suburb on the south-west side of the river, foundations of walls supposed to have belonged to such buildings have been found by workmen employed in digging deep sewers. Some of this nature, it has been already noticed, 2 were discovered in Mickle- gate, about five years ago. But ordinary excavations are of so limited an extent, and carried on with such rapidity and heedlessness, that it is generally impossible for the most sagacious and scrutinizing antiquary to ascertain the character of the remains thus casually and partially brought to light, or to form even a conjecture as to the original superstructures. One of the most interesting relics of a private dwelling which is known to have been discovered in Roman York, unless the baths about to be mentioned belonged to such a building, is a beautiful tessellated pavement, found under the rampart, within 1 Ebor. p. 36. 3 P. 54. 67 the walls, very near to Micklegate-bar, in the year 1814; when a tenant of the Corporation was permitted to remove a portion of the rampart, for the purpose of obtaining a greater space for a coal-yard. 1 It was discovered only to be destroyed : a portion of it indeed was saved from immediate destruction, and reserved for exhibition to casual visitors ; but failing, after a very few years, to be a source of profit to the occupier of the premises, the shed by which it had been protected was converted into a stable, and the precious relic, neglected and defaced, was about to perish for ever, when the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society obtained leave to remove it to their Museum ; where it is now deposited, but in such a state that it is doubtful whether it can be restored so as to display any traces of its former beauty. Most deeply is it to be regretted that the Mem- bers of the Corporation, who might have preserved entire this specimen of Roman luxury and taste, inferior in design and execution to few similar remains in Britain, should have suffered it to be so recklessly destroyed ; when at such little cost, and by so trifling a sacrifice of income, it might have been permanently added to the numerous relics of past times, which give to York so interesting a character, and afford so much gratification to the lovers of ancient art. Happily a correct and beautiful engraving of it was published by that ingenious artist, the late W. Fowler of Winterton, from a drawing made by himself at the time; with a reduced copy of which the author hoped to enrich his work ; but he regrets to say that he has found it impracticable. This pavement seems to have been about twenty-three feet square. Mr. Fowler's drawing represents about two-thirds of it, being all that was discovered ; the remainder is most probably still buried under the rampart. Mr. R. Gale, in one of his manuscripts, afterwards in possession of his friend Mr. G. Allan, observes, “ I have been long of opinion, that these tessellated pave- ments were floors of banqueting-rooms, or some of the cliiefest or more elegant apartments in the Roman dwelling-houses, and not the bottoms only of the General’s Pavilion in a camp. They might, indeed, have such there, but that does not exclude the use of them in private buildings ; and as none of those found in England, to the best of my memory, seem to have been discovered within the limits of any camp, it is much more probable they belonged to domestic 1 See Map of Eburacum and Suburbs, A. K 2 68 edifices. To put the matter out of dispute, in Aldborough (Isurium) are a dozen or more, some for greater, some for lesser rooms, re- maining to this day, but dispersed at such a distance from one another, that they could never have belonged to one tent or house. Besides, the different manner of work shows them plainly to have been designed and laid at divers times, in a long series of years. I believe they were the floorings of the grand apartment, chief rooms, or baths, in the private houses of the better sort of people.” The pavement just noticed was certainly not within the walls of Ebu- racum ; and, whether the floor of a bath, or, as is most probable, of a bauqueting-room, belonged, no doubt, to a suburban villa. It was very little below the surface ; and by its situation clearly proved that no Roman rampart could ever have been raised where the present wall stands, adjoining Micklegate-bar ; and consequently that Drake was greatly mistaken in pronouncing the arch of that Bar to be part of the Roman gate and fortifications. A small portion of another tessellated pavement was discovered in the year 1813, near Clifton, in the grounds of the late David Rus- sell, Esq., by the workmen employed in digging a sunk fence about the garden. 1 No particular notice appears to have been taken of it at the time ; and nothing more concerning it than the mere fact of its having been found, is remembered. For his knowledge of the fact the author is indebted to J. Russell, Esq., the eldest son of the late owner of the property. It is very probable that much more than was brought to light and destroyed, yet remains buried in the earth. In ancient times, and in the warmer regions of the globe, bathing was universally practised; and the baths which Nature provides, rivers, springs and the sea, were long deemed sufficient by persons of the highest rank in society, for the purposes of bathing, cleanliness, health, and pleasure. The daughter of Pharaoh went forth with her maidens to bathe in the Nile. 2 Nausicae also, the daughter of Alcinous, King of the Phseacians, is represented by Homer as going with her female attendants to wash her clothes and to bathe in the river. 3 When an ai’tificial bath was used in those times, it appears 1 See Map of Eburacuin, &c., B. 2 Exod. ii. 5. 3 Hum. Od. vi. 58. 69 to have been no more than a large vessel of brass or marble, in which the bather sat while water was poured over him. Such was the bath of Ulysses, in the palace of Circe . 1 The Romans were long content to bathe in the Tiber. Afterwards, in the decline of the republic, in imitation probably of the Greeks, the rich built for themselves and their families baths, both in their town-houses and their villas ; and public baths were provided for the people. Both were at first constructed in a plain and simple style ; 2 but as luxury increased, these buildings were much enlarged, comprising a suite of elegant apartments, furnished with every thing to amuse the fancy and to gratify the senses. Of the plan and disposition of baths, the exca- vations at Pompeii have supplied much interesting information ; and the subject is also illustrated by a curious fresco painting preserved in the remains of the baths of Titus at Rome. It appears that the Romans were not content with a single bath of hot or cold water ; they went through, in what order we know not, a succession of baths of different temperature : employing heated air as well as water. In the painting just mentioned these different baths are exhibited. There is the Frigidarium, or cold bath ; the Tepidarium, or warm bath, or warm-air bath; the Sudatorium, or vapour bath; the Balneum or Caldarium, the hot bath. There were of course Apodyteria, or rooms for undressing. And as on quitting the bath, especially the warm and hot baths, the bathers were usually anointed with oil, there was another apartment, called Eleothesium, containing various unguents. The heat required was supplied by a furnace beneath, and conveyed through flues, forming what was termed Hypo- caustum . 3 It is said that under the Emperors there were no less than eight hundred public baths in Rome ; 4 and that they were introduced every where into the Roman territory, even into villages. They appear, ^as before observed, to have been among the structures com- monly raised by the Romans wherever they established themselves ; 1 Horn. Od. x. 359. 2 See the beautiful description of the bath of Scipio Africanus, by Seneca, Epist. lxxxvi. 3 See Cockburn’s Pompeii, i. p. 58 ; Sir William Gell’s Pompeiana, Millin. Diet, des Beaux Arts ; and an excellent article on “ Baths,” in Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq. p. 133, &c. 4 Arts, &c. of Gr. and Rom., Cabinet Cycl. vol. ii. p. 76. 70 they were among the luxuries by which Agricola sought to reclaim the Brigantes from their rude and unsettled state ; and it has been found that most of the stations on the line of the wall of Hadrian had at least one bath within and another without the walls. If, therefore, no vestiges of such structures had remained, no doubt could have been entertained of their having once existed in Eburacum. Etymo- logy, aided by tradition, has marked the Bedern for the site of the baths of the Imperial Palace ; and the tessellated pavements said to have been anciently found there, have been supposed to be the floors of these baths. 1 But there is no reason for believing that the floors of such apartments were ever so constructed. Of baths within the walls of Eburacum, no certain traces have been discovered ; but recent excavations in the principal suburb on the south-west side of the river, have brought to light very interesting remains of such buildings, which must originally have been of considerable extent, and probably of great magnificence. Unfortunately the ground had been disturbed before, perhaps more than once, for the purpose of laying the foundations of large subsequent edifices; 2 so that much of the Homan work had been removed, and the connexion of the scattered remains utterly destroyed. And such was the unavoidable rapidity with which these remains, as they became successively exposed, were broken up and cleared away by the workmen, that no just idea could be formed of the original disposition of the whole range of these buildings, nor was it an easy task to take accurate measurements and plans of isolated portions, so quickly and so unsparingly demolished. The three principal portions thus disco- vered, are exhibited in PI. VIII., for the plans and measurements of which, the author is indebted to Mr. J. Browne, and Mr. H. Baines, Subcurator of the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Fig. 1 is the ground plan of a room, 39 feet long and 24 ft. 6 in. wide. The floor was formed of the usual bath plaster, composed of lime, pounded shards of fine terra-cotta, and unburnt pounded lime, laid 1 Ebor. p. 572. Drake is inclined to respect the tradition ; but he rejects the ety- mology, which would derive Bedern from Baderan, and that from Bade, to bathe. 2 It was the site of the monastery of the Fryars Preachers, granted to them by Hen. III.; by whom probably, and not by the Romans, the well found near one of the baths was dug, neatly lined with masonry. Liberty to dig two wells, was espe- cially granted in their charters. Sec Ebor. p. 274. PLATE VIII J*' Browne, dell Remains of Roman- Balh*. J’.R. Jobbuis.Lttho 71 on rubble stones and grouting, and finely polished. 1 At the south-east end, a, were the foundations of a strong wall, five feet in thickness ; the walls of the sides, and also of the other end, which was nearly semi-circular, had been removed, but the internal plastering was remaining, to the height of two and three inches above the floor. The form of this room appears to have corresponded with one in the baths of Pompeii ; and also in those discovered at Hunnum (or Ilalton Chesters), on the line of Hadrian’s wall, in our own country, and which is supposed to have been the sudatory or vapour room. 2 The south-east end of this bath was about thirty feet distant from Tanner-row, the supposed line of the Roman road leading to Calcaria (Tadcaster). About one hundred and twenty feet towards the north, or nearer to the river, and at the distance of about two hundred and seventy feet from Tanner-row, the remains of another portion of these baths, fig. 2, were discovered. The apartment, a, measuring 18 feet by 15, had evidently been a bath, the floor, and the small portion of the sides that was left, being covered with the bath composite. On one side was a descent of three steps, and to an opening on the opposite side was attached externally a leaden conduit-pipe, about three feet long and six inches in diameter within, by which the water was carried away to the common drain. Adjoining to this bathing- room were the floors of two smaller rooms, b b, supposed to have been reservoirs. At c were also found remains of steps covered with the usual bath composite, and evidently belonging to another bath, the very foundations of which had long since been destroyed. Near this was the floor of a smaller bath, d, about five feet square ; in one corner of which was placed an altar, hereafter to be described, dedicated to Fortune. Under this ran a drain, e, formed by tiles twenty inches by fifteen, through which it is probable the water was conveyed from all the baths to the river. Slight traces of another apartment, f, were discovered. Fig. 3 is a section of this portion of the baths. To the north-east of these remains, and still nearer to the river, at 1 “ Inferior autem pars qua; ad pavimentum spectat, primum testa cum calce trulissetur, deinde opere albario sive tectorio poliatur.” Vitruv. de Archit. lib. v. c. x. 5 See plan and description of the baths of Hunnum, by Hodgson, Hist. &c. ubi sup. p. 317—320. 72 the distance of about two hundred and fifty feet from the bath, fig. 1, and of about one hundred and fourteen feet from Tanner-row, were the remains of two other rooms, (fig. 4,) one of them, a, measuring 30 feet by 15, undoubtedly a bath, the floor being covered with the usual bath plastering, and having a leaden conduit-pipe, 3 feet long and 3 inches in diameter, connected with it on the level of the floor. There was a descent of two steps from the adjoining room, b, the floor of which, measuring 30 feet by 21, and 4 feet above the floor of the bath, was formed of flags of red sandstone, brought most probably from Isurium, of various dimensions, from 1 foot square to 3 feet by 2, and about 4 inches in thickness; nearly all of which have been deposited in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The entrance into this room, b, appears to have been at c. Fig. 5 is a section of these apartments. By the side of the room, b, was the hypocaust ; the pillars of the fire-place, d d, each formed of 18 circular bricks, 8 inches in diameter, and from 2 to 3 inches in thickness, stood about one foot in advance of the wall of the room b ; the sides of the fire-place were constructed of small tiles, about 8 inches square, and from 2 to 3 inches thick ; and above these and the pillars were laid large square and oblong bricks, on which, no doubt, was placed the copper or caldron, supplied with water from the reservoir, e, measuring 7 feet by 4, which was on a level with the top of the fire-place, and lined, as it appeared from the bottom, which alone remained, with the bath composite. The side of the reservoir next to the fire-place had been cased with stone or brick, and the plaster of that side within was one inch in thickness. On the other side the foundations of a wall were traced to about thirty-eight feet. The floor of the fire-place was of clay and rubble stones, covered with cement, which had been partially burned away. The remains of the reservoir and the fire-place were removed with as much care as possible to the Museum, where the pillars and sides are set up exactly in the form in which they were found. See fig. 6. Many flue tiles also, of various dimensions, and many plain flat tiles, about 8 or 9 inches square, some inscribed LEG. IX. HISP. and others LEG. YI. Y. P., have been placed in the Museum, through the kindness of the Directors of the York and North Mid- land Railway. In the midst of the remains of these baths, fragments of large pillars were discovered, affording some evidence of former magnificence. Figs. 7 and 8 are small pillars, which appear to have 73 supported the floors of some of the apartments ; the height of the fragment of the round pillar, fig. 7, is 2 feet 9 inches, that of the square pillar, fig. 8, is 2 feet 1 inch. 1 Models of these remains, made by Mr. II. Baines, at the time of their being discovered, are placed in the Museum of the Society. TEMPLES, ALTARS, VOTIVE TABLETS. The religion of the ancient heathen world, it is well known, was not mei'cly a speculative doctrine discussed or professed in the schools of philosophers : the numberless deities and rites of Polytheism were closely interwoven with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or private life. The important transactions of peace and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to preside or participate. 2 Every Roman Emperor was styled Pontifex Maximus, High Priest ; the most honourable men in the State were usually ministers of religion; and the general welfare of the State, and success in war, were thought to be essentially connected with the due worship of various and numerous deities. We might therefore expect to meet with some vestiges of the religious rites of the Romans wherever they carried their arms and stationed their legions. Such vestiges we accordingly find in every part of Britain, in which traces of permanent Roman stations are discovered. Altars and votive tablets to Jupiter and Juno, to Minerva, Neptune, Mars, and Apollo, to Mercury, to Fortune, to the Dese Matres, and to the inferior and local deities, abound in the larger stationary camps, or the cities esta- blished on their site. One-third at least of the extensive Collection of Inscriptions by Horsley, and the English antiquaries who have succeeded him, are of this character. Y estiges of temples are not so common. Yet temples must have been erected by the Romans during their long residence in Britain. Tacitus has recorded the existence of a temple to the Deified Claudius at Camulodunum (Colchester). 3 Magnificent remains of temples have been found at Bath, Silchester, Cirencester, and other places. 4 That Eburacum, so long the head-quarters of the sixth legion, the 1 See Map, &c. of Ebur., C, for the situation of these baths. 2 See Gibbon, Hist, of Decl. &c. vol. ii. p. 289, ed. Lond. 1817. 3 Annal. xiv. 31. 4 See Archaeol. vol. x. xv. xviii. L 74 principal residence of tlie Emperors themselves when in Britain, and of the Legates who commanded in their absence, was adorned with temples dedicated to the superior deities, there is no reason to doubt. Spartian, in his Life of the Emperor Sept. Severus, has borne decisive testimony of there having been a temple here erected to Bellona. “ Coming to the city,” says that historian, “ and desiring to offer sacrifice, the Emperor was conducted first, by a rustic soothsayer, to the temple of Bellona.” 1 As Severus was then returning to Eburacum from his northern expedition, it is very reasonably sup- posed that he was entering the city by the road from Isurium ; which led, as before observed, to the gate, the foundations of which have been recently discovered, under the present Bootham-bar . 2 Vitruvius informs us that the situation of temples was regulated by the character of the deities to whom they were consecrated. Thus the temples of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, protectors of cities, were placed within the city, upon elevated spots ; the temple of Mercury in the Forum ; the temple of Mars without the city, and near the gates . 3 As Bellona was the sister or wife of Mars, her temple would,-no doubt, be also erected without the walls of Eburacum. The historian of York, after a long and learned investigation, has conjectured, with great probability, that the temple “ was near where the Abbey of St. Mary or the Manor now stands.” 4 A small brass figure, appa- rently of this goddess, w r as found some years ago, not far from that spot ; but no inference can be drawn from this circumstance as to the situation of the temple. It has been asserted by some, that among the Romans, religious intolerance was unknown; that the most perfect religious liberty was enjoyed by every citizen, and no restriction enjoined as to the objects or rites of worship. Yet it was one of the laws of the Twelve Tables, that “ Foreign Deities should not be worshipped .” 5 And it is certain that on the occurrence of any great public calamity, the iEdiles, to whom the care of religious ceremonies was intrusted, were strictly charged “ to suffer none but Roman Gods to be worshipped, and no new rites to be introduced.” We have evidence, however, of foreign worship having been admitted in the later periods of the 1 Vit. Sever, c. 22. 3 Vitruv. de Archit. lib. i. c. vii. 4 Ebor. p. 10 — 12. See Map of Ebur. &c. D. 5 Cic. de Legg. ii. 8. See p. 51. / % / PLATE IX. . f~° Browne, , Dal* J2t.Jobbvw.ltih 75 Roman state, sanctioned by the Emperors themselves, tolerated if not authoritatively established. On the principles of Polytheism indeed there was no reason for limiting the number of the objects of adoration. To receive and to honour, according to their peculiar rites, all that were called Gods, as they came to their knowledge, seems to be a natural and necessary consequence of Polytheism. Desirous of preserving themselves from the displeasure of whatever could be supposed to have any claim to their respect, or any power over their interests, it was natural, and at the same time social, for different nations to receive mutually each other’s deities, and to enrol them among their own, especially where any striking similarity of attri- butes prevailed. We cannot be surprised, therefore, if we find that the Serapis of Egypt, and the Mithras of Persia, became objects of religious veneration to those who had long paid their homage to the Sun, under the appellations of Sol or Apollo ; and to the Ruler of the Infernal Regions, or to the healing Deity, or to the Ruler of Gods and Men, under the titles of Dis or Pluto, of /Esculapius, and of Jupiter; in all which characters, as Tacitus and others inform us, Serapis was by different nations adored. That there was a temple at Eburacum, dedicated to Serapis, is clear, from the following inscription on a large tablet, of coarse grit, measuring 3 ft. by 2 ft. 1^ in., and 7 in. thick, found in York several years ago, and now deposited among the Roman remains in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society : DEO . SANCTO SERAPI TEMPLVM . ASO LO . FECIT CL . HIERONY MI AN VS . LEG LEG . VI . VIC. From this inscription it appears that a temple dedicated to the Holy God Serapis was erected, from the foundation, most probably near the site where the tablet was discovered, by Claudius Ilieronymianus, Legate of the sixth legion, victorious. PI. IX. fig. 2. The earliest account we have of this interesting and important relic, is that which was given by the late Rev. S. Pegge, in the third volume of the Archaeologia. He says it was found in the year 1770, by some workmen, as they were digging a cellar at a house l 2 7C in Fryars’ Gardens : 1 the spot now occupied by the York and North- Midland Railway Station. In their progress they came to the foundation of an old building of Roman brick, in the form of a segment of a circle (the measure of which, unfortunately, is not given) ; the remainder of it being under the adjoining house, could not be traced out. There is reason, however, he adds, to apprehend that the whole composed a rotunda. In the portion in which the workmen were employed, this tablet was found. It is much to be regretted that the locality of this interesting discovery is not more precisely indicated. It was hoped that in the recent excavation of nearly the whole of what is thought to have been the Fryars’ Gardens, the remaining portion of the imagined rotunda would be brought to light; but nothing further of the temple built by Hieronymianus, and, no doubt, sustained by the sixth legion, so long as it remained at Eburacum, has been discovered. Some interesting subjects of inquiry, which may also assist in ascertaining its date, are connected with this valuable relic. Serapis was not, under this title at least, originally a deity of the Romans. His worship was, most probably, brought to Rome from Egypt, where, according to Plutarch and Tacitus, it was established about three hundred years before Christ, by Ptolemy Soter; who, having been admonished in a dream by the God himself, obtained, not without much difficulty, a colossal statue of him, from Sinope, in Pontus, and erected to him a magnificent temple in Alexandria. 2 This worship must have passed in an early period to Rome; for Valerius Maximus, a writer of the Augustan age, tells us, 3 that L. Himilius Paulus, when Consul, A. a. C. 168, perceiving that no one dared to touch the temple of Isis and Serapis, which the Senate had decreed should be destroyed, threw off his robe, seized upon a hatchet, and broke open the doors. These foreign deities, therefore, had been revered at Rome, two centuries at least before the Christian sera. Notwithstanding this decree of the Senate and the zeal of the Consul, the worship of these deities seems to have continued, or to have soon revived ; for Augustin 4 and Tertullian 5 observe, that Piso and Gabinius, the Consuls, A. a. C. 58, utterly overthrew their altars. 1 See Map of Ebur. & r c. E. 2 Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride. c. 28. Tac. Hist. iv. 81 — 84. 3 Val. Max. Exemp. Mem. i. 3. 4 De Civit. Dei. xviii. . r >. 5 Apolog. c. vi. Yet very shortly after this, in the time of Augustus, we find that Emperor, in consequence of the disorders accompanying the rites of this foreign worship, and by the advice of the Augurs, ordering the temples of these Egyptian deities to be removed eight stadia from the city. From a passage in Virgil, in which they are spoken of as “ Monsters ,” 1 it is clear that they met with no favour from that Emperor : and by Tiberius, his successor, this worship was strictly forbidden, the temples destroyed, and the statue of Isis thrown into the Tiber. In the reign of Vespasian, the worship of Serapis, it is probable, was again practised in Rome; for Suetonius informs us that this deity was esteemed the peculiar friend and patron of that Emperor . 2 It was through the suggestion, and by the aid of that God, according to the well-known relation of Tacitus , 3 that Ves- pasian “ cured a blind man at Alexandria by means of his spittle, and a lame man, by the mere touch of his foot :” which Mr. Hume insidiously declares to be amongst the best-attested miracles in all profane history . 4 The superstition became triumphant under Ha- drian ; and an eminent antiquary has observed, that there are yet remaining magnificent ruins of the temples of Isis and Serapis on the Palatine hill . 5 Among the inscriptions published by Gruter , 6 there is one of an altar or tablet to Serapis, by M. Aurel. Antoninus, found at Rome, with many others of about the same period. Commodus appears to have been greatly addicted to Egyptian superstitions ; and is represented on the reverse of one of his coins, standing together with Serapis and Isis . 7 Spartian in his life of Sept. Severus, relating the journey of that Emperor through the eastern provinces of the empire, says that “ his visit to Egypt was very pleasing to him, on account of the worship there paid to the God Serapis .” 8 Herodian says, that Caracalla made a journey to Pergamus, in Asia Minor, for the purpose of worshipping iEscula- pius, when suffering from disease . 9 And Dion also tells us, that “ he paid a visit to Egypt, and offered sacrifices to Serapis, and even dared to consecrate in the temple of that deity, the dagger with which he had slain his brother Geta .” 10 Some of his coins bear on 1 jEn. viii. 697, and note by Servius. 3 Hist. iv. 81, 82. 5 Visconti, Musee Chiaramonti, p. 39. 7 Eckh. Doctr. vol. vii. p. 131. 9 Herodiani. Hist. lib. iv. 8. 2 Sueton. in Vesp. c. 7. 4 See Douglas’s Criterion, pp. 94 — 102. 6 Vol. i. p. lxxxv. 8 Vit. Severi. c. 17. In Dion. Hist. lib. lxviii. sub fin. 78 the reverse the image of Serapis, and others of iEsculapius. 1 The attachment to this worship seems indeed to have been very general; for Gruter has collected dedications or votive tablets to Serapis, from many provinces as well as from the Imperial City. No inscription to Serapis is recorded by Horsley ; but Pegge mentions an inedited inscription, found at Appleby (Galacum), in Westmoreland, in which the additional title of Jupiter is given to this deity, viz., IOYI SERAPI, &c. Mr. Pegge thinks that there was no Serapeion or temple dedicated to Serapis at York, or at any other place in Britain, till the erection of this by Cl. Hieronv- mianus. When this was erected it is not possible clearly to ascertain ; not, certainly, before the time of Hadrian ; for the sixth legion came into Britain with him. Not, says Pegge, till the commencement of what is called the Lower Empire, that is, the fourth century. This he infers from the name of the founder of the temple ; which being a diminutive, he thinks could not be common till about that period. But this inference is by no means valid. The name, indeed, was not common in any age. In not one of the many hundred inscriptions collected by Gruter is it to be found ; but names formed in the same manner are not unfrequent; even in inscrip- tions belonging to the first century. The Author is inclined to place the date of this temple not later than the time of Sept. Severus, to whom, according to what has been observed respecting him by Spartian, such an act of devotion to his favourite deity could not fail to be acceptable. The history of this relic is somewhat curious, and not unworthy of being recorded. Soon after it was found, and when Pegge described it, it was in the possession of an eminent antiquary, then residing in York, Erancis Smyth, Esq., of New Building, near Thirsk. Upon leaving York he committed it to the care of a near relative, of whom, after much solicitation, it was borrowed by the artist and antiquary, Mr. Thomas Beckwith, who published an engraving of it in the year 1772. It was never returned to Mr. Smyth or his family; and after the death of Mr. Beckwith, which happened suddenly, it was nowhere to be found, and was supposed to be entirely lost. Mr. Beckwith occupied a house belonging to the 1 Eckh. Doctr. vol. vii. p. 212. 