S ) -2- ^ 
 
 
Roman British Pottery. 
 
THE CELT, THE ROMAN. AND 
 THE SAXON: 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF 
 BRITAIN, 
 
 DOWN TO THE CONVERSION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS 
 TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY THE ANCIENT REMAINS BROUGHT TO LIGHT BY 
 RECENT RESEARCH, 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS WHIGHT, Esq., 
 
 M.A., F.S.A,, 
 
 AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE 
 
 (Academie des Inscrijitions et JBelles Lettrea). 
 
 WITH NmiEBOUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. 
 
 FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 LONDON; 
 
 KLGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER, & CO. LU 
 
 TATEENOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD. 
 
 1892. 
 
. ?o W 01. ^ \ W\ 
 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 of IJotogs 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 ON THE EAKLIEll^. HISTORY OF OUR FOREFATHERS 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED DY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 
 > 8'11 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There is hardly a corner in our island in wliicli the spade 
 or the ploiigdi does not, from time to time, turn up relics of 
 its earlier inhabitants, to astonish and to excite the curiosity 
 of the observer, who, when he looks to an ordinary history 
 of England, finds that the period to which such remains belong 
 is passed over with so little notice, that he is left with no more 
 information on the subject of his research than he possess(?d 
 before he opened the book. There is, in fact, no popular 
 history of what is termed by antiquaries the Primeval Period, 
 and those who are placed in the position just mentioned, if 
 they happen not to possess a library of expensive publications, 
 or to have the opportunity of consulting with those who have 
 made archaeology their study, are at present obliged to remain 
 satisfied with uncertain conjectures, and are thus led, in the 
 absence of the requisite elementary knowledge, to form theories 
 of their own which are far removed from the truth. It was 
 ill the wish to supply a want thus very extensively felt that 
 the following volume originated. Its object is to give a 
 sketch of that part of our history which is not generally treated 
 of, the period before Britain became Christian England — the 
 peilod, indeed, which, in the absence of much documentary 
 evidence, it is the peculiar province of the antiquary to illus- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 trate. Every article which, as just stated, is turned up by the 
 spade or tlie plough, is a record of that history, and it is bv 
 comparing them together, and subjecting them to tlie assay of 
 science, that we make them tell their story. I have attempted 
 in the following pages to show what light the still imperfect 
 discoveries of the antiquary have thrown upon the condition of 
 this island, during centuries which present little more than 'a 
 blank in our ordinary annals. 
 
 The studies of the antiquary are not so dry or so useless as 
 many have been led to suppose, and it is clear that this is be- 
 ginning to be generally understood by the widely increased 
 popularity which they have gained during the last few years. 
 His science, however, is as yet but very imperfectly developed, but 
 the difficulties which stood in the way of its advance are now in 
 a great measure cleared away, and we may hope that it is 
 making a steady and satisfactory progress. The great obstacle 
 with which the student has had to contend was, the want of 
 examples brought together for comparison, which led him con- 
 tinually to make assumptions that had no foundation, and to 
 appropriate incorrectly, the consequences of which are visible in 
 almost every work touching on the primeval antiquities of 
 Britain that has appeared until the last few years- This obstacle 
 is now rapidly giving way before the increasing facility of com- 
 municating knowledge, the formation of local museums, and the 
 greater number of good books on the subject. But there is 
 another danger against which the student in British archaeology 
 is to be especially warned ; the old scholars failed in not follow- 
 ing a sufficiently strict course of comparison and deduction ; but 
 some of the new ones run into the opposite extreme of general- 
 izing too hastily, and they thus form systems specious and 
 attractive in appearance, but without foundation in truth. Such 
 I am convinced is the system of archaeological periods which has 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 been adopted by the antiquaries of the north, and which a vain 
 attempt has been made to introduce into this country. There is 
 something we may perhaps say poetical, certainly imaginative, in 
 talking of an age of stone, or an age of bronze, or an age of 
 iron, but such divisions have no meaning in history, which can- 
 not be treated as a physical science, and its objects arranged iji 
 genera and species. We have to do with races of mankind, and 
 we can only arrange the objects which come under our examina- 
 tion according to the peoples to whom they belonged, and as 
 they illustrate their manners and history. In fact, the divisions 
 alluded to are in themselves, I believe, incorrect, and so far is 
 the discovery of implements of stone, or of bronze, or of iron, in 
 themselves a proof of any particular age, that we often find them 
 together. It is true that there may have been a period when 
 society was in so barbarous a state, that sticks or stones were 
 the only implements with which men knew how to furnish them- 
 selves ; but I doubt if the antiquary has yet found any evidence 
 of such a period. Stone implements are certainly found with 
 articles of metal, and it may fiiirly be doubted if the stone im- 
 plements in general, found either in these islands or in the north, 
 belong to a period antecedent, or much antecedent, to that in which 
 metals were in common use. In the early period to which the pre- 
 sent volume refers, intercommunication was slow and difficult, and 
 an individual in any obscure village could not, as at present, send 
 off by post to any distant town and get immediately the material he 
 wanted in any given quantity. It was thus necessary to use 
 such materials as came to hand, and there is no possible reason 
 why one man should not possess a weapon or a tool formed of 
 stone, while his richer or more fortunate contemporary had one 
 of iron or of bronze. This latter is the metal found almost ex- 
 clusively in what seem to be the earliest sepulchral interments ; 
 but we are not sufficiently acquainted Avith the manners and 
 sentiments of the people to whom they belonged, to say that 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 viii 
 
 there was not some particular reasons wliy the deceased preferred 
 articles of bronze to those of other metals. Perhaps it was 
 looked upon as more precious. What was the origin of bronze 
 but the attempt to harden copper in countries where iron was 
 not known, or could not be procured ? it is a mixed metal, and 
 it is absurd to suppose tliat its use could have preceded that of 
 iron in countries where the latter metal was abundant. We 
 must also bear in mind that iron undergoes much more rapid 
 decomposition ; and if even in interments of the Anglo-Saxon 
 period we very often find scarcely a trace remaining of what we 
 know were articles composed of that metal, what must be the 
 case with regard to similar interments made six or seven hundi’ed 
 years earlier, or possibly at a still more remote period ? 
 
 I have thought it necessary to make these observations, be- 
 cause it will be seen, that in the following manual I have alto- 
 gether discarded this vague system of metallic periods. I have 
 treated antiquities simply according to the races to which they 
 belonged. In fad, I have attempted to make archaeology walk 
 band-in-hand with history.^ 
 
 I feel conscious, at the sanm time, that my attempt must be, 
 in many respects, an imperfect one, and that I have good reason 
 for appealing to the indulgence of my readers. My object was 
 to supply the want of a manual of British ai-ch3eo log\q where 
 there was really no such work existing, and it has been the 
 occupation of leisure moments under many disadvantages. If it 
 
 * After this preface was written, I delivered at the meeting of the British 
 Association a Paper on this subject of Primeval Antiquities, which was 
 printed in the Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London, in 
 which I had examined a little more carefully into the arguments which 
 had been for and against. I have yielded to the suggestion of friends to 
 give this paper, slightly revij-ed. as the first chapter in my book in the pre- 
 sent edition. 
 
rilEFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 help to render the science more popular, and to call the atten- 
 tion of* Englishmen more generally to the memorials of the past 
 history of their country, my object will be fully accomplished. 
 Those who wish to pursue the subject further must study the 
 objects themselves, and refer to some of the larger and more ex- 
 pensive works which may be found in public libraries. To place 
 such objects and works within the reach of people in general is 
 the chief purpose of local museums and societies. A great mass 
 of valuable material for the illustration of the antiquities of the 
 period under our present consideration, will be found scattered 
 through the volumes of the Archmologia of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries of London ; but the unexperienced antiquary must pay 
 more attention to the plates than to the descriptions. The best 
 collection of antiquarian materials we possess at present is the 
 Collectanea Antiqua by Mr Eoach Smith, which, however, is 
 already becoming rare. Many good papers on primeval anti- 
 quities, by Mr Eoach Smith and others, will also be found in the 
 volumes of the Journal of the British Archaeological Associa- 
 tion, and in the Archaeological Journal published by the 
 Archaeological Institute. Other valuable works for reference, 
 but of a less general character, will be pointed out in the 
 notes to the following pages. 
 
 The value of a work on antiquities depends much on its pic- 
 torial illustrations, for it is evident that descriptions of the 
 objects Avithout engravings woidd be very vague and unsatisfac- 
 tory. I have endeavoured in the present work to give engravings 
 of such objects as represent the classes, or peculiar types, Avitli 
 Avliich it is necessary that the student in archseology should make 
 himself acquainted. In doing this, I have to acknoAvledge the 
 kind and ready assistance of one or two friends, to whom tlie 
 antiquarianism of this country owes much of its progress at tlie 
 present day ; and, although by far the greater part of the illus- 
 trations were engraved expressly for this work, and are due to 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the skilful pencil of Mr Pairliolt, I have availed myself of the 
 otters of Dr Eruce of Newcastle, to lend me some of the cuts 
 from his excellent work on the Eoman Wall, and of Mr Eoach 
 Smith, who similarly placed at my disposal the cuts of his Collec- 
 tanea, of his work on the antiquities of Eichborough, Eeculver, 
 and Lymne, and of his still more recent work on Eoman London. 
 
 A new edition of this work having been called for, I have 
 only here to add a few words to the foregoing remarks. A 
 volume like this, containing so many facts brought together from 
 different sources, could hardly be expected to be free from errors. 
 I have done my best to discover and correct these in the new 
 edition, and the text has not only been revised throughout, but 
 many additions have been made, chiefly arising out of discoveries 
 made since the appearance of the former edition, and among 
 these additions are a coiisiderable number of new illustrative 
 engravings. 
 
 THOMAS WEIGHT. 
 
 Bromptox, Decembery 1874. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On the True Assignation of the Bronze Weapons, etc., supposed to indicate 
 a Bronze Age in Western and Northern Europe — Stone, the earliest 
 known material used for Weapons — The Stone Age, Bronze Age, and 
 Iron Age of the Northern Antiquaries 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Ethnological Views— Political Movements in Gaul— Csesar’s first and second 
 Invasions — Cassi'-ellaunus — The Britons, as described by Csesar, Strabo, 
 and Diodorus — Cunobeline and his Sons — Expedition of Claudius — 
 Conquests of the earlier Proprietors — Caractacus — Cartismandua and 
 Venusius — Invasion of IMona — Insurrection of Boadicea — War with the 
 Brigantes — Campaigns of Agricola — Total Subjection of the Island to 
 Rome — Enumeration of the British Tribes — Hibernia — Manners of the 
 Britons, as described by Ancient Writers — The Druids . . . .23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 British Antiquities — Barrows — Cromlechs, and Sepulchral Chambers — 
 Circles ; Stonehenge — Other Monuments of Stone — Various descriptions 
 of British Barrows — Their contents — Pottery — Instruments of Stone — 
 Instruments of Metal — Other articles — Their value as illustrative of 
 History — The British Coinage — Earthworks, and supposed sites of 
 Towns and Villages . 70 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Britain at the beginning of the Second Century —Towns en\nnerated by 
 Ptolemy — Hadrian— The Wall — Lollius Urbicus ; the Wall of Antoninus 
 — Rebellion of the Soldiery in Britain —Albinus contends for the Purple 
 — Campaigns of Severus, who dies at Eburacum {Yoik ) — The Caledonians 
 — Carausius usurps the Purple — Allectus — Britain restored to the Em- 
 pire by Constantins — Constantine the Great— Revolt of Magnentius — 
 
 The Piets and Scots 12Q 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xii 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Jouniey t?irougli Roman Britain — Londinium — Great Road from Londininm 
 to Segontium — Verulamium ; Uriconium, &c. — Direct Northern Road 
 from Londinium ; Durobrivse, Lindum, Danum, Eburacum, Isurium— 
 Passage of the two Walls — Stations on the Wall — Branch to Luguballium 
 and Blatum Bulgium — Eastern Road ; Camulodunum, Oamboricum — 
 From Londinium. to Calleva — Branch to Corinium and Glevum ; Isca 
 and Maridunum — From Glevum by Magna to Deva, and thence through 
 Coccium to the North — Cross Roads — Salina3 and other Towns — The 
 Western Road, from Calleva to Sorbiodunum, Durnovaria, and Isca 
 Dumnoniorum — Aquae Solis — The trajectus to Wales, and the Sarn 
 Helen— The Road on the Southern Coast ; Venta Belgarum, Clausentum, 
 Portus Magnus, Regnum, Anderida, Portus Leman is . . . .145 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A Roman Town in Britain— Its Walls, Towers, and Gates — Materials, and 
 Modes of Construction — The Houses — Their Plan and Arrangement — 
 
 Tiie Tessellated Pavements and Frescoed Walls — Method of Warming 
 the Houses; the Hypocausts — the Baths — Windows and Roofs — Distti- 
 bution of the Houses in Streets — Public Buildings ; Temples, Basilictu, 
 Theatres, Amphitheatres — The Suburbs and Burial-places — Sanitary 
 Arrangements ; Sewers, Rubbish-pits — The Language of Britain . , 171 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Country — Roman Roads mid their Construction — Milliaria; the Roman 
 Mile — Bridges — Homan Villas; Woodchester, Bignor, (fee. — Tessellateii 
 Pavements, and the Subjects represented on them — Rustic Villages— 
 Agriculture and Farming — Country Life ; the Chase — British Dogs . 221 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Manufactures of the Romans in Britain — Pottery— The Upchurch Ware — 
 Dymchiirch — The Potteries at Durobrivae — The Samian Ware — Romano- 
 Salopian Wares — Other Varieties — Terra-cottas — Roman Glass — Kim- 
 meridge Coal Manufacture — Mineral Coal — Metals — The Roman Iron- 
 works in Britain ; Sussex, the Forest of Dean, (fee. — Tin and Lead — 
 Other Metals — Bronze — The Arts ; Sculpture — Medicine ; the Oculists’ 
 Stamps — Trades ; a Goldsmith’s Sign 259 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Ethnological Character of the Roman Population of Britain — Countries from 
 which it was derived — The Auxiliary Troops — Names and Birthplaces 
 of Individuals— Traces of Languages ; Inscribed Pottery ; the Roundels 
 found at Colchester — Debased Latinity — Remains of the British Popu- 
 lation 306 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Religious Worship of the Romans in Britain — Roman chief Deities ; Jupiter, 
 Mars, Apollo, Minerva, Ceres, <fec. — The eight Deities — Lesser Deities ; 
 Silvanus, ^Esculapius — Grecian and Eastern Deities ; the Tyrian Her- 
 cules, Mithras, Serapis — The Nymphs and Genii^ Fortune, and Deified 
 Personifications — Deities of the Auxiliary Races ; the Dese Matres, Vite- 
 res, or Vitris, Belatucadrus, Cocidius, Mogontis, <fec. —Did Christianity 
 prevail or exist in Roman Britain? 313 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER Xr. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Bfodes of Sepulture in Roman Britain — Cremation and Urn-Burial — Modes 
 of Interment — Burial of the Body entire— Sarcophagi — Coffins of Baked 
 Clay, Lead, and Wood — Barrows — Sepulchral Chambers — Inscriptions 
 and their Sentiments — Various Articles deposited with the Dead — 
 Fulgor Divom HoT 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Domestic Life among the Romans in Britain as Illustrated by their Remains 
 — Dress and Personal Ornaments — The Toilette — The Household ; Fur- 
 niture , and U tensils — Female Occupations — Cutlery — Styli — Scales — 
 Ornamental Articles — Weapons, &c. . . .... 391 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Roman Province — Its Divisions and Officers — The Military Force — 
 Centurial and other Inscriptions — Towns and their Municipal Constitu 
 tion — The Coinage- -Roman Coins relating to Britain — Spurious Coin- 
 age-Different methods of Hoarding Money 416 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Declining State of the Roman Empire after the age of Julian — Theodosius 
 sent to Britain — Revolt and Career of Maximus — Stilicho — Marcus and 
 Gratian revolt in Britain — The Usurper Constantine— Honorius — Britain 
 independent of the Empire and harassed by the Northern Barbarians — 
 
 The Britons receive assistance from Rome — The last Roman Legion 
 withdrawn— The Angles and Saxons come in — The Angles settle in 
 Northumbria — The Jutes in Kent — Hengest and Horsa — vElla in Sussex 
 — Cerdic arrives in Hampshire — Essex and the Angles — Mission of St 
 Augustine and Conversion of the Anglo-Sax:ons to Christianity . . 440 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Antiquities — Barrows or Graves, and the general Character of 
 their Contents — Arms — Personal Ornaments ; Fibulae, &c. — Anglo-Saxon 
 Jewellery — Pottery — Glass — 0* i. or i t cles found in the Barrows 
 Bowls, Buckets, &c. — Coins — Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage . . . 465 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Settlement — Division of the Land — Population of the Country 
 and of the Towns— Continuance of the Roman Municipalities — Traces 
 of Municipal Privileges in the Anglo-Saxon Towns ; Canterbury, 
 Rochester, Dover, Exeter, London 505 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Celtic Establishments — Strath-Cluyd, Cornwall, Wales — Early Sepulchral In- 
 scriptions found in the two latter Countries 525 
 
 Appendix I. — The Itineraries and Lists of Towns : 
 
 Itinerary of Antoninus 531 
 
 Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester 533 
 
 The Ravenna List of Towns 536 
 
 Appendix II. — Roman Potters' Marks 541 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 K031AN BRITISH POTTERY to face Title 
 
 ■MAP OP BRITAIN UNDER Tlir; ROMANS . . to luce Appendix 
 
 STONEHENGE, PROM THE W.N.W to face page 80 
 
 RUINS OP THE GATE AT LYMNE . . . . ^ 
 
 PART OP THE M'ALLS OP A TOWN . . . . „ ISO 
 
 POUNDATIONS OF ROMAN HOUSES AT ALDBOROUGH ' . ,, 192 
 
 THE PROCESS OF PRESCO-PAINTING 203 
 
 HYPOCAUST IN THE ROMAN VILLA AT WOODCHESTER . ,, 23G 
 
 CORNER OF THE CRYPTOPORTICUS, ROMAN VILLA AT 
 
 BIGNOR . . 213 
 
 TESSELLATED PAVEMENTS AT -WROXETER, NO. 1 . . ,, 249 
 
 „ „ „ NO. 2 . . „ 250 
 
 ROMAN POTTERY PROM CASTOR AND THE UPCHURCH 
 
 MARSHES . ,,260 
 
 CASTOR, NORTHAMPTONSUTRE [Durobfiocs) . . . „ 2()3 
 
 ROMAN POTTERY KILN, AT SIBSON . . • • 263 
 
 ROMAN potter’s KILN AT CASTOR {Burobvivce) . . „ 267 
 
 GROUP OP SAMIAN WARE FOUND IN ENGLAND . . . 273 
 
 ROMAN TOMBS „ 363 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON WEAPONS, ETC „ 470 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON PIBUL.E „ 478 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON JEWELLERY 486 
 
THE BRITONS 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 On the True Assignation of the Bronze Weapons, etc., supposed to indicaf o 
 a Bronze Age in Western and Northern Europe — Stone, the earliest 
 known material used for Weapons — The Stone Age, Bronze Age, and 
 Iron Age of the Northern Antiquaries. 
 
 Within a few years there has come into existence, I will 
 not say a new science, hut certainly a new and very extraordi- 
 nary held for scientihc inquiry. Not long ago, antiquaries 
 limited their knowledge of the remains of human industry in 
 this part of the tvorld to a few generations, at most, before the 
 date when we are made acquainted with its inhabitants by the 
 Eoman historians, and everybody was satished with the biblical 
 account, that mankind had existed upon this earth somewhat 
 more than six thousand years. It is but recently that we were 
 all surprised by the announcement that hint implements, which 
 had evidently been formed by man’s hand, had been found in 
 the geological formation known by the name of drift. As soon 
 as this discovery became an accepted fact, and more general 
 attention was called to the subject, it was discovered that these 
 hint implements, instead of being rare (as we might perhaps 
 have expected), were, in many parts where the drift was exam- 
 ined, so abundant as to imply the evidence of a considerable 
 population at a period of course preceding the formation of the 
 drift itself. These implements present a great uniformity in 
 shape, and to some degree in size, — at all events there are only 
 two or three varieties, — and it is remarkable that, while the 
 fossil bones of various animals are found in the same drift, there 
 has been as yet no authentic discovery of human bones ; yet 
 tiiere a})pears to be no room for doubt that these implements 
 
2 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 are really the work of man. Of course, according to the opin- 
 ions of geologists on the age of the drift, this discovery would 
 carry back the existence of man on earth to an immense dis- 
 tance beyond tlie biblical date, and it leaves us for speculation 
 and theory a period of far greater extent than the whole 
 historical period. 
 
 The question of the Antiquity of Man became thus an attract- 
 ive, and even an exciting, study. It happened that the north- 
 ern — the Scandinavian — antiquaries, whose peculiar fault, if 
 any, is a spirit of too hasty generalising, had already started an 
 ingenious theory in relation to these pre-historic times, accord- 
 ing to which these were divided into three periods or ages, 
 distinguished by the jiaines of stone age, bronze age, and iron 
 age. During the first of these periods, it is supposed that 
 metal was unknown to man, and that stone was the best 
 material he had for the manufacture of weapons or of other 
 implements for cutting or hammering; the second was charac- 
 terised by the use of bronze as the only metal ; in the third, 
 bronze had been superseded for these purposes by iron. This 
 system of periods was eagerly embraced by the new school of 
 pre-historic antiquaries, who have even refined upon it and 
 divided at least the first two periods into subdivisions. 
 
 It is this dark and mysterious pre-historic period which 
 has furnished the subject treated in a handsome volume pub- 
 lished by Sir John Lubbock,^ which treats successively on 
 the system of periods or ages just mentioned, on the tumuli of 
 the pre-historic times, on the lake-habitations, shell-mounds, 
 and caves, on the more general subject of the Antiquity of Man 
 himself, and on the manners of modern savages, which the 
 author employs very judiciously to illustrate those of the savages 
 of pre-historic ages, for absolute savages at all times bear a 
 certain resemblance to one another. I will only add, as to the 
 book itself, that it is a well-written and well-arranged work, 
 characterised equally by purity of language and by its singular 
 clearness and perspicuity, while it presents a view of the whole 
 subject which surprises us by its comprehensiveness, without 
 wearying us with what too often constitutes comprehensiveness, 
 a close dry mass of enumerations of facts. I take Sir John 
 Lubbock’s work only from one point of view — so far as its 
 talented author treats of the system of periods — a system which 
 
 * ‘ Prehistoric Times, as illustrated by Ancient Remain.®, and the Mnn- 
 imrs and Customs of Modern Savages. ’ By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., 
 F.R.S. 8vj. Williams and Norgate. 186'). 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 3 
 
 it is tolerably well known that I, in common with antiquaries 
 of some eminence in their science, reject altogether, and look 
 upon as a mere delusion, and some parts of the first chapters 
 of my friend’s book are aimed at me ; that is, they are directed 
 against opinions which I have expressed and which are here 
 rightly put into my mouth, and I am glad of the opportunity 
 of explaining my reasons rather more fully. It will be under- 
 .stood by everybody that whatever strictures I have to make 
 are directed, not against Sir John Lubbock’s writings, but 
 against the opinions of the school of pre-historic archaeologists 
 which he has adopted, and which are here stated more fairly 
 and distinctly than in any other work with which I am 
 acquainted. 
 
 I am by no means inclined to impugn hastily the general 
 conclusions at which men of science seem now arriving upon 
 the great question of the antiquity of man — it is a subject in 
 regard to which I look forward with anxious interest to the 
 increase of our knowledge, certain that the ultimate result must 
 be truth. Magna est veritas, et prcevalehit. But I complain of 
 the treatment which the science of archaeology has hitherto 
 received at their hands. There was a cry some time ago — and 
 nobody joined in it more heartily than myself — that a close 
 alliance should exist between archaeology and geology ; but this 
 was to have been a fair and equal alliance, in which the geolo- 
 gist should accept the conclusions of archaeology on the same 
 footing as the archaeologist is expected to receive the opinions 
 of the geologist. Instead of this, the geologist seems to have 
 considered that the science he had thus to give his hand to is a 
 vague and uncertain one, — he has created a sort of archaeology 
 of his own, made in the first place to suit his own theories, and 
 he takes only the advice of those who will give him an opinion 
 which is in accordance with a foregone conclusion, and this is 
 often quite contrary to the teachings of archaeological science. 
 Archaeology, as a science, has now reached too high a position 
 to be treated with so little respect. But let us go on to the 
 more especial subject now before me. 
 
 Sir John Lubbock alleges that ‘ Mr Wright sees nothing in 
 Great Britain which can be referred to ante-Eoman times’ (p. 35); 
 and upon this he remarks (p. 36), ‘But if we are to refer 
 not only the bronze implements, but also those of stone, to the 
 Eoman period, what implements, we may ask, does Mr Wright 
 suppose were used by the ancient Britons before the arrival of 
 Caesar ? It would be more reasonable to deny the existence of 
 
4 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. r. 
 
 ancient Britons at once, than thus to deprive them, as it were, 
 of all means of obtaining subsistence.’ What I have said on 
 this subject must have been strangely misunderstood, or I may 
 have explained myself badly ; for I am entirely unconscious of 
 having ever uttered an opinion which could bear the interpret- 
 ation here given to it. I have said, and I still say, that I do 
 not believe we have many — perhaps any — monuments of im- 
 portance much older than the Roman period, and that such 
 ancient remains as are supposed to be older than the Roman 
 period bear no characteristics which would enable us to ascribe 
 them to any particular date. I have never pretended to deprive 
 the Britons of the use of stone, — it would not be in my power ; 
 ])ut I say that stone was also in use for the same purpose in 
 Roman and Saxon times, and that tlie mere presence of a stone 
 implement does not prove that the deposit was British any more 
 than Roman. Stone, of various kinds, is a very ready and 
 convenient material for purposes such as the stone implements 
 of antiquity evidently served, and it is found in use in Western 
 Europe even in the middle ages. Stone implements have often 
 been found on Roman sites in this island ; they have been found 
 in Saxon graves in Kent, and I have myself found flint flakes, 
 evidently placed there by the hand of man, in Saxon graves in 
 the Isle of Wight, perfectly resembling those of which the 
 geologists have talked so much of late. The Abbe Cochet 
 found similar flint flakes in Roman graves in Normandy, so ar- 
 ranged as to leave no doubt that they were placed there inten- 
 tionally. 
 
 Sir John, indeed, acknowledges tliat implements in stone 
 were in use in Roman times, but it was not so much a difl’er- 
 ence between the poor and the rich, as he puts it (the structure 
 of society was altogether diflerent from that of modern times), 
 as between diflerent localities. It would be very wrong to sup- 
 pose that the social condition of Britain under the Romans was 
 uniform in cultivation and condition throughout the province. 
 There were no doubt ‘ savages ’ in wild and retired parts of 
 the island, as there have been in much more recent times, and 
 communication between distant localities, except on the lines ol 
 the great roads, was slow and precarious. People must thus 
 have been frequently exposed to the inconvenience of falling 
 short of metals, which, moreover, were probably always expens- 
 ive, and then they woidd be obliged to have recourse to stones, 
 the use of which would thus be habitual. People, under this 
 
CHAP. i.J IMPLEMENTS OF STONE AND BRONZE. 
 
 5 
 
 state of society, could not go to obtain tlieir flint implements at 
 distant manufactories, but must either have made them individu- 
 ally for themselves, or, at the most, there may have been a man 
 in each village or rural district who was more skilful in making 
 them than his neighbours, and supplied them to those who were 
 able or willing to purchase. In this manner there must have 
 been, throughout the land, at the same time, a vast variety in 
 the form and style of flint implements, according to local taste 
 or individual caprice, so that it would be absurd to consider 
 difference of form and character as a proof of difference of date. 
 In primitive times diversity, and not uniformity, was usually 
 the rule, and sometimes this difference of form and design be- 
 came almost a family distinction. Among the Anglo-Saxons, 
 long after they had risen above the character of savages, the 
 different tribes were distinguished by different forms of personal 
 ornaments, and we know that in much later times the clans of 
 the Scottish highlanders have been similarly distinguished by 
 the patterns of their plaids. 
 
 But, enough of stone for the present — let us proceed lo 
 bronze, which forms the grand corner-stone of the edifice of this 
 system of periods. We may, perhaps, consider as the most im- 
 portant of these objects of bronze the swords, because they 
 present a greater number of peculiarities of form than any of 
 the other classes, and the circumstances connected with their 
 discovery seem at a first glance of the subject to suggest more 
 difficulty in identifying them with the Eomans ; I shall, there- 
 fore, take them as the special object of investigation, but the 
 arguments I shall use with regard to them apply with still more 
 force to the other objects made of the same metal. I give four 
 examples of these swords in the cut No. 1, three of which are 
 taken from Sir John Lubbock’s ‘ Pre-historic Times,’ as the 
 readiest and most convenient book to quote. It will be seen 
 that there are here three forms of blades, of which figs. 2 and 3 
 are what are commonly called leaf-shaped, the blade of fig. I 
 tapers from the hilt to the point, while the two edges of the 
 blade in fig. 4 are nearly pai-allel. They are all distinguished 
 by the peculiarity of being ribbed. The swords, as will be 
 seen, present two descriptions of handler, which were either of 
 the same material as the blade and rivetted to it, or of material 
 of a more perishable nature, and attached to the blades in the 
 same manner as our old knife-handles. These swords, it must 
 be agreed, do not present any varieties of forms which might be 
 
THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. I, 
 
 No. 1. Examples of Bronze Swords. 
 
 supposed to have originated among different peoples nnar- 
 qnainted with one another, but they are perfectly identical in 
 character, yet they have been found in almost all parts of 
 Europe. Of the four examples here given, No. 1 was found in 
 the valley of the Somme in France ; 2, in the lake of Neuf- 
 chatel in Switzerland ; 3, in Sweden • and 4, in some part of 
 Scandinavia, but I am not aware of the exact locality.^ No 
 one could doubt for a moment the identity in form of the 
 handles of figs. 1,2, and 4. 
 
 Sir John asserts that ' bi’onze weapons are never found asso- 
 ciated with coins, pottery, or other relics of Eoman origin ; ’ 
 he then proceeds to quote a statement of mine to the effect that 
 on all the sites of ruined Eoman towns these other objects are 
 found scattered about rather abundantly ; and he adds some- 
 what triumphantly, ‘ We may assume, then, on the authority of 
 Mr Wright himself, that, if all these bronze arms were really of 
 Eoman origin, many of them would have been found from time 
 to time in conjunction with other Eoman remains.’ I can 
 admit of no such assumption as arising from the facts I have 
 stated ; and I am sorry to be obliged to say that this remark 
 only shows that my friend, in common with the advocates of 
 this system of periods generally, is but imperfectly acquainted 
 with the archaeological conditions of the question. The reason 
 we do not find bronze swords under the circumstances which he 
 
 * In the noble museum of my friend Mr Joseph Mayer, in Liverpco!, 
 there is one of these leaf-shaped bronze swoixls, which was found in Hun- 
 gaiy ; it came from the oolleotion of the late Count Pulszky. 
 
CHAP. 1.] 
 
 BHOXZE AND IRON SWORDS. 
 
 insists upon, is a very simple one, easily explained, and applies 
 to iron swords equally with bronze swords. The Romans did 
 not bury their weapons with the dead, and they took g-reat eare 
 of tliem, especially of the sword, while alive. Even in the last 
 strug-gdes of the empire, when the Romans must sometimes have 
 been obliged to leave their weapons behind them, the barbarians, 
 among whom we know that a SAVord Avas an object of inestim- 
 able value, took very good care to carry them aAvay. The con- 
 secjuence of this is that a Roman SAVord in iron is one of the 
 rarest objects of antiquarian discovery. I remember, Avithin 
 my oAvn observation, hardly a single instance of one having 
 been found in Roman Britain, and not above tAvo swords sup- 
 ])osed to have been found here, and it is my impression that the 
 bronze handle of one of the latter presented a considerable re- 
 semblance, in its style of ornament, to those of some of the 
 bronze swords found in Scandinavia. During the Avhole of our 
 excavations at Wroxeter, Avhich have filled a considerable museum 
 Avith articles of Roman fabrication, Ave have never met Avith the 
 smallest fragment of a Roman SAVord, nor do I remember a 
 single instance of such a tind on any site of a Roman toAvn or 
 villa in this island. In one or tAvo cases in the West of Eng- 
 land, as in tlie very remarkable discoveries at Hod Hill in 
 Dorsetshire,^ bundles of untinished iron blades, Avhich looked 
 like sAvords, have been discovered under circumstances Avhich 
 appeared to me to sIioav that they had been government stores 
 on their Avay to some imperial manufactory Avhere the finish Avas 
 to be given to them ; other antiquaries thought they Averc not 
 SAvords at all, and I think they may be right ; but it is a very 
 remarkable circumstance that among the Roman antiquities 
 found at Hod Hill there was one undoubted iron SAVord-blade, 
 and this Avas in every respect an exact copy of one of the SAVords 
 in bronze, of which Ave are noAv speaking, a proof beyond doubt 
 that the latter Avere at that time Avell known. f This Roman 
 sword-blade is represented in the cut annexed (No. 2), and will 
 be seen to possess the characteristic leaf-shape, Avith the ribs, 
 and the holes for the rivets, by vliich the handle Avas fixed on. 
 