79 Corporation, in the Mint-Yard; and when that house was lately taken down to make way for the new entrance into the city and the houses of St. Leonard’s-Place, the long-lost treasure was most unexpectedly recovered, forming part of the floor of the passage of the house, the inscription being turned downwards. It thus came into possession of the Corporation of the City of Y r ork, by whom it was presented to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society ; of whose Museum it now forms an interesting and valuable portion ; in which may it ever be preserved, for the gratification of antiquaries yet unborn. Among the rites of foreign worship practised by the Romans, were those of Mithraism; the ancient religion of the Persians. These rites were introduced, according to the testimony of Plutarch, by the Cicilian pirates, “ who offered , ” he says, “ strange sacrifices, and celebrated certain secret mysteries, among which those of Mithras continue to this day, being originally instituted by them.” 1 The war with the pirates began A.a.C. 67, and Plutarch flourished at the begin- ning of the second century of the Christian sera. About the year 101, in the reign of Trajan, Mithraism was publicly established at Rome; under the Antoniues it became still more popular ; it afterwards, in the reign of Sept. Severus, spread through all the western provinces of the Empire. The first recorded opposition to it is found in the works of Jerome, who, writing to Lata, praises her cousin Gracchus, for having, when Prefect of Rome, about a.d. 378, destroyed the cave of Mithras. 2 Yet, in the year 390, traces of the Mitliraic mysteries are found at Rome. The introduction of the Mitliraic worship may be easily accounted for, on the principles already men- tioned, and the increased intercourse of the Romans with Asia, after the war with Mithridates ; and its long continuance has, with great probability, been ascribed to the advantage which Paganism was thought to derive in its opposition to the growing influence of Chris- tianity, from a comparison of the mysteries of Mithraism with the practices and even the doctrines of the Christian church. And some of the early fathers were injudicious enough to acknowledge the resemblance. 3 1 Vit. Pompeii. s Hieron. Opp. Tom. i. p. 19, ed. Par. 1546. 3 Just. M. Apol. i. p. 97. Dial. c. Tryph. p. 289, ed. Thirl. Tertull. dc Prajscr. &c. See Mithriaca par Joseph de Hammer, p. 23. 80 That the Mithraic l'ites were celebrated by the Romans at Ebu- racum, is evident from a remarkable sculpture, discovered at York about a century ago, of which a more faithful representation than has hitherto appeared is given in PI. IX. fig. 1. This Mithraic group was found in the year 1747, at the depth of ten feet below the surface, by some workmen, who were engaged in digging a cellar in Micklegate, opposite to St. Martin’s Church. 1 Mr. Drake, to whom it was immediately shown, “ being at a loss,” as he candidly confessed, “ what to make of it, but judging it some representation of a heathen sacrifice or game, sent to his friend, Dr. Stukeley, as just a drawing of it as could be taken;” whose explanation of it was afterwards communicated by Mr. Drake to the Philosophical Society, and pub- lished in the Transactions of the Society for the years 1743 — 1750, Yol. X. p. 1311. This curious relic came, whether by gift or pur- chase the author knows not, into the possession of Mrs. Sandercock, of York, by whom it was bequeathed, with other property, to the late Dr. Robert Cappe, youngest son of the late Rev. Newcome Cappe; 2 and after his death was presented, by the advice of the author, (the Yorkshire Philosophical Society not being then in existence,) to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, who placed it in the vestibule of the Minster library. It is much to be wished that it could be asso- ciated with its kindred relic, the inscription belonging to the temple of Serapis, in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, where it would be more accessible to the lovers of antiquity. Though of rude workmanship, and much injured by time, this Taurine tablet has great value, as being the only entire relic of the kind known to have been discovered in Britain. A Mithraic cave, containing several interesting remains pertaining to Mithraic rites, was found so lately as the year 1821, at Borcovicus (Housesteads), in Northumberland, one of the great stations, already frequently noticed, on the wall of Hadrian, and fully described by the learned author of the History of Northumberland. 3 Fragments only of the tablet were found within the artificial cave ; a circumstance to be deeply regretted, as both in size and execution it appears to have been superior to that of Eburaeum. Mithraic antiquities, 1 See Map of Eburaeum, &c., F. 2 The learned Minister of the English Presbyterian chapel in St. Saviour Gate. 3 Archaeol. Uliana, vol. i. p. 263 — 320. Hist, of Northumb. p. ii. vol.iii. p. 190 — 194. 81 Mr. Hodgson says, have been discovered at Cambeck Fort, in Cum- berland. Dr. Stukeley, in bis letter to Drake, says that he saw an image of Mithras at Chester : but it seems to have been the figure, not of Mithras himself, but of one of the usual attendants, bearing the inverted torch; represented and described by Horsley . 1 Several altars have been found consecrated to Mithraic worship, inscribed DEO SOLI (To God the Sun) ; DEO SOLI INVICTO (To God the Sun, unconquerable) ; SOLI DEO MITRAE (To God Mitras, the Sun ). 2 Three such altars were also found in the cave at Borco- vicus . 3 The most interesting Mithraic monuments remaining are either sculptures in relief, exhibiting the sacrifice of Mithras entire or in part, or statuary groups : the former are the most common. The principal figure in the sculptured bas-reliefs is Mithras as a young man, clothed with a tunic and a Persian candys or cloak, having on his head a Persian bonnet or tiara, and kneeling firmly on a prostrate bull, holding it with his left band by the nostrils, and with the right plunging into its shoulder a short strong sword or dagger. He is generally attended by two other figures, habited in a similar manner, one on each side, or both on one side, one above the other, each bearing a torch ; but one holding it erect, or with the flame upwards, the other inverted, or with the flame down- wards, or extinguished. The tail of the bull is usually terminated by a representation of two ears of corn. Below the body of the bull are seen a dog, a serpent, and a scorpion, and sometimes a lion; the dog licking the blood on the shoulder of the bull, or with the serpent and the scorpion attacking the bull. Two trees, in some instances three, a raven and a cock, are introduced, a boar, an hyaena, and also a chariot of the sun, and another of the moon, or a bust with rays, and another with a crescent, some signs of the zodiac, and seven altars with fire burning upon them. All these are usually considered as astronomical symbols, illustrative of the annual course of the sun and the moon, and their vivifying power. The figure of Mithras stabbing the bull is supposed to denote the sun powerfully acting on the earth, opening its veins, and causing its fertility. The 1 Brit. Rom. Chesh. No. v. and p. 316. See also Pennant’s Tour in Wales, vol. i. p. 159. 2 Brit. Rom. North. No. xciv. 8; Cuml). xv. xxix. 3 Hist, of Northumb. &c., p. 190. M 82 attendants are thought to represent the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer : the upward and the downward course of the sun being typified by the erect and the inverted position of the torch : while the trees and animals are interpreted as emblematical of animated nature generally, under the influence of the solar rays. Thus all the devices are considered as “ in some manner connected with the heavens or the seasons, so as clearly to point out their origin in some system of astrological theology.” The ancient religion of the Persians was, undoubtedly, some species of Sabaism, or of worship paid to the heavenly bodies, which in very early times generally prevailed throughout the East. But the Mithraism of the Zend-Avesta, or of the sacred writings of the Persians, attributed to Zoroaster, the great reformer of the Persian religion, and that of the period to which the Roman Mithraic monuments belong, seems to have had more of a mythological than of an astronomical character ; relating to the origin of evil, the two principles, and to the generation, the spiritual renovation, and the future destiny of Man. Mithras does not appear in the Zend-Avesta as the sun, but as the chief of the Izeds or good genii, created by Ormuzd, the Good Principle, the first-born of the Supreme or “ Time without bounds fitly symbolized indeed by the sun, as the source of light and life, the invincible hero, the beneficent protector of the good, the powerful enemy of injustice and wickedness. It is in perfect consistency with this notion, that an emblem of the sun is introduced into the taurine tablets, together with the figure of Mithras. Some of the other emblems introduced into the Mithraic tablets, as the two birds and the two trees, are also supposed to be significant of attributes ascribed to Mithras in the Zend-Avesta ; but the greater part of the emblems in these tablets are most probably to be referred to the doctrines afterwards engrafted on Mithraism, especially those derived from the Indian Mythology. Interpreted in reference to the Mithraic doctrines, at the period when such changes had taken place, and the worship of Mithras was adopted by the Romans, Mithras and the bull are thought to represent the gene- rative and the renovating power of nature ; the animals attacking the bull are also explained as symbols of the same power . 1 The two 1 The position of the scorpion in Mithraic sculptures clearly indicates its sym- bolical meaning. 83 attendants arc the guides and guardians of souls into and out of life; the one with the inverted torch denoting the descent of souls to the earth ; the other with the torch erect, their return to the celestial regions . 1 The seven altars arc symbols of the planets, by which souls pass in their migration. The raven, the cock, the lion, the hyama, are supposed to denote some of the degrees of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras. The trees have a similar mystical meaning. In the very interesting and instructive w r ork on the worship of Mithras, published by De Hammer , 2 three very remarkable Mithraic monuments are represented and described, which throw great light on the subject of the Mithraic mysteries. The first is a bas-relief found in the Tyrol, and now in the Imperial Cabinet of Antiquities iu Vienna. Within the cave appears Mithras sacrificing the bull, and accompanied with the usual animals and the torch-bearers : but by the side of the tablet, and without the cave, are twelve compartments, representing the trials and ceremonies by which the aspirant w r as prepared for admission to the mysteries ; and the sold regenerated and fitted for the celestial abodes. The figures of other animals usually introduced are seen above the cave, and near them, in the upper right corner of the tablet, a bust wfitli rays, representing the sun, and in the other comer a bust with a crescent behind the shoulders, representing the moon. In the second tablet, found in Transylvania, the same or similar repre- sentations of the steps in the aspirant’s purification are given, not in compartments by the side, but some of them below, and others in different parts of the tablet. The third, found also in Transylvania, very much resembles the last; but four only of the initiatory steps are represented, and these below the principal group. There is a fourth described, but not figured, by De Hammer, dis- covered in the same place with the two last, and greatly resembling 1 In one of the fragments found at Housesteads, the bearer of the upright torch has the caduceus in his left hand, the well-known symbol of Mercury, “ the guide of souls from the higher to the lower regions.” Archseol. jFliana, ubi sup. p. 280. In a fragment found at Neddernheim, and figured by De Hammer, the bearer of the inverted torch has also the caduceus. 2 See Mithriaca, &c., PI. v. vi. and vii. and p. 83 — 92. For the use of this very valuable work, which when preparing his Lectures he endeavoured in vain to procure from London and from Paris, the author gratefully acknowledges his obligation to Dr. Hibbert Ware, who has had lately the good fortune to add this to his extensive collection of antiquarian works. M 2 84 them, especially the third. In these the author thinks he has found the true key to the York tablet ; which appears to be unique, unlike any of the sculptures in Montfau§on, Hyde, and Dupuis, and differing, in some respects, even from those just mentioned, given by De Hammer. The tablet is 2 ft. 3| in. in height, and 1 ft. 10| in. in breadth. It has the usual group of Mithras and the bull, and the attendant torch-bearers ; but the dog, the serpent, and the scorpion, which uniformly appear in other Mithraic sculptures, are wanting. No birds or trees, no chariot of the sun or the moon, no altars, typi- fying the seven planets, are found in it. But in the right corner of the upper part of the tablet is a bust with rays, evidently the symbol of the sun; on the left side are two busts; yet neither of them adorned with a crescent, so as to represent the moon, as might have been expected from a comparison with other tablets. In the lower part of the tablet some figures appear, so similar to those in the Tran- sylvanian sculptures, that the author feels no doubt of their being intended to represent, according to the interpretation of De Hammer, some of the rites and trials to which the aspirant was required to submit in the course of his initiation : some of those ceremonies and “ severities, the primary object of which was to prepare the mind and bodies of the aspirants, by a long course of discipline, to undergo every species of self-denial, and, by an exhibition of that part of the pagan creed which relates to the passage of the soul from life to immortality, to impress upon them the necessity of that great moral regeneration which was to fit the soul for entering upon a new, happy, and eternal existence.” 1 The two figures on the right denote the first ceremony, that of baptism, or the first act of purification by water ; the mystagogue being represented, rudely indeed, adminis- tering the rite, by pouring water on the aspirant’s head. 2 The two next figures appear to represent the third trial or step in the process of initiation, the aspirant, in the presence of the mystagogue, standing in a vessel filled with snow or with cinders. 3 The aspirant being 1 Archaeol. TEliana, vol. i. p. 308. 2 In the first compartment in the Tyrolese monument, the aspirant is standing in water, but the mystagogue’s hand is upon his head. “ L'initie debout dans l’eau en est asperge par un autre personage.” — De Hammer, p. 84. 3 “ L’initie enfonce dans un amas de neige ou des cendres.”— De Hammer, p. 94. In Dr. Stukeley’s plate, from the drawing sent to him by Drake, and which he says was “ as just a drawing of it as could be taken,” this is most grossly misrepresented by two figures within the coils of a serpent. 85 supposed to have passed through all the purifying and painful exer- cises prescribed to him, is represented in the remaining part of the sculpture, conducted by the mystagogue to the chariot of the sun, as purified and prepared for the celestial abodes . 1 Of the two figures in the left corner of the upper part of the tablet, the author can offer no explanation : but he would venture to suggest, that as they are placed immediately over the Genius of ascending souls, they may denote the ascent of souls from earth to heaven. The York tablet is r unquestionably to be ranked among the most interesting Mithraic relics, and deserves moi’e attention than it has hitherto received . 2 The sacrifice of Mithras is, as usual, represented as being per- formed in a cave ; and such, either natural or artificial, was the scene in which the Mithraic rites were celebrated : a cave being, not perhaps, as some suppose, the symbol of the darkness out of which all things were at first created, but rather of the natural and sensible world created by Mithras ; the internal arrangement of a Mithraic cave being symbolical of the elements and climates of the world. It is probable that an artificial cave had been formed for the worship of Mithras, where this tablet was discovered, though no appearance of such a structure is recorded by Drake. The cavern or cell in which the Mithraic remains were found at Housesteads, was bounded by four walls of common masonry, facing the cardinal points ; the entrance being through the eastern side . 3 An attempt has been made by Mr. Macgregor of Newcastle, with much ingenuity and learning, to show that York possesses another and highly interesting Mithraic relic in the zodiacal arch of the porch of the church of St. Margaret in Walmgate . 4 In the Mithraic monuments discovered at Neddernheim near Francfort, the entire zodiac, commencing on the right with Aries, and proceeding in the usual order, forms an arch over the Mithraic sacrifice. Among the 1 “ Assis avec son conducteur sur le char de soleil attele de six chevaux, il s'eleve vers le ciel.” — De Hammer, p. 85. In two of the Transylvanian sculptures, these figures appear as in the York tablet, but the chariot drawn by four horses; in the third, or in the fourth of those mentioned above, it is drawn by one horse. “ On y distingue le char avec deux hommeS, mais attele d’un cheval.” — -De Hammer, p. 92. 2 De Hammer has given a list of no less than fifty bas-reliefs, representing either wholly or in part the sacrifice of Mithras, but it does not include the York tablet, or any notice of the discoveries at Housesteads. He indeed asserts, on the authority of M. Welker, that not one Mithraic monument is known to exist in England. — p. 189. 3 Archaeol. ./Eliana, ubi sup. 4 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 1 — 79. 86 Mithraic relics discovered at Housesteads, a very remarkable sculpture was found, consisting of a bust of Mithras, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, represented in an oval or egg-like shaped border, the signs commencing on the right with Aquarius, and ending on the left with Capricorn. In the arch of the porch, some of the signs have been misplaced, at the removal of it from its original to its present situation ; but it is very observable, that the signs begin and end as in the tablet of Housesteads. Yet all the connection of that arch with Mitliraism most probably amounts to no more than this, that it is a copy, in part at least, of some ancient Mithraic sculpture existing in the eleventh or twelfth century at York, or known to some Norman architect. The arch we now see could never have formed any part of a Mithraic cave or temple. It is essentially connected with other arches and with pillars, some capitals of which remain, all most decisively of Norman workmanship, and, as it has been very satisfactorily shown , 1 of an age not earlier than the latter part of the reign of Stephen . 2 As altars were erected long before temples, so, after the building of temples, altars were set up where no temples stood; on emer- gencies, when they were constructed of sods, or stones collected on the spot and rudely piled together; or in commemoration of some signal events, in honour of some individual Deity or deified man ; or for the purpose of special or domestic worship. “ When the occasion was not sudden, and especially if the altars were required to be of considerable size, they were built with regular courses of masonry or brick-work, very plain. Afterwards a base was added, and a corresponding projection at the top; the latter being intended to hold the fire, and the objects offered in sacrifice, formed of a single stone, square or round, generally the former, and ornamented by festoons and garlands, emblematical figures and sacrificial instru- 1 See “ An Attempt to ascertain the true Age of the Porch of St. Margaret’s Church, York, with Remarks on the ‘ Inquiry’ into the same subject, by J. Macgregor, Esq. By John Browne, Artist, York.” 2 Having noticed the zodiac of the Cathedral of Cremona, and the Mithraic figures in the Baptistery of Parma, De Hammer observes : — “ Tous les deux sont des monumens precieux de l’architecture du moyen age, qui attestent encore aux yeux des voyageurs la rapport intime des idees architectoniques de ces temps avec les mysteres de l’antiquite, et surtout avec ceux de Mithra, dans lesquels les peres de l’eglise euxmemes ne pouvaient se refuser a reconnaitre les traces d’une culte precurseur du C'hristianisme.” — Mithriaca, &c., p. 133. n,ATE X. John Brrr*rn*,. 7j(l* J Jt.Jobtins UiJi- Roman A llctrs found crt York 87 ments, sculptured on the marble. A moveable pan or brazier was sometimes used to hold the fire ; but many altars were assigned for the sacrifice of fruits only, or other similar gifts, on which no fire was kindled.” 1 These were formed of a single stone. Several Roman altars have been discovered at York. In the year 1638, an altar was found by some workmen employed in digging for the foundation of a house on Bishop-hill. It was presented, Mr. Drake says, to King Charles I., when at York in 1639, by the then Sir Ferdinando Fairfax (in whose ground probably it had been found), and was kept at the Manor. Afterwards Sir Thomas Widdrington had it in his house in Lendal, 2 whence it was conveyed to the new house built by Lord Fairfax on Bishop-hill, where it remained till the desertion of that house by his son-in-law the Duke of Buckingham. Of its subsequent history nothing is known. Neither Gale, nor Horsley, nor Drake himself, could obtain the least intelligence respecting the place to which it was afterwards removed. 3 Dr. Martin Lister saw it in the Duke’s house, and gave a brief account of it in the Philosophical Transactions. 4 He describes it as a small but elegant altar, with figures of sacrificing instruments sculptured on the sides, and this inscription : I . O . M DIS . DEABVSQVE HOSPITALIBVS . PE NATIBVSQ . OBCON S3RVATAM . SALVTEM SVAM . SVORVMQ P . AEL . MARCIAN VS . PRtEF . COH ARAM . SAC . F . NC . D It appears to have been a votive or rather a eucharistic altar, dedi- cated “ to Jupiter, the best, the greatest, and to all the friendly and household gods and goddesses, by Publius iElius Marcianus, Prefect of a Cohort, on account of the preservation of the health of himself and his family.” The interpretation of the last line of the inscription is attended with difficulty, in consequence of the con- traction NC not being elsewhere met with. Horsley thinks that it denotes “ nuncupavit,” and reads the whole line thus ; “ Aram ’ See Diet, of Greek and Rom. Antiq., art. Ara. 2 Sir T. Widdrington was Recorder of York. 3 Ebor. p. 56. 4 Vol. iii. p. 418. 88 sacra faciendo nuncupavit, dedicavit.” Gale, according to Gough, agrees with Horsley, and reads equivalently, “ Sacris factis nun- cupavit, dedicavit.” Dr. Ward supposing NC to mean “ nomine communi,” reads the line “ Aram sacram factam nomine communi dedicavit,” and observes, that the dedication of any thing was properly made by the head of the family, though in the name of the whole, so that this expression, “ nomine communi ” would be equi- valent to what we have elsewhere frequently, “ pro se et suis.” Drake, on the authority of Ursatus, “ who for certain/’ he says, “ had seen the like on other altars abroad,” reads the three last letters, “ numini conservatori dedicatam,” or “ dari jussit,” i. e., “ de- dicated this altar to the great preserver.” 1 The reading of Dr. Ward is perhaps to be preferred. Another thing observable in this inscrip- tion is the phrase “ Diis deabusque hospitalibus,” the epithet hospi- talis, in such a connexion, not being found in Gruter, Reinesius, or Fabretti, the only collections to which the author has access : but Diis deabusque Penatibus et Familiaribus, is not unusual. In the year 1752, in digging a large drain in the middle of Micklegate, through two or three firm pavements of pebble at the depth of eight or ten feet, several fragments of beautiful red glazed paterae were found : and at the end of the work several altars, one not above eight inches high, uninscribed, with a cavity on the top, a small curious earthen lamp, and some Roman coins. 2 Of these nothing is known to remain but one small altar, 10 in. high and 5 in. square, having an inscription, which has hitherto in vain exercised the sagacity of several eminent antiquaries. See PI. X. fig. 1. At the death of Mrs. Bourchier, a lady of fortune who resided in Micklegate, near the spot in which this altar was found, and in whose possession it had probably been from the time of its having been discovered, though Mr. Gough complains that he could hear nothing of it at York in 1785, it was purchased by the late Anthony Thorpe, Esq., who presented it to the Dean and Chapter of York, by whom it was placed where it now is, in the Minster Library. A writer in the Gentleman’s Magazine of the year ] It is hardly to be conceived that such altars would have escaped the notice of Gruter and the other collectors of inscriptions. The author can find no such inter- pretation in his edition of Ursatus de Notis, &c., to which work he supposes Drake alludes. 3 Gough’s Camden, vol. iii. p. G2. 89 1752, signing himself Lasenbiensis, conjectured the age of the altar to be about the reign of Antoninus Pius, and read the inscription thus : MATribus AFricis ITAlicis GALlicis Marcus MINVtius MVDE MILes LEGionis VI (sextre) VICtricis GVBERnatori LEGionis VI (sextae) Votum Solvit LL (libentissime) Merito. According to which, Marcus Minutius Mude, a soldier of the sixth legion victorious, in performance of a vow, dedicated the altar to the African, Italian, Gallican (Goddesses, the) Mothers, to the Gubernator of the sixth Legion. The writer confessed there was some inconsis- tency in two dedications to the Matres, &c., and to the Gubernator ; he did not presume to think his interpretation the true one; he wished only to excite the attention of more able antiquaries. Mr. Pegge was not tardy in taking up the subject ; but in a communica- tion to the Gentleman’s Magazine, in the following month, October 1752, under his usual acrostic signature of Paul Gemsege, agreeing with the preceding writer in the reading of the three last lines, he differed from him in the interpretation of the two first; justly observing, that “ Matribus” never occurs in inscriptions alone without “ Diis or Deabus.” Supposing the first letters of the first line to be not MAT but MiET, and the cognomen MVDE in the second line to be mutilated at the end, and the true reading of it to be MVRE- ; he reads the two first lines thus : Marti ,'ETolieo AFro ITAlico GALlico Marcus MINVtius MVREna. Having settled the interpretation, he goes on to offer some explana- tory remarks. He observes that the altar was erected in consequence of a vow ; that the votary had served in all the countries mentioned in the address, and had been particularly preserved, as he thought, by the God of war. He infers from this inscription, that the sixth legion was under the special protection of Mars ; and understands Gubernatori as put in apposition with Marti in the first line. According to Gough, 1 Drake sent a copy of the inscription to the Society of Antiquaries, reading the first line MATribus AILTA . GeNio, 1 Camden ubi sup. He also says, that Mr. Hill, in Gent. Mag. 1753, p. 269, dedicated it to the same deities (Matribus, &c.) ; and that some observations on it by Dr. Ward were inserted in the Society’s Register, but do not now appear. N 90 in the second line AVDE . . and in the fourth line GVBERnator, supposing it in apposition with MILes ; but he does not appear to have given any explanation of the address. Other interpretations have been proposed, but so manifestly erroneous, that it would be perfectly useless to record them. The author cannot presume to undertake what others, more skilful, have failed to accomplish. Several letters of the first line, in which the greatest difficulty is found, appear to have been originally so pecu- liarly formed, and now are so indistinct, that it is next to im- possible to decypher them. The word GVBER in the fourth is very perplexing, whether it be read Gubernatori or Gubernator, — whether it be in apposition with MARti, supposed to be in the first line, or with MILes in the fine preceding. The proper word in connection with MARti, would be Conservatori ; and no such military legionary officer as Gubernator is in any other place ever mentioned. One remark only the author would offer, and for that he is indebted to a learned Mend, that the last word in the second line is not MVDE, nor an erroneous reading for MYRE, but ANDE, the abbreviation of Andegavanus or Andegavensis, denoting that M. Minutius was of Andes or Andegavi (Angers) in Gaul. In one of the rooms of the baths recently discovered in excavating the ground for the station of the York and North Midland Railway, and fully described above, 1 an altar was found, as it may now be seen in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, 2 ft. 8 in. high, 1 ft. in. broad, and 1 ft. 1^ in. deep, standing on a large brick, and a square sheet of lead, bearing the following inscrip- tion : DEAE FORTVNAE SOSIA IVNCINA Q. ANTONI ISAVRICI LEG. AVG It appears, from this inscription, to have been dedicated to the Goddess Fortune by Sosia Juncina, the daughter of Quintus Antonius Isauricus, of the Legion Augusta. Three legions were distinguished by this appellation, — the second, the third, and the See p. 71. 91 eighth. 1 The third and the eighth are not known to have been ever in Britain. The second came into Britain in the reign of Claudius ; 2 and from inscriptions on the wall of Hadrian, we learn that during his reign this legion was in the North. In the time of Antoninus Pius it was employed in building the wall at the upper isthmus; afterwards it was at Isca Silurum (Caerleon, or perhaps Usk), which was probably from that period its chief quarters. 2 The form and character of the letters concur with these circumstances to fix the date of this altar to the latter part of the reign of Antoninus, or the beginning of that of M. Aurelius, when the legion probably passed through Eburacum, and rested there on its way to the South. 3 PI. X. fig. 4. About a quarter of a mile from the station, on the line of the railway, 4 was recently discovered another altar, about 2 ft. high, 1 ft. 3^ in. broad, and 12 in. deep, with figures on the sides sculptured in relief, but without any inscription. PI. X. figs. 2, 3. On one side three persons are represented sitting, in a recess ; on another side two in a standing position ; and on the third side one person, in the same position. On the fourth side, which has been much injured, there are traces of an altar, and of a victim prepared for sacrifice. All the figures are so much worn by time, that no features can be discerned, nor any characteristic marks by which it might be ascer- tained whom they are designed to represent. They appear to be all male persons. Perhaps the three may represent the Emperor Sept. Severus, and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, associated with him in the empire : the single figure, the Emperor ; and the two figures, his sons. Horsley 5 has described at length a votive altar found at Gretland, on which are two inscriptions ; the one dedicating it to Dui Civitatis, a tutelary god of the Brigantes, and “ Numinibus Augus- 1 On one of the coins of Gallienus the ninth legion is so called. Eckh. Doctr. &c., vol. vii. p. 403. 2 See p. 32. 3 It is observable that an altar to Fortune was found in the Roman bath at Netlierby (Castra Exploratorum) ; and another at Bowes (Lavatrse), dedicated to that goddess on the rebuilding of a bath there, that had been destroyed by fire. See Roy’s Mil. Antiq. p. 198. Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. 1. Three altars sacred to Fortune were found in the baths at Habitancum (Risingham) in the years 1838 and 1839, which are de- scribed, with an accompanying plate, by the learned historian of Northumberland, in the Gentleman’s Magazine for February 1841. The baths at Pompeii had an entrance from the street leading to the Temple of Fortune. 4 See Map of Eburacum, &c., G. Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. xviii. and p. 312. N 2 92 torum,” the Augusti being, most probably, Severus and one or both of his sons: the other, “ANTON, ill. ET GETA COSS.” marking the date of the altar, either 205 or 208 ; there being some uncertainty whether the second or third consulship of Caracalla is intended. This altar, being undoubtedly intended as a compliment to Severus and his sons, 1 may, in some degree at least, justify the conjecture that the altar found at York had the same object. 2 In the churchyard of St. Lawrence, without Walmgate-bar, there has been standing during many years, against the north wall of the church, a Roman or Roman-British altar, of coarse gritstone, about 3 ft. in height, and about 11 in. in width at the top. It possesses little interest, being of rude workmanship, without any inscription ; and nothing of its history being known. Mr. Gough, in his edition of Camden’s Britannia, mentions a pedestal which was dug up within Micklegate-bar in the year 1740, having the following inscription : BRITANNIA SANCTiE P . NICOMEDES AVGG . N . N LIBERTVS This appears to have been a votive or eucharistic tablet to the Genius of Britain, erected by Publius Nicomedes, a freed man of the Augusti, probably of the Emperor Severus and his son Caracalla. Dr. Stuke- ley, comparing this inscription with one on a statue dedicated to BRIGANTIA, found at Blatum Bulgium (Birrens, near Middleby), 1 Ebor. p. 58. 3 The author has been much gratified to find that the same opinion of this altar had been formed by Dr. Hibbert Ware, who had met with a fragment of Roman sculpture, a few years ago, somewhat resembling the front of the altar, in the wall of the farmhouse, at Croy-hill, near Kilsyth, the site of a Roman station on the Vallum of Antoninus. It consisted of three figures, not sitting indeed, as in front of the altar, but in military costume, and armed with oblong shields and spears. In a paper which he read at a meeting of the Antiquarian Society of Scot- land, he conjectured that this sculpture referred to Severus and his sons ; and in this opinion the other members coincided. The monument is very interesting, and deserving of still further examination. It is much to be wished that Dr. H. Ware’s observations were communicated to the public. Mr. Gilpin, of Scaleby Castle, showed Horsley a seal, on which Severus and his two sons were supposed to be represented under the figures of Jupiter, Castor, and Pollux. Brit. Rom. p. 127. See also Archaeol. vol. xi. pi. vi. where an engraving of this seal is given, which appears to represent Severus as Serapis ; perhaps Jupiter-Serapis. 93 and described by Horsley among the inscriptions in Scotland, 1 pro- posed to read BRIGANTINE for BRITANNInE. But no change is required. The island, as well as a province in it, might be per- sonified, and receive divine honours. An inscription to the Genius of Britain, GENIO TERR.E BRITANNICnE, has been found at Achiudavy, on the wall of Antoninus. 2 Another votive tablet, to the Genius most probably of Eburacum, inscribed GENIO LOCI FELICITER had been previously discovered in digging a cellar in Coney-street, in the line of the Roman wall. 3 It is of gritstone, 1 ft. 9 in. long, by 11 in. broad. Inscriptions of this kind are by no means uncommon. Thus we meet with the forms, GENIO ROMnE, GENIO PRiE- TORIS, GENIO Populi Romani, 4 GENIO MVNICIPII, GENIO NORICORVM, GENIO ALnE PRIMnE HISP., &c. The Genius was the tutelary God of any person, place, or thing; 5 and dedications to this inferior deity are found abundantly in every collection of ancient inscriptions. 6 The learned historian of York observes, that he never met with an inscription of this sort with so remarkable an adjunct as “ feliciter” to it. He would understand “ regnanti,” or some such word, after it, supposing that they who dedicated this tablet “ thought the tutelar deity of Eboracum was happily placed by being the guardian of the imperial city of Britain, and gave this testimony of their veneration of it.” His friend and annotator, the Rev. Dr. Langwith, disapproved of the supplying of “ regnanti,” or any such word, rightly judging that the inscription might be better explained without it. “ FELICITER,” he observes, “ was one of the ‘ verba solennia/ and was often used alone to wish prosperity and good success upon any remarkable occasion, either public or private. ... In the present case, it is a short wish or prayer for the happy issue of the dedication of this votive tablet to the Genius of the place. The party concerned had some reason to doubt of this ; 1 Brit. Rom. Scotl. No. xxxiv. and p. 341. Hodgson, Hist. &c. ubi sup. p. 252. * Hodgson, ubi sup. p. 266. •’ Described by Dr. M. Lister in Phil. Trans, abridg. vol. v. pt. ii. p. 35. * Often found on Roman coins. 5 “ Genium dicebant antiqui, naturalem deum uniuscujusque loci, vel rei, aut ho- minis.” — Serv. in Virg. Georg, i. 302. , Gruteri Corpus, &c. tom. i. Fabretti Inscript. Antiq. Explic. lib. ii. 94 for as the deity was British and he a Roman, he could not tell whether his present would be acceptable or no ; or, however, might justly think that a British deity would rather be propitious to the Britons than to the Romans, their conquerors." 1 This tablet, in Drake’s time, was fixed in a wall belonging to a private house in Conev-street ; it afterwards passed into the possession of the Corpo- ration of York, who lately presented it to the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. In the recent excavations near the Roman wall, north-east of the multangular tower, a fragment of a small statue, bearing on the pedestal a votive inscription for the health of some person, was found. This fragment is about 7 in. in height; the part of the pedestal remaining, on which is the inscription, is about 4 in. high, and 3| broad. The breadth appears to have been originally about 7 inches. The following is all that is left of the inscription : DA1I F PROSA . ] .... AVSPICA MAII . SIM .... I . D . D . II . . . . METROB ME . I The letters are rudely formed. TOMBS, COFFINS, SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. In the earliest, and perhaps the most interesting record we possess relating to the burial of the dead, the object is distinctly stated to be the removing of the dead from the presence of the living. “ And Abraham,” says the sacred historian, “ stood up from before his dead, and spake to the children of Heth, saying, Tama stranger and sojourner with you : give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’ ” 2 This is the language of nature. When the awful and mysterious change which reduces an active, sentient, intelligent being into an inert and insen- sible corse, has taken place, — when the tongue is mute, and the eye is closed, and the ear is dull, — when all that delighted the heart has fled with the departed spirit, and all that charmed the eye is resolving fast into “ the dust from which it came,” the purest friendship and the warmest love naturally seek, as did the Patriarch of old, a place Ebor. p. 08 . Append, p. vii. 2 Gen. xxiii. 4. 95 in which the dead may be buried out of sight. But affectionate sorrow is not satisfied with this. Our long-loved friends are neces- sarily removed from our sight — but not from our hearts; and we feel that we cannot pay too much respect to their memory ourselves, or too zealously engage for them the respect of others. To this principle may be traced the various ceremonies which in almost all nations, differing indeed according to the degree of civilization and the nature and influence of prevailing religious sentiments, have accompanied the burial of the dead, and the various means which have been employed to perpetuate their remembrance. To be deprived of burial has been almost universally regarded as a deplorable calamity. The repose of the spirit was thought to depend upon the performance of some funereal rites, even if they extended no further than the casting upon the dead body a few handfulls of earth. No one acquainted with the classical writers of Home will need to be reminded of the address of the spirit of Archytas to the seaman in Horace, or of the beautiful episode in Virgil of Misenus and Palinurus. In the disposal of the dead, two methods have most generally pre- vailed : 1. The burial of the entire body; or, 2. The burial of the ashes after the body has been burned. The manner of the burying of the entire body has varied. The body has either been inhumed , that is, covered all over with earth, below the surface of the ground ; or placed in a cavern or cell, natural or artificial, or inclosed in a sarcophagus or coffin, or embalmed and placed in a chest. The aged Patriarch placed the body of Sarah in a natural cave, and in that cave he was himself afterwards buried ; and his nearest descendants, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph: but the two last having died in Egypt, were prepared for burial according to the custom of that country, by embalment. Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, was inhumed by the roadside, on the way to Ephrath or Bethlehem. 1 And from the book of Job, as old, most probably, as the first book of the Pentateuch, if not older, it is evident that such was the mode adopted in the earliest times in Arabia. 2 No chest or coffin, it is thought, was used in such cases ; but the body, wrapped or inclosed in linen of some kind, was laid in the cave, or in the ground. The poorer people generally, if not universally, it is probable, were inhumed : the higher classes deposited in caves or catacombs, appro- 1 Gen. xxxv. 19; xlviii. 7. 5 Job xxi. 32. 96 priated to their respective families ; or if inhumed, as in Arabia, distinguished by a tumulus of sods, raised over the grave ; or by a pillar erected on the spot . 1 The burning of the dead was certainly ignominious amongst the ancient Hebrews. This is evident from the incidental history of Judah and Thamar, recorded in the book of Genesis ; 2 and also from the penalty affixed to the violation of some of the laws prescribed in the Mosaic code . 3 We are not to suppose that in the instances here referred to, burning alive is meant. It was a posthumous punish- ment, as was hanging also, inflicted on the body after it had been deprived of life, either by the sword, or by stoning. It is indeed maintained by some, that in later periods the practice of burning the body, especially of their kings, as a mark of honour, prevailed among the Jews . 4 But the passages cited in support of this opinion most probably relate to the custom of burning, not the dead body, but sweet-scented woods and aromatic gums, and scattering the ashes of these upon the corpse. So the Jews explain these passages ; and with them many Christian commentators agree. If at any time they did burn the body, as a mark of honour, they ceased to observe this practice after their return from the Babylonian captivity ; instructed, as some think, by the Persians, who, venerating fire as a symbol of the Deity, abstained from using it for such a purpose. The burning mentioned in the prophecy of Amos may refer, not to a general custom, but to a prudential and occasional practice in a time of pesti- lence . 5 By the Greeks, it will be sufficient here briefly to observe, bodies were sometimes buried, and sometimes burned, according to the desire of the person himself, expressed while living, or of his surviving relatives. Inhumation was the most ancient practice; but burning was in use in the Homeric age, and perhaps before that time. We have striking evidence of this in the obsequies of Patroclus ; 6 “ con- firmable,” as Sir T. Browne observes, “ amongst the Trojans, from the funeral pyre of Hector burnt before the gates of Troy.” 7 The Romans derived the greater part of their funei’eal rites from the Greeks, so that, generally speaking, what is said of one people 1 Gen. xxxv. 19. " Ch. xxxviii. 24. 3 Lev. xx. 14. * J. D. Michaelis Comment, de Combustione, &c., &c. Syntagma Comment. No. 9. 3 Amos vi. 10. ' Sir T. Browne on Urn-Burial, p. 2. 6 Horn. II. xxiii. 97 will be applicable to the other also. Interment, or the depositing of the whole body in the ground, was the method of disposing of the dead first adopted by the Romans ; and it was also the last. Crema- tion, or burning, was intermediate ; but not at any period to the exclusion of interment. Infants were never burned ; nor persons killed by lightning; nor they who died by their own hands. They who were killed by lightning were buried on the spot, unless that happened to be a place in which it was not lawful to bury, as the Forum, the Circus, or a temple. And when the practice of burning generally prevailed, there were many no doubt, at all times, besides those of the lower classes, who preferred for themselves or their friends, the gradual dissolution of the body in the earth, to its de- struction by fire on the funeral pile. Both Cicero' and Pliny 1 2 assert, that burning was not practised among the Romans till the time of Svlla the Dictator. Yet the law attributed to Numa, the second king, prohibiting the pouring of wine on the ashes, and the express injunction which he gave, that his body should not be burned, but buried, seem to prove that the usage of burning was not unknown in the earliest period of the Roman state. The law of the xii Tables, also expressly enjoining that no body should be buried or burned within the city, clearly shows that burning was practised, at least occasionally, in the first ages of the Commonwealth. At what period this practice ceased cannot be ascertained more clearly than when it arose. Some have supposed that it was about the time of the Anto- nines, that is, about the middle of the second century of the Christian sera, when it is said the custom was formally abrogated. Yet many years later, we read of the magnificent burning of Severus, at Eburacum ; though he had pretended to have been adopted into the family of the Antonines, and gave the name of Antoninus to both his sons . 3 Macrobius, a Roman writer, who flourished under the Emperor Theodosius Junior, about the beginning of the fifth cen- tury, expressly says that burning was not practised in his age . 4 It is probable that it gradually grew out of use, as the doctrine of the resurrection of the body spread Avith the diffusion of Christianity. That both these i .ethods of disposing of the dead were practised by the Romans during their residence in Eburacum, the remains that 1 De Legg. lib. ii. c. 22. • Hist. Nat. lib. vii. c. 54. 3 Spartiani Vit. Severi, c. 19. Eckh. vol. vii. p. 173, 221. 4 Saturn, lib. vii. c. 7. o 98 have been discovered in the suburbs of the city, some of which, of a very interesting character, are deposited in the Museum of the York- shire Philosophical Society, afford the clearest testimony. The place in which the body was to be either buried or burned was without the city. This decent custom, so generally and so deplorably violated in modern times, prevailed at Rome in a very early period before the framing of the ancient Code of Laws, known by the title of the xii Tables. Yet it does not appear to have been always observed with sufficient care, since it was most peremptorily enjoined by a law in that code : and afterwards, in the time of the Emperors, it became necessary to enfoi’ce that law by a heavy pecu- niary fine. The vestal virgins, however, and a few distinguished persons, were allowed to be buried in the city. Within the walls of Eburacum, no vestige of a Roman burial, so far as the author knows, has ever been discovered; but in the suburbs, and especially on the south side of the river, relics of the Roman dead abound. The road side was the place most commonly appropriated to the burial of the dead ; so that they who passed by might be reminded of their own mortality, and the memory of the dead might be con- tinually revived, and the longer preserved. Many of the sepulchral inscriptions begin, somewhat in the style of some of our rustic grave- stones, “ Stop, traveller, as you pass by, &c.” : thus, Siste Viator, Aspice Viator, Cave Viator, &c. The names at least of the departed would thus be prevented from sinking into oblivion : and this design is avowed in some inscriptions. In the collection by Gruter, we have one from the tomb of a person named Lollius : “ T. Lollius, son of T. Lollius, &c., buried by the road-side, that they who pass by may say, Farewell, Lollius.” The principal roads leading out of Rome had many sepulchral monuments of all kinds on each side, continued sometimes to a con- siderable distance from the city ; some of which remain to this day. T. Pomponius Atticus, the intimate friend of Cicero, was buried on the Appian Way, at the fifth mile-stone, in the monument of his uncle, Q. Csecilius. Gallienus, the Emperor, was buried on the same road, at the ninth mile-stone. The Emperor Galba was buried on the Aurelian Way. The apostle Paul, according to Prudentius, a Christian poet of the fifth century, was buried on the Ostian Way. In the excavation of Pompeii, the road leading from the city towards Naples has been discovered, lined with sepulchral urns, tombs and 99 cippi, conveying, in the representation of it given by Cockburn in his Pompeii, a good idea of a Roman cemetery. Camden, Horsley, Lister, Burton and Drake, have recorded the discovery of several urns, coffins and sepulchres of various kinds, monumental bas-reliefs and inscriptions; some found between Bootham-bar and Clifton, near the ancient Roman road to Isurium ; many more on the south side of the river, within, as well as without the walls of the present city ; on the sides of the road leading to Calcaria; the number of which in more modern times, and especially within the last few months, has been greatly increased. Some very interesting sepulchral remains have also been found on the Walm- gate side of the city, in the Castle yard, and in Heslington field ; pointing out very satisfactorily the direction, though not the exact line of the road, from Eburacum to Derventio, whatever may have been the exact site of that station. Fewer excavations have at any time been made on the north side of the city; and the discoveries which have been made there, have been less interesting : yet enough of a sepulchral character has been found on that side, to sanction the conjecture that a Roman road passed in that direction, as before ob- served, by Crake to the mouth of the Tees, or near it. The three other roads, leading to more important stations, would be much more fre- quented, and consequently more generally chosen as places of burial. The road leading to Calcaria, and to the stations in the South, would naturally be regarded as the principal road ; and so numerous have been the sepulchral remains in that direction, that it might not inap- propriately be called “ The street of the tombs.” The usual places of burial being ascertained, it may be useful, in illustrating the sepulchral remains that have been found at York, to say a few words respecting the disposal of the body. If the body was to be burned, a pile, generally of pine-wood, in a rough state, was constructed, in the form of an altar, varying in height and extent according to the rank of the person whose body was to be placed upon it. Some combustible materials, with various shrubs and plants, were interspersed ; and to prevent accidents, it was not allowed to be constructed within the distance of sixty yards from any building. With averted faces, “ a handsome symbol of unwilling ministration,” 1 the nearest relatives applied the torch to the pile. When the accus- 1 SirT. Browne on Urn-Burial, p. S3, o 2 100 tomed ceremonies were completed, and the pile consumed, the bones and ashes of the deceased were carefully collected, in order that they might be placed in an urn ; formed, generally, of stone or clay. It has been often asked, how these ashes could be distinguished from those of the pile itself, and of the various things usually consumed with it. Some have supposed that the body was wrapped in the incombustible mineral, called asbestos or amiantus, spun and woven into cloth. Pliny speaks of its being used for this purpose , 1 and his testimony has been corroborated by the discovery of pieces of this cloth, in ancient Roman or Italian sepulchres . 2 But this was cer- tainly an article too costly to be in common use. It is most probable, that the body was so placed on the pile, as generally to ensure its falling on the very spot over which it had been placed ; and that the bones being not wholly consumed, the ashes of the body might, with a very considerable degree of accuracy, be distinguished, and collected with little of foreign substances mingled with them. The ashes having been gathered up with all possible care, were deposited in some kind of urn. Sepulchral urns were of different sizes and forms, and made of various materials, according to the wealth of the deceased whose ashes they were to contain, and the taste of the surviving relatives; of gold, silver, bronze, or glass; most commonly of marble, or baked clay. When made of marble they were generally rectangular, adorned with bas-reliefs, often of beautiful workmanship, or inscriptions, or both. Fictile urns, or those of baked clay, were sometimes of such a shape ; or they were in the form of a vase, circular, varying in height, often furnished with a lid. They were called ossuaria, from their containing bones, — cineraria, in reference to their containing ashes, — or ollce, pots; these had generally a narrow pointed bottom. A day generally elapsed before the urn was committed to the tomb, or place in which it was to be deposited : and a feast was held in honour of the dead, at which the urn was placed in a conspicuous situation. Tombs, whether used for the reception of urns, or of the entire body, were generally vaults or chambers under ground, with niches in the walls to receive urns ; or larger openings to receive the body. Sepulchral vaults constructed for the reception of urns were usually called columbaria, from the resemblance they bore to dove- 1 Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq., art. Asbestos. / 1 Hist. Nat. lib. xix. c. 1. 101 cotes. Two urus were generally placed in one niche. With the urns other vessels were frequently deposited : some containing water, for the Manes, who were supposed to be thirsty ; others commonly thought to contain the tears of relatives, and hence called Lachry- matories. But these seem rather to have contained oils, or liquid perfumes, such as were used for moistening the funeral pile, or the ashes of the dead ; or oil and honey. The tears w ere shed over the urn, in the lid of which an opening was usually made, that the tears might mingle with the ashes . 1 Drinking- vessels of different descriptions have often been found in tombs. Sometimes several urns seem to have been deposited together in a theca or chest, either of stone or of baked clay. In the first recorded instance of burial of the body, we have seen that the body was deposited in a natural cave ; in what manner, whether in a coffin, or merely swathed, or with what ceremonies, we are not informed. Afterwards, and in countries of a different natural character, burial places resembling caverns were probably erected, w ith loculi, or small chambers in the sides, adapted to the reception of the body, with or without a coffin, and closed by a stone. Or the body, placed in a chest of stone, or of baked clay, or of w r ood, or of lead, or of lead enclosed in wood, was buried in the ground. Afterwards sarcophagi, coffins of a more elaborate workmanship, were placed above ground. Sepulchres, which sometimes appear to have been of solid masonry, but generally consisting of two or three chambers, in which different members of a family were placed, were also erected, and adorned with fine bas-reliefs, representing mytho- logical or historical subjects, and not unfrequently even bacchanalian rites. Cenotaphs, or, as the name denotes, empty tombs, were also erected, like those which were solid, in honour of persons who had been buried at a distance, or were unburied. Smaller monumental structures w ere called cippi ; of various forms, round or rectangular, with or without inscriptions and bas-reliefs. Remains indicating the prevalence in Eburacum of both the modes of disposing of the dead, now described, have at different times been discovered in York and the neighbourhood. The illustrious antiquary Camden, the first who appears to have 1 Fabretti laser. Ant. Explie. cap. ii. 102 collected notices of Roman antiquities in York, claiming for Ebura- cum the dignity of a Roman colony, cites an ancient inscription which he had seen, he says, “ in sedibus cujusdam senatoris,” in the house of a certain alderman. Burton, who wrote much more than half a century after Camden, corrects, conjecturally as it appears, yet not rightly, the inscription as given by Camden, but says nothing of the monument on which it was found . 1 Dr. T. Gale, some years afterwards, saw it at Hull, and describes it as a " theca,” or chest of stone ; which had been removed from its honourable station at York to the yard of a public house, the Coach and Horses, and desecrated by being converted into a horse-trough . 2 He added some letters to the inscription, which Camden had not observed, or, as Horsley sug- gests, had omitted, as not perfectly intelligible; but he left out others, which had perhaps been lost, in consequence of the frac- ture of the chest. Horsley, at the beginning of the last century, “ found it removed to Mr. Bailiff’s house, near Beverley-gate, but the side on which was the inscription unfortunately broken, and the fragments buried under ground, and inaccessible.” 3 He considered it as a sepulchral stone, designed to contain some urns : not being of the usual shape of a sarcophagus, nor large enough to contain a human body. The historian of York says, that in his time it was still at Hull, in the place and condition described by Horsley. He speaks of the size of it as “ very large, being six feet long, and nearly three feet deep, and of mill-stone grit.” Very little of the inscription remained when Horsley saw it ; but with the help of copies which had been published before, he concluded it to have been originally as follows : M VEREC DIOGENES InnIVIR COL EBORIBjDMQMORTCIVESBITVRIX CVBVS HAEC SIBI VI VVS FECIT From which it appears that this chest was prepared for himself while living by Marcus Yerecundus Diogenes, of Biturix-Cubus, Sevir of the Colony of Eboracum, where also he died. The title of Sevir (or Sexvir), or, as is more usually the form, Sevir Augustalis, occurs only in inscriptions ; and the nature of the office cannot be certainly ascer- tained. The Sevir Equitum, or Turmse, also mentioned in inscriptions, 1 Commentary on Anton. Itin. &c. p. 64. 