 * See Roach Smith’s ‘Collectanea Antiqua,’ vol. vi. p. 1. 
 
 t 1 may remark that, to my knowledge, one or two examples have been 
 found in this island of the so-called ‘ celt ’ cast in iron, instead of bronze, 
 but of course the casting in bronze was the easier process. It is a proof, 
 however, that, when these implements were made, iron and bronze were 
 both in use. In my friend Mr Roach Smith’s museum, nowin the British 
 ^luseum, there was a remarkable Roman spear-head, of the bronze ttjpCy 
 but of iron ; it is found in the Somme at Abbeville. 
 
8 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 The fact of no Roman swords in iron Being found, would, be 
 rather in favour of the bronze swords being Roman. Again, 
 Sir John Lubbock gives as one of his arguments against me tlie 
 fact tliat the bronze and iron swords and other implements are 
 not found mixed together in the same locality. It seems to 
 me that this is exactly what we might expect, especially in 
 the case of the swords. These, as I have just observed, were 
 valuable articles, and were probably, at least in the provinces, 
 in the possession of few individuals, except the military. The 
 inhabitants of a lacustrine village, for instance, were not likely 
 to be in possession of a sword, unless they had stolen it, and 
 whence would they steal it ? Rrom some soldier belonging to 
 the nearest military post. I am sure that Sir John Lubbock 
 will allow that it has never been the custom to arm any corps 
 of troops with a variety of weapons — if their swords were bronze, 
 they were all bronze, if iron, all iron. The discovery, therefore, 
 of weapons in any particular place would only necessarily show 
 that it was the weapon with which the detachment of Roman 
 troops stationed in that neighbourhood — or, at least, nearest to 
 it — were armed. But I think that it is stated rather rashly 
 that bronze swords are not found with iron swords ; for in the 
 very rare instances of the discovery of Roman iron swords found 
 in Britain, in, I believe, almost a majority of cases, they have 
 been found associated with bronze swords. A few years ago a 
 Roman sword in a bronze scabbard, the blade appearing from 
 the rust to be of iron, was dredged up from the Thames, along 
 with a very fine specimen of the well-known bronze leaf-shaped 
 sword, and a large stone celt, all which were in the museum of 
 the late Lord Londesborough ; and a similar iron sword in a 
 bronze scabbard was found together with a bronze sword in the 
 river below Lincoln, at a spot where a bronze circular shield had 
 previously been found. t The discovery, in one or two instances, 
 of a mass of bronze implements, with no mixture of iron, leads 
 
 * The iron sword is engraved and described in Roach Smith’s ‘ Collec- 
 tanea Antiqua,’ vol. iii. p. 67. 
 
 t Roach Smith, ib. p. 68. 
 
CHAP. I.] SWORDS OF BRONZE AND IRON. 
 
 9 
 
 only to the conclusion that they had formed the stock-in-trade 
 of some dealer in bronze implements, or that they had been a 
 consignment of such articles lost on the way. But of this I 
 shall say more. 
 
 I must, however, state generally that the archaeological fact is 
 that, instead of our 7iot hiiding the bronze swords in juxta- 
 position with Roman remains, in every case where they have 
 been found in Britain or Gaul, where the details of the dis- 
 covery have been carefully observed, it has occurred under 
 circumstances which lead to the strongest presumption of their 
 being Roman. A bronze sword, of the usual leaf-shaped type, 
 is stated to have been found at the Roman station of Ardoch 
 in Scotland, on the wall of Antoninus, and there appears no 
 reason to doubt the accuracy of the statement.^ But, to come 
 farther south, it is well known to the archaeologist that the great 
 treasury of the antiquities of Roman London — and of mediaeval 
 London also — is the mud of the river Thames, and within the 
 limits of the town I believe that no object has been found that 
 could claim an earlier date than Roman. This is just the place 
 where objects of all kinds would be deposited by accidents, such 
 as boats upsetting in the transit, people falling in and being- 
 drowned, and the dropping into the water of objects of various 
 kinds which would sink by their weight. Now swords have 
 been found in the Thames at London, and I should underrate 
 the number in saying a few, but they were nearly all of bronze, 
 and leaf-shaped in form, which might almost be taken to show 
 that this bronze sword was most in fashion among the Romans 
 in London. Certain it is, that my friend Mr Roach Smith, 
 who has examined these Roman antiquities of London more 
 extensively and deeply than anybody else, and whom I have no 
 hesitation in saying that I regard as the first authority on the 
 antiquities of the Roman period in England or even on the 
 continent, is convinced, equally with me, that the bronze swords 
 are of Roman manufacture or origin. f Discoveries of the axes, 
 chisels, and other implements of bronze, have been much more 
 frequent, and in positions which speak still more strongly of 
 their Roman character. Thomas Hearne, who first called 
 attention to these objects more than a century ago, took it for 
 
 * Stuart’s ‘ Caledonia Antiqua,’ second edit. pi. v., ^vl^ere this sword 
 is engraved. I make the remark, because Sir John Lubbock expresses a 
 doubt upon it : — ‘ Yet Mr Wright himself has only been able to give me 
 one doubtful instance of this kind ’ (p. 12). 
 
 F See, for some remarks on this subject, his ‘ Catalogue of London Anti- 
 quities,’ p. 80. 
 
;o 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. 1. 
 
 granted that they were Roinaii, but he unfortunately g'ave it as 
 his opinion that tliey represented the Roman ceJth (a technical 
 word for a sort of chisel), and, in the low ebb at which archeo- 
 logical knowledge has stood from his time down to the present 
 generation, anticjuaries seem to have blindly fallen into the mis- 
 take that the name celt (celtls) was equivalent to Celtic, and 
 that it meant that they belonged to the ancient Britons. In 
 this blunder solely, I believe, originated the notion that these 
 ‘ celts ’ are not Roman. 
 
 Let us now cross the Channel to our neighbours, and see 
 what is the case in Gaul. Erance has undoubtedly produced by 
 far the ablest, the soundest, and the most judicious antiquaries 
 of modern times ; and I believe that they have all regarded the 
 bronze swords, equally with the other bronze implements, as 
 Roman. I will quote the authority of Monsieur de Caumont, 
 to which I arn sure that nobody who knows anything of archae- 
 ology will object. In his Cours (T Antiquites Moniimentales, De 
 Caumont, in speaking of these so-called ‘ celts,’ says, ‘ Bnt we 
 find also very frequently these bronze axes in places covered 
 with Roman ruins ; I have acquired the certainty of this by my 
 own observations and by the information I have collected in my 
 travels.’ ^ Again, the same distinguished scholar, in speaking 
 of the bronze swords, after noticing the opinion of a previous 
 writer who thought that the Gauls had derived the use of these 
 swords from the Greeks, goes on to say, ' At all events, I must 
 not conceal from you the fact that the bronze SAVords have been 
 found sometimes along with objects of Roman manufacture, 
 which would seem to announce a different origin.’ f 
 
 I will go back a little farther among the antiquaries of 
 France to produce not only opinions, but facts, such as I think 
 ought to set the whole question at rest. At the beginning of 
 the present century flourished the able antiquary Antoine Mon- 
 gez, one of the most celebrated members of the Institute of 
 France, a man distinguished for his science and learning, and 
 for his judicious use of them. On the 16th of Prairial, an 9 
 (for we are still in the days of the Republic), according to our 
 reckoning the 5th of June, 1801, the ‘ citoyen ’ Mongez read at 
 
 * Mais on trouve aussi trts frtqiiemment des haches en bronze dans des 
 emplacements converts de mines Romaines ; j’en ai acquis la certitude par 
 moi-meme et par les renseig-nements que j’ai recueillis dans mes voyages. — 
 De Caumont, Cours d* AntiquiUs Monumentales, tom. i. p. 232. 
 
 + Toutefois je ne dois pas vous laisser ignorer que les epees en bronze 
 ont ete trouvees parfois avec des objets de fabrique Romaine, ce qui paroi- 
 trait annoncer une autre origine. — lb., p. 239. 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 LilO.XZE SWORDS IN FRANCE. 
 
 11 
 
 tlie Institute, before what was then called the Class of Litera- 
 ture and Fine Arts, but which is now represented by the 
 Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, a memoir on an 
 ancient bronze sword, which had been found with the skeleton 
 of a man and horse, in a turbary {tourbiere) near Corbie, at 
 Hailly, in the valley of the Albert, a tributary of the Somme. 
 In this memoir, which is published in the volume of the papers 
 read before the class,^ this sword is described, and figured in 
 ail engraving; it is the sword represented in fig. I, in our cut 
 No. I, and is entirely of bronze, blade and handle. The object 
 of Mongez was chieRy to analyse the bronze of which this sword 
 Avas made ; but he also enters into the question of Avhat manu- 
 facture it might be, and, after careful discussion, he arrives at 
 the conclusion that these bronze swords Avere all Homan. On 
 the 8th Frimaire, an 10 of the Eepublic, or the 29th of No- 
 vember, 1801, ill our reckoning, M. Mongez read another paper 
 on three bronze swords Avhich had been recently found near 
 Abbeville, and Avhich resembled the other so closely that he 
 thought it unnecessary to have them engraved.f Mongez re- 
 considered the question, and again pronounced them Eoman — 
 je les crois Ihmaines. 
 
 After Mongez had read his Memoires on the bronze SAvords 
 before the Institute, his opinion received a singularly remark- 
 able confirmation in a more exact and complete account of the 
 circumstances of the discoveries, Avhich he obtained from a very 
 iicalous and able antiquary of Abbeville, M. Traulle. The 
 bronze SAVord, as just stated, Avas found in the turbary at Heilly 
 along Avith the skeletons of a man and a horse, and by the 
 SAVord Avere four brass coins of the Emperor Caracalla, avIio, as 
 is Avell known, reigned from a.d. 211 to 217. | This SAvord, 
 therefore, Avas that of a Eoman cavalry soldier, not older, and 
 perhaps a little later, than this reign, who had sunk in the bog 
 to which the turbary had succeeded. The history of tAvo of the 
 other SAvords, found in a turbary at Pequigny, near ikbbeville, 
 Avas, if anything, still more curious. A large boat Avas found, 
 Avhich had evidently sunk, and in it Avere several skeletons. 
 One of these had on his head a bronze casque, or helmet, accom- 
 panied Avith the remains of the other accoutrements of a soldier. 
 The bronze SAVord lay by his side, and Avith it some Eoman 
 coins, some of Avhich, if not all, Avere middle brass of the Em- 
 peror Maxentius, Avho reigned from 306 to 312. § Another 
 
 * ‘Mumoires de I’lnstitut Nationale des Science et Arts.’ — Litterature 
 et Beaux Arts, tom. v. p. 187. 
 
 t Ib., p. 496. ^ lb., note on p. 193. 
 
 § Ib., note on p. 501. 
 
12 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 similar sword was found in the turbary outside the boat, wlncli 
 would appear to have been sunk in a skirmish after some of its 
 crew had been killed in it. We learn here that Roman soldiers, 
 in the wars and troubles which agitated Gaul in tlie third and 
 fourth centuries after Christ, were armed with these bronze 
 swords, which some have so ingeniously supposed to have been 
 brought into this island by the Phoenicians, some seventeen or 
 eighteen hundred years before the Christian era. Prom the 
 time of Mongez, the French antiquaries have generally regarded 
 the bronze swords as Roman. 
 
 I have thus crept on from one little, though significant, fact 
 to another, until it seems to me tolerably clear that they all 
 point to one conclusion, that the bronze swords found so often 
 in different parts of western and northern Europe are Roman ; 
 that is, that they were all either of Roman manufacture, or, at 
 the least, copied from Roman models. I consider that this 
 evidence is sufficiently strong, but still it will be worthy of 
 inquiry, whether it be confirmed by pictorial delineations on 
 Roman monuments. I have no doubt that with a little labour 
 we might bring together a mass of corroborative evidence of 
 this description which would be quite irresistible, but I regret 
 to say that pressing engagements of a different character will 
 not at present allow me to undertake that labour myself to its 
 full extent. I think, however, that I can produce a few very 
 satisfactory examples of it — and I will only take them in two 
 classes of such monuments. 
 
 First, as to the sculptures on stone, the figure of a Roman 
 soldier, generally on horseback, is a common adjunct to sepul- 
 chral inscriptions found in the Roman cemeteries. Unfor- 
 tunately, the soldier usually has his swoi'd by his side in its 
 sheath, and although the shape of the sheath would lead ns to 
 believe that they did hold blades of the different known forms 
 of the bronze swords, yet we cannot insist upon it. If the 
 sheath were made of the form of the blade of a leaf-shaped 
 sword, of course the blade could not be drawn out ; it is there- 
 fore represented in one uniform shape, distinguished only from 
 any ordinary scabbard by being short. However, I feel con- 
 vinced that I have seen one or two of these sculptures in which 
 the Roman soldier held the sword drawn, and in which it was 
 clearly leaf-shaped ; but I cannot at this moment put my hands 
 upon them. If any one, however, will bake the trouble to look 
 over the plates of that readiest of all books of reference, the 
 j)ere Montfaucon’s Autlqnite Expliqnee, he must, I think, be 
 convinced of the absurdity of denying that these swords are 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 ROMAN SWORDS. 
 
 13 
 
 Roman. In the sculptures on the arch of Constantine at Rome, 
 al)Out contemporary Avith the bronze swords found near Abbe- 
 ville, and described by Mong’ez, the Roman soldiers are evidently 
 armed with the leaf-shaped swords, as Avell as with the other 
 forms shown in our cut No. 1, a circumstance Avliich brings 
 into immediate relation the forms and the metal. 
 
 But I will go farther from Italy, and give examples from an 
 important work very recently printed, — I mean the Exploratloii 
 scientijique de V Alger ie^ published at the expense of the French 
 government, — which are represented on Roman monuments in 
 another part of the world. In the archaeological part, the work 
 of M. Delamare, engravings are given of a number of Roman 
 
 monuments of 
 various kinds 
 found at the town 
 of Constantine in 
 the province of 
 Algeria, the Ro- 
 man Constantina, 
 representing the 
 still older Numid- 
 ian town of Cirta. 
 Most of these 
 sculptures are 
 rather rude, and 
 belong probably 
 to the time of the 
 emperor from 
 whom the town 
 took its second 
 name. On one 
 of them,t we have 
 a representation 
 in sculpture of 
 the accoutrements of a soldier, with the figure of a sword on 
 
 * I will merely refer to this great work, tom. iv. plate vii. fig. 3, for a 
 Roman soldier froTn a sculpture at Narbonne, with the leaf -shaped sword 
 by his side ; to pi. xxiv., where there are several of our swords a little 
 varied in ornament ; to pi. lii., representing a combat in which the Romans 
 have their swords in their scabbards, but the handles seem clearly to re- 
 present the scroll-formed ornament represented in our cut No. 1 ; to pi. 
 Ixix. and Ixx., where the swords are the same represented in our cut, 
 though not leaf-shaped ; and to the Supplement, tom. iv. pi. xv. and pi. 
 XXX. In the work itself, tom. iv. pi. xiii., the Etruscan soldiers are repre- 
 sented as armed with the leaf-shaped sword. In fact, it was the Italian 
 sword, derived, no doubt, from the Greeks. 
 
 + Repi-esented in plate 156, fig. 3, of the work in question. 
 
14 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 eacli side — the swords are represented in our cut No. 3, fig*s. 1 
 and 2. Another sculptured monument, found also at Con- 
 stantine,* contains several figures of swords, one of which I 
 give in the same cut, fig. 3. One of these swords is distinctly 
 leaf-sha]3ed, and they are all characterised, as clearly as such 
 things are usually drawn in these rude Eoman sculptures, by 
 the ribs which are found on the bronze swords. The handles 
 are clearly intended to be represented as fastened on in the 
 same way as those of the bronze swords, and fig. 3 is no doubt 
 intended to represent the same termination of the hilt as is 
 shown in figs. 1, 2, and 4, of our cut No. 1. In the other two, 
 this termination is replaced by a ball, but the rest of the 
 handles are quite identical. 
 
 I will next proceed to a class of monuments of, if possible, 
 still greater importance in the discussion of our subject, the 
 Roman coinage. The coins of what are called by numismatists 
 the consular series, are remarkable for the interesting illustra- 
 tions they give us of Roman costume and Roman manners, and 
 are, on that account, well worthy of the study of the antiquary. 
 Examples of swords are found on coins of the Servilia, Carisia, 
 Plsetoria, Terentia, and Minutia families, which evidently repre- 
 sent the ordinary forms of the bronze swords which we are 
 discussing. I give as an example a well-known coin of the 
 Servilia ^ens.f The obverse represents the head of the goddess 
 Flora, with the inscription flora . primvs, meaning that in 
 giving the Floralia 
 
 that year, the mem- 
 ber of this family in 
 whose honour the 
 coin was struck, and 
 whose name is given 
 on the reverse as 
 C . SERVEIL . C . F. ; 
 
 No. 4. Coin of C. Servilius. 
 
 i.e., Cains Servilius, the son of Cains, stood first. On this 
 reverse we see two military figures, standing face to face, with 
 drawn swords, and these plainly have the same ribbed leaf-shaped 
 blades which are represented in our cut No. 1. The man in 
 whose honour this coin was struck was a contemporary of Julius 
 Ca3sar. The second example of these coins I give belongs to the 
 Minucia family, and to a member of that family named in the 
 
 * Ib., plate 128, figs. 7 and 8. 
 
 t It is copied from a beautiful example of the coin in the cabinet of my 
 friend Mr C. Roach Smith. 
 
CHAP. I.J 
 
 BRONZE SPEAR-HEADS. 
 
 lo 
 
 inscription q . therm . 
 MF, Quintus Tliernuis, 
 the son of Marcus.^ 
 Three men are here en- 
 combat, one 
 apparently a Roman pro- 
 tecting a fallen coin- 
 
 No. 5. Coin of Quintus Thcrmus, t ” • , i • /• 
 
 rade against his toe, 
 whose differeii'^o of costume probably denotes a foreigner. t 
 The swords of the :wo Romans are evidently identical in form 
 with that represented by fig. 4, in our cut No. 1. Thus an 
 examination of this best of all evidence, the coinage, leaves us 
 no room for doubting that the characteristic sword of republican 
 Rome was actually this same sword to which the pre-historic 
 archaeologists have been ascribing such a remote date in our 
 islands. 
 
 In these coins we trace, curiously enough, 
 all the forms of weapons of bronze found in 
 this country. The spear-heads, drawn small, 
 are like spear-heads in general, but nobody 
 doubts that the Roman spear-head was made 
 of bronze. We trace here the figures of the 
 round bronze shields formed of concentric 
 circles, which the pre-historic antiquaries 
 ascribe to the Britons of the ante-Roman 
 period, and of which a good example is seen 
 in the hands of one of the soldiers holding 
 the leaf-shaped swords, in our cut No. 4 ; 
 and in some examples the concentric circles 
 are more numerous, and resemble still more 
 closely those found in Britain. ^ But there 
 is another object on which the light thrown 
 by these coins is still more remarkable. A 
 curious broad-bladed dagger, of bronze, is 
 not unfrequently found in early barrows in Dagger, 
 
 this country, the blade ribbed, and evidently belonging to the 
 same period as the bronze swords. I give, from Sir John 
 Lubbock, an example found in Ireland (cut No. 6), which will 
 
 * It i.s here engraved from a eoin in the British Museum, 
 t Julius Caesar made his first campaign under Marcus Minucius Ther- 
 nius, and fought with distinction at the taking of IMytelene, on which 
 occasion he saved the life of a Roman citizen, and received from Thermus 
 a civic crown as his reward. It is understood that this act of Csesar is 
 commemorated in this coin of Quintus Thermus, the son of Marcus. 
 
THE BRITONS. 
 
 fCHAP. T. 
 
 afford a general idea of the form of these daggers, which used 
 to be called Bi’itish. I was always inclined to ascribe them to 
 rather an early date ; that is, to a period very little before 
 Caesar’s time, or at least early under the Eoman domina- 
 tion, not because I thought they could not be Eoman, 
 but because, as the Eomans did not bury their arms with 
 the dead, it seemed reasonable enough to suppose that 
 barrows in which they are found are older than the final 
 and entire establishment of Eoman customs and laws. But 
 the Eoman consular coins, on Avhich daggers identical 
 in character, broad-bladed and ribbed, and with the same 
 handles, occur frequently. I give in cut No. 7, a very 
 curious example.'^ It is a coin of Junius Brutus, who slew 
 Julius Caesar. On the obverse we have the name L . plaet . 
 
 CEST ; i.e.^ Lucius Plae- 
 torius Cestianus, one of 
 the officers of Brutus, by 
 whose order the coin was 
 struck, and who gives to 
 his chief the title biivt . 
 IMP ; i.e., Brutus impera- 
 No. 7. Coin of Brutus. reverse, we 
 
 see the terrible emblems, the pUeus or cap of liberty in the 
 middle, two daggers, and the word eid . map, }yidus (the 
 archaic form of Idas) Martice, the day on which the deed was 
 done. We see at a glance that the dagger with which Caesar 
 was slain was identical in every particular with those found in 
 the tumuli of Britain which some antiquaries are now ascribing 
 to the remote age of Phoenician colonies ! 
 
 Thus we see that the bronze swords, the bronze shields, the 
 bronze spears, the bronze daggers, which have been found in 
 Britain, are all Eoman in character. The so-called ‘ celts,’ 
 chisels, etc., bear the same character with the weapons, and are 
 sometimes found with them, and probably continued in use 
 later. It is my firm conviction that not a bit of bronze which 
 has been found in the British islands belongs to an older date 
 than that at which Caesar wrote that the Britons obtained their 
 bronze from abroad, meaning, of course, from Gaul, (Bre ntmdiir 
 iniportato. In fact, these objects in bronze were Eoman in cha- 
 racter, and in their primary origin. 
 
 And who has ever brought forward any evidence to show 
 that the Eomans did not use bronze for their weapons ? Pliny 
 * Engraved from one in the British Museum. 
 
CHAP. I.] SWORDS AMONG THE GAULS AND ROMANS. 17 
 
 tells us that, in the treaty whicli concluded the war between 
 Porsena and the Romans after the expulsion of the Tarquins, 
 that is, about five hundred years before Christ, it was expressly 
 stipulated that the Romans thenceforth should use iron for no- 
 thing but agricultural purposes.* Our acquaintance with the 
 condition of that time is not sufficiently minute to enable us to 
 judge what was the cause or the object of this stipulation, but it 
 seems clear that swords were not made of iron, and they must 
 therefore have be-en made of bronze. This stipulation continued 
 in force during some three centuries, and it was only after the 
 second Punic war, we are told, that the Romans began to adopt 
 the form and material of the sword as it was in use among the 
 Spaniards. Polybius tells a curious anecdote relating to the 
 great victory obtained by the Romans over the Gauls during the 
 consulate of Cains Plaminius, a little more than two hundred 
 years before Christ. He informs us that the Gauls were armed 
 with long pointless swords, which they used only in striking the 
 enemy, while the Romans used short, stiff, pointed swords, with 
 which they stabbed at the face and person. When the Gauls 
 struck hard, the blade of the sword became so much bent that 
 the soldier had to straighten it with his foot before he could 
 strike another blow. The Roman officers, having observed this, 
 directed the soldiers to close upon the ranks of the Gauls, and 
 thrust vigorously at their bodies and faces, before the latter had 
 time to recover the use of their swords, and by this manoeuvre 
 the great inequality of numbers was partly compensated. f We 
 cannot doubt, from this description, that the swords of the Gauls 
 were made of iron, and that their liability to bend arose from 
 the circumstance that that people did not yet possess the art of 
 tempering it ; while the account of the Roman swords answers 
 exactly to the short pointed bronze weapons of which we are 
 speaking. We have a rather similar anecdote, of a later date, 
 which brings us nearer home. Tucitus tells us that, in the great 
 battle in which Agricola defeated the Caledonians under Gal- 
 gacus, the Britons were armed with immense swords, that is, of 
 course, long ones, and small bucklers ; while the Roman auxili- 
 aries, consisting of three cohorts of Batavi and two of Tungri, 
 who were chiefly put forward in the engagement, were armed 
 with short pointed swords {nmci'ones). The result was the same 
 
 * In fcedere quod expulsis regibus populo Romano dedit Porsena nomi- 
 natim comprehensum inveninius, ne ferro nisi in agricultura uterentur. — 
 Pliny, ‘Hist. Nat.,’ lib. xxxiv. c. 39. 
 
 + Polybii Histor., lib. ii. c. 33. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. I. 
 
 as that just described : the Eoman auxiliaries closed upon the 
 Caledoriii, who, unprepared for this to them new mode of fight- 
 ing, were defeated with great slaughter.* These anecdotes point 
 very distinctly to the bronze swords of Avhich we are speaking. 
 We are thus tracing the use of bronze swords very near to the 
 time, or quite to the time, when the leaf-shape and other forms 
 are seen on the consular coins, so that we are quite justified in 
 supposing that those represented swords of bronze. 1 know 
 nothing in the Latin classical writers contradictory to tliis view 
 of the subject. Even Virgil, the fashionable court poet, and the 
 least likely of any to give evidence on my side of the question, 
 was certainly well aware of the use of bronze in the manufacture 
 of arms. The armour was of bronze — that of Mazentius was 
 triple ill thickness are camim trlpVici^ x. 784), like the 
 triple bronze which surrounded the breast of the brave man in 
 Horace as triplex circa pectus erat^ Carm., lib. i. od. 3) ; the 
 helmet Avas of bronze are caput fulgens^ jEu,, x. 869) ; the 
 shield Avas of bronze arei clypei^ Mn,, xii. 541, and ^ area 
 scuta,'' Mn., x. 313) ; the battle-axe Avas of bronze et aratam 
 quatiens Tarpeia securim^ jEu,, xi. 656). In one instance, Virgil 
 speaks even of bronze sAvords, — 
 
 ‘ ^ratasque micant peltae, micat aereus ensis.’ — vii. 743. 
 
 It is true, that these bronze SAvords are put into the hands of a 
 people foreign to Italy, but it is not stated that they were pecu- 
 liar to that people. Virgil, further, uses the Avord as for arms 
 generally, ^neas, describing his flight from Troy, Avith his 
 father on his shoulder, says, — 
 
 ‘ Genitorque per umbram 
 
 Prospiciens, “Nate,” exclamat, “ fuge, nate; propinquant, — 
 Ardentes clypeos atque aera micantia cerno.” ’ — ii. 734. 
 
 ^lore than once Virgil uses the Avord aratus as a general epithet 
 for troops (see^/^., vii. 703, and ix. 463) ; in the latter passage, 
 the ‘ bronze-armed battalions * are described as marching into 
 battle, — 
 
 ‘ Turnus in anna viros, armis circuindatus ipse, 
 
 Suscitat, auiatasque acies in praelia cogit 
 Quisque suas.’ 
 
 Eor the spear, Ave might quote Ovid’s liastaarata cuspidis 
 [Metani., v. 9), or the line of Tibullus (lib. i. elcg. xi. 1. 25), — 
 
 ‘ At no vis aerata. Lares, depellite tela.’ 
 
 Ill fact, Avhen the Roman thought of arms and accoutrements of 
 
 Taciti Agricola, c. 35. 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 BRONZE WEAPON S. 
 
 19 
 
 war, (E8, or bronze, appears to have been the metal which came 
 uppermost to his mind. 
 
 I confess that I see little wei»*ht in the arp^ument which has 
 been drawn from the secondary use of the word feiTum as syno- 
 nymous with gladlus or ensis, a sword. It can only prove that 
 there were swords made of iron amono; the Romans at the time 
 when the word was thus used ; probably the swoi’d of iron was 
 then considered the more fashionable — the moie aristocratic. At 
 all events, it would be becoming- more distinctive. Iron was then 
 the newest, and probably the most esteemed, material. We must 
 not forget that, as we have just seen, on one hand the Avord ces 
 Avas used for arms in general, not for a particular arm, and 
 therefore, Avhen iron Avas employed for swords, it Avould be more 
 distinctive of the particular Aveapon ; and that, on the other 
 hand, from the time when money had begun to be coined among 
 the Romans, as, as the material of Avhich it was made, Avas used 
 in a secondary sense to signify money. 
 
 When Sir John Lubbock (p. 35) says that I ‘lay much stress 
 on tlie fact that the bronze Aveapons have generally been found 
 near Roman stations and Roman roads,’ he has applied to the 
 Aveapons Avhat I had said of a rather different object. During 
 ages Avhen travelling Avas neither quick nor safe, and people 
 seldom took long journeys unnecessarily, they had to depend 
 for many even of the necessaries of life upon men Avho carried 
 them round for sale periodically, and a multitude of people gained 
 their living as itinerant traders and manufacturers. It Avas a 
 practice general throughout the middle ages, no doubt derived 
 from the Romans, and the very utility of such dealers formed 
 their protection against injury and interruption. We ffnd abund- 
 ant traces of this practice, curiously enough, in relation to the 
 bronze swords and hatchets. These consist in discoveries of 
 deposits, usually of an earthen vessel for melting bronze, of 
 Avhich there is sometimes a residuum at the bottom, of moulds 
 for casting the implements, and generally of some broken swords 
 or other bronze implements, no doubt intended to be melted 
 doAvn for metal, and of similar articles entire, constituting stock 
 in trade. Now my remark Avas, that these tools and stock of 
 itinerant bronze manufacturers are almost always found near a 
 Roman road, or in the neighbourhood of a Roman station, and 
 that therefore Ave are justified in considering them as Roman 
 subjects, Avho had travelled along the Roman roads, and rested 
 at tliose spots for personal or local reasons Avhich are unknoAvn 
 to us. Discoveries of such deposits have been very numerous in 
 
THE BRITOXS, 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 2r 
 
 Britain, Gaul, Switzerland, and Germany. 1 am not aware if 
 they have been found on the other coiitiiies of the empire. One 
 of these, consisting- of a quantity of bronze celts, both entire and 
 broken, was found near the foot of the Wrekin in Shropshire, 
 not far from the great Roman road, the Watlingstreet ; another, 
 among which there were fragments of a bronze sword, at Sit- 
 tingbourne, on the Kentish portion of the Watlingstreet ; a third, 
 consisting of bronze punches, chisels, and other implements, with 
 several pieces of unused metal, one of which was evidently the 
 residuum of the melting-pot, at Attleborough in Norfolk, on the 
 Roman road between Thetford and Norwich ; a fourth, consist- 
 ing of sixty bronze chisels, etc., with a portion of a bronze sword 
 and a piece of bronze which again appeared to be the residue 
 from melting, all contained in an earthen pot, at Weston in 
 Yorkshire, on the road from Old Malton (where there are the 
 remains of a Roman town) to Y"ork. It is not necessary to 
 enumerate any further examples. Sir John Lubbock seeks to 
 explain tlie position of these tinds by supposing that the Roman 
 roads were laid upon older British roads, but this is an objection 
 to which I cannot listen until he brings me the slightest sub- 
 stantial evidence that such was the case. To me, these ‘ finds ’ 
 alone are sufficient to explain a fact which Sir John hardly, or 
 only feebly, denies, the identity of forms, and not mere similarity, 
 of all these bronze swords, in whatever part of Europe they are 
 found. I cannot imagine that any one will believe that this 
 identity of form is the result of chance, but they must have been 
 derived from one general centre ; and, when we consider the 
 radius through which they are scattered, it was only the Roman 
 empire that could have supplied such a centre. It is nonsense 
 to suppose that, brought into Britain at a remote and obscure 
 period by the Phoenicians, they could have spread in this manner. 
 The whole mystery, then, is dispelled by the proceedings of these 
 itinerant manufacturers, who must have been very numerous, 
 and who went not only to the limits of the Roman province, but, 
 no doubt, penetrated into the surrounding countries, and made 
 weapons for their inhabitants. It was, for these, the easiest way 
 of obtaining weapons. Swords were so rare, and so valued, 
 among the Scandinavians and Teutons, that they believed them 
 to have been forged by the gods ; and I beg to state that the 
 arms which the gods forged were made of iron.* There are 
 
 * It may be remarked, on this subject, that even in the early Ang-lo- 
 S‘>xon cemeteries in this i.sland, which belong to the period immediately 
 following the Romans, only one warrior here and there is found with d 
 
CHAP. I.] 
 
 THE EARLY IRISH. 
 
 21 
 
 many reasons, into wliicli I will not now enter, for l)elievin[^ 
 that it was a subject of honour and glory, among* the different 
 branches of the Teutonic race, for a man to possess a sword ; 
 and here the ‘ barbarian ’ had a chance of getting* a sword to 
 wear by his side at not so great an expense of wealth and troubh^ 
 as if it had been made by the gods, and he no doubt profited 
 largely by it. And then, the ‘barbarians,’ contrary to the 
 lloinan practice, buried their weapons with the dead, in conse- 
 (juence of which we find in their graves a sufficiency of those 
 weapons to fill our museums, while we only pick up one now 
 and then within the bounds of the Roman empire. Such is tlie 
 case with Ireland, where, by the way, it has been somewhat 
 too hastily asserted that the Roman arms never penetrated, 
 seeing* that we know little of the history our islands under the 
 Romans, — that Juvenal, speaking* as of a fact generally known, 
 asserts., — 
 
 ‘ Anna quidem ultra 
 Litora Juvenuu promoviiim.s,’ — 
 
 and that Roman antiquities are now found in Ireland. Such is 
 the case with Scandinavia, and also of the other countries of 
 Europe bordering upon the Roman provinces. It has been 
 alleged that some of tlie ornamentation of the Scandinavian 
 bronze-work is not Roman in its character, which is true — but 
 why ?■ It is not probable that an enterprising* people like the 
 Scandinavians would be satisfied to remain long dependent on 
 the precarious supplies, as they must have been at such a dis- 
 tance, of wandering merchants, and they would soon learn to 
 imitate wliat they had seen done by others. Roman ornament- 
 ation and design, in their hands, would soon undergo degrad- 
 ation until it took a character of its own, just as it did among 
 the Anglo-Saxons, and among the Grermans, and indeed among 
 all the other non-Roman peoples into whose hands it fell. I 
 have always held the belief that the mass of the Scandinavian 
 ornamented bronze is nothing* more than the development of 
 
 sword, while most of them were buried with spears. This would show 
 that the sword was comparatively rare among the Anglo-Saxons, that only 
 one individual here and there possessed one, or that they were considered 
 too precious to be buried. Yet the common poetical phrase for being killed 
 in battle wa's sweordum aswefede^ ‘put to sleep with swords.’ In fact, the 
 name of the more valuable of the weapons was employed to represent them 
 all, just as among the Romans the name of the more valued metal for 
 making a sword, ferrum^ was used to signify all swords, and then used for 
 weapons in general, because the sword was considered the most excellent. 
 We still talk of putting the enemy ‘ to the sword,’ omitting altogether the 
 njention of muskets, rifles, lances, revolvers, etc., etc. 
 
THE BRITONS. 
 
 [CHAr. I. 
 
 12 
 
 Eoman popular art under the influence of barbaric taste ; and I 
 think this will hardly be denied by any one who is familiarly 
 acquainted with the forms and spirit of Eoman art. 
 
 But it is time to conclude these remarks. 1 will only repeat 
 the belief, on which I have always insisted, that in this part of 
 the world the use of bronze did not precede that of iron, and I 
 believe that I am fully supported in this view by the opinion of 
 our great metallurgist, my friend Dr Percy. At the time of 
 Caesar’s invasion, as that great warrior and statesman declares 
 deliberately, the only bronze known to the Britons was im- 
 ported ; of course from Gaul, and it could not have come in 
 large quantities. The Britons could not have made bronze 
 themselves, for I am satisfied, by my own researches among 
 our ancient mines, that no copper was obtained in this island 
 until it was found by the Eomaus. I am informed that, instead 
 of being easy, the process of mining copper and tin, and pre- 
 paring bronze, is very complicated and difficult ; whereas the 
 smelting of iron is extremely easy, and in some parts of our 
 island, as in the forest of Dean, the iron ore presented itself on 
 the surface, and in a form which could not fail to draw the 
 attention of men who knew anything about metals. I confess 
 that I only look upon the modern myth of the colonisation of 
 this island by the Phcmiicians as unworthy the consideration of 
 a serious antiquary. It is based upon speculations which have 
 no historical foundation. In these new questions which are 
 agitated by men of science, we must enter upon the study of 
 the remote period of archaeology of which we have no practical 
 knowledge, with a very profound knowledge of the subsequent 
 historic period; whereas this new school of antiquaries prefer 
 contemplating altogether the doubtful period speculatively from 
 the utterly unknown period which preceded it, to going back to 
 it from the known period which followed. Indeed, I fear that 
 far too much of prehistoric archaeology, as it has been hitherto 
 presented to us, rests only upon a want of knowledge of what is 
 historic. 
 
C.MAP. U.l 
 
 ETHNOLOGICAL VIEWS. 
 
 9 ? 
 
 CHAPTEH II. 
 
 Etlinolog-ical Views — Political Movements in Gaul — Caesar’s first and 
 second Invasions — Cassivellaunus — The Britons, as described by 
 Caesar, Strabo, and Diodorus — Cunobeline and his Sons — Expedition 
 of Claudius — Conquests of the earlier Propraetors — Caractacus^-Car- 
 tismandua and Venusius — Invasion of Mona — Insurrection of Boadi- 
 cea — War with the Brigantes — Campaigns of Agricola — Total Sub- 
 jection of the Island to Home — Enumeration of the British Tribes — 
 Hibernia — Manners of the Britons, as described by ancient writers — 
 The Druids. 
 
 According to tlie system now generally adopted by ethnolo- 
 gists, Europe was peopled by several successive migrations, or, 
 as they have been technically named, waves of population, all 
 tiowiiig from one point in the east. Of these the two principal 
 were the Celts and the Teutons or Germans, both branches of 
 the same great race, which has been popularly termed the 
 Japhetan, because, according to the Scriptural account, the 
 various peoples which belonged to it were all descended from 
 Japhet. The Celts came tirst in point of time, and, making 
 their way apparently through the districts bordering on the 
 Mediterranean, they spread over all Western Europe. Tlie 
 German nations, entering Europe from the shores of the Black 
 Sea, advanced through its central parts, till, coming in contact 
 with the Celts, they gradually drove them forwards to the west 
 and south-west. The Germans themselves were urged west- 
 ward by a new migration which Avas pressing upon them from 
 behind, that of the Sclavonic or Sarrnatian race, which, as early 
 as the time of the Greek historian Herodotus, that is, in the 
 middle of the tifth century before Christ, liad already established 
 itself on the eastern borders of Europe, 
 
 Of the successive movements of these nations, and the 
 mutual struggles which ended in their location in the positions 
 they occupied when Ave tirst became acquainted Avith them, 
 history has preseiwed no record. The early Greek Avriters kncAv 
 little cf Western Europe, and Herodotus could only inform us 
 
24 
 
 THE BIUTOXS. 
 
 [chap. n. 
 
 that the western extremity was occupied by a people wliom he 
 terms the Cynetse, and that all the countries next to them were 
 said to be iidiabited by the Celtse or Celts ; and he had an 
 indistinct notion of the British Isles, under the general term of 
 Cassiterides, or the tin islands, as the grand source from which 
 the Phcenicians derived their supply of that metal. The philo- 
 sopher Aristotle, who lived a hundred years later, or about three 
 centuries and a half before Christ, speaks more definitely and dis- 
 tinctly of the ocean without the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits 
 of Gibraltar), in which he tells us there were ‘ two islands, 
 which are very large, Albion and lerne, called the Britannic, 
 which lie beyond the Celtse.’ This is the earliest mention of 
 our islands by their names. Another Greek historian, Polybius, 
 who wrote very little more than a hundred and fifty years 
 before the Christian era, adds nothing to our knowledge on this 
 subject, but he speaks of the method in which the tin was ob- 
 tained and prepared in the ‘ Britannic Isles,’ as of a matter with 
 which he was well acquainted, and which was then a subject of 
 so much interest that he wrote a separate treatise upon it, now 
 unfortunately lost. All that we learn from these few and 
 scanty notices is, that from a very early period of the history of 
 the world, the merchants of Phoenicia obtained their supply of 
 tin (an article in use as far back as the time of Homer) from 
 Britain. As this metal is found chiefly in Cornwall and the 
 Scilly Islands, the parts of Britain which would first present 
 themselves to navigators from the Phoenician port on the coast 
 of Spain, Gadeira or Gades (the modern Cadiz), we are justified 
 in believing that these and the south of Ireland were the only 
 districts visited by that people, who, as we are further assured, 
 kept their knowledge a profound secret, in order that they 
 might with greater ease monopolise a lucrative branch of 
 commerce. The geographer Strabo tells us that the Eomans 
 long attempted in vain to discover Ihe place from whence the 
 Phoenicians obtained their tin, to which at this time were added 
 lead and perhaps copper, and that on one occasion a Phoenician 
 captain, perceiving that he was followed and watched by Roman 
 vessels, ran his own ship intentionally on the rocks rather than 
 let the secret ho discovered, and, escaping with his crew on a 
 raft, was rewarded by his own government for his patriotism. 
 It was not till a Roman named Publius Crassus, who is sup- 
 posed to be the commander sent by Caesar at the end of his 
 first campaign in Gaul to reduce the Gallic tribes on the slion s 
 of the B.’-itisli Channel, discovered the trade of the Phamicians 
 
CHAP. II.] EARLY MOVEMENT OF THE CELTIC RACE. 25 
 
 with Britain, that the Homans became acquainted with the 
 route by which their mercliants readied Britain by sea, and 
 with the ease with which the tin was dug- up, it being* then 
 found at a very small depth under the surface of the ground. 
 Previous to this, however, two other commercial states had 
 established an intercourse with the tin district of Britain. The 
 Carthaginian Himilco, sent by his government on a voyage of 
 discovery between the years 362 and 350 before the Cliristian 
 era, visited the tin islands, which he calls (Estrymnides, near 
 Albion, and two days’ sail from lerne, by which he is supposed 
 to mean some of the isles on the Cornish coast ; and the 
 Phocean colonies of Massilia and Narbona carried on th(3 same 
 commerce overland. We are informed by another Greek 
 writer, Diodorus Siculus, that the tin was conveyed from the 
 district in which it was found to an island ‘ in front of Britain,’ 
 named Ictis, apparently the Isle of Wight, where it was pur- 
 chased by native merchants, who transported it to Gaul, and it 
 was then carried overland on pack-horses a journey of thirty 
 days to the mouth of the Phone. Everything, however, 
 relating to this distant region, almost unconnected with the 
 world as then known, was wrapped in mystery; and Scipio 
 could obtain no satisfactory answer to the anxious inquiries 
 concerning Britain which he made among the merchants of the 
 great cities of Massilia, Narbona, and Corbelo. The veil was at 
 length drawn aside by the ambition of Julius Caesar. 
 
 At this time the movement of the German race towards the 
 west was proceedingly rapidly, and the Celtic populations of 
 Gaul and Britain would probably have been soon crushed 
 beneath the invasion, had not the Eomans stepped in to arrest 
 its progress. Perhaps the northern parts of Gaul were already 
 extensively peopled by tribes of German extraction, and there 
 are reasons for believing that the Belgae were themselves a 
 Teutonic race,^ a circumstance which would explain some diffi- 
 culties in the history of AVestern Europe at this period. 
 
 The mass of the Celtic population, as we learn from Caesar, 
 were serfs, without civil influence or even civil rights ; the mere 
 
 * CaBsar tells us distinctly, that the Belga3 differed in language, customs, 
 and laws, from the Celtae, equally with the Aquitani : ‘ Gallia est omnis 
 divisa in partes tres ; quaruin unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, ter- 
 tiam qui ipsorum lingua Celta3, nostra Galli, adpellantur. Hi omnes lingua, 
 institutis, legibus inter se differunt.’ This statement, combined with 
 various circumstances of their history, lead me to believe that the Belga* 
 were of German origin ; and I confess that the arguments of Dr Prichard 
 and others, to the contrary, seem to me unsatisfactory. 
 
26 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 slaves of the superior orders. The latter were divided into two 
 very distinct classes — the Dniids and the knights {inilltes) ; or 
 in other words, the priests and the chiefs of clans or military 
 leaders. The former, who resembled the Brahminical class in 
 India, combined with the sacerdotal profession the functions of 
 judges and legislators, and during the course of ages they seem 
 gradually to have usurped tbe supreme powers in the state, and 
 to have reduced the military chiefs to a state of political sub- 
 jection. Tliese, however, had not entirely forgotten their 
 ancient independence, and the spirit of resistance appears to 
 have been stirred up and encouraged by the example of the 
 Teutonic tribes who were now mixing with them, and who were 
 far less priest-ridden, for Caesar tells us that they had no Druids. 
 The whole of Gaul became thus divided into two gi*eat political 
 factions, some of the tribes uniting in support of the Druidic 
 intluence, while others took part with the military chiefs. The 
 western Celtae — among whom were the Carnutes, in whose terri- 
 tory (the modern Chartres) stood the sacred grove, the head seat 
 of Druidic worship in Gaul, with the people of Brittany, of whose 
 devotion to the religion of their race so many rude monuments 
 still remain — all supported the Druidic faction, of which the 
 Hedui, who inhabited the modern Burgundy, took the lead. 
 The Belgae, as might be expected, with the northern tribes, sup- 
 ported the other faction, at the head of which were the Sequani, 
 whose capital was Vesontio (the modern Besan9on). Hard 
 pressed by the Druid faction, the tribes who supported the 
 military chiefs had called to their assistance the Germans 
 under Ariovistus, while, to resist these terrible invaders, the 
 Hedui appealed for protection to Borne. To Caesar this was a 
 welcome proposal ; he came Avith his legions, drove the Germans 
 back over the Bhine, and then taking advantage of the political 
 divisions among the nations of Gaul, proceeded to reduce it to 
 a Boinan province. The Gauls, too late, threw aside their 
 mutual animosities in order to resist their common enemy, and 
 when Caesar thought that they Avere cut otf from all foreign aid 
 by the ocean behind them, he found that they Avere drawing 
 ])owerful reinforcements from Britain. The Belgae, Avho sur- 
 jiassed all the other nations of Gaul in valour and conduct, 
 wen; the last to yield to the military genius of the Boman 
 commander, and to the steady discipline of his cohorts. When 
 he at length reached their coast, and saw from the heights 
 between Boulogne and Calais the Avhite cliffs of Albion, he 
 resolved to carry his arms into the island Avhich had so long 
 
CHAP. II ] 
 
 THE CELTIC llACE IN BRITAIN. 
 
 27 
 
 been an object of curiosity to liis countrymen, and ascertain the 
 resources which might be used to assist those whom he had 
 made their foes. 
 
 Britain contained at this time nearly the same political ele- 
 ments as Gaul. The basis of its population was tlie same 
 Celtic race which there held with the Druidic faction ; and the 
 supremacy of the Druids or priestly order seems to l.Mve been 
 established more firmly in Britain even than in Gaul. We are 
 not able to say with any certainty if any, or how much, of the 
 population of the western parts of our island derived its origin 
 from the Aquitanian or Basque race, but we know that the 
 Belgse had taken possession of the richest parts of South Britain, 
 and that these settlers were in close alliance with their brethren 
 on the other side of the Straits, while the Celtic Yeneti of Gaul, 
 a seafaring tribe, maintained their old commercial intercourse 
 with the Celts of Britain. We are ignorant of the extent to 
 which the division between the Druids and the military chiefs 
 had been introduced into this island, but we know that the 
 British tribes in the time of Caesar were no strangers to civil 
 strife. 
 
 As the season was far advanced, the Eoman commander saw 
 that no time was to be lost, and he called together the mer- 
 chants from dilferent parts of the coast, in the hopes of obtain- 
 ing from them the necessary information relating to the country 
 which he was about to invade. But they seemed to have con- 
 spired together to deceive him, and when he questioned them, 
 they could tell him neither the extent of the island, nor the 
 number or character of the natives who inhabited it, nor even 
 the harbours in which a fleet might anchor. Nevertheless, 
 they sent intelligence to the Britons of the designs of invasion 
 and conquest which Caesar had not concealed. Several of the 
 British states, thus warned, despatched messengers to Caesar, 
 offering to submit to the government of the Eoman people and 
 to give hostages for their fidelity. These he sent back with 
 liberal promises, and they were accompanied by Commius, 
 whom the Eoman commander had made king over the van- 
 (piished Attrebates of Gaul, and who was directed to visit as 
 many of the states as he could, and to exhort them to submit to 
 the Eomans. The real object of the British envoys was perhaps 
 to gain information, as Csesar was still as ignorant as ever of 
 the country and its coasts. He, therefore, sent one of his 
 officers, Cains Volusenus, with a war-galley, to survey the 
 British coasts, while he assembled his troops in the country of 
 
28 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 tlie Morini (the Pas-(le«Calais), and ordered tlie ships which 
 had been employed in the preceding* year against the Veneti to 
 repair to the Portus Icciiis, a naval station afterwards called 
 G essoriaciim (Boulogne). 
 
 Satisfied with the imperfect survey of Yolusenus, Caesar em- 
 barked at the Portus Iccius before daybreak in an autumn 
 morning, carrying with him, in about eighty vessels of burden, 
 his favourite legion, the tenth, in tlie courage and devotion of 
 which he placed the utmost confidence, and the seventh. His 
 cavalry was directed to follow in eighteen vessels which were 
 stationed in a port about eight miles from that in which Caesar 
 embarked. About ten o’clock in the forenoon the Homan fleet 
 arrived on the coast of Britain, here formed of low cliffs, which 
 were covered with British warriors prepared for battle. After 
 waiting in vain for the arrival of his cavalry until three o’clock 
 in the afternoon, Caesar took advanlage of a favoui’able wind 
 and tide, and running on about seven miles further, brought his 
 sliips up on an open and level strand, which was more favour- 
 able for the landing of his troops. The latter were seized with 
 alarm at the novel and formidable appearance of the multitude 
 of warriors who had hurried forwards to meet them, and were 
 now drawn up in hostile array on the shore, and, unacquainted 
 with the depth of the water, they were unwilling to leave their 
 ships. At length, after much hesitation, the standard-bearer of 
 the tenth legion, calling on his fellow-soldiers to follow, jumped 
 into the sea. It was some time before the Homan soldiers eould 
 reach firm ground ; for the depth of their ships had obliged 
 them to anehor at a considerable distance from the shore, and 
 they had to struggle through deep water, in which they were 
 impeded by the weight of their arms and accoutrements ; while 
 their enemies, lighter and more agile, rode into the water Avith 
 their horses, and attacked them, as they attempted to form, in 
 small parties, or overwhelmed them with a shower of missiles 
 from the beach. As soon, however, as the soldiers obtained a 
 firm footing, the Britons who had sh(.»vn no want of courage in 
 the previous confused engagement, yielded to superior discipline, 
 and fled, making their escape with the less loss because the in- 
 vaders Avere destitute of cavalry. 
 
 Thus did the Homans, for the first time, place their feet on 
 that distant island Avhose name had hitherto belonged rather to 
 the poet than to the historian. It is not easy to explain the 
 subsequent conduct of the Britons, except by the entire Avant 
 of union among the various tribes Avhich Avere scattered over 
 
CHAP. II.] ARRIVAL OF THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. 
 
 29 
 
 the island. Tlieir chiefs, instead of making any further attempt 
 to retrieve their first defeat, or appealing to the other tribes to 
 join them in resisting the invaders, sent messengei’s to Caesar 
 with excuses for the resistance they had already made, promis- 
 ing obedience in future, and offering hostages. Commius, the 
 eliief of the Attrebates, came with these messengers ; he had 
 been seized on his arrival in Britain, and thrown into chains ; 
 but the chiefs now gave him his liberty, throwing the blame of 
 his detention on the multitude, and promising to make amends 
 for their imprudent hostility. Caesar readily granted them 
 peace, demanding a certain number of hostages, part of whom 
 were immediately delivered ; and the chiefs dismissed their fol- 
 lowers, and repaired, in considerable numbers, to Caesar’s camp. 
 Tbe insincerity of their submission was, however, soon proved. 
 Caesar had been four days in Britain before his cavalry could 
 put to sea from the coast of Gaul, and then, although a favour- 
 able wind brought them within sight of the camp, the weather 
 became so stormy that they were driven back to the ports they 
 had left. The storm increased during the night, dragged the 
 transports from their anchors, and drove the whole fleet on the 
 shore, where most of tbe Homan ships were destroyed, or more 
 or less damaged. This accident, and the dismay into which it 
 threw Caesar’s army, encouraged the British chiefs to form a 
 new confederacy, with the design of attacking the camp, from 
 which, under various pretences, they gradually withdrew. The 
 Romans busied themselves with refitting their fleet, and were 
 not aware of the designs of the Britons, till one day the seventh 
 legion went out, as usual, to forage, and they had not been long 
 absent, when the guards at the gate of the camp reported that 
 there was an unusual cloud of dust in the direction which they 
 had taken. Csesar, hurrying with other troops to the assistance 
 of his foragers, found that the latter were surrounded by a mul- 
 titude of armed Britons, who had rushed upon them from the 
 woods, and that they were defending themselves with difficulty 
 against the attacks of the horsemen and charioteers. The 
 assailants were now repulsed ; but Caesar found it necessary to 
 draw off his men, and make good his retreat to the camp, where 
 the Britons, who considered this engagement as a victory, deter- 
 mined to attack him ; and they sent messengers in all directions 
 to call the neighbouring chiefs to their standard. A continu- 
 ance of stormy weather prevenfed the attack for several days 
 during which Caesar, warned of their design, made every pre- 
 paration for defence, the result of which was a new and severe 
 
30 
 
 THE BKITONS. 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 defeat of tlie Britons, who were pursued with slaug-hter by a 
 small body of cavalry which attended upon the Attrebatian 
 Commius. The same day, the chiefs sent again to demand 
 peace, which Caesar, anxious to return to Gaul before the set- 
 ting-in of the equinoctial gales, granted, after exacting double 
 the number of hostages which he had previously required. He 
 then embarked his troops, and reached the country of the Morini 
 in safety, from whence the intelligence sent him by his friends 
 recalled him to Italy. But, before his departui*e, he gave direc- 
 tions for fitting out a great number of ships, of a shape better 
 adapted for landing his troops on the shores of Britain, announc- 
 ing that it vvas his intention to return to the island in the en- 
 suing spring. 
 
 The officers and troops left in Gaul showed their zeal in the 
 completeness with which they executed the orders of their great 
 commander ; and when Caesar returned to them, in the year 64 
 B.C., he found everything ready for the transport of his troops, 
 his horses, and his provisions. The former consisted of five 
 legions, with two thousand cavalry. These were embarked in 
 upwards of eight hundred ships, and the appearance of this 
 numerous fleet so alarmed the Britons, that tliey deserted the 
 coast, and retired to the less accessible parts of the country. 
 The Eomans, on this occasion, landed in or near the same spot 
 as in the year preceding ; and Caesar chose a place for his camp 
 on the shore. Some prisaners, taken in the course of the same 
 afternoon, having given information of the spot where the Britons 
 were assembled, he marched against them at night, leaving ten 
 cohorts and three hundred horse to guard the ships. He found 
 the Britons posted in a woody district, about, twelve Homan 
 (perhaps sixteen English) miles from his camp, on the banks 
 of a river supposed to be the Stour ; and as he approached (1 
 now use his own words), they ‘ came down to the river to meet 
 him, with their horsemen and chariots, and attempted, from 
 elevated ground, to begin the battle, and repel our troops. But 
 our horse soon drove them back, and they took refuge in the 
 woods, where they had a place singularly strong both by natui’e 
 and art, and which, to all appearances, had been constructed by 
 them as a stronghold during their civil wars ; for every approach 
 to it was effectually blocked up with felled trees. Some few of 
 their troops, however, continued to skirmish from the woods, 
 and prevented our men from entering their fortress. But the 
 soldiers of the seventh legion locked their shields together, so 
 as to form what is called the tedudo, and, mounting over a 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 CASSIVELLAUxVUS. 
 
 31 
 
 mound thrown up against the defences, took the place, and ex- 
 pelled the Britons from the woods, without experienciuo* mucli 
 loss themselves.’ 
 
 Cmsar was prevented from following up this success by the 
 intelligence of another disaster which had befallen his fleet, 
 through a violent storm on the second night after his arrival. 
 He returned in haste to his camp, found that the damage done 
 to his fleet had not been exaggerated by the messengers who 
 brought him intelligence of it, and gave immediate directions 
 for repairing the shattered ships. ^ He now resolved, not- 
 withstanding the difficulty of the task, to haul up all his ships, 
 and inclose them in one line of fortification with the camp. 
 This labour occupied about ten days ; and the work was not 
 intermitted during the night. The vessels were thus drawn 
 up, and a camp strongly fortified ; after which, leaving the 
 same force to guard the fleet, he recommenced his march in 
 the same direction as before.’ Caesar found that the 
 Britons had employed the time which he had lost by the 
 disaster of his fleet, in composing their differences and uniting 
 against him ; for when he landed in Britain, the different 
 tribes were engaged in mutual hostilities : perhaps it was a 
 struggle between the Belgian settler and the aboriginal Gelt: ^ 
 and the chief of the latter is named l)y Caesar, Cassivellaunus 
 or Cassibellaunus. This chief, who seems to have been of the 
 British race, and whose territoiy is supposed to have been the 
 present county of Hertford, had been gradually reducing under 
 his sway the tribes around him. We learn, incidentally, that 
 some of the chiefs, whose rights he had usurped, had fled to 
 Gaul, and there made their complaint to Caesar, and implored 
 his protection. This was the case with Mandubratius, the 
 young chief of the Trinobantes, a people occupying the modern 
 county of Essex, and considered, at the time of Caesar’s inva- 
 sion, as the principal tribe of this part of the island. The 
 kingdom of the Trinobantes had been seized by Cassivellaunus, 
 who murdered its king, Imanuentius, the father of Mandu- 
 bratius, and the latter only escaped a similar fate by flight. 
 
 The different tribes of the south-eastern parts of the island, 
 as we have just said, now joined in a temporary league against 
 the invaders : and it is a proof of the general estimation of 
 the talents of Cassivellaunus, that they agreed in selecting him 
 
 * It may perhaps be considered, in favour of this supposition, that the 
 chiefs who were oppressed by Cassivellaunus fled to the continent to seek 
 assistance, instead of applying to the native tribes of the interior. 
 
32 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 for their leader. In consequence of this confederacy, when 
 Caesar inarched back to the position from whicli he had been 
 called by the disaster of his fleet, he found the enemy collected 
 in much greater numbers than before, to oppose his further 
 progress. The Roman legions and their auxiliaries were noiv 
 exposed to constant attacks, in the course of which they lost 
 many men ; for the woods, which appear to have covered or 
 skirted the country through which Caesar marched, gave a 
 secure shelter to the Britons, and they were thus enabled to 
 harass the Romans by sudden and unexpected attacks, and, 
 when repulsed, to retreat without loss, as the heavy-armed 
 legionaries would seldom overtake them in their flight. ‘ In 
 all these skirmishes,’ Caesar tells us, ‘ so immediately under 
 our eyes, and close to the camp, it was evident that the weight 
 of our men’s armour prevented them from pursuing the enemy 
 when they retreated, or advancing far from their own colours. 
 In short, their accoutrements were ill-adapted for contending 
 with such an enemy as they had now to deal with ; and the 
 cavalry, in particular, were much exposed on the fleld of battle ; 
 for the Britons would often make a feigned retreat, and allure 
 them to separate from the legions, after which they would leap 
 from their chariots, and take the cavalry at a disadvantage. . . . 
 Moreover, the Britons never advanced in one body, but fought 
 in small parties, stationed at intervals, so that one squadron 
 relieved another, and our men, who had been contending 
 against those who were exhausted, suddenly found themselves 
 engaged with a fresh body, who had taken their places. The 
 next day, the enemy posted themselves on the hills, at some 
 distance from the camp, and only appeared a few at a time ; 
 and they were also less disposed to attack our cavalry than 
 they had been the day before. About noon, Cmsar sent out 
 Cains Trebonius, tbe lieutenant, with three legions and all the 
 cavalry, to forage ; upon which the enemy assembled from all 
 sides, and surroLmded the foragers, who were unable to leave 
 their colours, or separate from the legions. Our men now 
 made a general attack upon them, and put them to flight and 
 pursued them without interruption, as long as the legions kept 
 in sight to give the cavalry confidence of support whilst they 
 drove the Britons before them. In this manner, they did not 
 allow^ them time to rally, or halt, or leap from their chariots, 
 according to their usual custom. In consequence of this defeat, 
 the British reinforcements, which were arriving from all sides, 
 again disbanded, and from that time the enemy never again 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 DEFEAT OF CASSIVELLAUNUS. 
 
 33 
 
 came to a p:eneral engagement. Csesar, now knowing their 
 intentions, led his army towards the Thames, in order to invade 
 tlie territories of Cassivellannus. The river conld only be 
 passed, on foot, in one place, and tliat with difliculty. When 
 lie arrived on its banks, he perceived a large force drawn up 
 on the other side to oppose him ; the bank, moreover, was 
 planted with sharp stakes, and others of the same kind were 
 fixed ill the bed of the river beneath the water. Ciesar gained 
 intelligence ot‘ this from prisoners and deserters. He accord- 
 ingly sent the cavalry in advance, and bronglit np the infantry 
 immediately in the rear. So great were the ardour and 
 impetuosity of the soldiers, that, whilst tlieir heads alone 
 appeared above the water, the enemy, unable to sustain their 
 attack, abandoned the bank and lied precipitatcdy. Cassivel- 
 lannns, as we have before observed, abandoned all idea of 
 fighting, and dismissed the greater part of his forces, retaining 
 only about four thousand men in chariots. With these lie 
 watched onr march, and, retiring out of onr way, lay in wait 
 for us among the woods and difficult passes. Meanwhile, he 
 cleared the whole country through which onr road lay, both of 
 men and cattle ; and when onr foragers went out to get pro- 
 visions and waste the country, his knowledge of the ways 
 enabled him to assail them with all his chariots ; this caused 
 much danger to onr cavalry, and prevented them from going 
 far from the main body.’ 
 
 One defeat was sufficient to break the ill-consorted alliance 
 Avhich Cassivellannus had formed against the Romans ; and the 
 superiority of the latter once demonstrated, the different tribes 
 who had been oppressed by that chieftain seem to have thrown 
 the blame of their resistance on his infiueiice, nuiking a merit 
 of their personal hostility towards him, and seeking an alliance 
 with the invaders. First came messengers from the Trino- 
 bantes of Middlesex and Essex, who offered to submit to the 
 Romans on condition that they should espouse the cause of 
 their young chief Mandubratius, and restoi’e him to the sove- 
 reignty of their tribe, which Cassivellannus had usurped. The 
 treaty was soon arranged ; Mandubratius, who happened to be 
 in Caesar’s camp, was sent back to rule his tribe as a Roman 
 tributary ; and the Trinobantes, according to agreement, gave 
 forty hostages, and supplied the Roman army with corn. The 
 examples of the Trinobantes was imincaliately followed by the 
 Ceriimagni, the Segontiaci, the Ancalites, the Bibroci, and the 
 Cassi. The first of these tribes lay to the north of the Trino- 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. ri. 
 
 bantes, in the present county of Suffolk ; the Segontiaci occupied 
 the greater part of the present counties of Hampshire and 
 Berkshire ; the Bibroci inhabited a thickly-wooded country 
 containing the celebrated forest of Anderida — including a small 
 part of Hampshire and Berkshire, and stretching through the 
 modern counties of Sussex and Surrey into the eastern parts of 
 Kent ; the position of the Ancalites is less certain, but they, 
 perhaps, lay on the north of Berkshire and on the western 
 borders of Middlesex ; and if the Cassi were the same tribe 
 that was called by Ptolemy the Catyeuchlani, as is supposed, 
 they formed the link between these other tribes and the Trino- 
 bantes, stretching through the modern counties of Hertford, 
 Bedford, and Buckingham. The envoys of tliese tribes informed 
 Caesar, ‘ that the town of Cassivellaunus was not far off, 
 surrounded by woods and marshes, and occupied by a large 
 number of men and cattle. The Britons call by the name of 
 town a place in the fastnesses of the woods surrounded by a 
 mound and trench, and calculated to afford them a I’etreat and 
 protection from hostile invasion.^ Caesar immediately marched 
 to this place, which he found extremely strong, both by nature 
 and art ; nevertheless, he assailed it at once in two different 
 quarters. The enemy stood their ground for a time, but at 
 length gave way before the onset of our men, and abandoned 
 the town by the opposite side. A. great number of cattle were 
 found there, and many of the enemy were slain or taken 
 prisoners in the pursuit.’ 
 