5 Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. x. and p. 310. - Antonini Iter, p. 24. ]03 is well known to have been a military officer ; but the Seviri Augustales are supposed to have been either magistrates, or priests of a certain order, in the colonies ; or to have sustained both characters. Bishop Fleetwood 1 thought they were both civil magistrates, and perhaps priests. To this opinion Horsley inclined, but doubted whether it could be well supported . 2 Dr. Ward was inclined to think that they were only priests . 3 The subject of this inscription, it appears further, was a citizen of Biturix-Cubus. Horsley observes, that “ Civis Biturix has been interpreted a citizen of Bourdeaux in France, and that the addition of the word Cubus 4 made no great alteration in the matter.” But M. D’Anville states, that there were two Bitu- rigean people in Gaul ; one distinguished by the surname of Cubi ; the other surnamed Yibisci. Bourdeaux (Burdigala) belonged to the last : the capital of the former was Avaricum, now Bourges ; 5 the city, probably, of M. Y. Diogenes. It is on the authority of this in- scription that Eburacum is asserted to have been a Homan colony : it is therefore to be regretted that we have no means of ascertaining its date. Camden refers indeed to a coin of the Emperor Sept. Severus, as an evidence of the same circumstance, having on the reverse, COL. EBORACVM LEG. YI. VICTRIX. But the existence of this coin rests wholly on the testimony of Goltzius ; and has never been authenticated. Mr. Drake says he “ had once a thought to have got the remains of this monument conveyed back to York,” and every lover of anti- quity must join with the Editor of Camden, in regretting that he did not execute his purpose, and preserve from entire destruction the only monument on which Eboracum is distinctly mentioned. Drake speaks of other thecae or chests of this description, it is to be sup- posed of stone, as having been “ lately found in the Roman burial- ground without Bootham-bar, but no inscription on them.” He says nothing of there being urns in them. He adds, “ I have seen there, 1 Sylloge Inscr. Antiq. Tndic. ‘ Sevir.’ 2 Brit. Rom. ubi sup. 3 lb. p. 352. This subject has been fully, and in a most interesting manner, dis- cussed by Reinesius, Syntag. Inscript. Antiq. p. 132 — 138, and Epist. xxxi. ad Ru- pertum ; by Card. Noris, Diss. ad Cenotaph. Pisan.; and by Fabretti, Inscript. Antiq. Explic. p. 402 — 411. Reinesius thought the Seviri Aug. were both magistrates and priests ; Noris and Fabretti that they were only priests. 4 CVBVS was not noticed by Camden. Gale says, “ Eas (literas) sane interpretatus fueram ‘ Clarissimus Vir Bene Vivens,’ nisi sibi vivus M. Verecundus hoc monu- mentum fecisset." — Anton. Iter, p. 24. 5 Compend. of Ancient Geogr., Eng. Transl. vol. i. p. 66 — 69. 104 likewise, graves for urns, square spots in the earth, the bottom covered with white sand, on which the urns were placed, inverted, three, four, or more together.” 1 A tomb of a very different description was discovered in the neigh- bourhood of this city in the year 1768, by some workmen, who, while digging in a piece of ground adjoining the foot-path to Holgate, about two hundred and fifty yards from the city-walls, at the depth of about two feet, “ broke into a hollow place, and hoping to find money hidden in it, searched it, and found some urns with ashes and earth.” 2 Some portions of the tomb were removed by Mr. White, but it was not till the following year that the remainder was sought for by Francis Smyth, Esq., and the exact form and measure of the tomb were ascertained. It was described by Dr. Burton in a paper communicated to the Antiquarian Society, and published in vol. ii. of the Archseologia ; from which work fig. 2, PI. XI. has been copied. The tomb was in the form of an oblong room, about 3 ft. 6f in. in length, constructed of six Roman tiles, such, no doubt, as were usually employed in covering the roofs of houses ; each tile being 20| in. long, 14^ in. broad. If in. thick, with projecting edges, mea- suring nearly 2 \ in. ; not quite flat, but slightly curved. Three tiles were placed on each side, in the form of a roof of a house, so close to each other as to prevent the earth with which the whole was covered, from falling into the cavity. Each end was closed by a tile of the same form and size as those of the sides ; and along the ridge, and on the edges of the side and end-tiles, were placed hollow tiles, somewhat like our present ridge-tiles, but longer, and much more curved, for the purpose of preventing the entrance of water into the tomb. On every tile was stamped LEG. IX. IIISP. (Legio Nona Hispanica.) In the tomb were found some urns, containing ashes and earth; one nearly entire, the others more or less broken, and standing upon a flat-tiled pavement ; and near the tomb, a coin of Vespasian and another of Domitian. Burton seems to think that this tomb was constructed prior to the time of Hadrian ; and that the ashes found in it belonged to some person or persons of conse- quence. What became of this tomb and its contents is not now known. 3 Happily the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical So- 1 Ebor. p. 55. - Map of Ebur. &c., H. 3 Mr. Gough, in the last edition of Camden, vol. iii. p. 63, says, “ A brick in- scribed LEG. IX. HIS., making part of another sepulchre, was found near Lanthorp JoftrvJjrxmrvt, cUl* .1 K Jobbing U&i Tufotombs ound Storm Coffin# 105 ciety is in possession of an entire tomb of the same construction, presented by Mr. Eshelby, of York, on whose ground it was dis- covered. It was on the 27th February 1833, that some workmen, who were removing the soil for the foundation of a house which Mr. Eshelby was about to erect at the distance of about a mile from York, on the north-west side of the road to Tadcaster, the ancient via or road from Eburacum to Calcaria, at the depth of three feet from the surface, came to what they supposed at first to be a curious drain, but which soon proved to be an entire Roman sepulchre. It was formed exactly like the one just described; but of ten tiles, 1 ft. 7 in. long, 1 ft. 3^ in. broad, and lj in. thick, four on each side, and one at each end, with hollow tiles on the ridge, and over the joinings of the side and end-tiles, 19 in. long, 7 in. in the inner diameter at one end and 5 in. at the other. The side-tiles were placed so as to make an angle of about forty-five degrees with the ground, and thus forming a pretty regular prism, only that the side-tiles, as in the former case, were a little curved, so as to give an appearance within of something like a Gothic arch, having a span of about two feet. PL XI. fig. 1. The tiles are of rather smaller dimensions than those of the tomb formerly discovered; and bear the impress, LEG. VI. VI. (Legio Sexta Victrix.) No urn or vessels of any kind, nor any coins, were found within or near the tomb ; but a layer of the remains of a funeral pile, consisting of charcoal and bones, about six inches in thickness, with several iron nails. Though covered care- fully with the ridge-tiles on the top, the sides, and at the ends, the finer particles of the mould with which it was covered, had, during the lapse of not less than fifteen, or perhaps sixteen centuries, pene- trated and nearly filled the cavity. This interesting relic is set up in the Museum, a few of the ridge-tiles only being wanting, so as to exhibit it, as nearly as possible, in the state in which it was found. This kind of sepulchre, though not unknown in other places, is yet of very rare occurrence. Mr. Gough, in his splendid work on Sepul- chral Monuments, 1 says, that a Roman grave, made of great tiles, (Layerthorpe?) postern a few years ago, which, with part of a Roman urn found there, are in the possession of Mr. Beckwith.” The author regrets that he can add nothing to this brief and most unsatisfactory notice of a discovery which, if the sepulchre, and not merely a single brick, was found, must be considered as very interesting. 1 Vol. i. p. xxiii. P 106 was discovered in the year 1726, in the church-yard of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate-street, London, and seen by Dr. Stukeley; but gives no reference to any more particular description of it. Roman sepulchres of a similar construction were discovered at Strasburg (Argentoratum of the Romans) in the years 1703, 1721, and 1763, and described by Schcepflin in his Alsatia Illustrata. That found in 1721 is also fully described and figured in the Memoires de l’Acad. des Inscriptions. 1 It was formed of eight tiles, four on each side, each tile being nearly 1 ft. 9 in. long, 1 ft. 4 in. broad, and about 1 in. thick. No mention is made of tiles placed at the ends, or of ridge-tiles ; but the tiles are said to have been raised at the edges, corresponding, as Schcepflin observes, with the tiles used in building, as described by Vitruvius. This sepulchre contained urns with burnt bones, but little if any ashes. The tiles were stamped LEG. VIII. AVG. ( Legio Octava Augusta ), and among the vessels found in this sepulchre was one of glass, having at the base of it a figure of Victory, inscribing on a buckler the letters V. P. ( Vota publica), with the legend GLORIA AVGG. ( Gloria Augustorum.) The Augusti, M. Schcepflin supposes to have been Marcus Aurelius Anto- ninus and L. Aurelius Verus; M. Aurelius being the first to share the title Augustus with a colleague, as appears, he says, from the legend on the reverses of several coins of this Emperor : and since the geographer Ptolemy, who lived in the time of M. Aurelius, speaking of Argentoratum, observes that the Legio Augusta was stationed there, M. Schcepflin concludes that the tomb was erected at that period, or about the year 170. But according to Eckhel, the epigraph AVGG. was not used, at least on coins, till the reign of Sept. Severus, on his associating his son, Caracalla, with him in the Empire. 2 On the coins of M. Aurelius and L. Verus, the form is AVGVST. or AVGVSTOR. The date of the tomb may therefore be somewhat later. Some brief notices of sepulchres, formed of flat tiles or bricks, found in the suburbs of York, especially in the fields on the south side of Bootham, in which urns had been deposited, occur in Low- thorp’s Abridgment of the Philosophical Transactions : 3 among these, was a remarkable hypogaeum, large enough, says Mr. Thoresby, to 1 Vol. x. p. 457. 2 Eckh. Doctr. Num. vol. vii. p. 48, 176; viii. 858. 3 Vol. iii. p. 421. 107 contain two or three corpses, carefully paved with bricks 8 in. square, and 2 in. thick, and covered with bricks 2 ft. square, and of propor- tionable thickness ; but no urns were discovered in it. Urns were not always so carefully preserved; occasionally, at least, they seem to have been buried in the earth, without any protecting chest or tomb. Perhaps this unexpensive method of sepulture was confined to the poorer classes. Sir Thomas Browne, 1 describes the disinterring of between forty and fifty near Walsingham, in the neighbourhood of the old Roman station, Brannodunum (Bran- caster ?). And many such unprotected urns have been discovered in the neighbourhood of York; especially without Bootham-bar and Micklegate-bar. Remains proving the extensive practice of inhumation, or inter- ment of the entire unburnt body, by the Romans at Eburacum, are numerous, and some of a very interesting character. The only sepulchral chamber that is now known to have been dis- covered, was found by some workmen in the year 1807, when digging for the foundation of a house, near the Mount, without Micklegate- bar. 2 It is a small room or vault, about four feet below the present surface, 8 ft. in length, 5 ft. in breadth, and 6 ft. in height ; the roof being arched and formed of Roman tiles, each of about 1 ft. square, and 2| in. in thickness. In this vault was found a sarcopha- gus, of a single grit-stone, covered with a blue flag-stone, containing a skeleton, in remarkable preservation ; arising, probably, from its being immersed in water, which had filtered through the earth ; the head elevated by being placed on a step. At the north end of the vault there was an aperture, too small to have admitted the sarco- phagus, and carelessly closed by large stones. On each side of the skull a small glass vessel, usually called a lachrymatory, was found, one of them perfect, the other broken. 3 The sarcophagus was without any inscription. The outer sides of the vault were not seen, ex- cepting that through which the workmen broke, and by which visitors are now admitted to view this interesting sepulchral anti- quity. Many coffins, in general rudely formed of a coarse grit-stone, a few of lead, originally perhaps cased in wood, have, at various times, been found in the vicinity of York. 1 On Urn-Burial, p. 8, 9. • See Map of Eburacum, &c., K. 3 Archmologia, vol. xvi. p. 340. r 2 108 In the year 1813, some workmen engaged in digging a sunk fence on the south-east side of the house belonging to the late David Russell, Esq., at Clifton, 1 found two very large coffins of grit-stone, placed close to each other ; one side of each neatly panelled, and the lids, as usual, slightly ridged. PI. XI. fig. 3. Each coffin contained an entire skeleton. These coffins were presented to the Dean and Chapter of York, by whom they were deposited in the north aisle of the choir of the Minster, among incongruous monuments of modern ages, where the}' suffered much damage in the burning of the choir in the year 1829. It is much to be wished that they could be seen with coeval remains in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Two stone coffins, of a coarser grit, and of inferior workmanship, were recently found in a gravel-pit in Heslington field, by the side of the road from Heslington to Grimston, and probably not far from the line of the Roman road from Eburacum to Derventio. 2 One of these was presented to the Museum by Major Yarburgh. On removing the lid, the coffin appeared to be about half filled with lime, except- ing the place in which the head had lain. The lime having been very carefully taken out, the lower surface presented a distinct impression of a human body, over which, with the exception of the face, the lime had been poured in a liquid state ; the body having been first covered with a cloth, the texture of which is still clearly to be seen in the impression on the lime. The feet had been crossed, and covered with shoes or sandals, having nails in the soles ; 3 the marks of which on the lime were distinctly visible, and /several of the nails themselves were found in the coffin, in a very corroded state. A very small portion of the bones remained ; sufficient, however, to indicate that they were those of a female, and, according to the opinion of a very eminent surgeon, the late J. Atkinson, Esq., that she had been buried in a state of pregnancy. All the teeth, except one, were found, with the enamel undecayed. Just above the left shoulder a small portion of a gold ring appeared ; and the lime sur- 1 See Map of Eburacum, &c., B. " Ibid. L. 3 In a Roman midding at Whitley Castle (Alone), several pieces of the soles of shoes, made by nailing folds of leather together with round-headed nails, were found. Many shoes of this kind were discovered in digging the foundations of the gaol at Carlisle, some of which are deposited in the Museum of the Newcastle Antiquarian Society. Hodgson, Ilist. &c., p. 76. 109 rounding it being carefully scraped away, the remnants of a lady’s ornaments were brought to light, consisting of fragments of large jet rings, two ear-rings of fine gold, two bracelets, several brass or copper rings, one of which resembled a cog-wheel, about two inches in dia- meter, 1 three finger-rings, one of them of jet, of a modern pattern, and two necklaces. One of the necklaces was formed of glass beads, yellow and green ; the other of small beads of coral, intermixed with smaller beads of blue glass, strung, in both cases, on very slender twisted silver wire. All these, with the coffin and the lime, are de- posited in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. What the other coffin, in possession of Major Yarburgh, contained, is not known ; but it most probably held the remains of the husband of this female. In the Minute-Book of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. viii. f. 273, is the following entry, referred to by Mr. Gough, in his Sepulchral Monuments : 2 “ Dr. Stukeley communicated a letter addressed to him by Mr. F. Drake, of York, dated 24th December 1760, in which he informs the Doctor of some late discoveries made in York; parti- cularly some stone coffins, which were lately dug up extra muros, where the bodies were laid in lime, the skeletons of which were firm and entire.” 3 Very recently, in the spring of 1841, when workmen were removing the earth to the depth of three or four feet, and to a considerable extent, just without the walls, extra muros, probably the very spot referred to by Drake, 4 for the purpose of forming the North of England Railway, several Roman coffins containing lime were discovered, but the skeletons in no case entire; the impres- sion of the body was in some instances observable : a specimen of which is placed in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Of the great number of stone coffins which have been at various times discovered at York, very few have been found bearing an inscription. Three only are known — one in possession of Mrs. 1 An armilla of this unusual pattern has been found at Cirencester. Archaeol. vol. x. p. 134. 2 P. xxv. 3 Through the kindness of his friend, the Rev. Jos. Hunter, the author, some time ago, obtained a copy, not only of the Minute, but of the identical letter to which it refers, and which, with other papers of Dr. Stukeley, had recently been put into his hands. 4 See Map of Eburacum, &c., M. 110 Bealby, of the Mount ; and two now in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The first was discovered several years ago, in the midst of urns, paterae, and other Roman remains, in the garden of the late Robert Driffield, Esq., the father of Mrs. Bealby, where it is now preserved. 1 It is 6 ft. 10 in. long, and 2 ft. 3 in. deep. PI. XII. fig. 2. It contained an entire skeleton. Unfortunately it was broken in the removal from the spot in which it was found, in consequence of which the inscription is imperfect. It has been remarkably well cut, so that it is impossible to mistake the letters that remain ; but the explanation of the inscription is attended with some difficulty. The following is the inscription, as it now appears : ME I AL • THEODORI ANI . . OMEN • VIX1T • ANN XXX . V • M • VI • EMI • THEO DO . A • MATER • E • C The difficulty is confined to two words. The first word no doubt, when perfect, was MEMORIAL' for MEMORIALE, but the author has not met with that word in any other inscription. If L, which is undoubtedly the present reading, be an error for E, the difficulty is removed. EMI in the third line presents the next difficulty : it might, though unusual, be a contraction for EMERITI; but that would be very strangely introduced, after the mention of the age, and without any notice of the legion to which Theodorianus had be- longed. OMEN was most probably NOMEN, and that the abridged form of NOMENTANI. All that the author can venture to say in explanation of the inscription is, that Theodora the mother of Theo- dorianus of Nomentum, who lived thirty-four years and six months, caused this memorial to be erected. Nomentum was a town of the Sabini in Italy ; the native place probably of Theodorianus. The coffin is 6 ft. 10 in. long, and externally 2 ft. 3 in. deep. The ske- leton of a horse was lying close to it. 2 In the year 1835, when, in consequence of the erection of a new county prison, it was found necessary to lower the Castle-yard, the workmen employed in removing the ground, found many Roman 1 See Map of Eburacum, &c., N. 2 Gough notices a similar circumstance at Chute. Sepulchr. Mon. vol. i. p. xxii. PI. ATE XII > JR Jobbing Ulh/O ,T r '- c Jfrownc fait- Stone Coffins found cub York. Ill remains; 1 and amongst them two large stone coffins, of coarse grit, presented by the High Sheriff and Magistrates of the County to the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. On one of them is the following inscription : Fig. 3, PI. XII. D • M AVR • SVPERO • CENT LEG • VI • QVIVIXITANIS XXXVIII • MIIII • DXIII AVRE LIA ■ CENSORINA • CONIVNX MEMORIAM POSVIT Diis Manibus. Aurelio Supero Centurioni Legionis Sextaj, qui vixit annis xxxvm Mensibus mi Diebus xm Aurelia Censorina Con- junx Memoriam posuit. To the Gods of the Shades. To the memory of Aurelius Superus, Centurion of the Sixth Legion, who lived thirty-eight years, four months, thirteen days, Aurelia Cen- sorina, his wife, set up this. This coffin is 7 ft. 6 in. long, and, with the lid, 2 ft. 11 in. deep. The other coffin has no inscription, but it contained a larger skeleton, the skull of which had evidently been split by a sword or some such weapon. It is conjectured to be the skeleton of an officer of German Auxiliaries. 2 Both the skeletons are deposited at the Castle. Near the spot by the side of the railway, on which the altar sup- posed to be dedicated to Severus and his sons was met with, 3 and at the same time, a neatly worked coffin, 3 ft. 11 in. long, and, with the lid, 2 ft. 1^ in. deep, was found, having on one side the following inscription : D • M • SIMPLICIAE • FLORENTINE ANIME • INNOCENTISSIME QVE • VIXIT MENSES DECEM FELICIVS • SIMPLEX • PATER • FECIT LEG • VI • V To the Gods of the Shades. To Simplicia Florentina, a most innocent being, who lived ten months, Felicius Simplex, her father, of the sixth legion victorious, dedicated this. On removing the lid, which was fastened to the lower part of the 1 See Map of Eburacum, &c., O. 2 “ In omni domo nudi ac sordidi, in hos artus, in haec corpora, quse miramur, excrescunt.” — Tac. de Mor. Germ. c. xx. 3 See Map of Eburacum, &c., G. 112 coffin by an iron cramp, the skeleton of a child of a much more advanced age than the inscription indicates, was found within. It is very difficult to account for the inconsistency between the contents and the inscription of this interesting relic ; the careful manner in which the inscription is cut, seems to preclude the suspicion of so great an error as the omission of the number of years in the age. Coffins were sometimes made of baked clay. 1 No entire coffin of this material, consisting of one piece, is recorded to have been disco- vered at York ; but Thoresby speaks of one, part of the bottom of which he had obtained for his museum, dug up in the Roman burying- ground out of Bootham-bar. It consisted of several pieces, for the convenience, as he supposes, of baking; the pieces so moulded as to fit well together, and joined “ by a common slate-pin,” passing through a hole at the end of each piece. 2 Nothing of this kind has recently come to light. The use of leaden coffins was not unknown to the Romans. 3 Such have been found at Lincoln (Lindum) and at Colchester {Ca- mulodunum). 4 Thoresby has recorded the discovery of two, at the beginning of the last century, in the Roman burial-place out of Bootham-bar. One of these, 7 ft. long, was inclosed in planks of oak, 2^ in. thick, fastened together by large nails : “ the heart of the oak was firm, and the lead fresh and pliable.” The other had appa- rently not been protected by wood, and was brittle and almost wholly consumed. A leaden coffin was recently discovered by the workmen employed in excavating for the railway station, containing a skeleton of considerable size ; and at the same time and place, another, of much smaller dimensions, containing portions of the skeleton of a child mingled with lime and earth. The former has the appearance of a sheet of lead, wrapped about the body, and 6 ft. 6 in. in length : the 1 “ Quin et defunctos sese multi fictilibus soliis condi maluere : sicut M. Varro, Pythagoreo modo, in myrti et oleae atque populi nigrae foliis.” — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 46. “ In the celebrated family vault of the freedmen of Augustus and Livia, discovered by the side of the Appian Way, about a mile out of Rome, 1725, among a few marble sarcophagi were two of baked earth, made to contain the body whole.” — Gough, Sepulch. Mon. vol. i. p. xxvi. From inscriptions on some sarcophagi of this kind it appears that they were intended, sometimes at least, to be only temporary depositories of the body, till others more costly could be procured. Gruteri Inscr. DCVII. 2 Phil. Trans, abridged, vol. iii. p. 421. 3 Kirchmann. de Funerib. Rom. p. 451. 4 Gough’s Sepulchr. Mon. vol. i. p. xlv. PLATF. XIII. LDVG CIV'S ! LVO’ERVFI' JMVSVIEN . !f SIGEFlEG-VIIII , ( ^ AN-XX-ITXVf c % J J™ Brown* .cUl* / R .bobbins litho Sepulchral Tablet 113 latter is a small oblong chest, without a lid, 2 ft. 9 in. long, 12 in. wide, and 1 1 in. deep, the comers not soldered or in any way fastened together. No remains of a wooden enclosure were found with either of these ; the larger is thin and brittle ; the smaller is in a much sounder state. They form part of the Antiquarian Collections of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The burial-grounds of the Romans are said to have been full of cippi, or low columns, sometimes round, but more frequently rect- angular, with or without inscriptions, simply marking the place of a grave, or distinctly recording the names of departed friends. Similar monuments, in the form of slabs, or tablets, most probably placed in an upright position, have been found at different times at York. The most interesting of these is one first mentioned by Thoresby, 1 and afterwards more fully described by Horsley. 2 It is a monu- mental stone, 6 ft. 2 in. high, and 2 ft. 2 in. broad, with the figure of a Roman Signifer or standai’d-bearer, in bas-relief, standing in an arched recess, having in his right hand the siguum or standard of a cohort, and in his left, as Horsley supposes, “ the vessel for holding or measuring the corn which was a part of the Roman soldier’s pay.” PI. XIII. fig. 1. Dr. Ward conjectured that it represented the vexillum of a century. Horsley is most probably right. Of the signum in the right hand there can be no doubt ; especially when it is compared with fig. 2, representing one of the Roman standards sculptured on the pillar of Antoninus at Rome. Beneath the figure is the following inscription : L • DVCCIVS L • VOLTFRVFI NVS • VIEN SIGNIF • LEG • VIIII AN • XXIIX H • S- E which Horsley proposes to read thus : Lucius Duccius Lucii Yoltinia [tribu] filius Rufinus Viennensis signifer legionis nonte annorum viginti octo liic situs est. Lucius Duccius, son of Lucius, of the Yoltinian tribe, Rufinus, of Vienna, standard-bearer of the ninth Legion, aged twenty-eight, is placed (or buried) here. “ The prin- cipal difficulty,” observes the learned historian of Roman Britain, 1 Phil. Trans, abridged, vol. v. p. 41. 2 Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. viii. and p. 308. Q 114 “ with respect to the reading, is in the beginning of the second line. Upon sight of the original, I was soon convinced these letters were LVOLTF, the last three, LTF, being all connected together; and they must I think be read, Lucii Voltinia [tribu] filius ; so that it expresses the father’s tribe ; and the father might be of this tribe, though the son was of Vienna, in Gaul, which was a famous Roman colony. This tribus Voltinia is likewise mentioned upon another inscription in Cumberland. It may seem strange, perhaps, that the F for filius should be joined in the same character that includes two letters of the preceding word, but we have an instance of the like kind upon another inscription at Great Salkeld, in Cumberland, where the same cypher contains two letters belonging to two dif- ferent words . . . The name Rufinus occurs in another of our inscrip- tions. The rest,” he adds, “ contains no difficulty.” Yet the position of Rufinus, separated from the prsenomen and the cognomen, is surely singular. Almost all the grave-stones we find, it has been remarked, are to young persons. L. Duccius Rufinus died at the early age of twenty-eight. “ And sympathy,” as the historian of Northumberland beautifully observes, “ can look back with sorrow over fifteen centuries, to reflect how many similar monuments have been erected on the line of the Roman wall,” and throughout Bri- tain, “ to foreigners snatched away in the prime of life. The sultry savannahs of the West India Islands become the cemeteries of soldiers and adventurers from Britain ; and the earth in this neigh- bourhood no doubt entombs the ashes of thousands of warriors attached to the Roman army, whom the rigour of our winters, and the changeful climate of our year, consigned to premature graves.” 1 This remarkable monument was found in Trinity-gardens, in Micklegate, the site of a Benedictine Priory, “ and was happily rescued, by Bryan Fairfax, Esq., from the brutish workmen, who had broken it in the midst, and were going to make use of it to bind a wall ; but by his direction was walled upright, with the inscription and effigies to the frout, and afterwards removed to the gardens of Sir Henry Goodricke, at Ribston .” 2 There it has remained to this day ; and although it is very carefully preserved by the present possessor of Ribston, Jos. Dent, Esq., yet the author cannot but join in the wish expressed by the historian of York, that it were 1 Hist, of Northumb. ubi sup. p. 201. 5 Ebor. p. 58. PLATE XIV . Fig 1. J 7 * Brown* DtZ? J R Joibmj , 7itht> 115 “ restored to York, to be deposited in some safe place, as a lasting monument of its ancient glory.” 