 It will be seen by reference to a map that Csesar had now 
 received the submission of a very large tract of country, 
 extending from sea to sea, and completely surrounding the 
 country of the Cantii, in which he had first landed. All these 
 tribes seem to have bargained for protection against Cassivel- 
 launus, and it is probable that they had been all more or less 
 brought under his rule. This had been the case also with 
 Cantium, or Kent, which was then ruled by four kings, or 
 chiefs, whom Caesar calls Cingetorix, Carvilius, Taximagulus, 
 and Segoiiax. When Caesar marched across the Thames, 
 Cassivellaunus, driven from his own country, seems to have 
 formed the project of cutting him off from the coast, and, 
 marching into Kent, he sent to the four Kentish chiefs just 
 mentioiied his orders to assemble their forces immediately, and 
 
 * Oppiduin autem Britanni vocant, quurn sylvas impeditas vallo atque 
 fossa iDunierunt, quo, incursionis liostium vitandae causa, con venire coii- 
 sueverunt. Eo proticiseitur cum leg’ionibus ; locum n'perit ogregia natura 
 atque opere munitum. — Caesar, Bell. Gall. lib. v. c. 17. 
 
CHAP. II.] SUBMISSION OF CASSIVELLAUXUS. 
 
 S<5 
 
 join liim in surprising tlie naval camp of the Komans. This 
 attack was, like so many others, unsuccessful ; the assailants 
 were beaten from the camp with considerable slaughter, and a 
 young chief of consideration, named Lugotorix, was taken 
 prisoner. This action convinced Cassivellaunus that it was in 
 vain to contend with his irregular warriors against the disci- 
 pline of the Eoman veterans ; and now, finding that even his 
 own subjects were disaffected to him and had made their peace 
 with the invaders, he also, through the intermediation of the 
 Attrebatian Commius, offered to submit. His proposals were 
 accepted, for Caesar was now anxious, for various reasons, to 
 return to Gaul ; and having agreed upon a tribute which the 
 Britons were to pay annually to the Eoman people, and 
 given his injunction to Cassivellaunus not to make war upon 
 Mandubratius or the Trinoban tes, who were naturally supposed 
 to have incurred his hatred by their being the first to submit, 
 Caesar led his legions back to Gaul, carrying with him hostages 
 which he had taken from the British chiefs as pledges for their 
 fulfilment of the terms of the treaty. 
 
 Such is Caesar’s account of his exploits in Britain, whicli 
 have every appearance of being truthful, although we have no 
 otlier authority by which to test them. His descriptions are 
 much too indefinite to enable us to trace vvith any certainty flio 
 line of his march, and it is but a waste of time with so few 
 data to attempt to fix the sites of his camps or battle-fields. 
 There can be little doubt that the Eomans landed somewhere on 
 the line of coast between Folkestone and Sandwich, but as that 
 coast is known to have undergone great changes since that 
 period, it would be unsafe to rely on his description at the 
 present day.^ The river on the banks of which he found the 
 Britons posted is supposed to have been the Stour. We can 
 hardly doubt that his subsequent march lay along the edge of 
 the Weald, perhaps along the vale of Maidstone. The plaee at 
 which the Eomans crossed the Thames was fixed by a tradition 
 which existed in the time of Bede, when the stakes, said to have 
 been those which defended the river, remained, f at a place now 
 
 * The theory has recently been sustained with some ingenuity, that the 
 Romans did not start for this expedition from the country of the Morini, 
 but from the mouth of the river Somme, and that the Romans landed in 
 the neighbourhood of Pevensey ; but I do not believe that Ca3sar’s narrative 
 will bear this interpretation. See my remarks on this subject in the 
 ‘Wanderings of an Antiquary,’ pp. 102, 103 (London, 1854). 
 
 + Traditions, even of the lime of Bede, are not of much value, unless 
 well supported by other circumstances. The words of this writer, after 
 
36 
 
 THE BRITOX.^. 
 
 [cfiAr. II. 
 
 called Cowey Stakes, near Chertsey, in Sui-rey. The stron^*- 
 hold of Cassivellaumis, which the Eoman soldiers carried by 
 storm, has been conjectured with much less probability to have 
 stood on the spot afterwards occupied by the Eoman city of 
 Yerulamium (near St Alban’s). Other sites have been sug- 
 gested, but we Avillingly pass over such vague and useless con- 
 jectures to confine ourselves as much as possible to known, 
 or more apparent, facts. 
 
 Caesar’s expedition to Britain was looked upon as one of the 
 most remarkable events of the time, and from this moment the 
 distant western island was a common theme for poetry and 
 declamation. The victorious commander was looked upon as 
 one who had carried the Eoman arms into a new world — 
 penitus toto dlvisos orbe Britanrios — and his countrymen listened 
 eagerly to the account brought home by their armies of these 
 hitherto unknown peoples. Caesar evidently gained the best 
 information he could on the manners of the Britons, and his 
 brief description of the island and its inhabitants is apparently 
 given at least with good faith. He knew that the island was 
 in its general form triangular, and he was sufficiently well 
 informed of the comparative proportions of its different sides. 
 He knew that another island, whieh he reckoned to be half the 
 size of Britain, and which he called Hibernia (Ireland), lay to 
 the west of Britain, and he placed between these an isle named 
 .Mona (Anglesea or Man). He speaks more doubtfully of other 
 islands, of smaller dimensions, with a more northerly position. 
 The inhabitants of the interior of Britain, according to the 
 traditionary information gained by Caesar, w^ere the original 
 inhabitants of the island, while the south-eastern coasts were 
 inhabited by Belgic colonies, who, as he informs us, had given 
 to the different petty states (civitates) of Britain the name of 
 
 giving- the account from Caesar of the fortifying of the river with stakes, 
 are, ‘ the remains of which stakes are to be seen there to this day ; and it 
 appears to the observer as though the several stakes — each about the thick- 
 ness of man’s thigh, and cased with lead — w'cre fixed immoveably in the 
 bed of the river,’ — {quay'um vestigia sudium ibidem usque hodie visu)iiu)\ 
 et videtur inspectantihus quod singulm earum admodum humani femoris 
 grossce et circumfusce plumbo immobiliter hcereant in profundum fluminis 
 tu fixed. Bedae Hist. Eccl. i. 3.) Bede’s account of these stakes is pro- 
 bably correct ; but, as it is not likely that in the hurry of a sudden defence, 
 like that against Caesar’s march, the Britons would have the time to erect 
 posts of this magnitude, and case them with lead, we are justified in sup- 
 posing that the stakes existing in Bede’s time were a Roman work of a later 
 period connected in some way with the navigation or fishery of the Thames, 
 which we cannot now explain, and that they had nothing to do with Caesar’s 
 passage of the river. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 man:^eiis of britoxs. 
 
 37 
 
 those from which they came. This statement is corroborated by 
 the list of British tribes given by subsequent writers, in which 
 the Hedui of Somersetshire, the Morini of Dorset, the Senones 
 of Hampshire, the Ehemi (another name of the Bibroci) of Berk- 
 shire and Surrey, the Attrebates, stretching from the former 
 county into Hampshire, the Ciinbri of the borders of Devon, 
 had all their representatives in Gaul. The people of Cantium 
 (Kent) were the most civilized of all the British tribes, and in 
 their mannei’s bore a strong resemblance to their Gallic neigli- 
 bours. The maritime districts were essentially corn countries, 
 for it was the Belgic settlers who introduced agriculture ; the 
 wild tribes of the interior did not cultivate the earth, but 
 they lived on milk and flesh, and clothed themselves with 
 skins. All the Britons, we are assured by Caesar, stained 
 themselves with a blue dye made from woad, to give them a 
 more terrible appearance in battle ; and they wore their hair 
 long, and shaved every part of the body but the head and 
 upper lip. A sentiment of national pride has led many wi iters 
 to doubt the truth of Caesar’s account of the prevalence of 
 p.olygamy among the Britons, and he was probably speaking 
 only of the maritime districts when he tells us with a tone of 
 wonder of their numerous population, and of the frequency of 
 buildings which resembled those of the Gauls. Cattle were very 
 abundant. But the Britons had no money, using in place of it 
 pieces of brass or iron rings, reduced to certain standard weight.^ 
 White plumbum (tin) was procured in the midland districts, 
 and iron was found, though not very abundant, in the parts 
 bordering on the sea.f Brass, Cmsar tells us, was imported 
 from abroad. The island produced timber of every kind, except 
 beech and fir. 
 
 Such was Britain as known to Julius Csesar. Two nearly 
 contemporary writers, Strabo the geographer, and the historian 
 Diodorus Siculus, have supplied us with some information 
 omitted by him, and probably obtained from subsequent com- 
 munications with the island. These authors describe the island 
 as being for the most part flat and woody, having however, 
 ‘many strong places on liills.’ The produce, they tell us, con- 
 sisted of corn and cattle, gold, silver, and iron, with skins, 
 
 * ‘ Utuntur aut aere aut annulis ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro 
 nummo.’ — CsBsar, Bell. Gall. lib. v. c. 10. 
 
 t Caesar may perhaps be supposed to have taken Cornwall for a midland 
 district, as it was far from the country in which he was engag:ed. His 
 iron district was perhaps the weald of Sussex and Kent. 
 
33 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. ti. 
 
 slaves, and do2:s of a superior breed for the chase. The Britisli 
 dogs were widely celebrated, and so strong and fierce that the 
 Gauls are said to have used them in Avar. The aboriginal 
 Britons are described as being tall of stature, and corpulent, 
 but not well made. According to Strabo, although they used 
 milk in great abundance, they were not acquainted with the art 
 of making cheese, and they were total strangers to gardening 
 and agriculture. Diodorus describes them as practising agri- 
 culture, gathering the corn and storing it up in the stalk in 
 thatched houses, out of Avhich ‘ they plucked the old ears from 
 day to day, and used them to make their food. ’ Their houses, 
 Ave are told, Avere mere temporary establishments, foi-med in the 
 forests by enclosing a space Avith felled trees, Avithin Avhich they 
 made huts of reeds and logs, and sheds for their cattle, ‘ not 
 intended to remain long’ (ov irpoc ttoXvv xp^b'op). Csesar as 
 we have seen alludes to the tin {plumbum alburn^ as it is named 
 also by Pliny), Avhich appears to have been the principal export 
 of Britain in those remote ages ; and Strabo tells us that ‘ the 
 inhabitants of Britain Avho live near the Belerian promontory 
 (the Land’s End, CornAvall), are peculiarly hospitable, and, from 
 the great resort of foreigners, more polished in manners than the 
 others. They prepare the tin, and show much skill in Avorking 
 the earth Avhich produces it. This being of a stony nature and 
 having earthy veins in every direction, they Avork their Avay into 
 these veins, and so by means of AA^ater separate the fragments. 
 These they bruise into small pieces, and convey to an island 
 which lies in front of Britain, called Ictis [Wight ? or perhaps an 
 island on the Cornish coast] ; for at the great ebb of the tide 
 the channel becomes dry, and they carry over the tin in large 
 quantities on Avaggons. From Ictis the tin is purchased by 
 native merchants, and transported to Gaul.’ The same Avriter 
 tells us that ivory bracelets, necklaces, vessels of glass, and 
 such like small Avares, Avere usually imported from Gaul into 
 Britain. 
 
 In comparing these Avriters, Ave have some difficulty in 
 separating the characteristics of the maritime states from those 
 Avhich applied only to the tribes of the interior ; but it seems 
 clear that the island Avas then inhabited by tAvo very distinct 
 races, differing no doubt in language as Avell as in manners. 
 The country extending along the coast from the mouth of the 
 Humber to Devonshire, and stretching inwardly perhaps through 
 the modern counties of Hertford, Buckingham, and Berk- 
 shire, Avas possessed by tribes Avho had passed over from the 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 THE LATER BRITOXS. 
 
 39 
 
 Continent, and driven the aboriginal inliabitants into tlie in- 
 terior. They were distinguished by a much higher civilization, 
 especially in Kent, which had probably been settled more re- 
 cently than the others, and although they had no towns properly 
 so called, they had permanent dwellings, and were extensively 
 employed in cultivating the land. The primitive Britons wan- 
 dered over the interior of the island, driving their herds and 
 docks from pasture to pasture, having no fixed habitation, but 
 throwing up temporary dwelling-places for security for them- 
 selves and their cattle — in fact, living precisely in the same 
 manner as the wild Irish three centuries ago. In a few places 
 accidental circumstances led the natives to adopt a more settled 
 mode of life, and to become less barbarous. This was especially 
 the case in Cornwall, where, from a remote period, the trade in 
 the metals produced so abundantly in that district had, as 
 Strabo says, brought them into a continued intercourse with 
 merchants from foreign lands, but chiefly, it would appear, from 
 Gaul, 
 
 During the long period of a century, from the time of Caesar 
 to that of Claudius, we have scarcely any information relating 
 to the island of Britain. We have seen that, before Caesar left 
 its shores, all the tribes in the south-east from the Iceni or 
 Ceniinagni of Suffolk to the inhabitants of Hampshire, had 
 agreed to acknowledge the supremacy of Borne. Among the 
 chiefs of these tribes there appears to have arisen a sudden 
 emulation of imitating Boman forms and manners — a sort of 
 pride, as we might say, of wearing the livery of their masters. 
 Britons now were seen not unfrequently in Borne, and travellers 
 Iroin Italy probably made their way through Gaul to visit the 
 distant home of the strangers whose appearance in the south 
 must always have excited curiosity. The feeling of eagerness 
 for what was called friendship with Borne seems to have soon 
 spread into other parts of the island, and when Strabo was writ- 
 ing his Geography, British ambassadors were in Borne, bowing 
 to the throne of Augustus. ‘At present,’ he says, ‘ some of 
 their princes have sent ambassadors to cultivate the friendship 
 of Augustus Caesar, and have deposited offerings in the Capitol, 
 thus bringing the whole island to be in friendly connection with 
 the Bomans.’ ^ 
 
 * Strabo’s account is fully confirmed by an inscription in honour of 
 Aug-ustus, found at Ang-ora, in Asia Minor, in which, among- the public 
 acts of this emperor’s reign, the submission of the British princes is 
 mentioned. The Latin text of this inscription, which is completed from 
 
40 
 
 THE ERITOXS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 Among the various arts now imported from Eome was that 
 of coining money. No evidence lias yet been eiscoveied to 
 make us doubt the truth of Caesar’s statement that, when he 
 visited the island, the Britons liad no coinage; but soon atbr 
 that cA^ent mints Avere established in Britain, and AA^e find nu- 
 merous coins, many of Avhicli bear inscriptions in Eomaii 
 characters. ]\Iost of these inscriptions evidently give us the 
 names of British chiefs AAdio, since tlicir ‘friendship’ Avith Eome, 
 assumed the title of reges, and they adopted the formula of tin*, 
 coinage of Augustus, CzESAU divi filius. The history of this 
 coinage is still very obscure, but the eaiiier examples seem to make 
 us accjuainted Avith two distinct families of chiefs, both of Avhich 
 are connected Avith the different tribes AAdio submitted to Caesar. 
 The poAver AAdiich in Caesar’s time had been held by CassEel- 
 launus, appears to have descended to a piince named Tasciova- 
 nus, AAdio was father of the (avc may say) celebrated Cuiiobelinus 
 or Cunobeline.'^ The latter, Ave know, had three sons, Adinin- 
 ius, Caratacus or Caractacus, and Togodumnus. Another, and 
 apparently contemporary (or nearly contemporary), family of 
 British kings, named Eppillus (or Ippillus), Yeric, Yiric, or 
 ]leric, and a name of Avhich only the first syllable Tine is knoAvn, 
 are described on a number of coins as sons of a British chief 
 named Comius.f There is no necessity for believing that the 
 latter AA^as the Commiiis Avhose name occurs in Csesar’s transac- 
 tions Avith the British chiefs. The coinage of Tasciovanus and 
 of Cunobeline Avas very numerous, and it furnishes us Avitli 
 another piece of very important information, for it appears from 
 the inscriptions on it that after the Britons had become more in- 
 timately acquainted Avith their Eoman allies they began to iini- 
 
 the parallel Greek text, is, Britannorum reges, Damno, Eellaiinos, et 
 Tinian, Sicanibroruni Maelo, Marcoinannoruin Suebo, fidem peUverunt 
 meam (the kings of the Britons, Damno, Bellaunos, and Timan, of the 
 Sicambri Maelo, and of the Marconianni Suebo, submitted to me). 
 
 * The legend on the coins of Cunobeline is cunopelinus tascioa'ani 
 F KEX, in one or two instances complete, but in general mure or less abbre- 
 viated. I believe that it Avas Mr Birch Avho pointed out ihe simple and 
 natural explanation that f stood for the Latin Mr Beale Poste has 
 
 given, in a series of papers in the Journal of the British Archaiological 
 Association, a \wy difierent explanation of this and the Avhole series of the 
 British coinage, supported by an ingenious train of argument, Avhich, 
 however, appears to me neither convincing nor satisfactory, as being 
 founded too much on assumptions and suppositions. Like every other 
 branch of archseology or historical inquiry which is very imperfectly 
 known, the coins of the ancient Britons furnish a Avide field for speculative 
 theory. 
 
 t The legends on the most perfect specimens are, eppilles comi f, 
 VEKIC COM F REX, and TING COM F REX. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 THE BRITISH COIXAGE. 
 
 41 
 
 tate them in huildino’ stationary towns. The coins of Tascio- 
 vanus were struck at Yerlamiuin, as it is spelt on the coins, 
 wliich was no doubt the capital of that prince ; his son Ciino- 
 beline fixed his chief residence at Camidodunimi (Colchester, in 
 Essex), on the borders of the Iceni, who acknowletlg-ed his 
 power, the name of which also is impressed on his money. ^ 
 The coins of the sons of Comius bear no indication of the place 
 where they were minted, but it seems probable from the locali- 
 ties m which they have been founds that Eppillus ruled in Kent, 
 
 and that Veric and Tine were joint or rival chiefs 
 
 (or perhaps one succeeded the other), in Sussex and Hampshire. 
 
 During' the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, making to- 
 gether a period of nearly eighty years, the British states which 
 had submitted to Julius Csesar were left in that position of 
 friendship or alliance with Home which we have already de- 
 scribed, and history tells us nothing of their condition or of the 
 actions of their chiefs. We know that Cunobelinus, who has 
 been made familiar to every Englisli ear by Shakespeare under 
 the name of Cymbeline, was living in the time of the latter of 
 the two emperors just mentioned, but the stories of that chiefs 
 intercourse with Augustus, resting on no very early authority, 
 are evidently monkish fables. The very numerous coinage of 
 Cunobeline, and its superior execution, show that he was a 
 powerful and distinguished prince ; yet war and sedition pre- 
 vailed among the tribes under his command, and in his latter 
 years, the rivalry among his own sons arose to such a height 
 that he was obliged to banish one of them, Adminius, from his 
 court. Adminius, with a few of his adherents, hurried to Home, 
 and claimed the protection of Caligula, who had now succeeded 
 to the imperial throne. The British refugees were received as 
 vassals of the Empire, and were exhibited in triumph to the 
 Homans, and Caligula having placed himself at the head of an 
 army, marched to the coast of Graul Avith the declared intention 
 of restoring Adminius and reducing Britain to a province. But 
 tliis vaunted expedition ended ingloriously ; instead of passing 
 
 ' * It has been conjectured, that one or two legends, not yet understood, 
 may be names of towns. A coin bearing the name tascio (for Tascio- 
 vanus or T.isciovani) has sego on the reverse, which some interpret as 
 Segontium, the name of a town, while others make it Segonax, the name 
 of a chief, perhaps a son of Tascio vanus. It has, in a similar manner, 
 been suggested that calle, vkicon, soliuo, and cux, found on coins most 
 of which appear to have belonged to Tascio vanus and Cunobelin, indicate 
 towns named Calleva, Uriconium, Solidunum, and Cunetio. In the iirst 
 of these, the word rex, joined with calle, seems to prove that it is the 
 name of an individual ; and the others arc far from certain. 
 
42 
 
 THE BEITONS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 over into Britain, the Roman soldiers v ere ordered to leather 
 shells on the beach, and they were then led back to Roire to 
 triumph in wliat were called the ‘ spoils of the ocean.’ 
 
 In the mean while, Britain seems to have been more and more 
 disturbed with civil strife. As far as we can understand by a 
 comparison of the sligdit notices preserved by the Roman annal- 
 ists, with the yet imperfectly explained British coins, the sons 
 of Cunobeline, who was hoav dead, were oppressino' the sons of 
 Comius. One of the latter, called by Dio Cassius, Bericus, 
 probably the Yeric of the coins, was compelled to fly from the 
 island, and took refuge at the court of Claudius, to whom he 
 explained the state of Britain and the facility with which, at 
 that moment, it inigdit be conquered. We are told that the 
 Britons sent to Rome to demand that the fugitives should be 
 delivered up, and that the refusal was accompanied Avith re- 
 criminations on the irregularity with which the islanders had of 
 late paid their tribute. Claudius, anxious to deserve a triumph 
 by some military exploit, listened willingly to the representatives 
 of the fugitive chief, and found an excuse for hostilities in the 
 complaints of the Britons. An army Avas collected in the spring 
 of the year 43, under the command of a senator of distinction, 
 named Aulus Plautius ; but the legions mutinied at the pros- 
 pect of an expedition Avhich seemed to expose them to the perils 
 of the unknown ocean, and it Avas not until after much labour 
 and anxiety that their fears Avere calmed, and they Avere per- 
 suaded at length to embark. They landed on the shores of 
 ]3ritain in the autumn of the same year. The Britons, Avho 
 seem to have formed no combined plan of resistance, retired to 
 the Avoods and marshes, and it Avas some time before the Romans 
 could discover their retreat, and bring them to battle. At length, 
 hoAvever, the Britons ventured to fight, not collectively, but in 
 divisions, and Plautius defeated first Caractacus (aa^Ao is named 
 by Dio Cassius, our authority for these events, Cataracus), and 
 then his brother Togodumnus. In pursuing these chiefs, the 
 Roman commander had overrun the south of England as 
 far as Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, the country of the 
 Dob uni, aaEo AA^ere at this time under the dominion of the Ca- 
 tuellani, the hereditary tribe of Cassivellaunus, and probably of 
 Cunobeline. The Dobuni submitted, and Plautius raised a 
 fortress and left a garrison to hold them in subjection, and then 
 pursued the sons of Cunobeline. x\mong the distinguished 
 officers Avho served in Britain under Plautius Avere Iavo future 
 emperors, Vespasian, and his son Titus. In one of the obsti- 
 
CHAP. 11.] 
 
 WAR WITH THE ROMANS. 
 
 43 
 
 nate engagements with the Britons, which occniTecl after the 
 advance of the Romans from the country of the Dobuni, the life 
 of the father was saved only by the bravery of his son. It was 
 thus in our island, as it has been well observed, that the arms 
 were trained, which were destined to be the instrument of God’s 
 vengeance against the stubborn people of Israel. The sons of 
 Cunobeline, after having retreated before the Romans towards 
 the west, seem to have doubled upon their pursuers, and to 
 have sought refuge in the marshes which covei*ed the loAver part 
 of Essex towards the mouth of the Thames. Here also they 
 were pursued and attacked, and Togodumnus, one of the 
 brothers, was slain in battle. The death of their chief seems to 
 have provoked the Britons to a more obstinate resistance, and 
 the Roman commander found himself obliged to act upon the 
 defensive. He sent information of his position to the emperor, 
 Avho hastened to command in person his legions in Britain. On 
 the arrival of Claudius, they again crossed the Thames, defeated 
 the Britons in battle, and took possession of Camulodunum, the 
 royal seat of Cunobeline. The Britons now submitted, and the 
 emperor hastened back to Rome to celebrate his triumph, leav- 
 ing Aldus Plautius in command of the army. The emperor 
 and his son were both honoured by the senate with the title of 
 Britannicus, and a coin was subsequently struck to commemor- 
 ate the conquest of the Britons.^ 
 
 That conquest, however, was as yet very imperfect, and in- 
 cluded only the south-eastern district of the island. But a 
 foreign power, like that of Rome, established in a hostile manner 
 in one district of Britain, could not long remain without excuses 
 for attacking the others. The south-western division of the 
 island, extending from Hampshire to the extremity of Cornwall, 
 was held by two powerful tribes, called the Belgm and the 
 Hamnonii or Hiimnonii. Both appear to have been late settlers 
 from the opposite continent, and to have been able to resist 
 successfully the influence of Cunobeline. In retaliation for as- 
 sistance, Avhich they had probably given against the Romans in 
 the war with Caractacus and Togodumnus, their country was 
 now invaded by Yespasian with the second legion, and after an 
 
 ^ This coin, which is found in silver and j?old, has a laureated head 
 of Claudius on the obverse, with the inscription, Ti . clavd . caesar . 
 AVG . p . M . TR . p . VI . IMP . XI, which is to be read, Tiberius Claudius 
 CcBsar Augustus, pontifex maximus,, Tribunitia potestate sextum, imperator 
 uudecimum. On the reverse, a triumphal arch is surmounted by an 
 equestrian statue between two trophies, with the inscription de britann, 
 i.e. de Britamiis, on the conquest of the Britons. 
 
44 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 obstinate and apparently a long struggle, in which Vespasian 
 fought nearly thirty battles and captured tAventy of the British 
 oppida, or fortified posts, these two tribes, with the adjacent 
 island of Yectis (Wight), Avere reduced to submission.^ 
 
 Previous to the year 50, Aulus Plautius Avas recalled, and he 
 seems to have left the Homan legions engaged in Avar Avith the 
 Britons. It Avas now the tribes of the interior avIio had taken 
 up arms against the invaders, and were making inroads upon 
 the tribes Avho had submitted to them, considering their submis- 
 sion as a just cause for attacking and plundering them. They 
 had chosen for this attack the moment when the Homan army 
 in Britain Avas Avithoiit a co m m and er-in- chief, and Avhen the 
 immediate approach of winter promised them a sufficient period 
 of impunity to enable them to secure their booty. In the midst 
 of this confusion, a ncAv governor or proprcetor of Britain arrived 
 from Home. His name AA^as Ostorius Scapula, a good soldier, 
 and a man of eminent abilities. He had no sooner landed than 
 he collected such troops as Avere at hand, and, falling upon the 
 Britons unexpectedly, defeated them Avith great slaughter, and 
 drove them out of the Homan territory. He then proceeded to 
 inclose and protect the latter Avith a line of forts from the Avon 
 tb the Severn, f from Avhich it appears that the Avhole country 
 Avithin these rivers, from the farthest coast of Norfolk to the 
 Land’s-End, and thence to the extreme point of Kent, had at 
 this time, voluntarily or by compulsion, submitted to the power 
 of Home. 
 
 Among those AAdio had submitted voluntarily Avas the ex- 
 tensive and poAverful tribe of the Iceni, avIio occupied the 
 modern counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Hunting- 
 don. The Iceni Avere jealous of the attempt of the Homans to 
 establish their poAver by these forts, and, confident in their OAvn 
 strength, Avhich had not yet been tried Avith the Homans, they 
 
 * Our knowledo^e of this war is taken chiefly from Suetonius, who says 
 of Vespasian, ‘ Inde in Britanniam translatus, tricies cum hoste conflixit, 
 duas validissimas Rentes, superque xx. oppida, et insulam Vectem Brit- 
 annijB proximam, in deditionem redeiilt.’ From the mention of the island 
 of Vectis, and other circumstances, there seems little reason to doubt that 
 Ihe duce geiites were the Belg:8e and the Damnonii, although it is not so 
 clear whether the thirty (or, according to Eutropius, thirty-two) battles did 
 not include four or five battles Vespasian is known to have fought in the 
 previous war. 
 
 t ‘ Cinctosque castris Antonam et Sabrinam fluAUOS cohibere parat.’ — 
 Tacitus. The Antona is usually considered to be the Nen, but it seems 
 more probable that it here signifies the Avon. I understand that some 
 editions or MSS. read Aufona. 
 
CHAP. II.J 
 
 DEFEAT OF THE BRIG ANTES. 
 
 45 
 
 put themselves at the head of a confederacy, with some of the 
 neighbouring* tribes, and when Ostorius marched against them, 
 they prepared for battle in a place which they had inclosecl 
 with ramparts of earth, with a narrow entrance to hinder the 
 approach of cavalry.^ But this was of little avail against the 
 discipline of their opponents, and Ostorius, with only a few 
 cohorts of auxiliaries, attacked them in their entrenchments, 
 made a breach 'for the entrance of his cavalry, and defeated 
 tliem with great slaughter. The Iceni now returned to 
 their obedience, and other tribes, which had before hesitated, 
 submitted. 
 
 Beyond tlie boundary whicli Ostorius had formed by his line 
 of forts, the interior of the island was inhabited by tribes who 
 were fiercer and less civilized than the southern nations. The 
 chief of these Avas the great tribe of the Brigantes, extending 
 through the mountainous and Avooded districts from the borders 
 of Lincolnshire, through Torkshire, Lancashire, AVestmoreland, 
 Cumberland, and Northumberland. The lesser tribes, such as 
 the Cornavii and Coritavi, Avhich Avere intermediate between the 
 tribes subject to the Romans and the Brigantes, probably ac- 
 knoA\dedged the superiority of the latter. The Brigantes seem 
 to have been so much discouraged by the defeat of the Iceni, 
 tliat they soiiglit the alliance of, or rather bought their peace 
 with, the Romans. Ostorius, I’elieved from the hostilities of 
 the various tribes just mentioned, carried his army into Shrop- 
 shire and North Wales, and had proceeded as far as the tribe of 
 the Cangii on the shores of the Irish Sea, Avhen he Avas recalled 
 by a revolt of the Brigantes, Avhich Avas apparently partial and 
 easily subdued. The only formidable enemy moav in arms on 
 the borders of the Roman possessions AA^as the tribe of the 
 Silures, Avhich had rallied under Caractacus, the defeated son of 
 Cunobeline, Avho, after A^arious turns of fortune, had been elected 
 the chief of this tribe, and entered into a confederacy Avith the 
 Ordovices of North Wales. 
 
 After the defeat of the Brigantes, Ostorius gave his attention 
 to the interior arrangement of the province committed to his 
 charge. He made Camuloduniim, Avliich was raised to the rank 
 of a colonia, the head-quarters of the Roman poAA^er, and estab- 
 lished there a numerous body of veterans, among AAdiom the 
 conquered lands Avere distributed. The city was adorned Avith 
 public buildings, and more especially Avith a temple dedicated 
 
 * ‘ Locum pug-nae delegere, septum ag:resti ajrj^ere, et aditu angusto ne 
 pervius equiti foret.’ — Tacitus^ Annal.^ lib. xii. c. 31. 
 
46 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 to Claudius, and was increased in size and importance. Having 
 settled these tilings to his satisfaction, Ostorius marched against 
 Caractacns. That chief, leaving the more open country of the 
 Silures to be overrun by the enemy, had withdrawn into the 
 wilder country of the Ordovices, where he chose a strong 
 position, difficult of access even without the assistance of arti- 
 ficial defences. On the more accessible parts of the high hills 
 he threw up a kind of rampart of stone, while below and in 
 front was a river difficult to ford."^ Here the British chief 
 awaited the attack of his enemies, or, perhaps, amused himself 
 with the belief that his stronghold was too formidable to be 
 attempted, for he had with him his family, consisting of a wife 
 and daughter. The Britons, thus posted, and excited by the 
 example and exhortations of their leader, presented a formidable 
 appearance to the Eoman legionaries, protected as they were by 
 the river which ran before them, and the steep declivity which 
 rose in their way. ‘ But the soldiers,’ to use the words of 
 Tacitus, ‘ were clamorous for the attack, crying out that their 
 valour would overcome all opposition ; and the inferior officers 
 breathing the same sentiments, gave additional courage to the 
 troops. Ostorius, after reconnoitring the ground to see which 
 parts were impenetrable and which accessible, led on the eager 
 soldiers, and with much difficulty crossed the river. When they 
 came to the rampart, while the enemy threw their javelins at a 
 distance, our soldiers suffered most, and many were slain ; but 
 when ours closed their ranks and placed their shields over them, 
 they soon tore down the rough irregular piles of stones, and 
 attacking the enemy on level ground obliged them to fly to the 
 hills. Thither also both the light and heavy armed soldiers 
 followed, the former attacking them with their speai’s, the latter 
 in a dense body, till the Britons, who had neither armour nor 
 helmets to protect their persons, Avere thrown into disorder, and 
 if they made any resistance to the auxiliaries, they Avere cut in 
 pieces by the swords and spears of the legionaries, and Avhen 
 
 * ‘ Tunc montibus arduis, et si qua clementer accedi poterant in modum 
 valli saxa prsestruit ; et praefluebat aninis vado incerto, catervaquo major- 
 uni pro munimentis consisterant. ’ — Tacitus. A lofty mountain at the 
 northern extremity of the Stretton Hills in Shropshire, still called Caer 
 Caradoc, has been supposed by some to be the scene of the final defeat of 
 Caractacus, but this is very uncertain, or perhaps we had better say very 
 improbable. To other hills the same honour has been given, and with 
 perhaps about the same degree of reason. From the account of Tacitus, 
 the position of the Britons on this occasion would seem to have been part 
 of a mountain range, but we have not sufficient detail to enable us to 
 identify it. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 DEFEAT OF CARACTACUS. 
 
 47 
 
 they turned upon the latter, the auxiliaries destroyed them with 
 their sabres and javelins.’* 
 
 This victory was a decisive one. The wife and daughter of 
 Caractacus fell into the hands of the conquerors, and two 
 brothers who had shared his fortunes submitted. Caractacus 
 himself escaped from the battle, and fled to the tribe of the 
 Brigantes, from whose queen, Cartismandua, he sought protec- 
 tion ; but this princess, anxious to remain in friendship with 
 the Eoinans, threw him into chains and delivered him to his 
 enemies. The dignified appearance of Caractacns and his 
 family at the ‘ court of Eome, as related by the historian 
 Tacitus, is the theme of every schoolboy. The loss of their 
 leader did not discourage the Silures, who, trusting to their 
 woods, continued to carry on a fierce warfare against the 
 Eoinans, cutting oft’ their stragglers, and in more than one 
 instance nearly overwhelming the legions which were left to 
 erect fortresses in their country. ‘ After this,’ says Tacitus, 
 
 ‘ there was incessant fighting, generally of a predatory charac- 
 ter; sometimes the armies would meet in the woods, at other 
 times in the midst of marshes, according as chance or their 
 own headlong valour directed : many an engagement took place 
 by accident, while others were the result of stratagem and 
 military manoeuvre ; many an expedition was undertaken to 
 revenge some previous defeat, while others had plunder for 
 their object ; and they were sometimes undertaken by order of 
 the generals, and at other times without their knowledge. 
 The Silures were the most obstinate in their resistance, and 
 their obstinacy was increased by the threat of the Eoman 
 commander, that he would root the very name of the Silures 
 out of Britain, as had been done with the Sigambri, who had 
 been transported to Gaul. These words enraged the Silures, 
 who assailed and cut off two cohorts of the auxiliaries, and 
 stirred up the other tribes to revolt by giving them a large 
 share of their booty, and thus exciting their love of plunder. 
 In the midst of these disorders, Ostorius, overcome by the 
 troubles Avith Avhich he was surrounded, departed this life ; and 
 the Britons rejoiced at his death, not merely as if they had 
 gained a battle, but rather as if the war Avas entirely at an 
 end.’ 
 
 An old officer, Avitus Didius Gallus, Avas appointed to 
 succeed Ostorius as propraetor, and hastened to Britain to take 
 
 ♦ ‘ Et si auxiliaribus resisterent, p^ladiis ac pilis le^ionariorum, si hac 
 vcrterent, spathis et bastis auxiliariuni sternebantur.’ 
 
4S 
 
 THE ERITOXS. 
 
 fcHAP. II. 
 
 the command. Before he arrived, a Roman legion had been 
 defeated by the Silures, but be iiinnediately marched against 
 them, and gave them in their turn a sev^ere defeat. Then, 
 unequal to the arduous character of this war, Didins left it to 
 be conducted by his subordinate officers, and relapsed into the 
 inactivity which was more in accordance with his advanced age. 
 It was probably in this war that the second legion, which had 
 had Vespasian for its* commander, was established at Isca 
 (Caerleon, on the Usk). 
 
 At the time of the arrival of Didins in Britain, a civil war 
 arose among the Brigantes, which tln-eatened to add to the 
 embarrassments of the Romans. I liave already mentioned 
 that this powerful tribe was now governed by a queen, named 
 Cartismandua, who proved a woman of high spirit and some 
 abilities. Her conduct with regard to Caractacus had naturally 
 drawn upon her the hatred of those who were most hostile to 
 the Romans, and this included many of her own subjects. She 
 liad married one of her cliiefs, named Venusius, who, as far as 
 we can gather from the brief account of Tacitus, quarrelled with 
 his wife because she would not surreiuler to him the supreme 
 power over her tribe, and he then placed himself at the head of 
 a party in the state who cried out against the indignity of men 
 living under the rule of a woman. Cartismandua, whose party 
 appears, at first, to have been the strongest, claimed the pro- 
 tection of the Romans, and her husband, who seems to have 
 been driven from among the Brigantes, endeavoured to make 
 himself popular among the other tribes, by now placing himself 
 at the head of the party who were in arms against the invaders. 
 It was this man who, commanding tlie Silures and their allies, 
 had defeated the Roman legion commanded by Manlius Valens 
 before the arrival of the new proprmtor Didius. After this 
 success, Venusius, collecting his allies, and joined by the party 
 of the Brigantes who were opposed to the Roman influence, 
 proceeded to make war on his wife Cartismandua, who had 
 crushed the first attempt against her government, and captured 
 and put to death a brother and other relatives of Venusius. A 
 Roman army was immediately sent to assist the queen of the 
 Brigantes, and in a well-contested battle overcame the Britons 
 who were in arms against her. About the same time anotlier 
 Roman legion, commanded by Caesius Nasica, obtained a 
 decisive victory over an army of Britons. 
 
 Thus the administration of Didius had not been entirely 
 without credit, when, towards the end of tlie year 58, he was 
 
CHAP. II.] CAIUS SUETONIUS PAULLINUS. 
 
 49 
 
 replaced by Yeranius, wlio made one or two successful expedi- 
 tions against the Silures ; but he died before he had been a year 
 in Britain, at a moment when the greatest expectations were 
 formed from his military talents, lie was immediately suc- 
 ceeded by Cains Suetonius Paullinus, one of the most warlike and 
 skilful of the imperial generals. The Eomau arms had experi- 
 enced a reverse {gravis clades) before the arrival of Suetonius, 
 and he found the districts from the Silures to the ]3rigantes iii 
 great disorder. 
 
 It seems that in Britain, as in Gaul, as foreign intercourse 
 and consequent civilisation advanced, the head seat of the old 
 Druidical religion was removed more and more into the remoter 
 districts, until in the latter country it’ established itself on the 
 Armorican coast and in the Channel Islands, and in the former 
 it retreated into the distant island of Mona (iknglesea), equally 
 arrested in its further advances by the waves of the ocean. 
 We gather from the Eoman historians that it was the Druids 
 of Mona who excited the Ordovices and the Silures and their 
 other allies to obstinate resistance, and it was in that island 
 that were collected together the bravest and bitterest enemies 
 of the foreign invaders, ever ready to issue forth and incite 
 their countiymen to insurrection, Suetonius Paullinus soon 
 discovered the influence which Mona exercised against him, and 
 he determined to reduce it to obedience to Eome. For this 
 purpose he marched his forces to the coast of Caernarvonshire, 
 and having caused a number of flat-bottomed vessels to be 
 constructed, he placed the foot soldiers in them, and ordered 
 the cavalry to try to ford the strait which divided the island 
 from the mainland ; or, if they found this impossible, to go 
 in the boats and tow their horses after them. When they 
 approached the island, an unusual scene presented itself to 
 their view. ‘ The shore of the island was lined with the hos- 
 tile army, in which were women dressed in dark and dismal 
 garments, with their hair streaming to the wind, bearing torches 
 in their hands, and running like furies up and down the ranks. 
 Around stood the Druids, with hands spread to heaven, and 
 uttering dreadful prayers and imprecations. The novelty of the 
 sight struck our soldiers with dismay, so that they stood as if 
 petrified, a mark for the enemy’s javelins. At length, animated 
 by the exhortations of their general, and encouraging one an- 
 other not to fear an army of women and fanatics, they rushed 
 upon the enemy, bore down all before them, and involved them 
 in their own fires. The troops of the enemy were completely 
 
oO 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 defeated, a garrison placed in the island, and the groves wldcli 
 liad been the consecrated scenes of the most barbarous super- 
 stitions, were levelled with the ground. It had been their 
 practice to sacrifice on the altars prisoners taken in war, and to 
 divine the pleasure of their gods by inspecting human entrails.’ 
 Suetonius was called oit‘ from this expedition by the most 
 alarming revolt of the Britons in the Homan province that had 
 hitherto occurred. 
 
 The Romans were seldom conciliatory or generous towards 
 the provinces they had conquered, and the empire was now 
 ruled by Nero, under whom those provinces were delivered to 
 the worst of tyranny, by governors whose only principle of 
 action was to grind the unfortunate people under their charge 
 in order to contribute to the avarice and luxury of Rome. The 
 more distant the province, the more cruelly was it oppressed, 
 and Tacitus, in the account he gives, ns of the consultations 
 among the tributary chiefs in Britain on their wrongs, affords 
 a sufficient view of the manner in which this island was treated. 
 ‘ They reflected,’ he says, ‘ on the miseries attendant on servitude, 
 and when they came to compare their several injuries, they were 
 heightened tenfold by putting them together. It was clear that 
 passive submission would but encourage their oppressors to 
 proceed to still greater lengths. Instead of one king, as for- 
 merly, they had now two, the lieutenant and his procurator ; 
 the former exercising his tyranny over their persons, the latter 
 over their goods. Whether their governors were at harmony 
 together or at variance, it was alike fatal to their unhappy sub- 
 jects ; the one oppressed them by his troops and his centurions, 
 the other by his insolence and extortion. Nothing was now safe 
 from their avarice, or from their licentiousness. In battle it was 
 the bravest or strongest man who carried oft‘ the spoil ; but here 
 the meanest-spirited and most contemptible of men entered and 
 pillaged their houses, carried away their children, and made 
 them enlist in the Roman armies as if they were ready to die 
 for anything but their country. If the Britons would but con- 
 sider their own numbers, they would find that the Roman troops 
 who were among them were but a paltry and inconsiderable 
 force. . . . Their country, with their wives and parents, should 
 be so many motives for them to support a war, to which their 
 enemies Avere urged oidy by avarice and luxury, and the armies 
 of Rome Avould no doubt retire as Caesar had done, if the 
 Britons would but imitate the bravery of their ancestors, and 
 not be discouraged by the issue of one or tAVO battles.’ 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 QUEEN BOADICEA. 
 
 61 
 
 It was usual, during tlie earlier period of tlie Homan con- 
 quest, to leave the British chiefs in nominal command of their 
 tribes, with more or less power or wealth, according to their 
 tried obedience and devotion to their imperial masters. In 
 ( 'Ogidunus or Cogidubnns, a chief of the Eegni of Sussex, we 
 have an instance of a British prince who was so faithful to the 
 Itomans, that he was allowed to enjoy his dignity and title of 
 rex, or king, from the reign of Claudius to that of Trajan, and 
 his name appeared down to the latest period of Roman rule on 
 an inscription as one of those who embellished the city of Heg- 
 num (Chichester) with public buildings.* Others, who, al- 
 though they acknowledged the supremacy of the Homans, had 
 not shown the same submissive spirit, were treated more 
 oppressively. The Iceni, as we have seen, were kept in obedi- 
 ence only by fear, and their chief, or king (as he was called), 
 Prasutagiis, who had hoarded up immense wealth, dying in the 
 reign of Nero, when the licence of the imperial officers in the 
 provinces was at its height, attempted to secure protection for 
 his family by leaving one half of his riches to the emperor, and 
 the other half to his two daughters. But he was no sooner 
 dead, than the Homan officers took possession of his kingdom, 
 and treated it as a conquered province. His queen, Boadicea, 
 a woman of high spirit, resisted or expostulated, which only 
 provoked the haughty Homans to act with greater brutality. 
 The queen was publicly scourged; her two daughters were 
 
 * In the earlier part of the last century, as some workmen were digging 
 a cellar in a house at the corner of St Martin’ s-lane and North-street, 
 ill Chichester, they came to the massive walls of a building, near which 
 lay, with the inscribed face downwards, a mutilated stone with the follow- 
 ing inscri23tion : — 
 
 . EPTVXO . ET . MINERVAE 
 TEMPLVM 
 
 . . O . SALVTE . DO . . . DIVIXAE 
 AVCTOKITA . . . CLAVD. 
 
 . . . GIDVBNI . R . L . . . VG . . . IX . BRIT. 
 
 . . . GIVM . EABROR . E . . QVI . IX . EO 
 . . . D . S . D . DOXAXTE . AREAM 
 . . . EXTE . PVDEXTIXI . FIL. 
 
 which has been read thus: ‘Neptuno et Minervye templum pro salute 
 domus divinae ex auctoritate Tiberii Claudii Cogidubni regis legati augusti 
 ill Britannia collegium fabrorum et qui in eo a sacris sunt de suo dedica- 
 verunt donante aream Pudente Pudentini filio.’ This inscription refers, no 
 doubt, to the same British prince mentioned by Tacitus as receiving 
 favours from Claudius, and who appears by it to have taken the name of 
 the emperor in addition to his own. ‘ Quaedam civitates Cogiduno regi 
 erant donatae ; is ad nostram usque memoriam fidissimus remansit, vetere 
 ac jam pridem recepta populi Komani consuetudine ut haberet instrumenta 
 servitutis et reg'3s .’ — Taciti Agric., c. 14. 
 
52 
 
 THE BEITONS. 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 violated ; and other members of the royal fiimily, or relatives 
 of the deceased chief, were thrown into prison, and even sold as 
 slaves. It is not to be wondered at if the Iceni rose in arms to 
 avenge their wrongs, and the Trinobantes of Essex immediately 
 joined in the revolt. The latter seem to have been goaded into 
 rebellion by the insolence of their Homan masters in Camiilo- 
 diinmn. x\ccording to Tacitus, ‘ they looked upon the temple 
 which the Homans had built and dedicated to Claudius, as a 
 kind of citadel to hold tliem in perpetual bondage, and the 
 priests who celebrated religious worship in it as so many harpies 
 who lived upon the substance of the natives. It would be no 
 difficult task, they thought, to destroy the Homan colony, for it 
 had no fortifications to protect it, an omission into which the 
 Homans were led by paying more attention to the gratffication 
 of their luxury than to provide for their public safety.’ 
 
 Before the insurrection broke out, the Homans appear to 
 have been alarmed by unequivocal indications of an approaching 
 storm, and we are told that there were not wanting prodigies 
 to warn them of their danger. The account which Tacitus 
 gives of these is curious, as throwings ome light on the con- 
 dition of the town and country. ‘ At Camuloduuum,’ he tells 
 us, ‘ the statue of Nero fell to the ground, and turned its back 
 where the face had been, as if it fled before the enemy. Women 
 were seen as if mad, singing wild songs, in which they foretold 
 the destruction of the colony [perhaps they were native women, 
 aware of the conspiracy, and employed to create alarm]. Strange 
 noises were heard in the house of assembly, and loud bowlings 
 in the theatre. In the estuary of the Thames there was an 
 appearance like that of a sunken town. The sea assumed the 
 colour of blood, and human forms appeared to be left on the 
 shore by the ebbing tide. All these things were of a nature to 
 encourage the Britons, whilst they overwhelmed the veterans 
 with terror.’ The inhabitants of Camulodunum, in their alarm, 
 applied for assistance to the procurator Cat us Decianus, who 
 commanded in the absence of Suetonius, but who appears to 
 have slighted the warning. ‘ He sent them only two hundred 
 men, very imperfectly armed, and to these were added a small 
 body of soldiers belonging to the town. The temple of Claudius 
 was taken possession of by these troops, as a citadel, but their 
 measures of defence were thwarted by those around them who 
 were in the secret of the conspiracy ; so that they had neither 
 (lug a fosse nor cast iij) an earthen rampart for protection, and the 
 precaution, usual in such cases, of sending away the old men 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 ATTACK ON CAMULODUNUM. 
 
 53 
 
 and the women, and retaining only the young and active, had 
 been entirely negdected. They were, indeed, taken by surprise 
 in time of profound peace, and found themselves suddeidy sur- 
 rounded by the barbarians. Everything but the temple was 
 plundered and burnt at the first attack, and the temple itself, 
 in which the soldiers had taken refuge, was captured after a 
 siege of two days.’ 
 
 The success of the attack on Camulodunum gave courage 
 and force to the insurgents. It appears that the ninth legion, 
 commanded by its lieutenant, Petilius Cerealis, had its station- 
 ary camp within the territory of the Trinobantes. Cerealis 
 hurried to the relief of Camulodunum, but he arrived too late, 
 and, rashly engaging the insurgents, he was entirely defeated, 
 his infantry, comprising the great mass of the legion, was ut- 
 terly destroyed, and the cavalry, with Cerealis himself, fled to 
 their camp and shut themselves up in their entrenchments. 
 The alarm of the Pomans was now so great, that the procurator 
 Catus, fearing to expose himself to the resentment of the 
 natives whom his own avarice had excited to revolt, deserted 
 his post and fled into Graul. 
 
 Suetonius, engaged in the reduction of the distant island of 
 Mona, heard of these alarming disorders, and hastened back. 
 As he approached towards the head seat of the Poman power in 
 Britain, he found the whole country in arms and in possession 
 of the insurgents. Nevertheless, ‘he marched through the 
 midst of the enemy to Londinium (London), which was not yet 
 honoured with the name of a colony, but considerable from the 
 resort of merchants, and from its trade. Here, hesitating 
 whether he should make that town the seat of war, he con- 
 sidered how weak the garrison was, and warned by the check 
 which Petilius had incurred by his rashness, he determined to 
 preserve the whole by sacrificing one town. Nor did the tears 
 and lamentations of the people imploring his assistance prevent 
 liim from giving the signal for marching, though he received 
 into his army all who chose to follow him. But all those whom 
 the weakness of sex, or the infirmities of age, or attachment to 
 the place, induced to stay behind, fell into the hands of the 
 enemy. The same calamity befell the municipal town of 
 Verulamium ; for the barbarians, neglecting the fortified 
 stations (castella) and garrisons, plundered the richer and more 
 defenceless places, their principal object being booty. Seventy 
 thousand citizens and allies are said to have perished in these 
 places; for they made no prisoners to sell or exchange them, 
 
54 
 
 THE HEITOXS. 
 
 [chap. :i. 
 
 according to the usual practice in Avar, but thought of notliing 
 l)ut slaughter, hanging, burning, and crucifying, as if to 
 retaliate for former sufferings, and eager to quench their thirst 
 for vengeance. ’ 
 
 The Homan commander had now collected about ten tliousand 
 regular troops, consisting of the fourteenth legion with the 
 vexillarii of the twentietli, and the auxiliaries from the nearest 
 military posts, and he determined to gh^e battle to the numer- 
 ous but tumultuous hordes who followed the standard of 
 Hoadicea. ‘ He made choice of a spot defended by detiles, and 
 closed in the retir by a forest, as the safest position to receive an 
 enemy Avho Avould make their attack in front, Avhile the open 
 plain before him relieved him from all fear of ambuscades. The 
 legionaries were draAvn up in many deep ranks, the light-armed 
 troops disposed around in companies, and the Hanks coA^ered 
 Avith the cavalry. The British forces bounded about {exsuUahanf) 
 in companies and troops, an innumerable multitude, and Avith 
 so much confidence that they brought their Avomen to be 
 Avitnesses of their victory, and placed them in Avaggons on the 
 outer circuit of the plain. Boadicea, Avho rode Avith her 
 daughters in a chariot, as she came to the several clans, Avith 
 Avhom it Avas not unnsual for a AA^oman to command an army, 
 told them that she considered herself not as the descendant ot 
 noble ancestors, possessed of sovereignty and great riches, but 
 as one of the community, prepared to avenge the loss of liberty, 
 the stripes infficted upon her body, and the dishonour done to 
 her daughters ; for the lusts of the Eomans where risen to such 
 a height, that neither their persons, their age, nor their chastity 
 Avas safe. The gods, hoAvever, she said, favoured their just 
 revenge ; the legion Avhich had attempted an engagement Avas 
 cut otf ; those who had escaped had concealed themselves within 
 their fortresses {castris) or Avere preparing for flight. The 
 Eoman army noAV opposed to them avouIcI never stand the 
 shouts and clamour of so many thousands, much less their 
 shock and fury. If they considered the number of forces, or 
 the causes of the Avar, they Avould resolve that day to conquer 
 or die ; this aa^s the last resource for her, a Avoman ; let the 
 men, if they pleased, live and be slaves.’ 
 
 This address of the British queen contains, at least, the senti- 
 ments that actuated the Britons in this revolt, as they Avere Avell 
 knoAvn to the contemporary Eoman historian, Avho has placed it 
 in her mouth. Suetonius also addressed his troops, urging them 
 not to fear the immense numbers of their enemies, or to be 
 
CHAP. 11.] 
 
 DEATH OF BO ADIGE A. 
 
 00 
 
 alarmed at the dreadful shouts with which they were accustomed 
 to march -into battle. The legion acted on the defensive, pro- 
 tected by its position, until the fury of the first attack was 
 exhausted. It then formed in a Avedge, and marched steadily 
 on the Britons, while the auxiliaries made the same movement, 
 and the cavalry, rushing down Avith tlieir spears levelled, bore 
 all before them. The Britons Avere soon routed with terrible 
 slaughter, for the circle of waggons impeded their flight, and 
 the Eoman soldiers spared none, but massacred the Avomen, and 
 CA’Cn the beasts. Eighty thousand Britons are said to have 
 been slain on this fatal day, and then queen Boadicea, nn will- 
 ing to survive the destruction of her country, put an end to her 
 OAvn life by taking poison.’*^ 
 
 The Iceni Avere utterly crushed in this revolt. The nund)ers 
 assembled in the last disastrous battle, and the fact of their 
 being accompanied Avith their Avomen, show that the tribes 
 engaged in it had arisen en masse, and their country Avas iioav 
 left Avithout defenders, and probably almost Avithout inhabitants. 
 Their lands Avei-e overrun and plundered by the Eoman troops, 
 and all the other tribes Avhose inclinations Avere known to be 
 hostile or Avavering, Avere ravaged by fire and SAvord. The 
 troops were augmented by the arrival of two thousand legion- 
 aries, eight cohorts of auxiliaries, and a thousand horse from 
 Germany; and out of these, the ninth legion, Avhich had suf- 
 fered so much, was recruited. Although the Avar lingered on 
 for a time, the defeat of this insurrection had fixed so firmly 
 the Eoman yoke, that Ave hear no more of serious revolts iu 
 the conquered provinces, although from time to time an out- 
 break among the oppressed natives furnished the excuse for 
 destroying the families of their chiefs and reducing the natives 
 to a more degrading state of slavery. 
 
 The reduction of the rebellion of the Iceni led, hoAA^ever, to 
 at least a temporary change of policy towards the Britons, and 
 even the Eoman soldiers seem to have been satiated Avith the 
 Avholesale slaughter. Suetonius Paiillinus appears to have been 
 a harsh and rigorous ruler, and his disinclination to show any 
 
 * Our numismatists have ascribed to Bondicea certain British coins 
 vdiich bear the inscription hoda'OC. I think too hastily ; for the liistoiy 
 of the British queen is that of a hurried insurrection, suppressed imme- 
 diately, and scarcely attbrdinp,- time for a distinctive coinage. Previous 
 to the rising, she had no authority or power, and the miserable woman 
 who was subject to the lash at the pleasure of her Roman masters, is not 
 likely to have possessed a mint. Boduoc may have been some one of the 
 British chiefs Avhose e.\isteiice has not been recorded by history. 
 
56 
 
 THE EIIITONS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 lenity towards tlie conquered Britons is said to have been a 
 sid)ject of dispute between the general and the new procurator, 
 Julius Classicianus, who had been sent as the successor of the 
 fugitive Catus Decianus. Polycletns, an imperial agent, re- 
 paired to Britain to enquire into the state of the province, and 
 it was probably liis report that led soon after to the recall of 
 Suetonius. He Avas succeeded byPetronius Turpilianus, a man 
 who had just laid down the consulship, and Avhose only qualifi- 
 cation mentioned by the historian, Avas a spirit of forbearance 
 and lenity, Avhich the commanders who had been accustomed to 
 tyrannise over conquered nations looked upon with contempt. 
 The mild administration of this proprmtor, however, soothed the 
 wounds Avith Avhich this distant proAunce Avas bleeding, and 
 seems to have Aviped aAvay the last traces of the ferocious 
 struggle Avhich had taken place under his predecessor. A short 
 time before the death of Nero, Petronius resigned his office and 
 Avas succeeded by Trebellius Maximus, Avho governed the 
 province Avith equal moderation and affability. While the rest 
 of the empire Avas torn by civil commotion, the province of 
 Britain enjoyed unusual tranquillity, and Avas disturbed only by 
 a quarrel between the propraetor and Eoscius Coelius, the 
 lieutenant of the twentieth legion. As the soldiers seem in 
 general to liaA^e taken part with Coelius, this feud ended in the 
 flight of Trebellius, who Avent alone and Avithout folloAvers to 
 join the standard of Yitellius, leaving Britain to be governed 
 nominally by the lieutenants of the different legions, but really 
 by Eoscius Coelius. Yitellius had already draAAm from Britain 
 a body of eight thousand troops, Avhile Suetonius Panllinus had 
 carried over the Avhole of the fourteenth legion to fight under 
 the standard of 0th o. 
 
 When Yitellius had rid himself of his competitors, and 
 secured the purple, he sent to Britain, as proprmtor, one of his 
 immediate attendants, Yettius Bolanus, who carried back Avith 
 him the fourteenth legion, which Avas in disfavour, because it 
 had fought for one of the unsuccessful pretenders to the throne. 
 Tacitus tells us that the government of Bolanus ‘ Avas too mild 
 for so fierce a province ; and that Agricola, Avho Avas still 
 serving in Britain, checked the ardour of his oavu martial dispo- 
 sition, lest he should be suspected of disobedience or disaffection 
 towards his commander-in-chief.’ The insecurity of the pro- 
 vince Avas increased by the number of troops Avhich Avere noAv 
 draughted off to join in the new struggle for the empire be- 
 tween Yitellius and Yespasian. It Avas at this moment that 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 REVOLT OF THE BRIGAXTES. 
 
 7 
 
 symptoms of iiisiiborclination again began to sliow tliemselves 
 among the Britons The insiUTection began with the extensive 
 tribe of the Brigantes, where the authority of Cartismandna 
 appears to have been still supported by the Romans.^ This 
 imperious lady remained separated from her husband, and in 
 contempt of him, she had taken to her bed his armour-bearer, 
 Vellocatus, and deputed to liira a part of her power. Many of 
 lier subjects Avere shocked by this scandalous proceeding, and 
 Venusius soon raised a powerful party, and pursued the queen 
 with so much vigour, that she was only rescued with difficulty 
 by a body of Roman troops after several battles. The revolt 
 of the Brigantes had become so general, that the Romans were 
 obliged for a moment to leave them in a state of independence 
 with Yenusius at their head. 
 
 On the accession of Vespasian, various changes were made 
 in the establishment in Britain. Petilius Cerealis, the com- 
 mander of the ninth legion, who had incuiTed the signal disaster 
 in the war against Boadicea, Avas sent to succeed Vettius Bo- 
 hinus as propraetor, Avhile an officer of great talents, both as a 
 soldier and as a statesman, Julius Agrieola, Avas appointed to 
 the command of the twentieth legion, Avhich had shoAvn some 
 unwillingness to acknoAAdedge the new emperor. An affectionate 
 friendship had long subsisted between Agricola and Cerealis, 
 and they joined heartily in carrying on the Avar Avhich had now 
 broken out in Britain. But after several successful engage- 
 ments Avith the Brigantes, by Avhich a large portion of that tribe 
 Avas reduced to obedience, Cerealis Avas recalled, and Julius 
 Frontinus appointed in his place. Under this proprmtor the 
 Silures, Avho had hitherto remained independent in the fast- 
 nesses of the mountains, and had perhaps taken part Avith 
 the Brigantes, were conquered. But the spirit of disaffection 
 Avas now spreading Avklely, and Avhen in the year 78, Julius 
 Frontinus was recalled, the Ordovices of North Wales rose and 
 destroyed a ti’oop of cavalry Avhich Avas stationed in their 
 country, and various other tribes Avefe preparing to rise in a 
 general revolt. 
 
 At this moment the man of all others most capable of 
 Avrestling Avith the dangers Avhich seemed on all sides to threaten 
 
 * From the manner in which Tacitus introduces the history of Cartis- 
 inandua and her husband in the Histories and the Annals, it appears 
 somewhat confused, and it has been usual to regard the two notices as 
 relating to one eA’ent. I think, however, that they are distinct, and I have 
 treated them so in this sketch. 
 
THE BKITOXS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 53 
 
 the province, was appointed as a successor to Erontinus. It 
 was towards the close of tlie suininer of the year 78, when 
 Julius Agricola returned from Eoine to assume the government 
 of Britain. In spite of tlie advanced period of the year, he im- 
 mediately assembled the legions and a small number of the 
 auxiliaries, and, marching into the mountains of the Ordovices, 
 he caused nearly the whole tribe to be put to the swoi-d. He 
 then passed over to Mona (Anglesea), and reduced that island 
 entirely under tlie Eoman power. As the time of the year was 
 now past for further military operations, and the slaughter of 
 the Ordovices had struck terror through mo3t of the other 
 tribes. Agricola spent the winter in regulating and reforming 
 the government of the province, and correcting the innumerable 
 abuses which had crept into the administration. As the sum- 
 mer of the year 79 approached, the legions ivere again in 
 motion, and by a mixture of rigour towards those who resisted, 
 and extraordinary lenity towards those who submitted, he suc- 
 ceeded in establishing the Eoman power throughout the island, 
 almost to the borders of Scotland. In the midst of these suc- 
 cesses, the emperor Vespasian died, and left the purple to his 
 son Titus. Agricola, who was continued in the government of 
 Britain, spent the remainder of the year in securing his con- 
 quests. He now, as Tacitus tells us, saw the necessity of 
 weaning the tierce passions of the Britons from the unsettled 
 state of war and tumult to which they had become habit- 
 uated, and of leading them to adopt the pursuits of peace 
 and the refinements of civilisation. He saw that this could only 
 be effected by giving them a relish for the arts and a taste for 
 elegant pleasure. To this he excited them by his conversations 
 in private and by his public measures. He encouraged them to 
 erect temples, forums, and houses. He caused the sons of the 
 British chiefs to be instructed in the language and knowledge 
 of their conquerors. Such measures produced rapid effects. 
 The Britons soon began to adopt the Eoman dress, and they 
 exchanged the rude garb of their ancestors for the dignified 
 toga. The manners of the Eonians also gradually took root 
 among them, and they gained a taste for erecting porticos and 
 baths, and indulging in other luxuries. 
 
 In the spring of the year 80, Agricola placed himself again 
 at the head of the army, and, proceeding to invade and reduce 
 the lowlands of Scotland, extended the Eoman territory as far 
 as the estuary of the river Taus (the Tay). When this cam- 
 paign was over, the Eoman troops were employed under the 
 
CHAP. II.] THE GOVERNMENT OF AGRICOLA. 
 
 59 
 
 eye of their leader in erecting- fortresses over tlie newly-acqnired 
 territory, and the sites were chosen with so much judgment that 
 it was a common remark that no castellum built by Agricola 
 was ever taken by the enemy, while they were placed near 
 enough together to communicate easily with each other. 
 Agricola’s fourth summer (a.d. 81) was employed in the 
 erection of a chain of foi*ts between the two estuaries known to 
 the Romans by the name of Clota and Bodotria (the Clyde and 
 Forth), as a check upon the incursions of the northern high- 
 landers ; and in the following spring he brouglit bis tleet into 
 the Solway Firth, and cai-ried his troops over to the country 
 where it approached nearest to Ireland, which also he secured 
 with fortresses and troops. The exact locality of these opera- 
 tions has been a matter of some dispute, but the opinion which 
 seems to carry most weight places it in tlie country known in 
 more modern times by the name of Galloway. It was under- 
 stood that the Roman general already projected an invasion of 
 Ireland. One of its petty princes, driven into exile by a 
 domestic sedition, had repaired to Agricola to ask for fssist- 
 ance from the Romans, and Agricola was ready to seize the 
 occasion of carrying over a Roman legion, had his intention not 
 been drawn away by other events. 
 