1 Such a place would be found in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. A fragment, apparently of a similar tablet, is exhibited PI. XIV. fig. 1. It was seen by Mr. J. Browne, some years ago, lying on a heap of stones by the road side, without Micklegate-bar ; and a drawing of it was made by him on the spot. The figure appears to be holding in the left hand a vessel similar to that in the left hand of the Signifer. It is conjectured that this fragment was not de- stroyed ; but in whose possession it may now be is not known. A larger and more interesting fragment of a sepulchral monument was found in the recent excavations for the railway ; PI. XIV. fig. 2. The figures seem to be intended to represent a father and his son : but as the inscription, which was most probably beneath them, is entirely lost, nothing more respecting them can be known. That it was a sepulchral monument is evident, from the usual dedication, Diis Manibus. The letter M was discovered by Mr. Browne when making a drawing of the subject ; the D, which was without doubt on the opposite corner, is altogether effaced. In the south wall of the Church of All Saints, North- street, near the porch, is the fragment of a sepulchral stone, first noticed by Dr. M. Lister, in the Transactions of the Royal Philosophical Society. 2 A great part of the inscription appears to have been destroyed before the stone was inserted in the wall of the church by the workmen, as Drake supposes, in order to make way for the buttress. Dr. Lister conjectured it to be a monument of conjugal affection. Horsley saw it, and copied what remained of the inscription : .... I . . . AE AN . . . • SEC ■ . . ENTEM . . I • ANTO . . CONIVGI There is enough to justify Dr. Lister’s conjecture ; but not enough to give us any information as to the person to whose memory it was dedicated. By the side of the inscription was a figure, Lister and Drake say of a naked woman, whom they suppose to represent the 1 Ebor. p. 59. 2 Lowthorp's Abridg. vol. iii. p. 418. Q 2 116 wife, Horsley says of the person deceased . 1 The figure is indeed naked, but has wings, and was most probably designed to represent the tutelary genius of the deceased. The first stroke in the inscrip- tion is part of M. for MANIBYS. Dr. T. Gale noticed another imperfect sepulchral stone, in a wall without Micklegate-bar ; where it appears to have been in Drake’s time . 2 Nothing more of the inscription remained than D • M MINNE Minna was the name of the person to whom the monument had been erected : and, as Drake observes, the name is found in the collections of Gruter. On the western side of the tower of St. Martin’s church, in Micklegate, near the ground, fragments of sculptured stones have been inserted in the wall. They are most probably sepulchral. Very imperfect representations of them have been given by Drake and the later editors of Camden ; but they are not sufficiently interesting to be more correctly exhibited in the present work. FICTILE ARTICLES.— BRICKS. POTTERY. The art of working in clay, and of forming of it various articles, either of ornament or of domestic use, appears to have been of very high antiquity. Whether the palm of precedence is to be given to the brickmaker or the potter may admit of some doubt. We cer- tainly read of the making of bricks before we meet with any mention of the making of earthen vessels : but these may have been invented long before any one had occasion, or even power, to record the inven- tion and its results. The manufacture of bricks is known to have been carried on at a very early period. The tower of Babel, supposed to have been begun in the third generation after the deluge, is expressly said by the sacred historian to have been built of well-burnt bricks. Babylon, afterwards founded on nearly the same site, according to Herodotus, was built of bricks, formed of the clay taken out of the deep and wide trench by which the city was surrounded ; and its ruins, carefully examined by Mr. Rich, are found to be com- posed of large masses of work, constructed partly of burnt and 1 Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. xi. and p. 310. Ebor. p. 56. 2 Anton. Iter, p. 23. Ebor. p. 57. Brit. Rom. Yorksh. No. x. and p. 311. 117 partly of unburnt bricks. That the manufacture of bricks was known to the ancient Egyptians, is evident from the history of the cruel servitude by which they oppressed the Israelites. 1 A painting also on the walls of a tomb in Thebes, and the pyramid of El Lahun mentioned by Herodotus, attest the antiquity of this manufacture in Egypt. 2 The art of brick-making appears to have been known at a very early period to the Greeks : some of their most ancient temples were of that material ; and the walls of Mantinsea, and a part of those of Athens, were constructed of sun-dried bricks, as forming the best defence against the machines of a besieging army. Among the Romans, instructed probably by the Etruscans, brick was employed in building, not only on account of its cheapness, and of its being readily moulded into the forms required, but also of its durability. 3 All the great ruins of ancient Rome, the baths, the Colosseum, the temple of Peace, are in great measure of brick. 4 The remains of Roman works at Treves, and at other places in the western provinces, are almost entirely of brick ; and where stone or flints are also employed, as at Eburacum, Verulamium, and Rutupise, courses of bricks are introduced into the masonry of walls and towers. The bricks of the Romans were either dried by the sun or burnt in the kiln. The former were made either in the spring or autumn; and the process of drying was continued during at least two years. It has been observed by Mr. J. Woods, that “ none of the monu- ments remaining at Rome, prior to the reign of Augustus, are of burnt brick.” No bricks but such as had been burnt, appear to have been used at Eburacum. Roman bricks are described by Vitruvius, the architect of Augustus, as of different shapes and sizes, denoted by terms borrowed from the Greeks : the didoron, about 18 in. long, and about 12 in. broad ; 5 the tetradoron, four palms, or 12 in. square; 1 Exod. v. 2 Wilkinson’s Manners and Customs, &c., vol. ii. p. 99. Kenrick’s Egypt of Herod, p. 175, 176. 3 “ Sunt enim asterni, si ad perpendiculum fiant.” — Plinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 49. 4 Wood’s Letters of an Architect, &c. See A. Aikin’s Illustrations of Arts and Manufactures, p. 13. 5 According to the reading in the printed copies of Vitruvius, the measure of the didoron was 1 foot by y foot, “ Longum pede, latum semipede:” but the didoron of Vitruvius is certainly the Lydion of Pliny, which he describes as “ longum sesquipede, latum pede.” This was, most probably, the original reading of Vitru- vius, to whose words Pliny evidently refers. Nat. Hist. lib. xxxv. c. 49. Vitruv. dc Architect, lib. ii. c. 3. 118 and the pentadoron, five palms, or 15 in. square. Vitruvius says nothing of their thickness. The dimensions of the Roman bricks found at York, vary in some respects from the description of Vitruvius, many being 8 in. and others 16 in. square, and all from 1| in. to 2| in. thick. They are generally of a deep red colour, very compact, and well burnt. Roman bricks are frequently met with in York. The didoron or Lydion may still be seen in the multangular tower, and the re- maining portion of the Roman wall attached to it, laid in a course of five bricks in depth; and it is continually found by workmen, digging a few feet below the present surface of the ground, in a state more or less perfect. Square bricks, of various dimensions, bricks or tiles, used in aquaeducts and flues to hypocausts, are frequently turned up, entire or in fragments ; many of which are preserved in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Specimens of the large roof-tiles and of ridge-tiles are exhibited in the tile-tombs before described. 1 Many of the bricks and tiles found in York have the inscription LEG. VI. V. or VIC. or LEG. IX. HIS. or HISP. stamped upon them. Each brickmaker, it has been said, had his mark, such as the figure of a god, a plant, or an animal, encircled by his own name, often with the name of the place, of the consu- late, or of the owner of the kiln or brickfield. 2 No marks of this kind have been observed on any brick or tile found at York : but even when the Legion is mentioned, a rude kind of mark, consisting of straight or curved lines, formed by the finger, may often be seen. 3 They have, not uncommonly, a coarse pattern, consisting of lines scored upon them, in bands diagonally crossing each other, or covering the surface from edge to edge, and crossing at right angles. Upon many of the plain bricks and tiles are seen impres- sions of the feet of wolves or dogs, which had passed over them while in a soft state. 4 Ornamental tiles, called antefixa, were used in Roman architecture to cover the frieze of the entablature. Some 1 PI. XI. figs. 1, 2, and p. 104, 105. 3 Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq. art. Later. 3 Roman bricks were found lately within the site of ancient Londinium, impressed P • PR • BR — P • BR • LON. and PRB • LON. Archaeol. vol. xxix. The Reviewer of that volume in the Gent. Mag. for Nov. 1841, suggests “ the general reading of these inscriptions, Per Praefectum Brittannorum Londinii.” 4 The same circumstance is noticed in respect of the Roman bricks found at London. Gent. Mag. ubi sup. 119 of these, as may be seen in the Townley Gallery, in the British Museum, were very elegant. Some ornaments of this kind, appa- rently intended as antefixa, to be placed probably at the corners of the roof, have been found at York. A representation of the most perfect, preserved in the Minster Library, is given PI. XY. fig. 1 ; though it will not be considered a very favourable specimen of the taste with which the houses of Eburacum were adorned. The natural wants of mankind would soon lead to the contriving of vessels capable of holding liquids. The large seed vessels, and even the leaves of plants in the warmer regions, and the skins and horns 1 of animals, would, probably, be first applied to this purpose. 2 But as civilization increased, and new wants arose, vessels of a dif- ferent kind would be required, applicable to other purposes than these would serve. Hence the art of the potter; one of the earliest results of human ingenuity. The potter's wheel is mentioned in very ancient writings as familiar to every one. It is frequently spoken of in the Jewish scriptures; and Homer has a comparison, borrowed from it. 3 It is represented on the painted walls of Egyptian tombs, together with vessels, presumed to be fictile, in elegance of form, not surpassed by Grecian artists of much later ages. The Israelites on their departure from Egypt must have carried many earthen vessels with them, or have found in their journeying through the desert the material of such vessels, and have been acquainted with the art of forming them. Laws respecting earthen vessels, which made the frequent destruction of them necessary, were enjoined by the Jewish legislator; from which it has been inferred that he wished to discourage the use of them, at least as cooking utensils, either as being unfavourable to ritual purity and to health, or as forming one of the principal manufactures of Egypt, with which it was desirable that his people should have no inter- course. 4 In every ancient nation the art of the potter was practised and honoured. By the Etruscans it was cultivated with great success. Their beautiful vases still exist, to excite our admiration, and to guide 1 Goguet’s Laws, Arts, &c., of Anc. Nations, vol. i. p. 107. - Shells were probably used in very early times, in Arabia, for drinking vessels. Manner's Obss. &c., vol. i. p. 380. 3 II. xviii. 600. * Lev. vi. 28; xi. 33, 3.5. Michaelis’ Mos. Law. Art. 217. 120 our taste. The Athenian ware was of the finest description ; and the manufacture was carried on so extensively at Athens, that a con- siderable part of the city was occupied by potters, and from that circumstance called Ceramicus. Numa instituted a corporation of potters at Rome; but the Romans obtained from Samos, one of the Grecian islands, articles of earthenware for the use of the table; which, with similar articles manufactured at Arretium, and cups of Surrentum and other places in Italy, were, as Pliny informs us, dispersed in his days, by sea and land, throughout the world . 1 When the Romans had departed widely from their ancient simplicity, they continued the use of earthen vessels, especially in religious ceremonies, esteeming them, as Pliny says, “ both in regard to their skilful fabrication and their high antiquity, more sacred, and certainly more innocent than gold.” 2 Hence perhaps, in part at least, it is that at Eburacum, and all the Roman stations in Britain, fragments of fine Samian ware, with urns, vessels of various forms and sizes, entire or in fragments, of inferior workmanship, and of a coarser material, are so abundant . 3 Cinerary urns, earthen jugs and bottles, lamps, and small cups and 1 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 46. 2 lb. ubi sup. Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq., art. Fictile. 3 That universally, wherever the Romans have been stationed, earthenware, and the Samian in particular, should be found, so abundantly, in sea . ed fragments, or in fragments collected into heaps, is a circumstance that cannot be easily explained. Sometimes an entire vessel of fine red ware may be met with, but very rarely : and it is seldom possible to form an entire vessel out of the fragments that are found lying near together. It is well known that at Rome there is a hill called Monte Testaccio. “ It bears this name,” says Nibby, “ from being formed of a great quantity of frag- ments of vessels of terra cotta, in Latin called testa, collected here at an epoch and for purposes no longer known. It is certain, however, that it was formed in the decline of the Empire, as no mention of it is made in the ancients. Several ancient sepulchres have been found covered with fragments cast upon them. Every one knows that the use of earthen vases was exceedingly common in Rome, for the preser- vation of water, wine, oil, the ashes of the dead, &c., whence it is not difficult to believe that, in the course of so many ages, a hill has been formed upwards of one hundred and twenty feet in height, and between three and four hundred in circumference. Cellars have been excavated in it, which are remarkable for their coolness in the heat of summer.” — Itinerario di Roma, p. 490. It stands near the Pyramid of Caius Cestius, and beyond the limit of the ancient walls, though within those of Aurelian. In the Roman midding at Whitley Castle (Alione), “ are found,” says Hodgson (Hist, of Northumb. ubi sup. p. 76), “ abundance of fragments of earthenware, some of a red colour, very thin and light, and bearing a fine polish ; others black, and also highly polished, and all ornamented with figures in relief.” Shoes, and various other articles, which must have been thrown there by the Romans who occupied that station, have been dug out of that heap. PLATE XV i jSuVun i JL2 Irudu s •T no Bro\sni& dr.lt Roman Earthen jvnre, found mb Eburacum J H Job hubs LttJtC 121 basins of Samian ware, are occasionally found at York, in an entire state ; but in general, fragments only are discovered ; and these are so common that they are met with wherever the soil is removed to the depth of a few feet. From the larger fragments of the fine Samian or red ware, the form of the vessel when complete, and the pattern with which it was ornamented, may be easily delineated ; but the uses to which the vessels, varying much in their shape and size, were applied, cannot now be ascertained. Several fragments of amphorae, generally of the upper part of the vessel, have been found at York, and deposited in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The amphora is so often men- tioned by the classical writers, and represented on coins and in an- cient paintings, that its uses and its general form are well known. It appears to have been commonly made of earthenware, containing a large proportion of fine sand, of a yellowish white colour ; and to have varied in size from six inches to three or four feet in height. It had a small neck, and two handles, one on each side of the neck, whence, from the Greek, it derived its name, and generally tapered to a point ; so that it was necessary to place it in a circular stand or tripod, or to immerse it in sand or some soft yielding substance. The name of the potter was commonly stamped on one of the handles, or the rim of the neck. This vessel was used for holding olives, oil, honey, but especially wine. When employed as a wine vessel it was lined as well as sealed with pitch or gypsum, and the names of the consuls of the year in which it was filled and placed in the bin or cellar were marked upon it ; so that the vintage and the age of the wine might be known. 1 Earthen amphorae have been occasionally found entire in England. 2 The fragment exhibited PI. XY. fig. 2, belonged to an amphora most probably of the form there delineated in outline ; in height about 2 ft. 9 in., and in its largest diameter about 1 ft. 5 in. A remarkable discovery made at Salona in 1825, proves that amphorae were sometimes used as coffins. They were divided in half, in the direction of the length, in order to receive the remains, and the two halves were put to- 1 Hor. Od. lib. iii. 8. It appears that the wine with which the poet proposed to treat his friend and patron Macaenas, was no less than forty-seven years old. 2 Archseol. vol. xxiv. p.199 ; xxv. p. 606; xxvi. p. 301. In this last instance the amphora was round at the bottom. R 122 gether again and buried in the ground : they were found to contain skeletons. 1 The ampulla, or bottle, was used by the Romans for holding wine or water, at their meals ; and occasionally for other purposes. Their forms are various, but always narrow-mouthed ; and generally ap- proaching to globular. PI. XV. figs. 10, 4, 18. The first is of a light blue colour; the others of a dull red. The aperture at a, fig. 18, had evidently been purposely made. The olla, pot or jar, had a wide mouth, and was used for solids ; with or without handles. It was furnished with a lid or cover of the same material. To this class figs. 9 aud 15 seem to belong; the former of a light blue clay, the latter of a brownish red, very light and porous, probably only sun-dried. Fig. 7 is a very small vessel, not 3 in. in height, of a yellowish white; and fig. 8, a small jar figured with vermilion. Figs. 11 and 16 are of a light-coloured clay, thin, and covered with a dark lead-coloured glaze. Fig. 12 is a bowl of a bright red colour, but of common earthenware, having neither the texture nor the glaze of Samian pottery. The two cups, figs. 5 and 6, are by some called paterae : but those used in sacred rites were not of this shape. A small vessel of blue clay, furnished with a spout, is represented in fig. 17. And fig. 14 is a large, rather coarsely-formed vessel of common red ware, the use of which cannot be ascertained. Ollae were used as cinerary vessels, to receive the ashes of slaves or of persons of inferior condition. Such have been frequently found in the Roman burial-places in the suburbs of Eburacum. That exhibited PI. XV. fig. 3, was discovered without Micklegate- bar, near the sepulchre described above, p. 107, wfith some other fictile vessels, while the author was preparing this sheet for the press. It is of a coarse blue clay, and full of bones and ashes. The use of lamps may be traced to a very remote antiquity. They were known in Palestine in the days of Abraham : 2 and appear to have been common in Arabia in the age of Job. 3 The invention and first use of lamps is attributed to the Egyptians. 4 Athenseus speaks of them as not known to the ancient Greeks ; 5 yet Pallas is ’ Diet, of Or. and Rom. Antiq., art. Amphora. 2 Gen. xv. 17. 3 Job. xviii. 6; xxi. 17. 4 Clem. Alex. Strom, i. p. 306, edit. Sylburgii. 6 Sympos. lib. xv. 20. 123 represented by Homer as giving light to Ulysses and his son, from a golden lamp. 1 Both Greeks and Romans originally used candles, made either of wax or tallow; but when lamps were inti’oduced, candles were used only by the poorer classes. No relics of ancient art, it is observed, are so numerous as lamps. All the cabinets of Europe are full of them ; and the number is constantly increasing. Some are formed of the precious metals, many of bronze, but the greater part of them are of terra-cotta. They are generally of a round or oval form ; and are furnished with one or more nostrils or nozzles, according to the number of wicks burnt in them. They are generally arranged under three divisions : 1 . Those used in temples and in religious w orship ; 2. Those used in houses, for domestic purposes ; and, 3. Sepulchral lamps. Those of the last division are the most numerous. It is not easy to distinguish the different kinds : but from the situation in w T hich most of those in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society were found, it is evident, that with one or two exceptions, they have been sepulchral lamps. See PI. XV. figs. 18, 20, 21. These had only a single wick. Fig. 19 had three wicks; and having been found among the foundations of the baths, was, most probably, not a sepul- chral lamp. Lamps used in temples, or in private houses, were either suspended or placed on a stsind or candelabrum, which was generally highly ornamented. The lamps also, especially if made of metal, w T ere enriched with mythological or allegorical figures. Lamps of terra-cotta were generally plain ; but often had figures on the top, in relief. The lamp represented in PI. XV. fig. 18, has a well-executed figure of a crocodile, with a man standing on its back. In the form, even of the plainest, there is commonly no little degree of elegance. Lamps Avere often suspended on monumental cippi; 2 and also placed within tombs. In some instances, either as a mark of affec- 1 Odyss. T. 34. 2 This appears, from an inscription in Gruter, to have been an acceptable service to the dead . — HAVE • SEPTIMA • SIT • TIBI TERRA • LEVIS • QVISQ. HVIC • TVMVLO • POSVIT ARDENTEM • LVCERNAM ILLIVS • CINERES • AVREA TERRA • TEGAT. P. MCXLVJII. 17. R 2 124 tion, or by order of the deceased, these were lighted again, at certain intervals. Some, indeed, have supposed, that the ancients were ac- quainted with a method of prepai’ing sepulchral lamps, so that they could continue burning perpetually. Pausanias, in his Description of Attica, 1 mentions a golden lamp, made by the artist Callimachus, and consecrated to Minerva, which being filled with oil, continued burning night and day, during a whole year. This is scarcely cre- dible, unless the lamp were of an extraordinary size ; or secretly fed with fresh supplies of oil. But it is utterly incredible that any sepulchral lamp should burn through many centuries. Instances of the discovery of such lamps have indeed been produced, with great confidence, by Licetus and other writers on this subject ; but their authenticity is justly suspected. It is a remarkable circumstance, that in all cases the flame is said to have been extinguished on the admis- sion of air into the tomb. 2 Dr. M. Lister, speaking of the urns found at York, 3 describes them as of three kinds; 1. Those of a bluish grey colour, having a great quantity of coarse sand wrought in with the clay ; 2. Others of the same colour, having a very fine sand mixed with it, full of mica or cat silver, or made of clay naturally sandy ; and 3. Red urns of fine clay, with little or no sand in it, throughout of a red colour, like fine bole, glazed inside and outside with a kind of varnish, of a bright coral colour, elegantly adorned with figures in basso relievo, and usually marked with the workman’s name. To these Drake adds a fourth kind, of a fine black colour. Vessels and fragments of the second kind, mentioned by Dr. Lister, are still frequently found at York, but of a colour nearly black, and of a very loose texture; and that which he imagined to be mica, is, most probably, what, in a short but valuable communication, at a monthly meeting of the members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, the Rev. W. V. Har- court pronounced to be particles of calcareous spar, which on exa- mination he had found to be unaltered. Prom which circumstance, he concluded, that this pottery could not have been thoroughly baked, but only heated to a temperature sufficient to char the bitu- 1 Greciae Descript, lib. i. c. 26. 2 See a paper on Perpetual Lamps, &c., by Dr. R. Plott, in Lowthorp’s Abridg. of Phil. Trans, vol. iii. p. 636. 3 lb. p. 415. 125 minous matter incorporated with the clay. Dr. Lister’s third sort of urns and pots are evidently the ware usually denominated Samian. But many specimens of Roman pottery are discovered at York, which correspond not with any of these four classes. The variety in colour, composition, and substance, as well as in form, is very con- siderable ; depending upon the nature of the material employed, and upon the different degrees of heat to which the vessels have been exposed in baking. The amphorae contain a great deal of sand, are generally white, and appear to have been highly baked. Of the cinerary urns, and other vessels of common ware, some are of a light red, others of a pale dull yellow ; some nearly white, others blue or grey, others black throughout, and some only covered with a black varnish. With undoubted remains of Roman earthenware, disco- vered at York, at a considerable depth below the surface, there are frequently found fragments and entire vessels of a coarse sort, gene- rally of a yellowish white, covered with a strong glaze of various shades of green. The author has in vain sought for similar remains in different collections of Roman pottery, and therefore feels some hesitation in pronouncing these to be Roman, or British-Roman manufacture : but the discovery of two ancient pitchers, covered with such a glaze, at Carlisle, fifteen feet below the surface, and beneath several fragments of Samian ware, concurs, with the circumstances in which articles of a similar manufacture are found at York, to incline him to regard them as the work of Roman potters . 1 The large remains of earthenware discovered in every part of Britain in which the Romans were settled, are an evidence that the manufacture of such ware was extensively carried on by them in this country. Vestiges of Roman potteries are discernible in many parts of the island, and particularly in Staffordshire, on the site of the great potteries which have so long been established in that county. In sinking pits for various purposes, remains of Roman potteries, we are told, have occasionally been discovered there, at a considerable depth below the surface . 2 Mr. Pownall supposed that a manufac- tory specially employed in making the earthen vessels used in the religious ceremonies of the Romans, had been established on an island at the mouth of the Thames, now a sunken sand, and called 1 Archaeol. jEliana, vol. ii. p. 313. 3 Manuf. of Porcelain, &c., Cabinet Cyclop, vol. xxvi. p. (». 126 the Pan Sand ; from which a large quantity of Roman earthenware has at various times been brought up by fishermen. 1 Dr. M. Lister thought he had discovered on Barnhy Moor, near Wilberfosse, about six miles from York, and on the sand-hills at Santon, not far from Brigg in Lincolnshire, the potteries at which the urns and pots of a bluish clay were manufactured. Both these places are within a mile of a Roman road, and at the latter he found much slagg and cinders, and even the ruins of furnaces. The mate- rial of the black urns and vessels, with mica, or calcareous spar, he supposed to have been obtained at Carleton, near Ilkley, (Olecana,) a Roman station. And the fine red ware he “ guessed” to have been made in Cleveland ; or at least of the clay of that district. 2 Mr. Thoresby discovered a Roman pottery upon Blackmoor, about two miles from Leeds, near the site of the present village of Potter Newton. 3 Bricks and tiles of every description were certainly made by the soldiers of the sixth and ninth legions stationed at Eburacum ; or by the artificers who attended the legions : and it is highly pro- bable that a Roman pottery existed in the neighbourhood of the station, where there is abundance of clay. All that is certainly known on this subject is contained in two letters, written by Dr. Burton to Dr. Ducarel, in the year 1770. “ Having heard,” he says, “ that a Roman pottery was discovered about a mile and a half south of York, near Middlethorp, 4 I went with a friend to examine the premises, and found as follows : — The soil, at and near the surface, was a rich brown corn-mould soil ; under that lay many fragments of Roman urns, and other earthenware of a large size ; under this stratum a bed of fine gravel for the turnpike-road, above a foot thick. Some of the fragments of these urns are of a beautiful red clay, but no whole urn has yet been found.” In a second letter he says, .“ Having made application to the lord of the manor of Middlethorpe, for leave to dig in search of Roman urns, &c., my friend, Mr. Smyth, employed four men for two days, in digging for that purpose, he attending all the time. No coins were found; one urn was whole, and almost full of earth, which we took out, but found neither coins 1 Archaeol. vol. v. p. 282. But see vol. vi. p. 115, 121, 191. The most probable opinion is, that this mine of earthenware is the wreck of some Roman vessel that had been freighted with it from Italy. 