 Early in the yeai- 83, which was Agricola’s sixth campaign, 
 the Roman general marched with his army into the country 
 beyond the line of fortresses erected two years before, to reduce 
 the northern tribes, who appear to have harassed his borders 
 by their inroads. Having assembled his fleet in the Firth of 
 Forth, he ordered it to accompany the march of his army, which 
 proceeded through the districts bordering on the eastern coast. 
 The Caledonian tribes harassed the Roman legions on their 
 march ; and when they had reached a position supposed to be 
 a little to the south of the Ochil mountains, the ninth legion, 
 which was in advance and obliged to encamp in an unfavourable 
 position, was so vigorously attacked that, had it not been soon 
 I’elieved by the arrival of the rest of the Roman forces, it might 
 have experienced a disaster more serious even than that which 
 fell upon it in its march to Camulodunum. The object of this 
 campaign appears to have been to take possession of the districts 
 of Fife and Kinross, preparatory to the entire reduction of the 
 nortliern parts of the island in the following year. Accordingly 
 in the summer of the year 81, having ordered his fleet to sail 
 round Scotland and alarm the enemy by making descents on the 
 coast, he advanced with the army, in which the southern 
 
60 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 Britons now served as Roman auxiliaries, and reached the foot 
 of the Grampian mountains, on the declivity of which he found 
 thirty thousand of the bravest warriors of the north, under a 
 celebrated chief named Galgacus, assembled to resist his further 
 advance. As the Romans advanced to the attack, they suffered 
 much from the arrows of the enemy, while the north Britons, 
 who were armed with long pointless swords and small round 
 shields, used them so skilfully that they parried off the Roman 
 missiles. Agricola, observing the inequality of this mode of 
 combating, chose three troops of Batavians and two of Tun- 
 grians, and ordered them to hurry forward and attack the Britons 
 with their swords. These were short and pointed, and there- 
 fore much better calculated for close action than the long swords 
 of their opponents. The attack was made with courage and 
 success; the Britons, crowded together too closely in their 
 ranks, were deprived of the free use of their arms to strike with 
 their swords in their usual manner, while their faces and bodies 
 were exposed to the deadly thrusts of their opponents, and 
 they soon began to give way. The rest of the Roman troops 
 had now come up, and the main body of, the Caledonians, 
 which had remained in their position on the hill, rushed down 
 to the assistance of their companions, so that the battle became 
 general. The discipline of the Romans, however, soon overcame 
 the bravery of their opponents, and the north Britons were 
 routed with terrible slaughter. About ten thousand are said to 
 have been killed, and those who escaped fled with their families 
 into the more remote and inaccessible parts of the country. 
 
 This last great battle of Agricola is believed to have been 
 fought on the moor of Ardoch, in Perthshire. It made the 
 Romans masters of the whole island. Agricola left his army 
 to winter in the district of the Horestii, and returned to his seat 
 of government in the south. His ffeet made the circuit of 
 North Britain, and, while they took a survey of its coasts and 
 obtained information relating to the interior, they tilled the in- 
 habitants with terror and alarm. They took possession of the 
 Orkney Islands. The merits of iVgricola were, however, too 
 bright for the worthless ruler who then sat on the imperial 
 throne ; and this distinguished propraetor, with an empty 
 triumph, was deprived of his command in Britain, to experi 
 ence at home the ingratitude of Domitian. He left the pro- 
 vince of Britain in perfect tranquillity ; and, though history has 
 told us nothing of the events of the next few years, it seems 
 probable that the Roman troops in Britain, tinding no employ- 
 
CHAP. TI.] 
 
 AGEICOLA IN IRELAND. 
 
 61 
 
 rnent at Lome, passed over to Ireland, and reduced that island 
 to nominal subjection. The poet Juvenal, who is said to have 
 written his satire in a.d. d6, just twelve years after Agricola’s 
 last campaign, speaks of Ireland as one of the most recent ac- 
 quisitions of the Eoman arms — 
 
 ‘ Arm a quidem ultra . 
 
 Litora Juvernm promo vimus, et modo captas 
 
 Orcadas, ac minima contentos nocte Britannos.’ 
 
 Britain was now entirely subjected to the power of imperial 
 Koine. Its people had irrecoverably lost their independence, 
 and they soon lost their nationality, when their new rulers be- 
 gan to divide the province of Britain into departments. The 
 very nations, many of whom had so. bravely fought for their 
 freedom, lost their names, and gradually merged into Koman 
 subjects, or rather Koman slaves. A little more than thirty 
 years after the recall of Agricola, the celebrated geographer, 
 Claudius Ptolemaeus, published his survey of the world as then 
 known, in which he has given us a very exact survey of the 
 coasts of Britain and Ireland, with an enumeration of the native 
 tribes. From this account, compared with the allusions of 
 other writers, it appears that the south-eastern part of the island, 
 or the district now occupied by the county of Kent, was occupied 
 by the Cantii, a large and inliuential tribe, which, in Cf^sar’s 
 time, was divided among four chiefs or kings. To the west, 
 the Kegni held the modern counties of Sussex and Surrey, from 
 the sea-coast to the Thames. Still farther west, the Belgse 
 occupied the country from the southern coast to the Bristol 
 Channel, including nearly the whole of Hampshire, Wiltshire, 
 and Somersetshire. The whole of the extensive district extend- 
 ing from the Belgse to the extreme western point of the idand, 
 then called Antivestaeum or Bolerium (now the Land’s End), 
 including Devonshire and Cornwall, was occupied by the Dum- 
 nonii, or Damnonii. On the coast, between the Dunmonii and 
 the Belgae, the smaller tribe of the Diirotriges held the modern 
 county of Dorset. On the other side of the Thames, extending 
 northwards to the Stour, and including the greater part of 
 Middlesex, as well as Essex, lay the Trinobantes. To the 
 north of the Stour dwelt the Iceni, extending over the counties 
 of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. The Coritavi 
 possessed the present counties of Northampton, Leicester, Kut- 
 land, Derby, Nottingham, and Lincoln ; and the south-eastern 
 part of Yorkshire was held by the Parisi. Between the tribes 
 last enumerated, in the counties of Buckingham, Bedford, and 
 
62 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. II. 
 
 Hertford, lay tlie tribe called by Ptolemy tlie Catyeuchlani 
 (KaruEuyAaro/), and by others Catiivellani. Another name 
 apparently for tliis tribe, or for a division of it, was tlie Cassii. 
 West of these were the Attrebates, in Berkshire ; and still fur* 
 ther west were the Dobnni, in the counties of Oxford and 
 Gloucester. All these tribes are supposed to have been later 
 settlers tlian the tribes of the interior, those nearer the coast 
 being always, of course, the more recent colonies, and it is far 
 from improbable that some of them were of German origin. 
 
 The interior of the island northward was occupied by the 
 Brigantes, who held the extensive districts, diflicult of ap- 
 proach on account of their mountains and woods, extending 
 from the Humber and the Mersey to the present borders of 
 Scotland. This extensive tribe appears to have included several 
 smaller ones. Two of these are called by Bichard of Ciren- 
 cester, the Yoluntii and the Sestuntii, the former in the west of 
 Lancashire, the latter in Westmoreland and Cumberland. The 
 Jugantes and the Cangi of Tacitus, on the borders of the Irish 
 Sea, are also understood to have belonged to, or been dependent 
 upon, this tribe. The Brigantes are believed to have been the 
 original inhabitants of the island, who had been driven north- 
 ward by successive invasions and settlements, and they appear 
 to have been the least civilised tribe of South Britain ; their 
 wild independence was encouraged and protected by the nature 
 of the country they inhabited. Wales also was inhabited by a 
 primitive population. The northern counties, Flint, Denbigh, 
 Montgomery, Merioneth, and Caernarvon, with the island of 
 Anglesea (then, as we have said before, called Mona), was the 
 territory of the Ordovices. The south-eastern counties of Car- 
 digan, Caermarthen, and Pembroke, were held by the Demetse. 
 The still more celebrated tribe of the Silures inhabited the 
 modern counties of Hereford, Badnor, Brecknock, Monmouth, 
 and Glamorgan. Between these and the Brigantes lay the 
 Cornabii, or Carnabii, who occupied the present counties of 
 Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, Salop, and Chester, and perhaps 
 the adjoining part of Flintshire. 
 
 The wilder parts of the island of Britain, to the north of the 
 Brigantes, were inhabited by a great number of smaller tribes, 
 some of whom seem to have been raised in the scale of civilisa- 
 tion little above savages. Of these we have the names of no 
 less than twenty-one. Bordering on the Brigantes, were the 
 Otadeni, inhabiting the coast from the Tyne to the Firth of 
 Forth, including a large portion of Northumberland, with the 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 BRITISH TRIBES. 
 
 ^.3 
 
 modern counties of Berwick and East-Lothian, and part of 
 Roxbnrglisliire, Next to them were the Gadeni, occupying’ 
 the western part of Northumberland, the small part of Cum- 
 berland north of the Irthing, the w(‘stern part of Roxburgh- 
 shire, the whole of the county of Selkirk, with Tweedale, a 
 great part of Mid-Lothian, and nearly all West-Lothian. The 
 Selgovae inhabited Annandale, Nithsdale, and Eskdale, in Dum- 
 I’riesshire, with the east of Galloway. The Novantes inhabited 
 the remainder of Galloway. The Damnii, a larger tribe, held 
 the country from the chain of hills separating Galloway from 
 (kirrick, northward to the river Ern. These tribes lay to the 
 south of the Eorth and Clyde. Beyond the narrow boundary 
 formed by these rivers lay, first, the Horestii, Avho occupied the 
 modern counties of Clackmannan, Kinross, and Fife, with the 
 eastern part of Strathern, and the country to the west of the 
 Tay. The Yenricones occupied a part of Perthshire, the whole 
 of Angus, and a large part of Kincardineshire. The northern 
 part of the Mearns, and the greater part of Aberdeenshire, were 
 inhabited by the Taixali. The Yacomagi possessed the country 
 forming the modern shires of Banff, Elgin, and Nairn, with the 
 east part of Inverness and Braemar, in Aberdeenshire. The 
 Albani held the districts of Braidalban and Athol, with parts of 
 Lochaber and Upper Lorn. The ferocious tribe of the Atta- 
 cotti inhabited part of Argyleshire, and the greater part of 
 Dumbartonshire. The wild forest country of tlie interior, 
 known as the Caledonia St/lva (or forest of Celyddon), extend- 
 ing from the ridge of mountains between Inverness and Perth 
 northward to the forest of Balnagowan, including the middle 
 parts of Inverness and Ross, was held by the Caledonii, which 
 appears to have been at this time the most important and power- 
 ful of all the tribes north of the Brigantes. The eastern part 
 of Ross was inhabited by the Cantse. On the south-eastern 
 coast of Sutherland w^ere the Logi. Beyond them, the Carnabii 
 occupied the greater part of Caithness, leaving only the north- 
 west corner, which, with a part of Sntherlandshire, belonged to 
 the Catini. The interior of Sntherlandshire was peopled by the 
 Mertse ; while the north and west coasts, and a small part of 
 the western coast of Ross, were inhabited by the Carnonacm. A 
 tribe named the Creones dwelt on the west coast of Ross ; the 
 Cerones held the western coast of Inverness and part of Argyle- 
 shire ; and the neck of land, now known by the name of Cantyre, 
 was the seat of the Epidii. We have no information on the 
 ethnological character of these tribes ; some of them are sup- 
 
64 
 
 THE BTIITOXS. 
 
 [chap. ir. 
 
 posed to have come from Scandinavia and the opposite coast of 
 Germany ; others no donbt orig-inated in migrations from the 
 south ; while others again probably came from Ireland., 
 
 This island, known to the Homaiis by the names of Hil)ernia 
 and Juverna, appears to have been tolerably well known in the 
 age of Ptolemy, who gives ns a description of its coasts, and 
 enumerates the tribes and toAvns both in the maritime districts 
 and in the interior. On the northern coast dwelt the Yeiiiconii, 
 in the modern county of Donegal, and the Robogdii, in London- 
 derry and Antrim. Adjoining to the Veniconii, westward, were 
 the Erdini or Erpeditani, and next to them the IMagnatse, all in 
 Donegal. Earther south were the Auteri, in Sligo ; the Gan- 
 gani, in Mayo ; and the Yelibori, or Ellebri, in the district 
 between Galway and the Shannon. The south-west part of the 
 island, with a great portion of the interior, was inhabited by the 
 Iverni, who gave name not only to the great river, but to the 
 whole island, and who may, perhaps, be considered as the 
 aboriginal inhabitants. The south-eastern promontory, now 
 called Carnsore Point, was then known by the title of the Holy 
 Promontory (Ispoy a^por), to the north-west of which, in the 
 modern counties of Waterford and Tipperary, Ptolemy places a 
 tribe called the Usdise or Yodiae, accoialing to the variations of 
 the manuscripts. In the modern county of Wexford dwelt the 
 Brigantes ; and northward from them were the Coriondi, in 
 Wicklow ; the Menapii, in Dublin ; the Canci, on the banks of 
 the Boyne ; the Blanii, or Eblani, on the bay of Dundalk ; the 
 Yoluntii, in Down ; and the Darini, bordering on the Robogdii, 
 in Antrim. 
 
 Three, at least, of the tribes who held the eastern coast of 
 Ireland, the Brigantes, the Menapii, and the Yoluntii, were, no 
 doubt, colonies from the opposite shores of Britain. This cir- 
 cumstance gives additional force to the conjecture that the 
 Brigantes, with their dependent tribe, the Yoluntii, are to be 
 considered as the remains of the earlier Celtic population of the 
 latter island. Driven inward by the later settlers, whetlu'r 
 Celtic or Teutonic, they were obliged also to seek new settle- 
 ments in the neighbouring island.^ 
 
 It is evident that these various tribes, not only governed by 
 dilferent chiefs, but belonging to different races, must have 
 differed also in their manners and in their comparative civilis- 
 
 * It also gives rise to a supposition that the original Celtic language of 
 Britain is represented rather by the modern Irish than by the Welsh, 
 which, for several other reasons, is more than probable. 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 THE BRITISH POPULATIOXS. 
 
 65 
 
 ation, and that we should be wrong in applying to them all 
 the various notiees on this subjeet found in aneient writers, 
 and mueh more so in transferring to the inhabitants of Britain, 
 without reserve, the description which the old geographers and 
 historians have left us of the people of Graul. Most of the 
 descriptions found in subsequent writers are little more than a 
 repetition of the scanty information given by Caesar, who was 
 himself acquainted only with the south-eastern part of the 
 island. 
 
 We should probably form the best appreciation of the con- 
 dition of our Celtic forefathers before their conquest by the 
 Romans, if we compared them with the septs or clans in Ireland 
 and the highlands of Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth 
 centuries. Each chief exercised the same independent and 
 unrestrained authority over his clan, and the disunion of the 
 whole was probably increased by difference of language and 
 race. There seems to be no reason for assuming that the 
 different tribes were accustomed to unite under one head (or, 
 as he has been termed, Pendragon) in cases of emergency. On 
 the contrary, we observe, as far as their history is known, that 
 they never acted together, unless when their union was caused 
 by conquest, or by the alliance of one or two neighbouring and, 
 perhaps, kindred tribes.* The statement that they went naked , 
 and that they painted their bodies, can only have been true of 
 some of the more barbarous tribes. We have no very distinct 
 information on the costume of the Britons, except that we know 
 from the earlier Roman writers that they wore breeches {braccce), 
 like the Gauls and Germans. They are described as being in 
 person taller than the average height of the Romans. The 
 brief account of Tacitus confirms the views already stated, as to 
 the difference of races which peopled the island. He imagined 
 that the red hair and masculine forms of the Caledonians be- 
 spoke a German origin ; that the Silures, by their complexions 
 [calorati viiltus), and curly hair, were a colony of the Iberiof 
 Spain ; and that the tribes who inhabited the coasts came from 
 Gaul ; and one of the arguments he adduces for believing that 
 the maritime tribes were of Gallic origin, the similarity of lan- 
 guage {seiino hand multmn dlvei'sus)^ leads us to believe that the 
 language of these tribes was totally different from that of the 
 
 * Tacitus, speaking of the British tribes, says, ‘ Nec aliud ad versus 
 validissimas gentes pro nobis utilius, quara quod in commune non consu- 
 lunt. Rarus duabus tribusve civitatibus ad propulsandum commune 
 periculum conventus ; ita, dum singuli pugnant, universi vincuntur.’ — 
 Tacitus^ Agric.^ c. 12. 
 
THE BKTTOXS. 
 
 66 
 
 [chap. it. 
 
 Silures, or from that of the CaledonianSj and of the tribes of the 
 interior. 
 
 In one particular, we are justified in considering the descrip- 
 tion of the manners of the people of G-aul as applicable to those 
 of Britain, I mean their religion. All the ancient writers agree 
 that the Druidic system was the same in both countries. A1 
 that we really know of it is given by Caesar, and may be best 
 repeated in his own words. ‘ The Druids,’ he says, ‘ act in 
 all sacred matters ; they attend to the sacrifices, which are 
 offered either by the tribe in general, or by individuals, and 
 answer all cpiestions concerning their religion. They always 
 have a large number of young men as pupils, who treat 
 them with the greatest respect. For it is they who decide in 
 all controversies, whether public or private, and they judge all 
 causes, whether of murder, of a disputed inheritance, or of 
 the boundaries of estates. They assign both rewards and punish- 
 ments, and whoever refuses to abide by their sentence, whether 
 he be in a public or private station, is forbidden to be present at 
 the sacrifices to the gods. This is in fact their most severe mode 
 of punishment, and those who have been thus excommuuicated 
 are held as impious and profane ; all avoid them, no one will 
 either meet them or speak to them, lest they shonld be injured 
 by their contagion ; every species of honour is withheld from 
 them, and if they are plaintiff’s in a lawsuit, justice is denied 
 them. All the Druids are sidiject to one chief, who enjoys the 
 greatest authority among them. Upon the death of the chief 
 Druid, the next in dignity is appointed to succeed him ; and if 
 there are two whose merits are ecpial, the election is made by 
 the votes of the whole body, though sometimes they dispute for 
 pn^eminence with the sword. . . . The Druidic system is thought 
 to have had its origin in Britain, from whence it was introduced 
 into Gaul ; and it is still customary for those who wish 
 to study it more thoroughly, to pass over into Britain for that 
 purpose. The Druids enjoy peculiar privileges ; they are 
 exempted from service in w^ar, and from the payment of taxes ; 
 they have also many other immunities, which cause their order 
 to become so numerous and inffuential, and young men are 
 gladly placed with them by their parents and relations to learn 
 their doctrines. In their schools the pupils are said to learn by 
 heart a large number of verses, and in this way some of their 
 scholars pass twenty years in completing their education ; for 
 it is unlawful to commit their doctrines to writing, though they 
 are not ignorant of the art of writing ; and for all other pur- 
 
CHAP. II.] 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE DRUIDS. 
 
 e: 
 
 poses, both in their public and private reckonings, they make 
 use of the Greek characters. It seems to me that they have 
 two motives for this conduct : in the first place they are 
 unwilling that their tenets should become known to the vulgar ; 
 and, secondly, they are afraid that their pupils will be less apt 
 to cultivate their memories, if they trust to written characters, 
 which often have the effect of checking diligent study. Among 
 their most important tenets is that of the immortality of the 
 soul, which they believe passes after death into other bodies ; 
 they hold this to be a great inducement to the practice of 
 virtue, as the mind becomes relieved from the fear of death. 
 Their other doctrines concern the motions of the heavenly 
 bodies, the magnitude of the earth and the universe, the nature 
 of things, and the power and attributes of the immortal gods.’ 
 ‘ All tlie Gallic nations, ’ Caesar adds, ‘ are much given to 
 superstition ; for which reason, when they are seriously ill, or 
 are in danger through their wars or other causes, they either offer 
 up men as victims to the gods, or make a vow to sacrifice them- 
 selves. The ministers in these offerings are the Druids ; and 
 they hold that the wrath of the immortal gods can only be 
 appeased, and man’s life be redeemed, by offering up human 
 sacrifice, and it is part of their national institutions to hold 
 fixed solemnities for this purpose. Some of them make 
 immense images of wicker-work, which they fill with men who 
 are thus burned alive in offering to their deities. These victims 
 are generally selected from among those who have been con- 
 victed of theft, robbery, or other crimes, in whose punishment 
 they think the immortal gods take the greatest pleasure ; but 
 if there be a scarcity of such victims, they dp not hesitate to 
 sacrifice innocent men in their place.’ 
 
 ‘Their principal deity,’ continues Ca3sar, ‘is Mercury, in 
 whose honour they have erected nuraerons statues ; they hold 
 him to be the inventor of all the arts, and the god who protects 
 men on a journey, and leads them on their way ; moreover, 
 they ascribe to him the power of granting success and prosperity 
 in affairs of gain and commerce. Next to Mercury come 
 Apollo, Mars, .Jupiter, and Minerva, to whom they ascribe 
 attributes similar to those which are attributed to the same 
 deities among other nations. Apollo is believed to heal diseases, 
 Minerva to initiate mankind in the arts and sciences, Jupiter 
 to be the king of heaven, and Mars to be the god of Avar. When 
 the Gauls are about to fight a battle, they often make a vow to 
 dedicate to Mars the spoils Avhich they may take from their 
 
68 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [CHAP. IT. 
 
 enemies. If there be a superabundance of cattle taken in war, 
 the surplus is offered up in sacrifice. The rest of the spoil is 
 collected into one mass. In many of their tribes, large heaps 
 of these things may be seen in their consecrated places ; and it 
 is a rare occurrence for any individual sacrilegiously to conceal 
 part of the booty, or to turn it to his own use ; the severest 
 punishment, together with bodily torture, is inflicted on those 
 who are guilty of such an offence. The Gauls boast that they 
 sprung from father Dis (Pluto) ; and say that they derive their 
 information from the Druids. This is the reason why they 
 measure time by nights and not by days, and their birthdays, 
 together with the commencement of their months and years, 
 are so arranged, that the days are reckoned as parts of the 
 preceding nights.’ 
 
 Crnsar had an interest in collecting all the information he 
 could relating to the Druids and their religion, but we are 
 almost led to suspect that he obtained it from different races, 
 German and Celtic, and that he mixed it together without due 
 discrimination. The five deities which he gives to the Gauls 
 seem to be Teutonic, the same whose names have been preserved 
 in our modern days of the week. The great god of the Ger- 
 mans was Woden, who is always identified with the Eoman 
 Mercury ; Jupiter was Thor ; Mars was Tuisco ; Minerva was, 
 no doubt, Prigga ; and Caesar’s Apollo was perhaps intended 
 for Saeter, the god whose name has been preserved in our 
 Saturday. It has always been the custom of the Germans to 
 reckon time by nights — we still say se'nnlglit^ fortnight^ &c., 
 for what the French call ludt jours^ qulnze jours, but we know 
 so little of the Celts, that we cannot venture to assert that they 
 did not reckon time in the same way. 
 
 An edict of the emperor Claudius proscribed the Druidic 
 caste, with its superstitions, and they quickly disappeared from 
 Gaul. A curious passage of Tacitus, where he compares the 
 tribes on the south and south-eastern coast of Britain with the 
 Gauls on the Continent, and points out as a point of similarity, 
 in which the other British tribes did not partake, the resem- 
 blance of their religious rites, ^ would lead us to imagine that 
 Druidism prevailed oidy among those maritime people. As the 
 
 * ‘ Proximi Gallis, et similes sunt .... eorum sacra deprehendas, su- 
 perstitionum persuasione .’ — Taciti Agric., c. 11. We must bear in mind 
 that Druidism was abolished when Tacitus wrote, so he could only speak 
 of the traces of it which remained among the people ; yet we know by many 
 instances how long such traces endure. 
 
CHAP. II. J 
 
 THE DRUIDS. 
 
 65 
 
 Romans advanced, their ban still fell upon the Druids, who 
 made their last stand in Mona, and were destroyed there by 
 the arms of Suetonius Paullinus. Subsequent writers only 
 speak of them as a race who belonged to past ages, and they 
 add nothing to our knowledge, at least nothing in which we 
 can place any trust. It is Pliny who tells us of their respeci 
 for the mistletoe. ‘ The Druids,’ he says, ‘ who are the magi 
 of Gaul, esteem nothing more saered than the mistletoe, and 
 the tree on whieh it grows, if only it be an oak. Indeed they 
 select groves of oaks, and use their leaves in all their saered 
 rites, so that their very name of Druids may seem to be derived 
 from the Greek name for oak (cpvc). Everything which grows 
 upon these trees is considered by them as sent from heaven, 
 and a sign that the tree is chosen by the deity himself. But 
 the mistletoe is very rare to find, and where it occurs is sought 
 with great avidity ; particularly on the sixth moon, which, 
 among these nations, marks the beginnings of their months and 
 years, and of a generation after thirty years, because it then 
 has abundanee of strength, though not yet half of its full size. 
 They call it in their language by a name which signifies all- 
 heal (omnia sanantem), and when they have made ready their 
 sacrifices and banquets under the tree, they bring up two white 
 bulls, whose horns are then bound for the first time. A priest 
 clothed in a white robe ascends the tree, and with a golden 
 pruning-knife lops off the bough, whieh is caught in a white 
 towel. They then immolate the vietims, praying that God 
 may prosper the gift to all who shall partake of it ; for they 
 believe that by using it as a drink barren animals are rendered 
 fruitful, and all kinds of poisons are deprived of their noxious 
 power.’ * 
 
 * Plinii Hist. Nat., lib. xvi. c 95. 
 
THE BRITONS, 
 
 ['^TJAl*. 111. 
 
 7J 
 
 CHATTEH III. 
 
 British Antiquities — Barrows — Cromlechs, and Sepulchral Chambers — 
 Circles; Stonehenge — Other Monuments of Stone — Various descrip- 
 tions of British Barrows— Their contents — Pottery — Instruments of 
 Stone — Instruments of Metal — Other articles — Their value as illustra- 
 tive of History — The British Coinage — Earthworks, and supposed 
 sites of towns and villages. 
 
 Such is all we know from record of the history and condition 
 of the inhabitants of Britain before it was tin ally reduced to a 
 Homan province. AYe are able to add little to this knowledge 
 from the discoveries of the antiquary, for the monuments of 
 the British period are few, and uncertain, on account of the 
 difficulty of appropriating them in a satisfactory manner. It 
 has been the custom to consider all articles of rude make, which 
 appeared not to be Homan, as belonging to a period antecedent 
 to the Homan invasion ; but later experience, and more careful 
 investigation, have shown that this view was altogether erro- 
 neous. Much which used to be called British, is now known 
 to be Saxon, and it is impossible to say how much of the rest 
 belongs to the period of the Homan occupation, or to that which 
 immediately followed it. 
 
 The only monuments to which people in a rude state of 
 civilisation seem to have been anxious to give durability, were 
 their graves, and to the contents of these we must look for any 
 traces of the character and manners of those who built them. 
 Erom the remotest ages it was customary to mark to future 
 generations the last resting-place of the honoured dead, by 
 raising mounds, more or less elevated according to circumstances 
 connected with the locality, or according to the power and in- 
 tluence of the deceased. To these sepulchral mounds our 
 Anglo-Saxon forefathers gave the names of low (Jd(Ew), and 
 barrow {beorJiy hearw ) ; of which the former is chiefly preserved 
 
CKAP. TIl.J 
 
 SEPULCIIRAJ. BAKKOAVS. 
 
 7 1 
 
 ill names of places, such as Baiilow, Hoimclslow, Ludlow, &c., 
 while the latter has been <>‘euerally used by English writers on 
 archeology as the technical term for all ancient sepulchral 
 mounds. Both are equivalent to the Latin tumulus. The form 
 of the barrow was in its original state more or less conical, 
 especially when it was of large dimensions, but ages of exposure 
 to the elements and to other actions, which have swept so many 
 of them entirely from the soil, have no doubt greatly moditied 
 the forms of those wliich are left, and, whatever may once hav(^ 
 been the distinction of form, we can now only judge of the; 
 people to whom they beienged by their contents. Sir Bichard 
 Colt Hoare, an earnest and diligent antiquary, if not always a 
 correct one, opened a great number of barrows in the south of 
 England, and hastily undertook to classify them according to 
 their outward forms, inventing a nomenclature which has been 
 too blindly followed by antiquaries of later times.* He thus 
 not only distinguished by their outward forms what were British 
 barrows, but he subdivided the British barrows themselves. Yet 
 his own errors show how little truth there was in this system, for 
 he confounds British with Saxon, and sometimes either or both 
 with what may have been Boinan. 
 
 It is only by probability, greater or less, that we can attribute 
 any of these barrows to the British period, for unfortunately 
 we have no known and undoubted monuments of British manu- 
 facture with which to compare them, as is the case with tlic 
 Boman and with other later periods. The very fact that great 
 errors have been made, obliges us to proceed with the more 
 caution in forming our judgment. 
 
 There is one class of barrows, and those usually large ones, 
 which, when found in this island, antiquaries in general seem 
 to agree in ascribing to the Britons — mounds which contain a 
 rude chamber of rough stones, often of colossal dimensions. In 
 the greater number of instances, the superincumbent mound 
 has been removed, either for the sake of the earth, or in the 
 belief, prevalent during the middle ages, that treasure was con- 
 tained under it, and the massive chamber of rough stones alone 
 has been left standing. Groups of large stones arranged in this 
 manner have been found scattered over various parts of the 
 
 * The chief varieties in the classification alluded to, have received the 
 names of conical barrows, bell barrows, bowl barrows, Druid barrows, broad 
 barrows, twin barrows, long barrows, and pond barrows. No doubt 
 barrows with the forms indicated by these names are found, but it is most 
 probable that they frequently owe thejn to accidental circumstances, among 
 which we must not omit the caprice of the makers. 
 
72 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. iij. 
 
 British islands, as well as in other countries. Our antiquaries 
 have applied to them the name of cromlechs^ and have given to 
 them every sort of absurd explanation, the most general of 
 Avhich was that which made them Druids’ altars. But recent 
 researches have left no room for doubt that they are all sepul- 
 chral chambers denuded of their mounds. In fact they liave 
 ])een found with tlieir original coverings in the Channel Islands, 
 in Brittany, in Ireland, and in England. One instance occurred 
 about the year 1800, at Lanyon, in the parish of Maddern, or 
 Madron, near Penzance in Cornwall, which has been more care- 
 fully recorded than other similar discoveries in England, and it 
 furnishes us with an example of the motives which have led to 
 the removal of the original mounds. The farmer to whom the 
 ground belonged had often cast a longing eye to what appeared 
 to be an immense heap of rich moidd, and at length he resolved 
 to clear it away and spread it over his field. As these large 
 barrows are generally raised in localities where the soil is not 
 very deep, the earth of which they are formed is the more 
 attractive. When they had carried away about a hundred cart 
 loads, the labourers came to a great stone, and not knowing 
 what this might be, they removed the surrounding earth more 
 carefully, and thus brought to light a large cromlech, formed, 
 like many known examples, by three upright stones, making 
 the three sides of the sepulchral chamber, covered with a mas- 
 sive cap-stone. Within were found a heap of broken urns and 
 human bones, but it was evident that it had been disturbed at 
 some former period, probably by treasure-seekers - 
 
 The word cromlech is said to be Celtic, and to have a mean- 
 ing not differing much from that of the name dolmen given to 
 them in Erance, which signifies a stone table. ^ Indeed, their 
 appearance in an uncovered state readily suggests the idea of 
 a table, and the peasantry in Erance often call them fairies’ 
 tables and devils’ tables. These chambers are usually closed 
 in only on three sides, and consist of four stones, three of which 
 raised on their ends form the sides of a square, while the fourth 
 serves as the covering. Such is the very remarkable cromlech 
 on the hill between Maidstone and Rochester, in Kent, known 
 by the name of Kits-Cotty House. In the annexed view of the 
 cromlech of Chun-Quoit, in the parish of Morvan, in the western 
 part of Cornwall, only the lower corner of the stone forming the 
 
 * Some of our Celtic antiquaries, not satisfied with the name of ‘ crom- 
 lech,’ had named them hist^vaens^ or, as they interpret it, ‘stone- 
 chests.* 
 
CHAP. III.] THE CllOMLECH OF CHUX-QUOIT. 
 
 73 
 
 transverse side is seen. These monuments vary in size, though 
 they are often very large. The covering stone of the cromlech 
 
 Cromlech of Chhn-Quoit in Cornwall. 
 
 of Chun, just described, is calculated to weigh about twenty 
 tons; the covering stone of one at Lanyon, in the parish of 
 Madron, in Cornwall, weighs about fifteen tons ; that of Kits- 
 Cotty House, in Kent, has been estimated at ten tons and a 
 half. Others are much smaller. Three upright stones, with a 
 covering, constitute the cromlech in its simplest form. The 
 stones are usually joined as close together as their shape will 
 permit, for they seldom present any traces of having been 
 squared with a tool ; sometimes they are left with interstices 
 between them, which give the chamber a still more rude appear- 
 ance ; and they are sometimes not arranged in a regular square . 
 In some instances, as they now stand, the back stone has been 
 carried away, and the cromlech consists only of three stones, 
 two standing like the portals of a door, to support the trans- 
 verse cap-stone or lintel; in others, where the cromlech has 
 fallen, only two stones are left, one upright, and the other lean- 
 ing upon it with one edge on the ground ; and in many instances 
 all that remains of the original cromlech is a single stone, stand- 
 ing upright or lying flat. We owe these forms doubtless to the 
 dilapidations of time, and examples are known of the destruc- 
 tion of whole cromlechs to break up the stones for roads, or 
 
74 
 
 THE imiTOXS. 
 
 [chap, tti 
 
 other purposes. But the old antiquaries had made diflereiU 
 classes of all these imperfect monimients, and in France they 
 <>'ave them distinctive names. Tliey termed the first Uchavens, 
 which is interpreted also as meaning- stone-tables, but later 
 French antiquaries have given tliem the Greek name of triliths, 
 on account of the three stones of which they are composed ; the 
 second are called by the French antiquaries de mi-dolmens ; and 
 the third class they have termed indiscriminately rnhihirs, or 
 peiilvans, Celtic terms signifying long stones, or stone pillars. 
 
 This, as I have said, was the simplest form of the British 
 sepulchral chamber, but it was sometimes much more compli- 
 cated in its structure. In some instances it presents the form 
 of a ponderous cap-stone, supported at its corners by four 
 stones, and leaving the sides of the chamber more or less open. 
 In otlier instances the chamber is made more complete, its 
 sides being formed by a number of stones joined side by side, 
 wdth one or more very large cap-stones above. Cromlechs thus 
 constructed are found in different parts of England, and 
 especially in the Channel Islands. Sometimes more than one 
 cromlech is found under the same mound. On tlie hills between 
 Gloucester and Cheltenham, a rather Ioav, but very extensive 
 oblong mound, overgrown with fir-trees, was a few years ago 
 accidentally dug into at one end, and a small cromlech was 
 brought to light. From the appearance of the mound, we are 
 justified in supposing that one or more similar cromlechs still 
 remain uncovered in the part which has not been touched. 
 There is a remarkable monument of this kind at Bias Newydd, 
 in the Isle of iVnglesea ; it consists of two cromlechs close 
 together (the French antiquaries call it a double dolmen), one 
 considerably larger than the other.^ The cap-stone of the 
 largest, which measures about twelve feet in length by ten in 
 breadth, and from four and a half to three and a half feet in 
 thickness, rests on five iq^right stones ; it is said to have had 
 originally seven supports. These two cromlechs were no doubt 
 included in one mound. 
 
 A glance at th-e monument last described shows us how 
 readily the idea would present itself of building-galleries, or a 
 series of chambers, in these large sepulchral mounds, probably 
 to serve as family tombs. Vast works of this kind are found 
 
 * It may be mentioned, as a sample of the absurdities which have been 
 published on the subject of these monuments, that a writer of the earlier 
 part of the present century, describing this monument, ‘ had no doubt ’ 
 that the greater cromlech was appropriated to the sacrifice, and the lesser 
 to the priest while he attended it I 
 
CHAP. 111 .-] CROMLECH AT PLAS NEWATDD. 
 
 in Brittany, as well as in Ireland. Tlie chambered monument 
 of New Grange^ in Meatli, in the latter country, is celebrated 
 
 Cromlech at Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesea. 
 
 among Celtic antiquaries ; it contains a chamber twenty feet 
 high by thirty feet in circumference, approached by a narrow 
 passage from the side of the mound, the entrance to which was 
 closed by a large slab of stone. The researches of Mr Lukls 
 among the Celtic sepulchres of the Channel Islands, show that 
 these stone chambers had been there used by generation after 
 generation through many ages. As far as antiquarian re- 
 searches have yet been carried, extensive monuments of this 
 kind are of rare occurrence in England. They are found, 
 however, in AViltshire. AATien denuded of their covering of 
 earth, they have been more easily thrown down than the 
 simple cromlech, or perhaps they have afforded greater tempta- 
 tion to those who were in want of stone for other purposes. 
 The monument at Ashbury, in Berkshire, to which the Saxons 
 attached the name of Welandes SmitJdhan (AVeland’s Smithy — 
 AA^eland was the Saxon Yulcan), a name which has been 
 corrupted to that of AAAyland Smith’s cave, appears to have 
 been originally a gallery with chambers of this description. A 
 very curious monument of the same kind, near AA^ellow, in Som- 
 ersetshire, was opened by Sir Eichard Colt Hoare, in the May 
 of 1816 , and an account of it published in the nineteentli voL 
 
76 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. 111. 
 
 nine of the Archseologia. The barrow, composed of stones 
 instead of earth, and of a very irregular form, stood on the side 
 of a sloping field called Round Hill Tyning, at a place called 
 Stoney Littleton, about three quarters of a mile west of Wellow 
 church. The barrow was a hundred and seven feet long, fifty- 
 four feet in its extreme width, and thirteen feet high in its 
 most elevated part. When opened it was found to contain a 
 long gallery with chambers on each side. The annexed cut 
 represents a section of the barrow in the length of the gallery, 
 
 Barrow at Stoney Littleton, in Somerset. 
 
 and a plan. The entrance was on the north-west side, where a 
 stone upwards of seven feet long, and three and a half wide, 
 supported by two others, left a square aperture of about four 
 feet high, which had been closed by another large stone. This 
 entrance led to a long passage or avenue, extending in the 
 direction from north-west to south-east forty-seven feet six 
 inches, and varying in breadth. There were three transepts, 
 or recesses, on each side. The side-Avalls were formed of thin 
 laminae of stone piled closely together without cement, and a 
 rude kind of arched roof, made by stones so placed as to over- 
 lap each other. Where the large stones in the side walls did 
 not join, the interstices were filled up with layers of small ones. 
 This, like so many of the larger barrows, had been disturbed, 
 and the deposits removed or scattered about. In one of the 
 
CHAP. III.] MATERIALS OF THE MOUNDS. 
 
 77 
 
 recesses, fragments of an earthen vessel with burnt bones were 
 found ; but in general the deposits had been taken out of the 
 recesses and scattered over the avenue, which was strewed with 
 fragments of bones, mostly unburnt. In one place, just before 
 the second transept, a stone had been placed across the avenue, 
 which closed the access to the further part, but with what 
 object it is not easy to guess. 
 
 The mound or barrow, which, as we have stated, originally 
 covered these cromlechs and stone structures, was generally 
 formed of fine mould, and the value of the earth as soil has 
 doubtless been the principal cause of their removal. Sometimes, 
 however, the mound is composed of small loose stones, or of 
 stones and earth mixed. That at Stoney Littleton, in Somer- 
 setshire, appears to have been peculiar in its construction, dmU, 
 as it were, of small stones. The reason of the use of stones 
 instead of earth may generally be traced to the natural character 
 of the locality, as such barrows are found most frequently on 
 spots were stone was much more easily obtained than earth. 
 A few instances have occurred in Wiltshire, but they are 
 seldom found in the interior or in the south of England, except 
 in Cornwall, where they are not uncommon. They are common 
 in Wales, and are found also in the north of England. In 
 Scotland, where they are known by the name of cairns, they 
 abound. The Welsh call them carnydd. In France they call 
 the mounds of stones galgals. 
 
 The base of the larger sepulchral mounds, and very often of 
 the smaller ones, was usually defined either by a shallow fosse, 
 or by a circle of stones, and sometimes the two were combined. 
 In some instances, especially in Cornwall, instead of the cLcle 
 of stones, the base of the barrow was supported by a sort of 
 low wall. These circles have often disappeared with the 
 mound, as the stones of which they were composed were 
 smaller and more portable than those which constituted the 
 cromlech. But they as often remain encircling the cromlech. 
 At Molfra, in Cornwall, on a bare hill with a commanding 
 view of Mount’s Bay, a fine cromlech is surrounded by a 
 circular base of stonework, thirty-seven feet in diameter, and 
 two feet high. A cromlech at Zennor, or Sennor, in Cornwall, 
 is suiTounded by a similar base. Our cut of the cromlech at 
 Chun shows the circle of stones round that monument. The 
 circles of stones are frequently found with the cromlechs in 
 various parts of England. They are also often found without 
 any cromlech in the centre. One of these, called Dance Maine, 
 
'8 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [CHAP. III. 
 
 at Bolleit, in the parish of St Biirian, near the Land’s End, is 
 represented in the accompanying sketch. This circJe is abo\it 
 eiglity feet in diameter. There are several other good examples 
 in Cornwall, nearly of the same magnitude, such as the circle at 
 Boscaweu-nn, in the parish cf Sancrcd, near the Land’s End, 
 
 Circle called Dance Maine, near the Land’s End, Cornwall. 
 
 about the same size as that of Dance Maine ; one in the parish 
 of Madron, seventy feet in diameter; and two adjoining* circles 
 in St Just, each between, sixty and seventy feet in diameter. 
 Ihe last stands on an eminence commancLing a view of the 
 Scilly Islands. There is a similar circle on the summit of the 
 lofty Pen-maen-mawr, in North Wales. There are remains of 
 others at Salkeld, near Carlisle, at Pollrich, near Banbury in 
 Oxfordshire, and in several other places in England. One, 
 called Arbor-low, in the Peak of Derby, nearly one hundred and 
 fifty feet in diameter, is surrounded by a deep intrenchment. 
 Sometimes the stones forming the circle are nearly equal in 
 size, while in other cases they are very irregular. The latter 
 is especially the case in a circle near Winterb urn in Dorsetshire. 
 It does not necessarily follow that the mounds raised on all 
 these circles contained each a cromlech — the interments mav, in 
 some cases, have been made witliout a chamber, as it has been 
 tound to be the case in some larger baiTows. 
 
 Antiquaries observed these circles before they noticed how 
 
CHAP. III.J 
 
 STONEHEXGE. 
 
 79 
 
 often they accompanied cromlechs, or were aware that eromlechs 
 are sepulchral monuments, and they gave them the name of 
 Bndds' circles, imagined that they were temples, or courts of 
 justice, or places of assembly, and even built extravagant 
 speculations on the number of stones which formed each circle. 
 It is now quite certain that the majority of such circles were 
 originally made to support or inclose sepulchral mounds, and 
 even the circle at Arbor-low, which has been set down so 
 ])ositively as being the great Druidical temple of the Peak of 
 Derby, would seem, by its name of loic, to have had another 
 Dbject, and when that name Avas given, to have presented a 
 different ap])earance. Yet we should be rash in asserting, Avitli 
 our scanty knowledge of the subject, that some few of the 
 circles of stones still remaining on our own soil may not have 
 been erected for other purposes, though it is difficult to make 
 the distinction. The greater number of these circles are not 
 larger than the basis of ordinary large barrows, and there are 
 sepulchral mounds known, whose bases are equal to the largest ; 
 yet I am not aAvare that any barrow so large has yet been 
 discovered in this country resting on such a circle of stones. 
 Moreover, as we pursue these circles through the ascending- 
 scale of magnitude, we become still more embarrassed when we 
 reach the gigantic monuments of Avebury and Stonehenge. 
 
 The extraordinary monument called Stonehenge, an xAnglo- 
 Saxon term meaning the hanging stones, is situated on a gentle 
 knoll in the midst of a wide and barren tract, only distinguished 
 from a plain by not very considerable elevations. It consisted 
 originally of an outer circle of thirty upright stones, sustaining 
 as many others placed horizontally, so as to form a continuous 
 impost. These upright stones were about fourteen feet high 
 above the ground, and seven feet broad, by three in thickness. 
 They differ from other Celtic stone monuments in the circum- 
 stance that the stones have been hewn and squared with tools, 
 and that each of the upright stones had two tenons or projections 
 on the top, Avhich fitted into mortices or holloAvs in the super- 
 incumbent slabs. Within this first circle, which Avas about a 
 hundred feet in diameter, Avas another circle, eighty-three feet 
 in diameter, containing about the same number of perpendicular 
 stones, but much smaller, and Avithout imposts. This again 
 inclosed tAvo elliptical arrangements of large and small stones, 
 the former arranged in Avhat the French archaeologists term 
 triliths, or groups of three stones, tAvo upright ones and an 
 impost, and the other formed by a series of small upright 
 
80 
 
 THE ERITONS. 
 
 [CHAP. TIT. 
 
 stones, three of which stood before each trilith. The triliths 
 were from sixteen to twenty -one feet in heip^ht. In the central 
 space, in front of the principal trilith, is a larg-e flat stone, 
 which those who look upon the whole as a primeval temple, 
 call the altar. Such is the arrangement of this monument as 
 nearly as we can judge from its present condition, Avhich pre- 
 sents to the eye at first sight an apparently confused mass of 
 upright and fallen stones, the appearance of which, as seen from 
 the W.N.W., is exhibited in our engraving, taken from a 
 sketch by Mr Eairholt. The form of the tenon on the 
 uprights of the outer circle is shown on the leaning stone in 
 front, somewhat more prominently than it is really seen, in 
 order to make it more intelligible to the reader. This structure 
 of stones occupies tlie centre of an area, inclosed by a circular 
 intrenchment, consisting of a ditch and bank, three hundred 
 feet in diameter. It was approached by a wide intrenched 
 avenue from the north-east, which, at the distance of a few 
 hundred feet, branched off in two ways, running north and 
 east. 
 
 The ground around Stonehenge is covered with barrows, and 
 was evidently the cemetery of a very extensive tribe, but 
 nothing has yet been discovered to throw any light upon the 
 object or date of the structure itself. The earliest existing 
 legends relating to it describe it as a monument raised to the 
 memory of the dead ; a notion which may easily have arisen 
 from the number of sepulchral monuments surrounding it.^' 
 The earliest writer who mentions it, Henry of Huntingdon,f 
 looked upon it as involved in the same impenetrable mystery 
 which still envelopes it, and which will probably never be 
 cleared. From the arrangement of the stones, the most pro- 
 bable conjecture seems to be that which makes it a temple for 
 some kind of worship ; but the wild speculations to which this 
 and other suppositions have given rise should be deprecated by 
 
 * Geoffrey of Monmoutli, and the host of writers who translated and 
 paraphrased his fabulous History of the Britons, pretended that these 
 stones were brought from Ireland, and that they were raised to the me- 
 mory of the British princes fabled to have been murdered by Hengist and 
 his Saxons. 
 
 t In the list of the wonders of Britain, written in the earlier half of the 
 twelfth century, and given by Henry of Huntingdon, Stonehenge is the 
 second wonder. ‘ Apud Stanhenges lapides mirse niagnitudinis in moduin 
 portarum elevati sunt, ut portae portis superpositae videantur, nec potest 
 excogitare qua arte elevati sunt, vel qualiter construct.’ — ‘At Stanhenges 
 stones of wonderful magnitude are raised in the manner of doors, so that 
 they seem like doors placed over doors, nor can any one imagine by what 
 art they were raised, or how constructed.* 
 
f 
 
OF THE (j 
 
 \jHWERSlTYof\a\»C'^- 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 CIRCLES AT AVEBURY. 
 
 83 
 
 all who are sincerely desirous of arriving at truth.* It has 
 been observed with regard to the stones of which this monu- 
 ment is constructed, that the outer circles of large stones, as 
 well as the inner triliths, are of the sandstone found plentifully 
 in the neiglibourhood, whereas the inner circle of small stones, 
 as well as the small stones within the triliths, are of a ditierent 
 sort of stone, which appears to have been brought from Devon- 
 shire. This has led to a conjecture that Stonehenge was built 
 at two different periods, but those who have adopted this 
 opinion differ as to which was the earliest and which the lalest 
 part. 
 
 A series of circles more remarkable even than those of 
 Stonehenge, is found at the village of Avebury, distant from 
 Stonehenge about twenty miles. It consisted originally of an 
 area, about fourteen hundred feet in diameter, inclosed by a 
 deep ditch and bank, immediately within which was a first 
 circle of a hundred stones. Within the area were two double 
 circles, which have been designated as temples, one having 
 three stones in the centre, and the other one only. The stones 
 with which these various circles were composed, were no less 
 massive than those at Stonehenge, varying from five to twenty 
 feet in height. Two entrances were appi-oached by two winding 
 avenues, each consisting of a double row of upright stones, 
 branching off' to the extent of about a mile and a half to the 
 West and south. These avenues of approach, from their form, 
 have been a fertile subject of speculation, and have been 
 imagined to have some connection with the worship of the 
 serpent. At no great distance from the outer circle of iVvebury 
 is a fine cromlech with its attendant circle of stones. The 
 remains at Avebury are much less known than those of Stone- 
 henge; and they are not easily observed, on account of the 
 extent of ground they cover, and its subdivision by hedges and 
 other inclosures. The space inclosed by the earthen embank- 
 ment contains a village, with various fields and buildings, 
 over which the stones that remain are scattered in apparent 
 confusion. 
 
 Stones which have been classed by our antiquaries under the 
 indiscriminate title of Druidic, but which come under the head 
 
 * The young antiquary is particularly to be warned against such specu- 
 lations as have recently been published in a book entitled ‘ The Druidical 
 Temples of the County of Wilts,’ by the Rev. E. Duke, as more calculated 
 to throw ridicule upon science than to promote it. Very good accounts of 
 these monuments are given by Mr Britton, in his articles on Stonehenge 
 and Avebury in the ‘Fenny Cyclopsedia.’ 
 
 G 
 
84 
 
 THE BRTTOXS. 
 
 [chap. iir. 
 
 of none of tlie monuments already described, are found in 
 groups, or singly seattered, over many parts of our island. Some 
 of these appear to be natural formations, others have been set 
 up at different periods for various purposes, and others are pro- 
 bably the remains of cromlechs and circles. Geologists and 
 antiquaries seem now generally agreed that the rocking-stones 
 are not works of art, but that they are the result of natural 
 causes, and that they have been classed erroneously among 
 ])ruidic remains. In the neighbourhood of Boroughbridge, in 
 Yorkshire, there are masses of scattered rocks which in the same 
 manner have been erroneously supposed to be Druidical. In 
 some cases a few scattered stones are the remains of circles or 
 avenues. Single stones belonging to a long avenue of this kind 
 are still traced here and there in a line from the foot of the hill 
 on which Kits-Cotty House stands, across the valley to the 
 opposite chalk-hills, a distance of five miles. Celtic antiquaries 
 have given to these single stones the names of jpeulvan [i, e. 
 stone pillar), and mmldr (long stone). They have no doubt 
 been erected at different periods, and for different purposes. 
 Some, as I have just observed, are the last remains of cromlechs. 
 Others are sepulchral monuments, often of the Roman or post- 
 Roman period, which is proved sometimes by inscriptions. 
 Several such inscribed stones have been found in Wales and 
 Cornwall ; and there is a celebrated one near Joinville, in 
 Prance, with the inscription in Roman characters, viromarvs 
 ISTATILI F (Yiioinarus the son of Istatilius). Two, found in 
 the neighbourhood of Neath, in Glamorganshire (the Roman 
 Nidum), have severally the inscriptions imp. c. fla. val. 
 MAXIMINO INVICTO AUGUS [to], and IMP. M. C. PIAVOXIO 
 viCTORiNO AUGUSTO, and were perhaps boundary-stones or 
 mile-stones. There is a rough uninscribed stone of this descrip- 
 tion, perhaps a boundary-stone, standing on the common at 
 Harrowgate, in Yorkshire, concerning which the inhabitants 
 can only tell you, that ‘ the oldest man that ever lived there 
 knows nothing about it.’ A single stone, or peulvan, in the 
 <lepartment of the Haute-Marne in France, is said to bear a 
 Latin inscription, stating that it marked the ancient limits of 
 the Leuci. That such stones marked the sites of battles, or 
 were memorials of celebrated events, is a mere assumption. Al- 
 though the stones of the so-called Druidic monuments are in 
 general rough and untouched with a tool, some instances are 
 known, as in the extraordinary sepulture of Gavr’inis in the 
 Morbihan (Brittany), and at New Grange, in Ireland, where they 
 
CHAP. III.] SUPERSTITIOUS LEGENDS. K.', 
 
 liave been sculptured with rude ornaments. In some instances 
 in England, one of the stones of a cromlech is pierced with a 
 round hole, perhaps accidental, or the result of capriee. 
 
 Long after the people who raised them had passed away, and 
 when their meaning, and the object for which they were erected, 
 were alike forgotten, these monuments of stone continued to 
 be regarded by the peasantry with reverence, which, combined 
 with a certain degree of mysterious fear, degenerated into a 
 sort of superstitious worship. In this feeling originated legends 
 connected with them, and the popular names which are often 
 found attached to them. Stonehenge was called the Giants’ 
 Dance (chorea gigantuiTi)^ a name no doubt once eonnected with 
 a legend which has been superseded by the story attached to it 
 by CTeoffrey of Monmouth. A circle in Cornwall, of which we 
 have given a sketch on a former page, is called Dance Maine, 
 or the dance of stones, and is said to be the representation of a 
 party of young damsels who were turned into stones because 
 they danced on the Sabbath Day. According to a somewhat 
 similar legend, a party of soldiers, who came to destroy Long 
 Compton, were changed into the Eollrich stones in Oxfordshire. 
 The people of Brittany declare that the extraordinary multitude 
 of stones arranged upright in lines at Carnac, Avas an army of 
 pagans changed into stones by St Cornilly. As we have seen, 
 the Saxons believed that a cromlech in Berkshire was a work- 
 shop of their mythic smith Weland. A cromlech on Marlborough 
 Downs is called the Devil’s Den. Legends like these, which 
 are found in every part of our island, are generally good evidence 
 of the great antiquity of the monuments to which they relate. 
 In France, as in England, and indeed in most countries, they 
 are usually connected in the popular belief with fairies or witii 
 demons — and in England often with Eobin Hood. In France 
 this latter personage is replaced by Gargantua, a name made 
 generally celebrated by the extraordinary romance of Eabelais. 
 A cromlech near the village of Toury, in Brittany, is called Gar- 
 gantua’s stone ; a not uncommon name for the single stone or 
 menhir is palet de Gargantua (Gargantua’s quoit). A very 
 common name for cromlechs among the peasantry of France is 
 fairies’ tables, or devils’ tables, and in one or two instances they 
 have obtained the name of Caesar’s table ; the covered alleys, or 
 more complicated cromlechs, are similarly named fairies’ grottos, 
 or fairy rocks. The single stones are sometimes called fairies’ 
 or devils’ seats. The prohibition to Avorship stones oecurriug 
 so frequently in the earlier Christian ecclesiastical laws and 
 
86 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap, in 
 
 ordinances, relates no doubt to these Druidical monuments, and 
 ^vas often the cause of their destruction. Traces of this worship 
 still remain. In some instances people passed through the 
 Druidical monuments for trial, or for purification,' or as a mode 
 of defensive charm. It is still a practice among the peasantry 
 at Columbiers, in France, for young girls who ^vant husbands, 
 to climb upon the cromlech called the Pierre levee, place there 
 a piece of money, and then jump doAvn. At Guerande, with the 
 same object, they depose in the crevices of a Celtic monument 
 l)its of rose-coloured wool tied with tinsel. The women of 
 (h’oisic dance round a menhir. It is the popular belief in 
 Anjou, that the fairies, as they descended the mountains, spin- 
 ning by the way, brought down the Druidical stones in their 
 aprons, and placed tliem as they are now found. 
 
 In a great number of cases, the British cromlechs, like the 
 barroAvs of other periods, are placed on lofty hills, commanding 
 extensive vieAvs of the sea, if on the coast, or, Avhen inland, of 
 the surrounding country. It seems always to have been the 
 desire of the chiefs to be buried in such commanding positions. 
 A cromlech at Molfra, in Corn Avail, is thus situated on a bare 
 lull, Avhich commands a Avide range of vieAv over Mount’s Bay. 
 The mound of some Celtic chief has once been raised on the 
 elevated summit of Pen-maen-mawr, in Wales, of Avhich the 
 circle of stones that confined its base alone remains at the present 
 day. It Avould be difficult to select in this respect a finer position 
 than that occupied by Kits-Cotty House, in Kent, of Avhich a 
 slight sketch is given in the cut in the next page. This large 
 cromlech stands on the summit of a lofty knoll, a little in 
 advance of the chalk-hill Avhich rises behind. Below, the Med- 
 Avay Avinds in it^ course from Maidstone to Rochester. Further 
 on extends a wide valley, bounded on the north by another range 
 of chalk-hills. Under these latter hills, at the spot indicated in 
 tlie cut by three crows, lies the parish of Addington, in Avhich 
 are several circles, cromlechs, and other early sepulchral monu- 
 ments ; and from this spot, proceeding in a direct line eastAvard, 
 large upright stones are found at intervals, Avhich seem to hav^e 
 belonged to an avenue extending from the group of monuments 
 at Addington to the foot of the hill on Avhich Kits-Cotty House 
 stands, a distance of not less than five miles. The hill behind 
 Kits-Cotty House is also covered with sepulchral monuments, 
 consisting of smaller cromlechs and circles, either throAvn down 
 or partly buried ; and there are several remarkable cromlechs 
 and circles in the fields beloAV ; all seeming to indicate that this 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 KITS-COTTY HOUSE. 
 
 87 
 
 valley was the burial-place of a British tribe. Another class of 
 monuments are found on the hill above Kits-Cotty House. 
 
 Kits-Cotty House, in Kent, from the hill above. 
 
 Large stones, resembling the menhirs, are found lying flat on 
 the ground, and, on excavating, it is discovered that they are 
 placed over round pits cut in the chalk, and filled up with flints. 
 None of these have yet been carefully investigated, but, on the 
 opposite hills, and in other parts in the neighbourhood, are 
 found similar pits open, communicating with chambers cut in 
 the chalk, regarding the purpose of which many conjectures have 
 been hazarded, but it is not improbable that they were sepulchral. 
 
 Very few of the cromlechs and stone chambers in Britain 
 had been uncovered from their mounds of earth in recent 
 times, under proper examination. This deficiency has been 
 compensated, in some measure, by the extensive and careful 
 researches among the cromlechs of the Channel Islands, by 
 jMr Lukis,^ although there would, no doubt, be found a marked 
 difference between their contents, which belonged to Gaul, and 
 those of the British monuments of a similar character. But 
 there is another numerous class of barrows, which are generally 
 
 * Mr Lukis’s different accounts of his researches in the Channel Islands 
 will be found in the first volume of the ‘Archaeological Journal,’ pp. 142, 
 222 ; and in the ‘ Journal of the Archaeological Association,’ voL i. 
 
 2d, 306, 311 ; vol. iii. pp. 4, 269, 342; vol. iv. p. 323. 
 
83 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 considered to be J^ritisli, but wnicli do not contain the se- 
 pulchral chamber or cromlech. Numerous examples of this 
 class of barrows have been opened in Wiltsliire, Dorsetshire, 
 and Derbyshire, and a few in other parts.^ These are the 
 only barrows in this country which have furnished us, to any 
 extent, witli articles which, from a chain of indirect evidence, 
 are believed to be British. These barrows differ very much 
 in form and size. The interment is sometimes placed on the 
 level of the ground, and sometimes in a shallow grave dug 
 below the surface, with variations in the manner of burial 
 which can ordy have arisen from individual caprice. The 
 body is sometimes found to have been buried entire, while, 
 perhaps, in a majority of cases, it had been burnt, and the 
 ashes deposited in rude urns. When the body was interred 
 without cremation or burning, it was sometimes stretched at 
 full length, and at others doubled up and laid on one side, 
 or was sometimes placed in a sitting position. Tlie urns con- 
 taining the burnt bones are sometimes found in their natural 
 position, and sometimes inverted, wdth the mouth downwards. 
 When upwards, the urn is often covered with a flat stone. 
 There is no evidence to support the conjectures of some 
 writers, that these ditterent modes of burial belong to diflerent 
 dates ; it seems more probable that they were fashions adopted 
 by different families, or by subdivisions of tribes or septs, but 
 it would be a vain speculation to attempt to give a decided 
 opinion on such questions, with the little we know of the 
 manners and history of the ancient inhabitants of this island. 
 It is certain, however, that all these different modes of inter- 
 ment are often found in the same barrow', for some of the 
 barrows seem to have been family graves, and it is rare to And 
 only one interment, while the larger barroAvs contain usually a 
 considerable number of urns and bodies. In many cases these 
 are distinguishable into primary and secondary interments, and 
 so on, and in opening these barrows the excavator is never sure 
 ill what part of the mound he wdll find a deposit. A very large 
 
 * Numerous barrows in Wiltshire were opened by Mr W. Cunnington 
 and Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the latter of whom has given copious descrip- 
 tions of them in his ‘ Ancient Wiltshire ; * those of Derbyshire have been 
 largely examined by Mr Thomas Bateman, and described in a very useful 
 volume, the ‘ Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire.’ Some of the 
 British barrows in eastern Yorkshire have been opened by Lord L(jndes- 
 borough ; many of those of Dorsetshire were opened by the late Mr Syden- 
 ham, by Mr Warne, Mr C. Hall, and other local antiquaries, whose reports 
 of their discoveries are found scattered over volumes of the ‘ Archaeologia,’ 
 and of the ‘ Journal of the Archaeological Association.’ 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 TUMULUS AT ST WEOXAKD’S. 
 
 89 
 
 harrow near Dorcliester, was found to consist of a low pi-iiuarv 
 barrow, on which subsequently a second interment had been 
 placed, and then a new mound raised over it. 8ometimes the 
 different interments are arrano*ed in regular order. In the 
 Deverill barrow, between Whitechurch and Milbourne St 
 Andrew, in Dorsetshire, opened in 1825, and described in a 
 little volume by W. Augustus Miles, the urns were found ar- 
 ranged in a circle under protecting stones. Throughout these 
 early barrows we find much irregularity, and evidently a good 
 deal of caprice in the mode of burial. 
 
 Some few years ago I nad the direction of the opening of a 
 large tumulus at St Weonard’s in Herefordshire. This was a 
 large barrow, its diameter at the base being, as near as I could 
 roughly measure and calcidate it, about a hundred and thirty 
 feet, and its elevation from the ground somewhat more than 
 twenty. The summit forms a circular platform, about seventy- 
 six feet in diameter, levelled in such a manner that my first 
 impression was that the tumulus had been truncated. The 
 edge of this platform is planted with large fir and other trees, 
 among which is a decayed yew tree, of great antiquity, and a 
 tall poplar stood exactly in the centre. It appears that, until 
 a recent period, the platform on this mound was the usual 
 scene of village-fetes, and that it was the spot especially chosen 
 for morris-dancing, a custom very prevalent in Herefordshire, 
 and that the poplar tree in the middle was used as the village 
 maypole. Placed on a bold isolated eminence in the middle of 
 the village, the height of the mound gives to its summit a won- 
 derfully extensive prospect around. In the popular belief these 
 mounds were generally looked upon as sepulchral, and this at St 
 Weornard’s was believed by some to have been the grave of the 
 hermit so named, from whom the neighbouring church had 
 taken its name, and by others that of some great chieftain . 
 The appearance of this tumulus at the time it was excavated is 
 shown in the accompanying cut. The men began their work 
 on the south-eastern side, with a cutting from eight to nine feet 
 wide, in a direct line towards the north-west. 
 
 I have described the process of opening this fine tumulus in 
 the first volume of my Essays on Archaeological Subjects,^ from 
 which I extract the following. ‘ At about six feet above the 
 level of the base of the tumulus there was an evident difference 
 
 * ‘ Essays on Archseological Subjects and on various questions connected 
 with tlie History of Art, Science, and Literature, in the Middle Ages,’ vol. 
 i. p. 62. 
 
90 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. 111. 
 
 in the character of the soil, and the appearances were strongly 
 in favour of the belief that this was the original surface of tlie 
 
 Sepulchral Tumulus at St Weonard’s, Herefordshire. 
 
 ground, wliich must in that case have been very uneven. Acting 
 on this belief, we took this as the level of our cutting, which 
 was exactly fourteen feet deep from the top of the mound. On 
 a Thursday ai'ternoon, when the workmen had arrived within 
 about fifteen feet from the centre of the mound, they came upon 
 what appeared to be the base of a heap of large Rat stones 
 (the sandstone of the spot, whicli breaks up into this form), 
 ]*udely built up one over the other, and so completely free of 
 earth within that we could thrust our arms in between them. 
 My first impression was that Ave had come upon a cairn, and I 
 thought it advisable to clear away the earth from above, before 
 removing the stones. This operation occupied the whole of 
 the day on Friday. We found that, instead of being the base 
 of a large cairn, the stones formed a small mound, and then 
 sunk again ; but we found also a layer of these large stones 
 along the level of our cutting, until near the centre they began 
 to rise again, and evidently reached a somewhat greater eleva- 
 tion than before. It was now thought advisable to carry the 
 cutting to a little distance beyond the centre, and the poplar 
 tree was sacrificed. It was not till Saturday night that this 
 operation was nearly completed, leaving uncovered a great part 
 of the heap of stones in the centre, wliich presented the appear- 
 
CMAP. III.] TUMULUS AT ST WEOXARD’S. 
 