2 Phil. Trans, abridged, ubi svp. 3 Phil. Trans, abridged, p. 418. 4 Map of Eburacum, P. yuofi p) yimoj. uvrutv§ jo s-junabvuj yuv ?dnj TAJ SXVU 127 nor bones in it. In digging the earth, we observed visible tokens of fire, there being no less than three strata of burnt earth, and two feet of earth and gravel between each stratum, with various pieces of urns of different kinds of clay, and many sorts of vessels, some of them of the most beautiful red colour. Out of these fragments joined, we formed two bowls, that seemed capable of containing two quarts each, the outsides ornamented with raised work, representing various sorts of animals, as lions, foxes, cranes, and even men and women. At the bottom of the inside of some of the urns or paterse, were stamped the names of persons. The letters were cut on the stamp, as they should be read on the vessel, by which means they are reversed.” 1 This description corresponds with the character of the fine red ware called Samian, and commonly thought to have been imported by the Romans from Italy. Dr. Burton evidently supposed that a manufactory of this ware had existed where he found the fragments : agreeing perhaps with Dr. M. Lister, though he does not mention him, that the clay had been brought from Cleveland. Mr. Pownall thought the same kind of ware had been made by the Romans on the coast of Kent . 2 In the numerous fragments of this ware found at York, a very great difference appears in the texture and colour, and also in the character of the ornaments ; and the author is in- clined to think, that while a foreign origin is claimed for vessels of the finest texture and the best execution, those of a ruder kind, of coarser material and inferior workmanship, may be assigned to Roman potters in Britain. Some of the fragments of this beautiful red ware recently found in York, are exhibited in Plate XYI. ; the original forms of the vessels being shown by the dotted outlines. They are all drawn to the scale laid down at the bottom of the plate. Vessels of this manufacture have almost universally the potter’s mark or name, but the name not usually reversed, as in the instances mentioned above by Dr. Burton. As it may be interesting to some to have an opportunity of comparing the names found at York with those which have been collected from fragments discovered in London and 1 Archaeol. vol. ii. p. 182. 2 The author regrets that, not having access to the splendid work of Mr. Artis, entitled, “ Durohrivae of Antoninus identified and illustrated, &c.” he cannot refer to his opinion on this subject. 128 other places, a list of the most legible, not so extensive as it might have been, had the author been able to inspect private collections, is subjoined. ‘.MINRIT3A ALBILLIM. ALBVCIANI. ALBVSA. ANISATVS. ATILIANIO. ATTILL1IM. BELIAIICI. BELSO • ARVEF. 1 2 3 BIGA . . . BRICCI. CACASIM. CAIVSOF. 3 CALENVSF. CANETIIM. CAPIIRIO. CARATILLI." CASSIVSF. CEREALIS. CETI . . . CINIVSM. CINTIVSM. COCVROF. CRACVNAF. CRESIMI. CRESCENTI. CRISPINIM. CROBISOM. CVCAIIM. CVCCILLM. CVSPICI. DACOM. DIVICATVS. DIVIXTI. FESTVSFO. 5 GENITORF. IANVARII. LOLLIVSF. MACRIA . . MACRINVS. MAIOIRIM. MAMILIAN1. MARCIMA. MARTIM. MARTINI. MARTINV. MASVETI. MASVRIANI. MATERNI. MAXIMI. MERCVSSEM, MILLIACI. MILLIARII. SVISXOM. 6 NAM • IANI. NANII • CROES. OFRONTI. OFVSIA. PAVLLVS. PRISC • L • M. REBVRRIOF. SACIBOM. SCOPLIF. SECINI. SECVNDIOF. SECVNDINI. SEVERIANI. SEVERIM. SEXTIM. SEXTIMA. TETVRO. TITVRONISOF. TVLLVSF. VRSYLVSFE. VSTIMA. VXOPILLIM. VERVS. VIDVCVSF. The art of making Glass has, on the authority of Pliny,? been ascribed to accident. It was certainly known very early to the Egyptians ; the process of glass-blowing being very distinctly repre- sented in the paintings of Beni Hassan, said to have been executed in the reigns of Osirtasen the First, contemporary with Joseph, and his immediate successors. Vases and other articles have been found in sepulchres, referred by competent judges to a very remote age. Though the term is very improperly introduced into the English ver- sion of the Old Testament, yet there is no evidence that glass was in 1 M is supposed to stand for MANV., the name being in the genitive case ; but not always, as appears from some following instances. 2 F for FECIT. 3 OF for OFFICINA. 4 This name occurs on several fragments. 5 Transposed for OF. 6 This and the first in the list are the only names reversed. 7 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 65. 129 any form used by the ancient Jews. There is great uncertainty as to the time when the use of it was introduced among the Greeks. In Rome it was an article of merchandize, brought from Egypt, in the time of Cicero, in the century preceding the birth of Christ ; and when Pliny wrote, manufactories of it had been established, not only in Italy, but in Spain and Gaul, and glass drinking-cups had super- seded those of gold and silver . 1 This beautiful substance was used by the Romans for various purposes. Cinerary urns, vases, bottles, and cups, were made of it ; and so extensively were they used, that in the spoils of Herculaneum and Pompeii, exhibited in the Museum at Naples, there are upwards of two thousand four hundred specimens of ancient glass. It w r as used in the imitation of gems and precious stones. Cast in thick plates it formed a lining to walls in chambers; and even the pavement of floors : and the discoveries of Pompeii have shown that it was employed in the glazing of windows . 2 Several pieces of thick flat glass have been found at York. Drake has recorded the discovery of a glass urn, probably cinerary, near the Mount, unfortunately broken into two or three pieces by the workmen. What became of it is not known. With the excep- tion of small lachrymatories, as they are usually but improperly called, the author is not aware of any entire glass vessel having been since discovered. Fragments of glass vessels, of various sizes, forms, and workmanship, are frequently found, often large enough to show that they are the remains of articles of much beauty ; and abundant enough to prove that the luxuries of the Capital were not unknown in the distant station of Eburacum. MINOR ARTICLES OF PRIVATE USE OR ORNAMENT. One of the most interesting results of the excavations of Herculaneum, and especially of the clearing away of the ashes under which Pompeii had been buried during nearly eighteen centuries, is the discovery of so many things that illustrate the private life of the ancient Italians, and throw light upon the allusions in classical writers to their ordinary occupations or amusements, their domestic manners, the furniture of their houses, the luxuries of their table, and the adorning of their persons. Visiting the museums in which the spoils of this unfortunate city are deposited, our surprise may perhaps be 1 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. G6, G7. 2 Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq., art. Vitrum. S 130 excited by finding so much resemblance between the works of ancient and of modern art, designed either for domestic use or personal orna- ment. In the form of a great variety of household utensils used in ancient Italy, we perceive little, if any, difference, when compared with those that are in use among ourselves. There is also a striking similarity in many ancient and modern articles of dress and luxury. The wants of Man in a civilized and domestic state are, indeed, gene- rally so much the same, that considerable uniformity in the means of supplying them might naturally be expected : and even in matters of taste and fancy, the mind, in all ages and circumstances, is subject to the influence of circumstances, which produce similar results. Mechanical contrivances will vary greatly with increasing scientific knowledge ; but things of common daily use, requiring the exercise only of ordinary skill and taste, will be much the same in distant ages and in distant climes. The remains of Eburacum, as might be expected, do not exhibit much that is illustrative of the private life of the Romans during their residence in this station ; yet they are not wholly destitute of interest even in this respect. There is nothing indeed to show the character of the domestic architecture of Eburacum ; nor, excepting the numberless fragments of pottery, to tell us anything respecting the furniture of its houses. Garments are of a perishable nature, and for a knowledge of their fashion w r e must be indebted to paint- ings, statues, and coins ; but shoes have, in many places, escaped destruction, though none have been here brought to light . 1 Several articles used in dress, or for ornament, of a more durable nature, have been at various times discovered. Drake observes that “ signets or seals of different sorts, both what the Italians call cameos and intaglios, have most certainly been found in or about our city •” and of some of these he gives a minute description . 2 He refers to Mr. Thoresby’s Museum for a fibula, a bracelet, and some beads, which that learned antiquary had obtained from York : and to the Ashmo- lean Museum at Oxford, for a ring of jet found at York. Recent excavations have enriched the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical 1 Roman shoes very nearly resembling those now worn, have been found at Alione (Whitley Castle). Hodgson, ubi sup. p. 76. The shoes in which the female, whose coffin was lately found in Heslington Field, was buried, had perished, but the nails belonging to them were remaining. See above, p. 108. 2 Ebor. p. 01, &c. PLATE XVII J no Browns '&'/* OTTumurUal Articles of Dress &-c J R Jobbing Ltho 131 Society, and some private collections, with many such remains, some of which are represented in Plate XVII. They consist of the following articles, represented in their full size : Fig. 1 is a small vessel of copper, about three-eighths of an inch in depth, which appears to have been intended to contain per- fume. The lid has been beautifully inlaid and enamelled ; the border yellow ; the central compartments ruby, and the compartments sur- rounding it alternately ruby and blue ; the dark circles are a rich purple, the centres of which are yellow ; the pale circles blue. The undei’part has three small circular apertures, ornamented with circular lines. Upon removing the matter with which it was encrusted, and clearing the apertures, it emitted a perceptible sweet odour. It was found in excavating for a cellar on the outside of the wall north-west of Monk-bar, 1 with fragments of human bones and pottery ; near it was a finger-ring of jet. An article exactly corresponding in every respect with this, may be seen among the antiquities brought from Herculaneum by Sir William Hamilton, and deposited in the British Museum. Fig. 2 is one of the armillse or bracelets found in the coffin of the female, described above in p. 108. It is of copper or bronze. Roman females wore bracelets, partly for use and partly for ornament ; in the former case they held amulets or charms : when worn as ornaments they were frequently enriched with gems and other beautiful objects. Fig. 3 is a fibula or brooch, of copper or bronze, of a flat surface, the pin being placed behind. The fibula is described as “ a brooch consisting of a pin, and of a curved portion furnished with a hook 2 in its most common form it bears some resemblance to an inverted harp. Its most frequent use was to fasten together parts of the loose dress called the amictus or shawl, on the right shoulder. Fig. 4 is a fibula or brooch of a circular form, of copper : and fig. 5 is a profile of it, showing the pin, and projection of its surface. Fig. 6 is another brooch of much more elaborate workmanship : the border and several of the compartments display the bright metal of which the brooch is made ; and the other compartments are alter- nately yellowish white and rich purple. The border has been studded; but of what the studs were composed cannot be ascertained. 1 See Map of Eburacum, &c., Q. 2 Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq., art. Fibula. To this very useful work the author would refer the reader on other articles of Roman dress. S 2 132 It was found within the Roman wall, near Bootliam-bar ; and, with fig. 1, is in the possession of Mr. J. Browne. Fig. 8 is a plain bronze buckle ; an article of dress chiefly used to fasten the belt and girdle : and frequently richly ornamented with jewels. Fig. 9 is a small finger-ring of jet, found in the coffin of the un- known female, with the armilla, fig. 2, together with other relics of her toilet. Rings being ancieutly used as seals, were at first pro- bably not worn as ornaments. They are said to have been introduced at Rome from Etruria : Pliny derives them from Greece. At first they were of iron, serving the purpose of seals ; and every free Roman had a right to wear one. Senators, during the early times of the republic, when engaged as ambassadors, wore a golden ring, given them by the State, most probably as a state-signet. After- wards this distinction belonged to senators, magistrates, and equites. This privilege during the empire became less and less exclusive ; and by some Emperors was conferred on all Roman soldiers. With in- creasing luxury, rings of different materials, and adorned with gems, were very generally worn, and the fingers both of males and females Avere loaded with jewels of the most exquisite colour and of the greatest cost. 1 The pattern of the simple jet ring in the plate is frequently adopted in the present day ; and no one inspecting a col- lection of rings in a Museum of Roman Antiquities, could, from the form alone, determine them to be articles of ancient workman- ship. 2 Figs. 10 and 11 are two pins, found amidst the remains of the baths, with a very considerable number of others, of bronze, wood, bone, ivory, and jet, of different patterns, and varying in length from two to about eight inches. The first of these is of bone ; the second of bronze. The principal use of the acus or pin was to fasten the garments ; and more especially to fasten the hair after it had been platted and arranged upon the head. Bodkins and large needles were also found with these pins. Fig. 12 probably represents some article of the toilet; perhaps an ear-pick. It is of bronze. Fig. 13 appears to have been used as tweezers or nippers. This also is either of copper or bronze. Fig. 14 is the handle of a knife, which in its perfect state must 1 Plinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. c. 1. Much curious information on this subject will be found in the work of Kirchmann entitled “ De Annulis.” : See the plates in the Dactyliotheca of Gorlaeus. 133 have possessed some elegance. It appears to be the figure of a dog : the hinder part of the animal is formed into a socket and groove for the blade of the knife. The material is bronze, studded with silver. Of fig. 15 the author can offer no explanation. It is a very thin plate of pure gold, with the letters and character, correctly exhibited in the figure, distinctly marked upon it. It was found, with undoubted Roman remains, on the site of the baths ; and may have been an amulet. 1 COINS. It is well known that in all ancient nations, even in a civilized state, many ages passed before coined money was introduced. In the oldest writings that have come down to us, the sacred writings of the Jews, we find indeed frequent mention of money, or, as the original word should be rendered, silver, given in exchange for commodities; but it was not in the form of coin. In the first money transaction of which we read, the purchase made by Abraham of a burial-place from the sons of Ileth, the four hundred shekels of silver were weighed out by the Patriarch to Ephron the Hethite. 2 The money which the sons of Jacob carried into Egypt for the purchase of corn is expressly said to have been bundles of silver, 3 paid either in tale or by weight. The same kind of money appears from a passage in the book of Proverbs to have constituted the currency in the days of Solomon. 4 In two passages a peculiar term (Kesitah) occurs, 5 which some have supposed to denote a piece of silver stamped with the figure of a lamb ; but without any sufficient reason : it may have been “ merely a silver weight of undetermined size/’ 6 It is alto- gether a matter of conjecture. The Jews it is now almost universally acknowledged had no stamped coin before the times of the Macca- bees, in the second century before Christ. That the Greeks used barter in the Homeric times, is evident from several passages which occur both in the Iliad and the Odyssey. 7 When and by whom stamped money was first employed, is a subject of inquiry attended with considerable difficulty, and one on which 1 It is in the possession of Mr. T. Allis, of Osbaldwick, near York. 2 Gen. xxiii. 10. 3 Gen. xlii. 35. 4 Prov. vii. 20. 5 Gen. xxxiii. 10 (repeated Josh. xxiv. 32) ; Job. xlii. 11. c l)r. Grotefend on the Kesitah, &e. Numism. Chron. vol. ii. p. 249. 7 II. H. 472 ; V. 702 ; Od. A. 430. 134 numismatic writers are not agreed. Eckhel, the prince of numis- matists, thinks it most probable that metal received the form of money, or stamped coin, about the beginning of the sera of the Olympiads, that is, in the eighth century before Christ. 1 Dr. Grotefend states the result of his inquiry on this subject to be, that the Lydians first, about b.c. 700, stamped gold coin ; then the iEginetae, before Solon’s time (who flourished in the 45th Olympiad), stamped silver coin ; and the Romans copper, after Servius Tullius. 2 The origin of Roman coinage, like the origin of Rome itself, is involved in great obscurity. A passage in the work of that indus- trious antiquary and compiler, Caius Plinius Secundus, is generally cited as the foundation of all that is known on this subject. In that passage 3 he asserts, that Servius the King, that is, Servius Tullius, first coined money at Rome. This, according to the common chro- nology, was in the sixth century before the birth of Christ. The metal used was called aes, a mixed metal, in which copper was the predominant ingredient, usually, but not quite correctly, named “ brass,” and on this, as Pliny goes on to say, was stamped the figure of cattle ( pecudes ), whence the term pecunia, the Latin name for money, was derived. But Eckliel justly objects to this derivation, since some of the most ancient Roman coins had not the figure of cattle stamped upon them, but the head of Janus on one side, and the prow of a vessel on the other ; and he maintains that coin was called pecunia, because it was the representative of what had con- stituted wealth, and had been the principal medium of traffic, in early times. 4 By some writers, the types mentioned by Eckhel are supposed to have preceded those of cattle, which were certainly early used, and to have been stamped in the reign of Numa, in imitation of the Etruscans. It is indeed highly probable, that the origin of coinage in Italy is to be ascribed to the Etruscans ; a people more ancient than the Romans, and amongst whom arts were flourishing, before the Roman name was known. So uncertain is the origin of Roman coinage, that Pliny himself, in another passage, 5 seems to refer it to the reign of Numa. The first coinage of the Romans, to whatever period it be re- 1 Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. i. Proleg. p. ix. 2 Numism. Chron. vol. i. p. 247. 3 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. c. 13. 4 Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. v. p. 10. 5 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiv. c. 1. 135 ferred, was entirely of brass or bronze. The most ancient Roman coins were not struck, but cast; 1 afterwards both the consular and imperial coins, till the time of Sept. Severus, were struck from a die. The coinage of silver, as we learn from Pliny, 2 was not introduced at Rome till five years before the first Punic war, a.u. 485, a. a. c. 268; nearly two centuries after the coinage of brass. The coinage of gold took place sixty-two years later than that of silver; a.u. 547, A.a.c. 206. The earliest Roman coin was called as, from the metal, aes, of which it was made ; or aes grave, and aes libralis, from its weighing a pound of brass, of twelve ounces. It was soon found convenient to divide this heavy coin into different parts, under different denomina- tions, as semis, \ as, or 6 oz. ; triens, \ as, or 4 oz. ; quadrans, J as, or 3 oz. ; sextans, £ as, or 2 oz. ; uncia, ^ as, or 1 oz. In process of time, the as was reduced ; at once, according to Pliny, 3 in the first Punic war; gradually, as Eckhel and others maintain. At first to the same weight as the sextans, or 2 oz. ; and afterwards to that of the uncia, or 1 oz. After the last reduction of the as, coins were struck of the value of 2, 3, 4, and even 10 ases, called respec- tively dussis, or dupondius; tressis, quadrussis, and decussis. The quadrussis appears in what is now commonly called the large brass, 4 and the dussis or dupondius, in the second or middle brass. The assarion, a smaller coin, for the most part of copper, is denominated by collectors third brass. The silver coins were the denarius, the quinarius, and the sester- tius. The denarius, as the name imports, was reckoned equivalent to ten ases. 5 But the relative value changed with the variations that took place in Roman currency. The denarii ceased in the time of Heraclius, about a.d. 610. The quinarius, as the name implies, was equivalent to five ases, or half a denarius. It is not so common as the denarius. The sestertius, or sesquitertius, was in value equal to to 2 1 ases, or | of a denarius. This coin is very rare. Even Eckhel had seen only two among the Family Coins. The standard gold coin of Rome was the Aureus Numus, or denarius aureus. It was equivalent to twenty-five silver denarii. 6 Alexander 1 Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. i. Proleg. p. Iviii. 3 lb. 3 About 8 \d. Engl. 2 Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. c. 13. 4 About 2d. Engl. 6 Or 17s. Ud. Engl. 136 Severus coined pieces of 1 and a of the aureus. Pliny says the aurei were forty to the pound. Constantine the Great coined aurei of seventy-two to the pound ; and this was the standard to the end of the empire. Little gold was minted during the Republic ; which Eckhel attributes to the abundance of foreign gold coin introduced by the conquests of the Romans. Roman coins are generally arranged in two classes: 1. Consular and Family Coins ; 2. Imperial Coins. The Consular coins are those which were struck during the Republic, or the government of Rome by Consuls, and which bear not the name of any Roman family : the Family coins were, for the most part, struck during the same period, but are distinguished by the name of some Roman gens or family. 1 The consular denarius has usually on the obverse a female head, with a winged helmet, and behind the head the numeral X, indicating its value ; on the reverse, chariots drawn by two or four horses (bigae, quadrigae), or the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, riding on horses, and beneath ROMA. The quinarius bears usually the same type, with the numeral V, or GL The Family coins are generally of a very inter- esting character. On the obverse they bear the head of some divinity, or of some ancient member of the family, indicated in the legend ; and on the reverse, types commemorative of some remarkable circumstance in the history of the family, or illustrative of laws, institutions, sacred rites, public games, mythological legends, the arts, and various other interesting subjects, often beautifully executed. Coins of about two hundred Roman families have been discovered ; and as no new names have been for some time added, the supplies are supposed to be exhausted. The number belonging to dilferent families varies greatly. In one instance, the Calpurnian, one hundred and fifty varieties are known; while of several, one type only has appeared. The gold coins in this series are generally beautiful and curious ; but they are not numerous. The proportion of the three metals has been thus estimated : brass, 200 ; silver, 2,000 ; gold, 100. No consular or family coins are recorded to have been found at York : but they have occasionally been met with near other stations in Yorkshire. Several were lately found not far from Bradford, and with them some British coins in gold, some of which had the legend 1 The gens comprised several families. Thus in gens Cornelia, we have the families of the Blasiones, Ccthegi, Dolabellse, Lentuli, Scipiones, &c. Doctr. Num. Yet. vol. v. p. 55. Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Antiq., art. Gem. 137 VODICIO. A few of them are deposited in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. The Imperial series, as the title denotes, consists of coins struck after the termination of the Commonwealth, and while the Roman State was under the government of Emperors. These begin, ac- cording to the arrangement of Eckhel, with the coins of Julius Caesar, which form a connecting link between the family and the imperial series. Others begin with the coins of Pompey. The order is of little importance, the coins of both being included in the imperial list. The metals were the same as in the time of the Republic, though greatly debased after the reign of the Antonines. The large brass was diminished in the reign of Severus Alexander ; and under Gallienus, about the middle of the third century, ceased : aud a small copper coin, denarius sereus, washed with silver, was issued. The follis, after the module of the second brass, but thinner, was introduced in the reign of Diocletian. This also occurs plated. The second brass continued, but reduced in weight and size. The third brass gradually declined to a very insignificant coin : it was generally scarce till the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus; but after- wards became extremely common. In silver, the denarius continued till the reign of Constantine ; but varying much after the reign of Gallienus. The aureus continued the chief gold coin, but in the reign of Severus Alexander was much reduced, and received the name of Solidus . 1 It has been remarked , 2 that “ in the earliest and more simple days of Rome, the portrait of no living personage appeared on the public money ; the heads were those of their deities, or of some person who had received divine honours. Julius Caesar was the first who ob- tained the express permission of the Senate to place his portrait on the coins. The example was soon followed by others and happily ; for this circumstance constitutes one great excellence of the imperial series of coins, and renders them peculiarly interesting and valuable. We have thus a series of authentic portraits of Roman Emperors and Empresses ; and also “ the likenesses of some personages who have escaped the notice of historians.” The legends which accompany these portraits, marking the years of the consular and tribunitian offices 1 Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. viii. p. 511. 2 See the excellent Numismatic Manual, by J. Y. Akerman, p. 142. T 138 held by the Emperors, render them valuable chronological monu- ments. The reverses also are rich in subjects interesting to the histo- rian and the antiquary. Among other events they record the depar- ture of Emperors on expeditions ; their successes and return • their munificence to provinces ; their triumphs ; their public works ; their public virtues; and their consecration. Attributes of deities, and their symbols ; symbols of regions, cities, and rivers ; representa- tions of remarkable public buildings, sculptures, and other works of art ; military customs, games, and many other subjects, appearing on the reverses of these coins, give them a distinguished rank among the remains of antiquity . 1 In all ages the right of coining money has belonged to the chief power in the State ; and the usurpation of that right has been consi- dered in the highest degree criminal. Thus we are told by Herodotus, that Aryandes, who was appointed governor of Egypt by Cambyses, having on his own authority struck in Egypt silver coins, was con- demned to death as a rebel. Commodus would not believe that Perennis was aiming at the imperial power, till some money which he had struck was shown to him. In the contests for the Empire in later periods, it appears to have been one of the first acts of the aspirant to the purple to strike money, bearing his image and super- scription. The Roman Republic kept this power to itself, and allowed none but the public coinage. The Family coins were issued from the public mint, and under the superintendence of its officers : and this power was afterwards assumed by the Emperors and the Senate. The Quaestors, who had the charge of the public revenue, and whose office was nearly as ancient as Rome itself, appear to have had 1 We who are accustomed to such a dull unmeaning uniformity in the types of our coins, the obverse presenting to us the profile of the reigning sovereign, in one reign looking to the right, and in the next looking to the left; and the reverse, the royal arms, varied only by slight changes in the form or ornamental accompaniments of the shield, with legends recording the name and titles of the sovereign, — can have no conception, without inspecting cabinets, or numismatic works, of the great number and variety of interesting subjects that appear on ancient coins, on the civic Greek coins especially, on the consular and family coins of Rome, and those of the provinces subject to the Roman Empire ; and which render the study of ancient coins so engaging and instructive. Not to mention the works of Spanheim and Eckhel, those of Akerman, and the Numismatic Journal, and Chronicle, will justify and illustrate this remark. A paper by Mr. Burgon, entitled, “ An Inquiry into the Motive which influenced the Antients in their choice of the various Representations which we find stamped on their Money,” published in the Numism. Journ. vol. i. p. 97, &c., is deserving of particular attention. 139 the direction of tlie mint at first. But a. u. 465 (a. a. c. 289), officers denominated Triumviri Monetales were appointed as directors of the mint. The mint of Rome was a building attached to the temple of Juno Moueta, on the Capitoline hill. Coins were struck out of Rome, upon very urgent occasions, in times of chil warfare; as by Metellus Scipio in Africa, a. u. 707, when Caesar was in possession of the city. When coins were struck in the pi'ovinces by permission of the Senate, it was done by the Quaestors, who in such cases acted as the Triumviri Monetales at Rome. Afterwards, it is thought, the direction of the mints established in the provinces or colonies was committed to two annual magistrates. Duumviri, elected in imitation of the Consuls at Rome. The Emperors appear to have divided the right of coining with the Senate ; assigning to the Senate the direction and control of the coinage of brass, and reserving to themselves that of gold and silver. Hence we see almost universally on the brass coins from Augustus to Gallienus the letters S. C., Senatus Consulto, denoting that the coin was struck by order of the Senate. These letters sometimes* but very rarely, appear on gold and silver imperial coins ; in such instances they are to be referred to the type representing some honour paid to the Emperor by the Senate. The “ Auri sacra fames,” the inordinate “ love of money, the root of all evil,” and the attempt to obtain it by whatever means, “ quo- cunque modo rem,” have not been the vices of one age or of one nation only ; and accordingly we find public as well as private pro- perty at all times exposed to the artifices of the fraudulent. Forgery, notwithstanding the heavy penalties incurred by it, appears to have been nearly coeval with the coining of money. There are certainly ancient forgeries of some of the consular series, and of the coins of the early Caesars; but forgery is thought to have reached its greatest height in the reign of Claudius, four out of every five of the denarii of that Emperor being plated iron. 1 Many years ago, clay moulds, evidently used in the casting of Roman coins, were discovered near Wakefield, and described by Mr. Thoresby in the Transactions of the Royal Society. 2 Similar discoveries have been since made in or near several ancient Roman stations, both in France and England. That they were the tools of counterfeiters has been thought evi- 1 Akerman’s Descript. Cat. &c. vol. i. p. viii. 3 Lowthorp’s Abridg. vol. iii. p. 426. See also Archasol. vol. xxiv. p. 349. T 2 140 dent, from the circumstance, that moulds for the coins of different Emperors were found together ; of Severus, of Julia his wife, of Caracalla, Geta, Macrinus, Severus Alexander, and others. Numis- matists are not perfectly agreed in their opinion respecting these moulds ; some regarding them as undoubtedly and entirely the work of forgers, for the purpose of counterfeiting the legal coin ; while others maintain, that as the moneyers of the empire sometimes cast money, especially when the quality of the silver was much debased, these moulds were used by them in the provinces, for the purpose of filling the exhausted treasury, and providing the pay of the legions. The subject is curious and interesting ; but this is not the place in which it can be discussed . 1 The vast extent of the empire must have rendered more than one mint necessary ; and it is certain that money was coined by authority in several provinces. Mints were undoubtedly established in Gaul ; and hence it may he inferred that they were established also in Britain. Ruding indeed thought it “ more than probable that the Romans did not strike any money in this island, since no Roman coin bearing the name of a British town has ever been discovered.” 2 The exergual letters M.L. on some of the coins of Carausius, which not only the fanciful Stukeley, hut antiquaries of sober judgment, have interpreted M oneta bondinensis, and considered as proving the existence of a Roman mint in Londinium, he supposes to be equally applicable to many other places in the Roman empire where mints were undoubtedly established. Yet the history of the usurpation of Carausius seems to justify the common interpretation of these letters; and the judicious Eckliel allows that the letters LO, which appear in the exergue of some of the coins of that usurper, not improbably denote L ondinii. Several coins of Constantine and his sons have the exergual letters PLON ; and respecting these, the best numismatists are agreed that the most probable interpretation is P ecunia LONt/i- nensis, or P ercussa LON dinii : although it is true that some have 1 Doctr. Nuin. Vet. Proleg. vol. i. c. xix. See also Archaeol. vol. xiii. p. 99. Numism. Journal, vol. ii. p. 58. Numism. Chron. vol. i. p. H7. Akerman’s Descript. Cat. vol. i. p. x. — xii. 2 Annals of the Coinage of Gr. Brit. &c. vol. ii. p. 231. See also p. 190. Yet in vol. i. p. 100, Ruding admits that Claudius may have prohibited the British coinage : and that this prohibition was probably followed up by the establishment of Roman mints in Britain, although no satisfactory evidence can be brought forward to prove the fact. 141 assigned these coins to Lugdunum in Gaul, reading the exergue thus, Vercussa 'Lugduni in Officina Nona . 1 Granting, however, that these coins of Constantine pi’ove the establishment of an imperial mint at Londinium in his reign, it must be allowed that there is no such evidence to show that a Roman mint ever existed at Eburacum. The historian of York has indeed claimed for it this distinction, and at an earlier period than the reign of Constantine. “ The coins,” he observes, “ struck in honour of Severus, Caracalla, and Geta, which have on their reverse VICTORIAE . BRITANNICAE and CON- CORDIA . AYGYSTORYM, were in all probability struck in York. ... So the title BRITANNICVS . MAXIMVS which Severus cer- tainly assumed at York, as lord of the whole island of Britain, and struck upon his coins, can nowhere be supposed to have its original stamp better than in the same city, where he triumphed for the greatest glory of his reign. It is not to be imagined but that the mint attended the Imperial Court ; for no sooner was a great action performed, but the whole empire was made acquainted with it by some signal reverse, struck immediately upon the current coin. . . . Nor have we a less claim to those medals coined in honour of the deification of the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, and the inauguration of his son Constantine the Great.” 2 But as these coins have nothing inscribed to bear testimony of their having been struck at Eburacum, he leaves what he says on this subject as “ a conjectural hint only.” On this subject we have nothing but conjecture to guide us. If Londinium, the chief commercial city in the province, had a mint, it is highly probable that Eburacum, distinguished by being the resi- dence of the Emperors when they visited Britain, would not be destitute of that privilege . 3 No remains of antiquity are so abundant as coins. Avarice, fear, superstition, carelessness, or accident, have filled the ground with them; whence chance, and the hand of the labourer, or the plough of the husbandman, have, from time to time, after the lapse of ages, brought them to light. In every known Roman station they are continually 1 Doctr. Nuin. Vet. vol. viii. p. 48. Akerman’s Coins of the Rom. &c. p. 55, 63. Numism. Chron. vol. i. p. 217. 2 Ebor. p. 61. 3 A similar privilege has been claimed for other Roman stations in Britain, as Camulodunum (Colchester), Corinium (Cirencester), Cataractonium (Catterick), Clausentum (Southampton), Rutupiae (Richborough), Lindum (Lincoln), Isurium (Aldborough). Ruding’s Annals, &c., vol. ii., On Places of Mints, &c. 142 occurring ; and they often indicate the position of an ancient Roman post, when all other evidence has entirely disappeared. Generally they are found dispersed and singly ; but occasionally in immense hoards. In the year 1760, an earthen vessel was found near Brest, containing nearly thirty thousand coins of Roman Emperors ; and in other places forty thousand, and even sixty thousand, have been discovered. 1 Very recently, from 1834 to 1841, an immense quantity has been found in the Thames, on the line of old London Bridge, many of which have been preserved and described by a numismatist of the present day. 2 The soil of York and its suburbs is full of coins, not of the Roman period only, but of more recent times ; but the Roman coins most commonly found are of a late age, and in a bad condition. In his history of York, Drake complains that “ whatever had been dis- covered there of these curiosities, were so dispersed, that it was not possible to give any particular account of them. Indeed,” he adds, “ I never heard of any exceeding rare that were found, being mostly of the bass-empire ; and amongst these, Geta’s coins are with us the commonest of any.” 3 Fortunately, however, there was at York, at the beginning of the last century, “ a studious, inquisitive person,” the father of Dr. Laugwith, Rector of Petworth, and Prebendary of Chichester, who secured for his son, during more than twenty years, the coins then occasionally discovered. They were not numerous, nor, as Drake observes, of the rarissimi, or even the rariores ; yet he rightly judged that a catalogue of them sent to him by Dr. Langwith claimed a place in the addenda to his great work. 4 This catalogue comprises only one hundred and twenty-six coins, ranging from Augustus to Gratianus, but with many chasms; it is as fol- lows, the descriptions being omitted : — 1 Doctr. Num. Vet. vol. i. p. lxxxii. 2 C. R. Smith, Esq. See Numism. Chron. vol. iv. p. 147, & c. It is observed by Dr. Whitaker, that “ great deposits of coins are never found in or near the Roman stations, but almost always near some line of march, where sudden surprises might he expected ; while on the contrary, within the precincts of the greater stations, small brass is found scattered in such profusion, that it can scarcely be conceived not to have been sown like seed by that provident and vain-glorious people, as an evidence to future ages of their presence and power in the remote provinces. Design there must have been in these dispersions.” — Ducatus Leodiensis, Musceum T/iores- byanum, p. 1, note. Mr. Smith thinks that the coins found in the line of London Bridge were purposely deposited by the Romans when they built and when they repaired the bridge, sup- posed to have been erected by them over the Thames at that part. 3 Ebor. p. GO. 4 Ebor. Append, p. vii. &c. 143 Avgvstvs, 1 Ar. Agrippa, 1 Ae. Tiberius, 1 Ar. Germanicus, 1 Ae. Caligula, 1 Ae. Claudius, 1 Ae. Nero, 1 Ar. 1 Ae. Otho, 1 Ar. Vitellius, 1 Ar. Vespasianus, 5 Ar. 1 Ae. Titus, 3 Ar. Domitianus, 2 Ar. 2 Ae. Trajanus, 5 Ar. Hadrianus, 3 Ar. Sabina, 1 Ar. Antoninus Pius, 1 Ar. 1 Ae. Faustina, 2 Ar. M. Aurelius, 2 Ar. Commodus, 2 Ar. L. Sept. Se- verus, 2 Ar. Julia Domna, 2 Ar. Caracalla, 2 Ar. Geta, 2 Ar. Elagabalus, 1 Ar. Julia Maesa, 1 Ar. Julia Paula, 1 Ar. Julia Aquilia Severa, 2 Ar. M. A. Severus Alexander, 4 Ar. Julia Mam.ea, 1 Ar. Sal. Barbia Orbiana, 1 Ar. Maximinus, 1 Ar. Gordianus III. 2 Ar. M. J. Philippus, 1 Ar. Otacilla Severa, 1 Ar. Trajanus Decius, 1 Ar. Trebonianus, 1 Ar. Volusianus, 1 Ar. Valerianus, 1 Ar. Gallienus, 8 Ae. Salo- nina, 2 Ae. Posthumus, 1 Ae. Victorinus, 6 Ae. Tetricus, 3 Ae. Tetricus, Jun. 3 Ae. Claudius Goth. 1 Ae. Guin- tillus, 1 Ae. Carinus, 1 Ae. Diocletianus, 1 Ae. Aelianus, 1 Ae. Carausius, 1 Ae. Allectus, 2 Ae. Constantius, 1 Ae. Helena, 1 Ae. Theodora, 1 Ae. Maximianus, 1 Ae. Maxi- minus, 1 Ae. Licinius, 1 Ae. Constantinus, M. 6 Ae. Con- stantinus, Jun. 3 Ae. Constans, 5 Ae. Constantius, 1 Ae. Magnentius, 2 Ae. Julianus, 2 Ae. Valentinianus, 2 Ae. Valens, 2 Ae. Gratianus, 1 Ae. No consular or family coins occur in this catalogue, nor any gold. The earlier coins appear to be chiefly denarii. The size of the brass is not mentioned ; but there can be no doubt that the greater part were of the third or small brass. A few are distinguished by rare reverses. Drake has recorded the discovery of a gold coin of CRISPVS, in a garden in Bootham. There is reason to believe that the Museum of Thoresby contained many coins found in York : hut they are not specified in the catalogue subjoined to the Ducatus Leodiensis. Since the days of Drake, many have been successively brought to light, which have passed into private hands, and of which no record or description is preserved. In the extensive excavations that have lately been carried on in York, especially in connection with the York and North Midland Railroad, it might have been expected that some numismatic trea- sures would be discovered, and some important additions made to the catalogue of Dr. Langwith. Such has not been the case. A considerable number of Roman coins has indeed been brought to 144 light ; but very few, possessing any peculiar interest, have come to the knowledge of the author. Some large and some middle brass of the earlier Emperors have been found, generally in a bad condition, and the best of them not uncommon. A few denarii also have ap- peared, chiefly of the baser sort, and much corroded. The third brass has been found in abundance, but principally of Constantine and his family, and others of the lower empire. An aureus of NERO, not uncommon, was among the recent discoveries. The only Roman coin of any peculiar value added, in consequence of the late excavations, to the cabinet of the Museum of the Yorkshire Philo- sophical Society, is an aureus of CARINVS, in beautiful preservation, found near the railroad ; having on the obverse a laureated bust of the Emperor, with the legend MAYR CARINYS NOB CAES. Reverse, Victory standing on a globe, with a palm-branch in the left hand, and a wreath in the right-, legend VICTORIA AVG. Other coins of an interesting character may have been obtained from the workmen by dealers in coins, or private collectors ; notwithstanding the express order of the directors of the Railroad Company, that every relic of antiquity should be deposited in the Museum, so that it might be accessible to the public. Their liberality was defeated by the cupidity of the workmen, who, in many instances, obtained a high price even for the most worthless articles, from persons not able to appreciate the value of what they were eager to possess. But there is reason to believe that if the author had been able to form a descriptive catalogue of all the coins lately discovered at York, it would have added little of importance to Dr. Langwith’s record of former discoveries . 1 1 Mr. Akerman, in a note in the conclusion of his valuable work on the Coins of the Romans, &c., p. 83, is very severe on provincial antiquaries, and those of York in particular, “ who are delighted,” he says, “ if they meet with a few frag- ments of a broken tablet, of the letters of which they hasten to give an inter- pretation, while the coins, with their legends and devices entire, are slightly noticed, or are so unintelligibly described, as to be of no service to those who are engaged in the study of our antiquities.” Of the descriptions of coins and other antiquities that have occasionally appeared in our newspapers, nothing indeed can be imagined more unsatisfactory : but Mr. A. would perhaps form a different judgment of the silence of our numismatists if he saw the state of the coins usually discovered in York, few of them having “ legends and devices entire and of those which have, few possessing any peculiar general or local interest. 145 ROMAN ROADS. CONNECTION OF EBURACUM WITH OTHER STATIONS. Of all the magnificent works of the Romans, the remains of which still attract the attention and excite the admiration of the intelligent traveller through the countries which were once subject to the dominion of that great people, their public roads, in respect both of their construction and extent, are perhaps the most astonishing; dis- playing at ouce the grandeur of their conceptions and the magnitude of their power. Mr. Gibbon, after enumerating the principal cities of the Roman Empire, in the age of the Antonines, observes, “ All these cities were connected with each other by ways, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, aud thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of communication from the north-west to the south-east point of the Empire was drawn out to the length of 4,080 Roman (or about 3,740 English) miles. The public roads which formed this chain of communication ran in a direct line from one city to another, with very little respect to the obstacles either of nature or private pro- perty. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most rapid streams.” 1 Public roads of some kind must certainly have existed from an early period in the Roman territory ; but four centuries passed from the foundation of the city before any of those paved roads were formed which were eventually of such importance to the extension and security of the Roman dominion. It was in the year of the city 442, before Christ 312, that Appius Claudius Csecus, the Censor, built an aquaeduct, and began to construct the road called after him, Via Appia, or the Appian Way, extending from Rome to Capua, and at length to Brundusium ; remarkable not only as the first road of the kind from Rome, but also as the best. The second great road from Rome was not undertaken till seventy years afterwards, when Caius Aurelius Cotta, a.u. 512, began one, known by the name of Via Aurelia, leading from the city to Forum Julii in Gaul. Next came the Via Flaminia, begun in the censorship of C. Flaminius, 1 Hist, of Deck &c., vol. i. p. 81. edit. Loud. 1797. U 146 a.u. 533, and about the same time the Via Aemiliana. These appear to have been the most ancient of the great roads from Rome ; and the advantages derived from them, especially in the extending of their conquests, soon led to the formation of many more : so that in the time of Julius Csesar there was a ready communication between the capital and every important city of Italy by means of direct and well-paved roads, furnished with all suitable accommodation, not only for the legions as they passed from place to place, hut also for the merchant and the traveller. It cannot be clearly ascertained when the Romans first carried roads beyond Italy into the provinces ; but it appears that before the termination of the Republic, there were five, extending to Spain, Gaul, Epirus, and Macedonia. It was reserved for Augustus and some of the most enterprising of his successors, to connect the Imperial City, by means of public roads, with all the known regions of Europe, with Asia Minor, Armenia and Syria, with Egypt and the other provinces of Africa, even to the Pillars of Hercules. These roads, raised above the surrounding surface, were laid in as straight a line, between place and place, as could well be drawn, and composed of the most durable materials that the country through which they passed could furnish ; occasionally, in part at least, of materials brought with great labour and expense from a considerable distance. In marshy lands they were constructed on piles. They were generally paved with large irregular blocks of stone, supported hv strata of cobble stones or flints, of broken stones cemented with lime, of chalk or gravel. They appear to have varied in breadth; some, exclusive of the footpaths by the sides, being twenty, while others were only fifteen, thirteen, or eight feet wide. From the nature of their construction they were called Vim Strata} ; whence the Italian denomination Strada, and our Street. By the aid of this latter term we are now able to trace the line of some of these roads in our own country, even when all remains of such works have disappeared. In the construction and repair of these important roads, four classes of persons are said to have been employed: 1. The legionary soldiers ; 2. The people of the different provinces through which the roads passed ; 3. Professed artisans of various descriptions, ac- cording to the nature of the labour required. The masonry of the bridges and viaeducts, of which some considerable remains still exist. 147 proves them to have been no unskilful workmen : and, 4. Criminals, who were punished by being compelled to labour on the public roads. The legionary soldiers were most commonly and most exten- sively employed on these great works. Writers on this subject have indeed represented it as a leading motive with Augustus and other Emperors in forming these public roads, to give employment to the legionaries iu the time of peace, and thus preveut the evils that would inevitably arise from their being in a state of idleness. Livy expressly assigns the extension of the Via Flaminia to this motive. 1 A similar motive operated in respect of the employment of the common people in the conquered provinces in the construction of these great roads. The primary object of these works was to render the marches of the legions to the most distant parts of the empire easy and expe- ditious; and nearly allied to this, to provide the means of rapid communication between Rome, the seat of government, aud the remotest provinces. For this purpose, especially, posts were esta- blished on these roads, at short distances from each other ; so that by means of couriers passing from one post to another, information could be conveyed to the capital, and orders transmitted to the pro- vincial authorities or the armies, with great celerity. These posts were probably first established by Augustus. The young men whom he placed in them as couriers, performed their service on foot. To obtain greater celerity, Augustus afterwards employed relays of horses or mules : and the Emperors who succeeded him maintained these establishments. The places on the roads where these were kept were called mutationes, change-houses, erected at a moderate dis- tance from each other, and provided each with forty horses or mules. Carriages also of different kinds were placed at the mutationes, by means of which journeys were performed with ease as well as ra- pidity. Post stations, called mansiones, where travellers might pass the night, were established at greater intervals, at about the distance of twenty English miles, the length of a day’s journey. These, which were probably at first places of encampment, being originally called castra, afterwards were furnished with barracks for the soldiers, granaries or magazines of provisions, and also with buildings suited to the reception of travellers of all ranks, even of the Emperor liirn- 1 Hist. lib. xxxix. c. 2. U 2 148 self. Artificers also were stationed along the great roads, whose services might be required in the fabrication or repair of armour : and under the later Emperors at least, mints were established in some of the principal cities on their line. On the sides of these roads, and near the cities through which they passed, were temples erected in honour of the gods, villas surrounded with gardens, tri- umphal arches, and cemeteries adorned with tombs and monumental urns and pillars. All the principal roads were supposed to have their commencement in the Imperial City, beginning from a gilded pillar in the forum, erected by Augustus, and called milliarium aureum ; hut the miles on the roads in Italy were reckoned from the gates of the city, and marked by milliaria or mile-stones. In the provinces probably they were reckoned from station to station, or from some principal station from which they proceeded. Horsley found mile-stones in Northum- berland, near Little Chesters (Yindolana), one of which he has repre- sented . 1 Drake says he had seen several on the Roman roads leading to Eburacum. While these great military roads connected the most distant pro- vinces with the seat of government, they were of great importance to the provinces themselves, connecting them with each other, affording the governors of each province ready access to the distant parts of their government, and by means of vicinal ways, or cross roads proceeding from them, opening an easy communication between the great stations and their outposts, between cities and villages, and thus, not only contributing to the security of their conquests, but to the diffusion of civilization and the encouragement of in- dustry. The expense of making these great public roads, and of keeping them in good condition, was generally defrayed from the revenues of the empire. But in some instances the Emperors took this charge upon themselves. Julius Csesar repaired the Appian Way. Augustus repaired the Flaminian, assigning as the reason for doing this, that he determined to march his army on that road in his progress to Britain. This example was followed by some other Emperors. The honours paid to those who thus proved themselves the benefactors of their country, by the senate and the people, are recorded not only on tablets, but on triumphal arches, on medals, and on coins. Some- 1 Brit. Rom. Northumb. lix. and p. 228. 149 times private individuals took upon themselves the charge of repairing a certain portion of a road, to the extent perhaps of a thousand feet or more. Instances of such public spirit are commemorated in inscriptions upon marble tablets, still happily preserved, or faithfully recorded in the collections of Gruter and others. The tablets con- taining these inscriptions are generally dedicated to the reigning Emperor, as an acceptable compliment offered to him. Works of so magnificent a character, and serving such important purposes, were worthy of the peculiar care and superintendence of the highest personages in the State. The Censors are represented as having formed the first lines, called by their names ; and to these magistrates the care of the roads was first committed. The duty afterwards devolved upon the Consuls, and other high officers. It was deemed an honour, even to Augustus himself, to hold the office of curator and commissioner of the great roads near Rome ; and having accepted the charge, he selected for his assistants, men of the prmtorian rank, the next in dignity to that of the consuls. When the limits of the empire were extended, and such roads were made through newly-acquired provinces, the chief magistrates in these provinces had the charge of making and sustaining them ; but each great line was probably superintended by officers, called Curatores viarum, inspectors-general of roads . 1 In the revolution of ages, and in the continual change which the surface of the earth is undergoing, many of the great roads, along which victorious legions carried the terror of the Roman name throughout the world, and peaceful merchants diffused the rich pro- ductions of different climes and the luxuries of art, and which were constructed as in defiance of the power of Time, have entirely disappeared. Remains of some of them, to a much greater extent than could reasonably have been anticipated, are still indeed to be seen. Even in our own country, the most exposed perhaps of any in the world to the changes inevitably effected by the restless industry of man, Roman roads may yet be traced, though partially and faintly: and these traces are continually becoming less distinct. But although we can now find only scattered portions of these mighty works, or occasionally trace their direction in the more modern roads 1 For complete information on this interesting subject of Roman roads, recourse must be had to the elaborate work of Bergier, entitled, “ Histoire des grands Chemins de l’Empire Roinain.” 150 which have been constructed upon them, yet we are not without the means of ascertaining their course, with considerable accuracy, through the whole Roman empire. The ancients, as M. Freret has observed , 1 were not ignorant of the use of geographical charts. They appear to have traced them at first upon spherical surfaces; but finding this method attended with con- siderable difficulty, they had recourse to plane surfaces. Such charts, it has been supposed, were as old, if not older, than the time of Herodotus. It is highly probable that geographical charts were con- structed at Rome by the authority of Julius Caesar, who, when he was consul, obtained an order from the Senate for measuring all those parts of the world then subject to the Roman government; a work of twenty-five, or, as some say, thirty-two years, conducted by three eminent Greek mathematicians. This work was continued by M. Y. Agrippa, the friend of Augustus, who prepared a map of the whole world, so far as it was then known, which was painted in his Portico, for the inspection and instruction of the Roman public, and particularly for the purpose of encouraging youth to attend to geography. This practice of painting maps in porticos was continued through several ages, as we learn from a passage in an oration of Eumenius, in the time of Diocletian, or about the end of the third century . 2 From the painted geographical table in the Portico of Agrippa, persons were allowed to copy what they pleased for their private use; and copies of it were painted on the walls of schools, for the instruction of the youth who frequented them. These maps did not exhibit any minute details. Such the Emperors had constructed for themselves; adding to them from time to time, as the limits of the empire were extended, and from these furnishing copies of particular parts to generals proceeding on an expedition, and also to those who had charge of post-horses and carriages . 3 These ancient geographical 1 CEuvres Completes, tom. xvi. Geogr. ii. p. 175. 2 “ Videat praeterea in illis porticibus juventus, et quotidie spectet omnes terras et cuncta maria et quidquid invictissimi principes urbium, gentium, nationum aut pietate restituunt, aut virtute conficiunt, aut terrore devinciunt. Si quidem illic, ut ipse vidisti, credo, instruendae pueritia; causa, quo manifestius oculis discerentur quae difficilius percipiuntur auditu, omnium cum nominibus suis locorum situs, spatia, intervalla descripta sunt, quicquid ubique fluminum oritur et conditur, quacumque se litorum sinus flectunt, qua vel ambitu cingit orbem, vel impetu irrumpit oceanus.” — Paneg. Eumenii Pro Restaur. Scholis. c. xx. 3 Such maps, constructed for the use of the Emperor, no one else was permitted to possess ; and we read in Suetonius, that in the reign of Domitian, Metius Pompo- 151 charts were not laid down, like those of modern times, upon any projection of the sphere. The situation of places with regard to latitude and longitude was not very accurately marked, nor was there any attempt to represent the exact course of rivers, or chains of mountains; the great object was to express, in the most compen- dious manner, the civil and military features of the various portions of the empire, and especially the public roads. A map of this description has happily come down to us, generally known by the name of “ Tabula Peutingeriana,” or, “ Peutinger’s Table,” which name it has received from Conrad Peutinger, of Augsburg, a man of learning, and a counsellor of the Emperor Maximilian; in whose library it was found after his death, a.d. 1547. He appears to have received it as a present from a friend, by whom it had been discovered “ in a certain library.” The copy thus dis- covered was drawn on skins of parchment, twenty-two German feet in length, and one foot in breadth ; evidently taken from one of an earlier date, probably by a monk of the thirteenth century, who has used the Lombardic character. It appears to have suffered from causes which universally operate on transcripts, and is not improved by the monkish fancies which the transcriber has introduced. As to the age of this curious document, nothing absolutely certain is known. Some are unwilling to assign it to an earlier period than the reign of Theodosius the Great, who succeeded to the empire a.d. 379. But if we make allowance for interpolations or additions, to suit the changing circumstances of the Roman dominion, there appears good reason to believe that it was constructed as early as the time of Sept. Severus, about the beginning of the third century; or of Severus Alexander, who ascended the imperial throne a.d. 222. The design of this interesting table, as Dr. Ward has said, was plainly to express, in the best manner such a work would admit of, the Roman stations and towns, with their distances from each other, and the course of the military ways, as also the nature of the several countries, their principal rivers, passes, and mountains, quite through the empire from west to east. It was intended particularly for the camp, and for that reason is conformed wholly to the course of the sianus was put to death by that cruel tyrant, because he had a map of the world of this description painted upon parchment. Vit. Domit. c. x. With a beautiful allu- sion to this circumstance, Bishop Nicholson begins his valuable work, “ The English Historical Library.” 152 military ways. It begins with Britain, the western portion of which is wanting ; ancl it extends through Europe, and to the remotest points of the Roman dominion in Asia and Africa, exhibiting every military road throughout the empire . 1 Nearly allied to this work, and probably derived from one more ancient, of a similar character, or from this in its earliest state, is another, very different in form, but of great use in enabling us to trace the Roman military roads, and to ascertain all the principal stations. It is entitled, “ Antonini Augusti Itinerarium and contains an enumeration of the principal cities or military stations of the empire, arranged in different itinera or journeys, with the distance of the station at which the Iter begins from that at which it ends, in Roman miles , 2 and with the names and relative dis- tances of all the intervening stations. It may be considered as a sort of road-book of the whole Roman Empire. It sets out from the western parts of Africa, proceeds eastward to Alexandria, crosses thence to the Italian islands and to Italy, passes thence to other regions of Europe, and to Asia Minor, and ends in Britain. The part relating to Britain comprises fifteen itinera or military routes, of very different extent ; some proceeding from the wall of Ha- drian, some from Londinium, some from Eburacum, and some from other stations ; thus marking the course of the principal military roads throughout the province. Though it is sometimes difficult to ascertain the site of the itinerary stations, owing chiefly perhaps to the errors which have crept into the numbering of the miles, yet it is a work to which we owe more discoveries of the Roman places and the Roman roads in Britain than to all other authors put together . 3 Neither the author nor the age of this valuable work are certainly known : but the most probable conjecture is, that the Antoninus to whom it is ascribed, was Antoninus Cara- calla, the son of Septimius Severus, and that it bears his name, not as being the author, but the Emperor by whose authority it was 1 Of this curious and interesting tabular record of the great military roads of the Romans, a specimen is given in Horsley’s Britannia Romana, accompanied with a learned Dissertation by Dr. Ward. The whole of the table, in twelve plates, has been published at Leipsic, 1824, with a valuable introduction by Conrad Mannert. 2 The Roman mile consisted of one thousand paces (mille passuum) of five feet each, and was therefore equal to five thousand feet; or according to the most pro- bable valuation of the Roman foot, one thousand six hundred and eighteen English yards, — one hundred and forty-two yards less than the English statute mile. 3 Brit. Rom. p. 379. 153 compiled. If this conjecture be well grounded, the work is as old as the beginning of the third century. There is, however, good reason for suspecting that it was not all composed by the same person : additions have, no doubt, been made in subsequent periods ; and these have induced some learned antiquaries to ascribe to the whole a later date. But from the very nature of the work such addi- tions might be expected : in the greater portion of the work, certainly in that which relates to Britain, there is nothing inconsistent with the date most commonly assigned to it . 1 That part of “ The Geography of Ptolemy,” which relates to Britain, affords some assistance in fixing the situation of many of the Roman stations in the province, but gives no information re- specting the roads by which they were connected. This eminent geographer flourished under the Emperoi’s Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He was the first who marked the situation of places by their latitudes and longitudes ; but in doing this he is often very incorrect. Yet Horsley, who acknowledges that his numerous and manifest errors are very discouraging, found his work of great service in settling the ancient Roman geography of Britain . 2 Most of the Roman military ways in Britain were, probably, 1 A work of such importance could not fail to engage the attention and to employ the labours of English antiquarians. That part relating to Britain has been the subject of several learned commentaries. One of the earliest was that by Robert Talbot, who flourished in the beginning of the sixteenth century ; published by Hearne, in vol. iii. of Leland’s Itinerary. William Burton, of Hull, published a learned and excellent Commentary about the middle of the seventeenth century. A posthumous work on the Iter Britanniarum, by Dr. T. Gale, was published by his son, Roger Gale. Of net less value than any of the preceding, is the Essay on Antonine’s Itinerary, by the learned and laborious author of Britannia Romana, h. iii. ch. ii. 2 See Brit. Rom. b. iii. ch. i. There is another ancient work, usually called the “ Notitia,” from which some aid may be obtained in fixing the Roman stations in Britain. Its full title is, Notitia utraque dignitatum cum Orientis turn Occidentis ultra Arcadii Honoriique tempora.” It has something of the character of a modern Court Calendar, containing a list of the several civil and military officers, both in the Eastern and Western Empires. It was probably written about the end of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, who died a.d. 450. The Notitia stations are almost entirely in the North, and especially on the line of the Wall of Hadrian. The distances of the stations from each other, and the military ways between them, are not specified ; what we learn from the work is chiefly by what troops different places then remaining under the power of the Romans were garrisoned. This work, with the valuable Commentary of Pancirollus, was published at Venice, a.d. 1602, fol. See Brit. Rom. h. iii. ch. id. Hist, of Nor- thumb. ubi sup. p. 162. X 154 formed by Julius Agricola, since his conquests were more extensive than those of any previous commanders ; yet some had, no doubt, been constructed before he arrived, in the southern part of the pro- vince. As new conquests were achieved, stations were erected, and roads thrown up between them. If any ways were prior to the stations, they were such as the Britons had used, on which the legions might raise their more perfect and durable work. The greater part, if not the whole of the stations in the territory of the Brigantes, were established by the illustrious general who sub- dued them ; and to him, or to the officers under his command, the military roads through that territory may justly be attributed. “ It is the general voice of all our historians,” says Mr. R. Gale, “ that four great roads or streets ran from several points across this island. But writing long after they were made, and in different times, they have left their accounts of them so obscure and uncer- tain, both as to the courses they held and the names they were known by, that it is no wonder if we, who come so many ages after them, are still in the dark, and so much at a loss to trace any one of these streets from the beginning to the end of it. And indeed I now conclude it is impossible to do it, without great interruptions, time and other accidents destroying every day more and more of their mouldering remains.” 1 Since the Saxon times, it is supposed these four great ways or streets have been denoted by the names Watling-street, Erming, Ermyn or Hermin-street, the Fosse, and Ikening or Icknild-street. In describing the courses of these streets, scarcely any two antiquaries are agreed : and for the reasons men- tioned by Gale, and which are every day becoming more forcible, it is not probable that the controversies which have arisen respecting them will ever be settled. This is not the place to enter into the dispute ; and it would require no little space barely to state the various routes through which different writers have carried these streets . 2 We find no intimation of such an arrangement and dis- tinction of Roman roads through Britain in Antoninus or any other Roman writer ; but it is highly probable that the Itinera of Anto- ninus formed the basis of these roads. It is the opinion of R. Gale, 1 Essay towards the Recovery of the Courses of the four great Roman Ways, pub- lished in Leland’s Itinerary, vol. vi. p. 11G — 150. 2 See Gale’s Essay; Horsley's Brit. Rom. b. iii. ch. ii. Stukeley’s Itin. Curiosum, and Archeeologia, especially vol. i. ii. and viii. 155 that the second Iter, which is by far the longest, beginning beyond the wall (of Hadrian) in the north-west, and extending to Ritupise in the south-east, ran along the Watliug street; and in this opinion Horsley fully agrees. Eburacum, which we should expect to meet with on- one of these great rpads, is in this Iter, between two other stations, Isurium and Calcaria. It occurs in three other of the itinera. In the first Iter, which is from the limit or wall (of Hadrian) to Pi’cetorium, it is placed between Isurium and Derventio : in the fifth, from Londinium to Luguvallium (Carlisle) on the wall, it is placed between Legeolium and Isurium : and the eighth begins from Eburacum and ends in Londinium ; in this, Lagecium, that is Legeolium, is named as the first station in the route ; Calcaria, which undoubtedly lay between Eburacum and Lagecium, being omitted. The stations mentioned in the Itinerary as immediately connected with Eburacum by military roads, are Isurium, Calcaria, Legeolium, and Derventio . 1 1 The following extracts from the Itinerary of Antoninus, containing all that relates to Eburacum, may perhaps not be uninteresting, as specimens of the nature of the work, to those who have not access to the original, or any of the Commentaries men- tioned above. The first Iter is given entire. ITER I. A limite, i. e., a Vallo, PrjEtorium usque M.P. CLVI. ; i. e., From the Wall (of Hadrian) to Praetorium, CLVI miles. A Bremenio (i. e., from Riechester to) Isurium . . M.P. XXIV CoRSTOPITUM . M.P. XX Eburacum, Leg. VI. Viet. M.P. XVII VlNDOMORA . M.P. IX Derventione . . M.P. VII VlNOVIA . M.P. XIX Delgovitia . M.P. XIII Cataractoni . . M.P. XXII Pr^torio . M.P. XXV In ITER II, which is from the Wall (of Hadrian) to Richborough, Eburacum and the stations near it are placed thus : — Eburacum M.P. XVII Lavatris (from Verterae) M.P. XIV Camboduno . M.P. XX Cataractoni . M.P. XVI Manucio M.P. XVIII Isurium . M.P. XXIV &c. In ITER V, which is from London to Carlisle, thus : Eburaco M.P. XXI Segeloci (from Lindum) M.P. XIV Isubrigantum M.P. XVII Dano . M.P. XXI &c. Legedio . M.P. XVI In ITER VIII, which is from York to London, thus Ab Eburaco Londinium M.P. CCXXVII. Lagecio . M.P. XXI Ageloco M.P. XXI Dano . M.P. XVI &c. x 2 156 Of Isurium there seems no room to doubt. All manner of evi- dence, as well as authority, as Horsley observes, conspire to fix Isurium at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge. Considerable remains of Roman antiquities have been discovered here ; and enough are yet existing to prove that this was the site of an important station. Its situation on the banks of the Ure, and its distance from Catterick and York, agreeing with the distance of Isurium from Cataractonium and Eburacum, in the Itinerary, sufficiently prove that Isurium was that station. In the fifth Iter, it is called Isubrigantum, a con- traction, no doubt, for Isurium Brigantum : from this it may be conjectured, that it was at first the chief station in the territory of the Brigantes ; and consequently for a time superior to Eburacum. Baxter thinks that it was the capital of the Brigantes of the British race, and Eburacum of the Romans . 1 Horsley was assured, he says, that the military way leading to Eburacum was visible near Isurium, but he could find no distinct traces of it near the present post- road . 2 He appears to have searched in a wrong direction ; for it is highly probable that Drake was right in supposing the road to have crossed the Ure at a ford, now Ald-wark ferry, about four miles below the station, and to have proceeded on the north side of the river to Eburacum. No traces of a road are indeed visible ; but tradition points to this direction . 3 With respect to the stations in Yorkshire, north-west of Isurium, mentioned in the second Iter, Cataractonium and Lavatrse, there is little difference of opinion. Cataractonium is undoubtedly to be placed at Catterick, or in the immediate neighbourhood of Catterick-bridge, at Brough-Hall, or at Thomborough ; and Lavatrse is unquestionably Bowes, on the verge of Stanemoor. Calc aria, the first station, according to the second Iter, south of Eburacum, is thought by Camden, Burton, Gale, Horsley, and Drake, to have been the site of the present Tadcaster. The precise situation cannot perhaps be settled by etymology, as the name Cal- caria, referring to lime, lime-quarries, or lime-kilns, might be equally well applied to other situations in the same district. But the itine- 1 “ Caput hoc erat Brigantum Britamrci generis, sicuti et Eburacum, Romanorum; nam diversi liabitabant Britones et Romani primorum temporum, quod minus inter se fiderent .” — Glossarium Antiq. Brit., Isurium Brigantum. 2 Bishop Nicolson fancied they were as distinct as those from York to Tadcaster. Thoresby’s Correspond, vol. i. p. 218. :l Ebor. p. 25. 157 rary measure of ix Roman miles accords very well with the distance between York and Tadcaster : and the remains of the Roman road from Eburacum, still visible, point directly to Tadcaster as the site of the station at which it terminated . 1 Camden asserts, that in his time there were the marks of a trench round the town. Some, however, place Calcaria higher up the Wharfe , 2 at Newton Kyme, or at St. Helen’s ford, where coins and other Roman remains have been dis- covered. But whoever will examine the remains of the Roman road from Eburacum, between Street-houses and the Wharfe, will pro- bably be convinced that it never could have led to either of these places. St. Helen’s ford is undoubtedly in the line of a great Roman road from Isurium, not from Eburacum, to Legeolium ; which was joined by the road from Eburacum to that station, at a short distance from Calcaria . 3 The next station to Calcaria, in the second Iter, is Cambodunum, connecting Eburacum with Macunium or Mancunium (Manchester). Concerning the position of this station, there is great diversity of opinion. Horsley reckons it one of the principal difficulties attend- ing this Iter. Camden, Burton, and Gale, fix it at Almonbury, about two miles south-east of Huddersfield. But Horsley says this stands out of the militaiy way ; and that no Roman coins or monu- ments have been found here : while at Gretland, about five miles south of Halifax, a votive altar, clearly indicating a Roman station, has been discovered ; and at Stainland, which is near it, there have been found Roman coins. He would therefore place Cambodunum near Gretland . 4 Mr. Watson, the learned author of the History of Halifax, doubts the discovery of the altar at Gretland, and fixes Cambodunum at Slack, near Stainland, south of Gretland, at which place several Roman antiquities have been found . 5 Legeolium in the fifth Iter, called in the eighth Iter Lagecium, and in both connected with Eburacum, is almost universally consi- dered to have been the site of modern Castleford. The Itinerary 1 See Thoresby’s Diary, vol. ii. p. 2G5. 2 Bishop Gibson, in his edition of Camden. 3 Gale speaks of the road as dividing at Legeolium. — “ Via publica hie se findit in duos calles, quorum unus per Aberford et Wetherby ducit ad Isurium ; alter per Cal- cariam ad Eburacum.” — Anton. Iter, &c., p. 97. 4 Brit. Rom. p. 414. 5 Hist, of Halifax, p. 40. Archaeol. vol. i. p. 218. 158 measures suit that position : and the Roman remains, especially coins, found in great abundance, indicate a station of importance. Yet Leland, and some others following him, among whom is Drake, thought it to have been Pontefract. Burton treats the opinion of Leland as a groundless conceit. Of Danum, the next station south of Legeolium, in the fifth and eighth itinera, there is no room for doubt that it was on the site of Doncaster. There is great uncertainty respecting the site of Derventio, to which the road from Eburacum is given in the first Iter. Camden, Burton, and some others, place it at Aldby. Drake at Stanford-burgh or bridge. Horsley is undecided : the ground near Kexby-bridge seemed to him proper enough for a station, but he does not venture to fix Derventio there ; he places it generally “ on Derwent river.” From its situation, wherever it may have been, it no doubt received its name. “ The certain discovery of the course of the military way,” says Horsley, “ would be decisive.” Such a discovery is not now to be ex- pected. It is highly probable that on leaving Eburacum, the military way crossed what is now called Heslington-field, where the Roman coffins were lately found ; 1 but in what precise direction it continued cannot be ascertained. The straightest line would lead to Kexby- bridge ; and the distance would correspond very well with the itine- rary measure of vii miles, which is too short either for Aldby or Stanford-bridge. Having no discernible track to follow, nor any remains to mark this station, the only conclusion we can safely form is that of Horsley, that it must have stood on the Derwent . 2 We meet with great difficulties in pursuing the route from Der- ventio, as marked in the first Iter, to Delgovitia and Praetorium. Delgovitia is placed by Camden, Burton, Gale, and Horsley, at Weigh- ton, or Godmundham ; Drake at first fixed it at Londesborough , 3 but afterwards, with Dr. J. Burton, adopted the opinion of Mr. Thomas Knowlton, that this station was near Millington, on the brow of the Wolds above Pocklington. The evidence in favour of this position, 1 P. 108; and Map of Eburacum, &c., L. 2 Misled by the name of this river, and in defiance of the connection and measures of the Itinerary, Talbot, Lliwyd, and some others, have supposed Derventio to be Derby. 3 Ebor. p. 32. 159 arising from ancient remains, and commanding situation, is very strong . 1 It is to be hoped that the Ordnance Survey, which is now going on, will afford some valuable assistance in ascertaining the true site of this and other stations. Patrington, in Holderness, near Spurnhead, as Horsley observes, has generally, if not universally, been supposed to be Praetorium ; but he prefers Broughton, south of the Humber. That there was a Roman station at Malton cannot be doubted. Yestiges of a Roman encampment have been distinctly traced : and inscriptions, coins, and other remains, are still occasionally disco- vered. But it does not occur in any of the itinera, or military routes of Antoninus; nor is it noticed in the Notitia. Ptolemy is supposed to have mentioned it, under the appellation of Camounlodunum. That geographer, enumerating the towns of the Brigantes, places Ca- mounlodunum next to Eburacum ; but as he observes no just order in respect of the few other Brigantian towns he mentions, proximity in his list does not necessarily imply proximity of the stations : and if any reliance be placed on his notation of the degrees of longitude and latitude in the determining the relative position of places, (and this is the chief guide he affords us,) Camounlodunum was situated on the west of Eburacum. It is therefore supposed by Gale, Horsley, and others, as Drake thinks, very erroneously, that the Camounlo- dunum of Ptolemy was the Cambodunum of Antoninus. Drake lays great stress upon the circumstance that Ptolemy proceeds to describe the sea-coasts, and the “ well-havened bay,” in the road to which, from York, Malton occurs. But Ptolemy mentions the sea-coast and the bay, and the Parisi, in connection with the Brigantes generally, and not with Eburacum, or any other single station. Between Ebu- racum and Camounlodunum, Ptolemy inserts “ Legio sexta victrix,” Legion the sixth, victorious. This Drake, after R. Gale, refers to the latter station ; supposing it to denote that Camounlodunum was a summer station of the sixth legion ; from which he concludes that it must be Malton, as “ bidding much fairer for that honour than Cambodunum, on several accounts.” But both Gale and Drake were manifestly wrong in joining the words of Ptolemy with the latter station. They evidently belong to Eburacum, the head-quarters of 1 See some very interesting communications by Knowlton, Dr. Burton, and Drake, in the Phil. Trans, abridged, by Martyn, vol. x. p 1245 — 1254. ICO the sixth legion. He thus distinguishes Deuna or Deva (Chester) by adding “ Legio vicesima victrix ;” and Isca Dumnoniorum, by “ Legio secunda Augusta.” It is by no means plain, therefore, that Malton is pointed out to us in Ptolemy’s Geography by the name Camounlo- dunum or Camulodunum. And it must be confessed that considerable as the station appears to have been, the Roman name of it is un- known. This station was probably connected with York by a vicinal or cross- road; which Drake thought to have been the same as the modern road as it was in his time. And he asserts that “ he could point out several pieces of it pretty entire, and that in some places the exact breadth of the stratum might be mentioned.” 1 The probability that such a road did exist will be deemed still greater, if it be admitted that the Sinus Portuosus or Salutaris, koXttoq evXi/juvoQ of Ptolemy, was Filey-bay : as seems to be satisfactorily established by the inter- esting observations recently published by Mr. Walker of Malton, on this subject . 2 There can be little doubt that the road from that important bay, still to be traced to Malton, would be thence carried on to York. The connection of Malton with Dunum Sinus, Prseto- rium, and other stations, is clearly established by the investigations of the same intelligent antiquary . 3 Olecana (Ilkley on the Wharfe), though not mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus, was undoubtedly a Roman station. Ptolemy mentions it among the towns of the Brigantes ; and has pretty accu- rately fixed its situation. Roman altars and other remains have been found there; from which it has been supposed that it was garrisoned by the second cohort of the Lingones. There was a military way to it from Isurium. The road to it from Eburacum appears to have been a via vicinalis, branching from the great road to Legeolium, about two miles south-west of Calcaria, and passing near Adel Mill, four miles north-west of Leeds, as Thoresby says, who carefully examined it ; and who at first imagined Adel to have 1 Ebor. p. 36. 2 Observations to prove Filey-bay in Yorkshire the Portus Felix, &c., by J. Walker, Esq. Archoeol. vol. xxv. 3 The results of these are exhibited in a map, or “ Sketch of Ancient Military Remains on the western Promontory of the Yorkshire Wolds, &c. ; and of the Bri- gantian or Roman Roads diverging from Malton.” But no Roman road appears in this sketch in a direct line towards York, on the north side of the Derwent. 1G1 been the ancient Adelocum, or Agelocum, but upon second thoughts, which, as Whitaker says, were in this case the best, concluded it to have been called Burgodunum. 1 Agelocum was undoubtedly Little- borough in Lincolnshire. It is highly probable, that there were small forts or outposts in the neighbourhood of Eburacum, and connected with the principal station by vicinal roads. But the author is not aware of any remains existing by which such outposts can be traced. The term Acaster belonging to two villages on the banks of the Ouse, Acaster Malbis and Acaster Selby, seems to indicate a Roman origin, and to warrant the conjecture that they were forts established for the protection of the river. “ Besides the land roads which led to Eboracum from so many different stations and sea-ports,” says the learned historian of York, “ by means of the river it stood upon, the communication by water was open to the German ocean ; and consequently vessels might arrive there from any part of the empire ; nor was there a ship then in use but might be moored under the very walls of the city.” 2 This is perfectly true ; and Roman vessels, both naves longse, and naves onerariae, ships of war and merchant ships, may have floated on the Ouse, and been moored under the walls of Eburacum. But this is entirely matter of conjecture. It has no historical evidence to support it ; for the testimony of William of Malmesbury, and even of Alcuin, will not be deemed conclusive. It is however highly probable, that the advantages offered by such a river were not neglected ; and Eburacum may have been, as Alcuin has described it, “ Emporium terrse commune marisque ;” the common mart of land and sea. This may be allowed without paying any regard to the fancies of Stukeley respecting the Roman origin and the design of the Car- dike and the Foss-dike of Lincolnshire. 3 But the author must be allowed to express some hesitation in admitting, without further evidence than has yet been produced, (more indeed is not now to be expected,) that “ all that morass called now the Foss-islands, extending from Foss-bridge to Lay erthorp -bridge, was in the time of the Romans a grand dock, or reservoir of water, filled with ships, 1 The station was not at Adel, but on the Moor, about a mile to the north. Phil. Trans, abridged by Jones, vol. v. pt. ii. p. 37. Ducatus Leod. p. 161. Catal, &c. p. 106 . 5 Ebor. p. 37. 3 Ebor. p. 38. Stukeley ’s Letter to Drake. Y DIRECTIONS TO TIIE BINDER. Plan of Modern York, Map of Ebuhacum, &c. &c. • • To face Title- page Plate I. Page 48 II. . 51 III. . 52 IV. . 56 V. . 51 VI. . 54 VII. . 59 VIII. . 70 IX. . 75 X. . 87 XI. . 104 XII. . 110 XIII. . 113 XIV. . 115 XV. . 121 XVI. . 127 XVII. . 131 SUBSCRIBERS’ NAMES. HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUESS OF NORMAN BY. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL FITZW1LLIAM, President of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, (two copies.) THE RIGHT HON. LORD WENLOCK, Lord-Lieutenant of the E. Riding. THE HON. BEILBY RICHARD LAWLEY. THE HON. ROBERT NEVILLE LAWLEY. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ZETLAND, Lord-Lieutenant of the N. Riding. SIR WILLIAM LAWSON, Bart., F.S.A., Brough Hall. SIR HENRY DRYDEN, Bart., F.S.A., Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. SIR BENJAMIN HEYWOOD, Bart., Claremont, Manchester. 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