 91 
 
 ance of the exterior of a rude vault. On ^loiulay, tin lOtli 
 [of April], the stones in the centre were cleared away, ainl 
 within them appeared a mass of much finer mould than the rest 
 of the mould. This mould also was cleared away to the Ifevel 
 of the cutting ; but as yet no indications of a sepulchral inter- 
 ment presented themselves, although the workmen were still of 
 opinion that they were on the original hard surface of the 
 ground. But of the accuracy of this opinion I now became 
 very doubtful, and on the following morning I directed the 
 men to sink a pit on the spot which had been covered by the 
 vault of stones. They had not proceeded far before they came 
 to a mass of ashes, mixed with pieces of charcoal and fragments of 
 burnt human bones, which was found to be about a foot and a half 
 thick, and was apparently about nine or ten feet in diameter. A 
 piece of thigh bone, part of the bone of the pelvis, and a fragment 
 of the shoulder-blade, were picked up here ; and it appeared evi- 
 dent that the whole of the ashes of the funeral pile had been 
 placed on the ground at this spot, and that a small mound of 
 fine earth had been raised over them, upon which had been 
 built a rude roof or vault of large rough stones. No traces of 
 urns, or of any other manufactured article, were met with. 
 Having been thus successful in discovering the central deposit, 
 our attention was now turned to the first mound of stones, and 
 it was determined to clear those away and dig below our level 
 there also ; and the result was the discovery of another inter- 
 ment of ashes, also mixed with human bones in a half-burnt 
 state. This last operation was performed on the morning of 
 Wednesday, the 18 th of April ; after Avhich the excavations 
 were discontinued. 
 
 ‘ The accompanying diagram, giving a section of the mouna 
 in the direction of our cutting (which is shown in the shaded 
 part), will give the best notion of the position of the two deposits 
 
 % 
 
 3 
 
 Section of the Tumulus at St Weonard’s. 
 
 at e and/, which represent the two pits dug through the ashes, 
 (represented by the black lines), to a small depth below. One o. 
 the most interesting circumstances connected with the cutting 
 
92 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [CHAl*. III. 
 
 itself was that of the reg’ular discolorations visible on the surface, 
 arisiiio*, of course, from the employment of different kinds of 
 material, and displayino- in a most remarkable manner the mode 
 in which the mound was raised. These are carefully figured on 
 the accompanying section. As I have already stated, the mass 
 of the mound consists of a uniform light-coloured sand; but 
 from the point {i) near where we first fell in with the stones, a 
 narrow arched stripe occurs of a much darker mould, as represented 
 in the cut. Beyond this, two or three other bands of a similar 
 description, but thinner, and of a lighter- coloured soil, and, 
 therefore, less strongly marked, follow each other until, at g, we 
 come upon a narrow band of small stones, also represented in 
 the cut, and at h, near the summit of the mound, there is another 
 bed of similar stones. It is evident, therefore, that when the 
 small mounds roofed with stones had been raised over the 
 deposits of ashes, a circular embankment was next formed round 
 the whole, and from this embankment the workmen filled up the 
 interior inwards towards the centre. When they began filling in 
 tliey appear to have fallen in Avith some darker mould, which has 
 formed the band at and this dark band probably defines very 
 nearly the outlines of the first embankment. The lighter-shaded 
 bands show the successive fillings-in towards the centre, until at 
 last the Avorkmen made use of a quantity of stones and rubble, 
 taken perhaps from the quarry Avhich furnished the large stones 
 of the interior vaults. This bed of stones forms a kind of basin 
 in the middle of the mound. They Avent on filling again with 
 the sand till the work Avas nearly hnislied, Avhen they returned 
 to the stony material again, Avhich appears at h. The length of 
 onr cutting from c to d Avas, as near as I could measure it Avith 
 accuracy, 46 feet 6 inches, and that of the surface from a to h, 
 Avas 64 feet 5 inches ; as I have stated before, the height of this 
 cutting was 14 feet. The distance from a to k Avas 29 feet 7 
 inches, making therefore the diameter of the platform on the top 
 of the mound, in the direction of our cutting, exactly 76 feet. 
 This I found to be rather the longest diameter, for the circle had 
 not been quite a perfect one, though very nearly so.’ 
 
 The excavation of this fine barroAV left no doubt of its sepul- 
 chral character, but no remains Avere found to shoAV definitely the 
 ])eople to Avhom it belonged, or the period at Avhich it Avas 
 erected. It belongs to that class of monuments Avhich are 
 evidently not more modern than the Eoman period, and, having 
 no decidedly Eoman character, have been set down as British. 
 Bcrhaps the truth is that it belongs to the perhaps earlier Eoman 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 BRITISH BARROWS. 
 
 93 
 
 period, but that the persons to wliom it l)eloiig*etl were natives 
 of the soil who sou^dit to be buried in the Roman manner. The 
 old road from Monmouth to Hereford, which runs by it, was 
 perhaps a Roman road from Blestuim to Magna. 
 
 To judge by the barrows hitherto opened, it was not the 
 custom of the Britons to inter with their dead many articles of 
 value. By much the greater number of barrows, whether large 
 or small, are found to contain nothing but urns and burnt bones. 
 In some cases we find a few implements of stone or bronze, 
 and, in much rarer instances, beads and fragments apparently 
 of other personal ornaments occur. As these articles furnish 
 the only evidence of the age of the barrow, and as they admit 
 of easy classification, they deserve particular attention Tlu^ 
 jiottery, as being of more universal occurrence, demands our 
 first consideration, xt is in general, though not always, very 
 rudely made, not baked, but merely dried in the sun. Its forms 
 are peculiar, and have none of the elegance of the Roman urns. 
 They are ornamented more or less with parallel lines, zigzags^ 
 crosses, dots, and other marks, which appear usually to have 
 been made by the hand, with some instrument like a stick 
 sharpened to a point, though they are sometimes more elabor- 
 ately and skilfully worked. Many, however, have no ornament 
 at all, which are usually those containing burnt bones. 
 
 A few examples are here given of the more ordinary forms 
 of what are believed, and apparently with good reason, to be 
 British urns. The most remarkable, and in general the most 
 carefully ornamented, class of British earthen vessels is that of 
 Avhich specimens are here given, marked 1, 2, 3, 4. They vary 
 much in size, and in general have nothing in them. Some have 
 called them incense cups, while others have believed them to be 
 drinking cups. No. 1 was found by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 
 at the side of a skeleton in a barrow near Stonehenge ; the 
 original is about nine inches and a half high. No. 4, found by 
 Mr Cunnington, also in a barrow in Wiltshire, was about the 
 same height, and six inches and a half in diameter over the 
 brim, holding about two quarts. This was a red ware, not bright 
 like the Roman pottery called Samian ware; and Mr Cunning- 
 ton found, at the same time, a much smaller vessel, of the same 
 form, but of a darker-coloured pottery. Nos. 2 and 3 were 
 found by Mr Bateman : the first in a barrow called Green 
 Lowe, on Alsop Moor, in Derbyshire, witli a skeleton ; and the 
 other in a large barrow at Castern, near Wetton, in Stafford- 
 shire, also with a skeleton. In the latter instance, Mr Bateman 
 
94 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 says, that the vase had internally an incrustation, as thou«'h t 
 had contained some liquid when deposited in the grave. Urns 
 of this description, which are baked, and not sun-dried, are 
 found more frequently in the south of England than elsewhere. 
 
 1 7 8 9 4 
 
 One found by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, in a barrow at Stone- 
 henge, was not above three inches high. These cups are 
 usually found with skeletons. The urns. Nos. 5 and 6, are 
 from barrows in the neighbourhood of Dorchester, opened by 
 Mr Sydenham, and described in the thirtieth volume of the 
 Archseologia. The first was seven inches and a half, the other 
 nine inches in height, and both had contained burnt bones. 
 Urns of the form No. 6, are frequently found in an inverted 
 position. Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10, were found with a great many 
 others, more or less similar in form, in the Deverill barrow. 
 The loops found in Nos. 7 and 9 occur not unfrequently in 
 these British urns, but it is uncertain if they were intended for 
 fixing cords for suspension, or if they were merely ornamental. 
 An urn closely resembling No. 7, and found in a cromlech in 
 the Channel Islands, has been engraved by Mr Lukis. The 
 other three, and especially No. 10, bear a rather striking resem- 
 blance in form to a class of burial urns, which recent researches 
 have proved to be Saxon, although they were formerly con- 
 
CHAP. III.] IMPLEMENTS MADE OF STONE. 
 
 95 
 
 sidered British. Specimens of these will be given further on ; 
 but one, taken from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Derby, is 
 given here. No. 12, for the sake of comparison. The Anglo- 
 Saxon urns are generally harder baked than the British ; they 
 are distinguished by some peculiarities in* the form, and on 
 closer examination the ornament will be seen to be of a ditl'erent 
 character, and made in a different manner. No. 11, in our cut, 
 is an urn containing burnt bones, taken from a barrow in Corn- 
 wall. Similar urns are found in Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and 
 other parts, especially in Yorkshire. 
 
 The foregoing are the more usual forms of supposed British 
 pottery, and will serve to give a general notion of its character. 
 Many other varieties, and some much more rude in form and 
 construction, occur, but they will generally be recognized by 
 the similarity of ornament to those given here. 
 
 As I have already observed, the other articles found in 
 the British barrows are not much diversified, and are of rare 
 occurrence. They consist chiefly of implements of stone and 
 implements of bronze. Those made of the former materials 
 are usually the heads of axes or hammers, chisels, and arrow- 
 heads. 
 
 Implements made of stone are found abundantly in all parts 
 of the British Islands, and we might add, all over the world ; 
 and nothing seems more natural, not only in a very rude state 
 of society, but also in much more civilized times, when com- 
 munication between different parts of the country was slow, and 
 metal was not always to be had, than to form rough tools or 
 weapons, especially for the chase, of hard stones. Stones of a 
 siliceous character, which were chipped into the required forms 
 without much difficulty, were used most generally for this pur- 
 pose. But other kinds of stone were also used.^ Our cut in the 
 next page represents a few of the more usual types of the imple- 
 ments of stone found in this country, chiefly taken from originals 
 preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries. Nos. 1 
 and 2 are different samples of axe-heads, the first, which is 
 elaborately cut, found by Mr Bateman in a barrow in Derby- 
 shire, the other from the bed of the Severn at Bibbesford in 
 Worcestershire; 3 and 4 appear to have been used as chisels, 
 
 * Mr Lukis (Journal of the Br. Arch. Ass., vol. iii. p. 127) gives the 
 following list of the substances from which stone weapons in his possessicm, 
 chiefly found in the Channel Islands, are made : serpentine, greenstone, 
 granular greenstone, indurated claystone, trap greenstone, claystone, quartz, 
 syenite, schistus, yellow hornstone or chert, granular porphyry, s/Iiceous 
 schist, serpentine or jade. 
 
96 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 and are very sharp at the broad end. No. 8 is a spear-head 
 9 is an instrument apparently intended for stabbing* or boring ; 
 7 is a chisel of a different form from the others ; and 10 is a 
 piece of flint notched at the edge, so as to serve as a saw. 
 Several of these stone saws have been found in different parts 
 
 3 4 
 
 as in Derbyshire, they are frequently found. A very large and 
 remarkable collection of stone implements, found chiefly in the 
 more easterly districts of Yorkshire, has been made by Mr 
 Edward Tindall, of Bridlington. 
 
 Stone knives are mentioned in the Old Testament (Joshua 
 V. 2), in a way which shows that implements of this material 
 may have been employed at times for special purposes. It has 
 been assumed rather hastily that where we find these imple- 
 ments of stone, the people to whom they belonged were not 
 acquainted with the art of working metals. That stone and 
 metal were in use for such implements at the same time is quite 
 evident from the manner in which they occur together. In the 
 tumuli in Wiltshire, the stone arrow-heads are usually found 
 with bronze daggers. In Derbyshire stone implements are found 
 not only with bronze, but with iron. Thus, in a barrow opened 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 STOXE AXD METAL. 
 
 97 
 
 at Miiiniiiglowe by Mr Bateman, an upper deposit of two 
 skeletons was accoinp uiied with an urn, a flint arrow-head, a 
 small piece of iron, and part of a horse’s bit; and lower down, 
 in the same burrow, an earlier interment, in a stone cist or 
 cromlech, was accompanied with an iron knife or da»;»‘er in a 
 sheath of the same metal. Another interment in the same 
 barrow was accompanied with an ornamented urn of the same 
 description as the four first figures in the preceding* group of 
 British pottery, a small brass pin, and an arrow-head of grey 
 flint. In a small barrow at Middleton-by-Yolgrave, a flint 
 arrow-head was found with one of the small bronze chisels or 
 axes, which will be described further on. In a barrow called 
 Carder-lowe,' along with a great number of implements of flint, 
 were found a bronze dagger and an iron knife ; there had been 
 several interments, no doubt at different periods, but the bronze 
 dagger was found in a lower, and therefore older, deposit than 
 one which contained nothing but flint implements. A large 
 barrow opened by Mr Bateman in 18T6, was supported at the 
 base by a regular circle of large stones, and had in the interior 
 a cromlech- Within the latter was found a skeleton, which was 
 accompanied with ‘ a brass dagger of the usual type, measuring 
 six inches and a quarter in length, and in the highest preserva- 
 tion ; it has the appearance of having been silvered, and still 
 retains a brilliant polish. . . . near it were two instruments of 
 flint, and two more were found during the progress of the 
 examination of the tumulus.’ A barrow with a cromlech cist 
 opened by the same gentleman in 1847, contained a skeleton, 
 with a flint spear-head and a bronze pin or bodkin, which had 
 been inserted in a wooden handle. 
 
 The stone chisels or axes are less frequently found in 
 tumuli, than in accidental localities where there is nothing to 
 fix their date or to indicate the people to whom they belonged . 
 They are sometimes met with in a very rough condition, and 
 sometimes more or less finished, and in one or two instances, 
 bundles of finished and rough stone implements have been 
 found, as though they belonged to the stores of a manufacturer. 
 This is most frequently the case with the arrow-heads. In 
 other instances, especially in Scotland, bundles of flint chip- 
 pings, or, as they have been termed, flint flakes, have been 
 found, which appear to have been struck off from a solid mass, 
 and, as these generally occur in districts where flint is not found 
 naturally, we are justified in regarding them as importations of 
 the rough article, merely formed to the size required by the 
 
9S 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 manufacturer. In examining these implements in tlie dift’ereut 
 .stages of their manufacture, as thus presented to us, we become 
 convinced that not only must implements of metal liave been 
 used in making them, but that some machine like a lathe must 
 liave been used in boring an.l finishing them. Besides the fact 
 just stated of their having been deposited in the same inter- 
 ments with instruments of metal, insulated facts have occurred 
 corroborating the conclusions which we should naturally draw 
 from this circumstance. Tn France some of tlie stone imple- 
 ments are said to have been found with handles of bone, but we 
 are assured of a circumstance still more interesting, that at old 
 Toulouse one of these stone implements was found, in the place 
 of its original deposit, surrounded with a circle of iron that had 
 evidently fixed it to its handle.* Instances might be adduced 
 of the continuation of the use of implements of stone down 
 to a mmch more recent date. According to the recital of 
 AVilliam of Poitiers, some of the Anglo-Saxons fought with 
 weapons of stone at the battle of Hastings : f and they are said 
 to have been employed by the Scots as late as the wars of 
 Wallace. 
 
 The older implements of metal found in this island are 
 generally of bronze. I here give a group of the more usual 
 forms of those attributed generally to the British period, all, 
 except No. 8, taken from specimens in the museum of the 
 Society of Antiquaries. No. 1 is the usual form of the broiizi) 
 axe-head or chisel, to which the name of celt has been given, 
 not because it was conceived to be characteristic of the Celtic 
 ]-ace, but because our earlier anticpiaries supposed it to be the 
 instrument to which the Eomans gave the name of celtU (a 
 chisel). J It has a socket for receiving the handle. Nos. 2 
 
 * See a paper in the Me.moires de la Socitte Archtologique dii Midi de 
 la France, tom. i. p. 78. 
 
 "t Jactant cuspides ac diversorum generum tela, saevissimas quasque 
 secures, et lignis imposita saxa. p. 201, ap. Duchesne. These stones, fixed 
 on pieces of wood, were perhaps used for striking, as with clubs. 
 
 t The earliest dissertation on these instruments I know, is one by the 
 well-known antiquary, Thomas Heame, to whom the historian Thoresby 
 communicated some examples in his possession, found in Yorkshire. 
 Hearne wrote a long and learned epistle to Thoresby, in the Deceniber of 
 1709, which he printed as an appendix to the first volume of his edition of 
 Leland’s Itinerary, under the title of ‘ A Discourse concerning some Anti- 
 quities found in York.shire,’ and in which he stated his opinion that these 
 instruments were the Roman celtes or chisels. This opinion seems to have 
 been generally acquiesced in by Hearne’s ccmtemporaries, and this particu- 
 lar tool obtained the name of a celtis or celt. Subsequent writers, ascribing 
 these instruments to the Britons, have retained the name, forgetting its 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 BEOXZE IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 99 
 
 and 3, the latter found in the Isle of lhanet, ana laieiy in the 
 museum of my friend Mr. Crofton Croker, are also common 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 S 2 I 3 
 
 Implements of Lron/e. 
 
 forms, with a different contrivance for fixing the handle. No. 
 4 is another variety, exhibiting a much rarer form. There can 
 be no doubt that these were tools in very common use by work- 
 men in England at some period, for they are found very fre- 
 quently, though very rarely in sepulchral intements, all over 
 the island ; and rather numerous instances have occurred of the 
 discoveiy of considerable quantities of them, whole or broken, 
 under circumstances which can leave no doubt of their having 
 l)een the stock in trade of some maker of such instruments. 
 They are found in great abundance in the county of Norfolk : 
 and' they generally occur along with chisels of different forms, 
 and som'etimes with spear-heads and daggers. In a meadow at 
 Stibbard, in the county of Norfolk, no less than seventy of the 
 so-called celts, and ten spear-heads of bronze, were found in a 
 single lot. In 1845, a quantity of such instruments, including 
 the” chisels or axe-heads of the usual forms, with punches, 
 gouges, and other similar instruments, as well as several pieces 
 of unused metal, one of which appeared to have been the resi- 
 
 origin, and have applied it indiscriminately, not only to other implements 
 o{ bronze, but even to the analogous instruments of stone. It is not good 
 as a technical term, because it is mistaken too generally .as implying tliat 
 thin^Ts to whicli it is applied are Celtic, aud it would therefore be bettei o 
 lav it aside. 
 
 H 
 
100 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [CHAP. III. 
 
 tliiuin left in the melting-pot, were found at a village near 
 Attleborough, in the same county. A similar discovery of 
 bronze chisels, gouges, &c., with portions of a bronze sword, 
 was made at Sittingbourne, in Kent ; and another occurred some 
 years ago in Shropshire, at the foot of the Wrekin. More re- 
 cently, at Westow, about twelve miles from York, a collection 
 of sixty similar instruments, presenting the same varieties, with 
 the addition of a piece of dagger or sword, and a similar piece of 
 bronze, which appeared to be the residuum from melting, were 
 found in an earthen jar or vase. A very similar hoard was found 
 in the parish of Lanant, in Cornwall, in the year 1802 ; and 
 Leland has recorded the discovery of a similar hoard in the 
 parish of St Hilary, in the same county, in the time of Henry 
 VlII. ^ A parcel of the so-called celts, spear-heads, and frag- 
 ments of s\vords, of bronze, were found by Mr Lukis in the 
 Isle of Alderney, under similar circumstances. 
 
 No. 7, in our cut, represents a bronze chisel, from a specimen 
 in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries, and will serve to 
 give a general idea of the forms of these instruments, as found 
 with the ‘ celts.’ We are convinced at once that all these 
 instruments have been cast in moulds, and accordingly several 
 examples of these moidds have been found, both in England 
 and other countries. I have given examples. Nos. 5 and b, 
 from casts in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries, of two 
 such moulds, found in Normandy ; they represent the two 
 varieties of which we have examples in the cut. Nos. 1, 2, and 3. 
 No. 8, in our cut, is a fragment of a bronze saw. 
 
 I have stated that antiquarian writers have been in the 
 habit of calling these bronze tools British, but 1 am inclined to 
 believe that Hearne was nearer the truth when he pronounced 
 them to be Roman. The localities in which they have been 
 usually found, especially when they have occurred in any 
 ([uantities, have generally been Roman sites. One of the 
 moulds engraved above, is said to have been found by the side 
 of a Roman road, and the other at a place well known for its 
 Roman antiquities. The discovery at Sittingbourne, in Kent, 
 
 * ‘ There was found of late yeres syns, spere heddes, axis for warre, 
 and swerdes, of coper, wrappid up in lynin scant perishid, near the mount 
 in St Hilaries paroch in the tynne works.’ — Leland’ s Itin., ed. Hearne, 
 vol. hi. p. 7. The discoveries alluded to in the text will he found more 
 fully described in the * Archseolog:ia,’ vol. xv. p. 118; in the ‘Journal 
 <»f the British Archaeological Association,’ vols. i. pp. 51, £9, and ii. pp. 
 
 9. 58 ; and in Mr Roach Smith’s Collectanea Antiqua, vcl. i. pp. iOl, 
 105. 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 INSTRUMENTS OF BRONZE. 
 
 101 
 
 was made also near a Homan road, in the immediate vicinity 
 of an extensive Saxon cemetery, and perhaps further researches 
 will lay open Homan remains. The general shape and charac- 
 ter of these instruments seem to be much more like Homan 
 than anything we know of Celtic make ; and I believe tliey are 
 found in Italy. The question here raised is, however, one of 
 considerable obscurity, until further discoveries, and a more 
 
 Bronztt Suv'va® 
 
 careful observation of the circumstances uimer wnicn tiiey are 
 found, shall enable us to clear it away. 
 
102 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [(^HAP. III. 
 
 The frag’nients of swords found in one or two instances with 
 these parcels of bronze instruments, were apparently placed 
 there as old metal. They belong to a class which have usually 
 been considered as Celtic by English antiquaries, but which I 
 have always regarded as unmistakably Eoman. They are 
 found in England and Scotland, in Ireland, in Denmark (less 
 frequently), in Germany, in Erance, and, I believe, in Italy. 
 Eour specimens are given in the preceding cut. The first 
 is preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries 
 of England, but it is uncertain where it was found. Tlie 
 second was found at Arthur’s Seat near Edinburgh, and is now 
 preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of 
 Scotland. The third was found in the bed of the Thames, 
 near Yauxhall, and the fourth at Twerton, near Bath. The 
 two last are engraved in the Journal of the Archaeological 
 Association. They are short, usually from sixteen to eighteen 
 inches in length, and were evidently used for thrusting rather 
 than for cutting. 
 
 These swords, in whatever country we find them, are sc 
 uniform in shape, that we can hardly doubt their being all the 
 workmanship of one people. They do not answer the ancient 
 descriptions of the swords used by the Celts and Germans, who, 
 from the time when Marius encountered the Cimbrians and 
 Teutons, to the great battle in which Agricola defeated 
 the Britons under Galgacus, are described as using long 
 pointless SAVords.^ Indeed, I believe, all people in a rude 
 state, Avhose soldiers are not highly disciplined, are more apt to 
 use swords for striking than thrusting. AVe know that the 
 Romans had an advantage over their British foes in close 
 combat, from the circumstance, that they used their short and 
 pointed swords in thrusting, while the Britons were unable to 
 use with the same effect their long pointless ones. The swords 
 of the form figured above have, I think, been genei’ally found 
 on or near Roman sites. Many are taken up from the Thames, 
 where such multitudes of Roman Antiquities are found, but no 
 other swords that can be accounted Roman. The question, 
 however, seems to be set at rest by discoveries in Erance. One 
 of these swords was found at Heilly, in the department 
 of the Somme, with other articles, among Avhich Avere four 
 
 * Besides the mention of these lonj^ swords in the accounts of the battles 
 mentioned in the text, Dion Cassius, lib. xxxviii. c. 49, in his account of 
 <^’H!sar’s battle with Ariovistus, in Gaul, mentions the large long swords of 
 tile barbarians. 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 INSTRUMENTS OF BRONZE. 
 
 103 
 
 brass coins of Caracalla ; and another was found in another 
 locality along with skeletons and coins, some of which belonged 
 to the emperor Maxentius, so that they conld not have been 
 deposited there before the beginning of the fourth century 
 after Christ.^ It may be added, that in the museum of tin* 
 Louvre, in Paris, there is one of these bronze leaf-shaped 
 swords (as they are usually termed), with its sheath, the latter 
 undoubtedly Roman ; and I am informed that there is another 
 similar sword and sheath in the Musee de PArtillerie, also in 
 Paris. 
 
 It is well known that in some countries the use of copper 
 and bronze for weapons and other instruments preceded that of 
 iron. Copper weapons are supposed to have preceded those of 
 bronze. The alloy of tin in the latter metal gave it a hardness 
 and a brittleness not possessed by the pure copper, and the 
 ancients are said, though on late and doubtful authority, ta 
 luive employed a method of tempering it as we do steel. The 
 weapons of the Homeric age were of these materials, which 
 appear to have been regarded almost with a superstitious vener- 
 ation by the Romans. In the treaty between Porsena and 
 the Roman people, about four hundred years before the Christian 
 era, it was expressly stipulated that the Romans should not use 
 iron except for implements of agriculture. f It was not till 
 three hundred years later — that is, after the second Punic war 
 — that the Romans began to use iron in the fiibrication of arms; 
 and it is a very remarkable circumstance, that in the battle in 
 which the Gauls were defeated by the consul Hlmilius, when 
 the Romans used swords of bronze, those of the Gauls, as we 
 are told by Polybius, were long, and so badly tempered, that 
 they bent when the Gallic warriors struck a hard blow against 
 the Roman armour. It would appear, from their being tem- 
 pered, that they were made of iron.J 
 
 Among the most curious of the instruments of bronze found 
 in this country, are the daggers or knives, which are not 
 iinfrequently found in the barrows supposed to be British, and 
 were no doubt peculiar to the people who were buried in them. 
 
 * These are described in the fifth volume of the Memoires of tbe Insti- 
 tute of France, class of Litter at ur e et Beaux Arts^ pp. 193 and 501. I give 
 the reference from the work of M. Mauduit, mentioned below. 
 
 t In foedere quod repulsis regibus populo Romano dedit Porsena, nomi- 
 native comprehensum invenimus, ne ferro nisi in agricultura uterentur. — 
 Blinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiv. c. 14. 
 
 X Much information on the early use of bronze will be found in the 
 Dteomertes cUdis la Troade., by M. Mauduit, Paris, 1840. 
 
THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. in. 
 
 lul 
 
 The usual forms of those instruinents will be best understood 
 by the accompanying cut. They are found frequently without 
 
 handles, but with the rivets which fixed them, and the blade 
 generally bears marks of having been placed in a shank of 
 wood. Tlie handle appears to have been generally of the same 
 material, and has only been preserved where, in particular 
 instances, it has been made of ivory or bone. The blades are 
 from six to ten inches long ; sometimes they are much smaller. 
 At first, until one was found with a handle, they were supposed 
 to be spear-heads. Tn a barrow at Norman ton, in Wiltshire, 
 Sir Richard Colt Hoare found the handle of one of these 
 daggers, of wood, richly ornamented with zig-zags and lines, 
 resembling those found on the pottery, formed by innumerable 
 diminutive points or pins of gold driven into the wood. It is in 
 the barrows of Wiltshire and Dorset that these bronze daggers 
 are found most abundantly. A few have been met with in 
 Derbyshire, and they occur more rarely in Scotland ; they are, 
 liowever, not uncommon in Ireland ; they are also found in 
 Gaul. The figure No. 2 , in the group above, represents one 
 of these dagger or knife blades of the more usual form, which 
 was found in a barrow called Dowe-lowe, near Church-Sterndale, 
 in Derbyshire, opened by Mr Bateman : it accompanied a 
 
ciiAr. III.] 
 
 THE GOLD COESET. 
 
 1C.) 
 
 skeleton. No. 5, is a dao'^’er of the same form, with a handle, 
 found by Sir Eiehard Colt Hoare in a barrow at Brig’milson in 
 Wiltshire, accompanying an urn with ashes ; and No. 3 is a 
 blade of exactly the same form, found in Ireland, and formerly 
 in the possession of my friend the late Mr Crofton Croker. No. 
 1 is a somewliat similar bronze blade, found at Pitcaithly, in 
 Perthshire; while the other, No. 4, with tlie same shaped blade, 
 but with its handle of ivory, came from a barrow near Eland- 
 ford, in Dorsetshire. This latter is in a perfect state of pre- 
 servation ; it was found with two bronze spear-heads, lying 
 beside an urn with burnt bones. 
 
 There are very few other artieles found under circumstances 
 which could lead us to ascribe them to the Celtic population of 
 our island. Bronze spear-heads, often with loops at the side, 
 are found under the same circumstances as the swords, and no 
 doubt belonged to the same people. A few personal ornaments, 
 chletly beads, with now and then a piece of bone or metal, are 
 found in some of the barrows of Derbyshire, Wiltshire, and 
 Dorset. Several discoveries have also been made of circular 
 shields, generally of bronze, and of rather small dimensions, 
 which have been considered to be British, though the justice 
 of this appropriation is doubtful. Traces of a metal cover- 
 ing for the breast, very thin, and therefore more for orna- 
 ment than protection, have also been found with skeletons, 
 apparently of this early date. The most remarkable discoveiy 
 of this kind was made in the October of 1833, at Mold, in 
 Plintshire. A mound, composed of pebbles and stones, had 
 long stood at the corner of a field, and it was then cleared 
 away for agricultural purposes. It was found to eoiitain inter- 
 ments of urns and burnt bones, and also, in another part of 
 the mound, a skeleton, round the breast of which was a corset 
 of thin gold, embossed with an ornamentation resembling nail 
 heads and lines. This interesting artiele is now in the British 
 Museum. This barrow was called by the Welsh peasantry 
 hryri-yr-elhjllon , or the hill of fairies or goblins ; and it was 
 believed to be haunted. But the most curious circumstance 
 conneeted with it was the declaration, made before it was 
 opened, of a woman of the neighbourhood, that, as she Avas 
 going home late one night and had to pass by it, she saw 
 moving over the barrow, a speetre ‘ clothed in a coat of gold, 
 Avhich shone like the sun.’ 
 
 It is the business of the antiquary, by comparing and dis- 
 criminating the objects of each period, to make them throw 
 new light on the manners and condition of the people to whom 
 
106 
 
 THE BEITOXS. 
 
 [chap. hi. 
 
 they belong, and also to endeavour to trace, by tlieir peculiar- 
 ities, the movements of the different tribes, and the positions 
 they occupied. Unfortunately, the antiquities of the British 
 period 1 ave as yet proved but of little use in either of these 
 points of view. The solitary dao;o-er, with the few fragments 
 of pottery, and two or three beads or pins, can give us no 
 satisfactory notion of the dress or riches of the person who wore 
 them. If, as Caesar says was the practice among the Gauls, 
 the Britons buried with their dead all the articles of value they 
 possessed, they must indeed have been poor. But it is hardly 
 probable that the contents of the graves, as we now find them, 
 are any fair measure of the wealth of those who were buried in 
 them. We can feel no doubt, after a comparison of their 
 contents, that the cromlechs and the other barrows of which 
 we have been speaking, belong to the same people, and that 
 they are of about the same date. They occur in large groups. 
 The Kits-Cottv House group belongs to Kent; there was 
 another group in the valley of the White Horse, in Berkshire ; 
 another lay in Oxfordshire ; a larger group lay in Dorsetshire ; 
 then came the vast group about Stonehenge ; and finally, a 
 tolerably numerous one in Cornwall. The only large group of 
 the interior is that of Derbyshire. There is a group towards 
 the south-east of Yorkshire, and they are scattered over Wales, 
 and in the Isle of Angdesea. This distribution would certainly 
 lead us to imagine that the barrows and other monuments of 
 this island, which we are accustomed to attribute to the Druids, 
 belong, not to the earlier Celtic population, but to the later 
 settlers. If this be the case, we might perhaps go further, and 
 assume that the British population of the earlier mining dis- 
 tricts, Cornwall, Wales, and Derbyshire, was also composed of 
 later settlers, who knew how to work the metals, of which the 
 earlier aboriginal tribes were perhaps ignorant. But these are 
 obscure questions, which we are, from want of accurate know- 
 ledge, unable to solve ; and it must not be forgotten that the 
 cromlechs are numerous in Ireland. 
 
 The next question that presents itself, with relation to these 
 monuments, is their date, which I am inclined to believe less 
 remote than is usually imagined. It has often been a fault 
 among antiquaries to be too eager in fixing great antiquity on 
 everything about which they are uncertain. The comparison 
 of these barrows with one another, while it shows that some of 
 them had served apparently for family sepulchres during a 
 length of time, would lead us to think that they mav in general 
 
CHAI’. III.] 
 
 THE AGE OF CROMf.ECHS. 
 
 107 
 
 be placed within no very wide limits. In times like these of 
 which we are now treatinp^, individuals possessed but a small 
 quantity of personal property ; the communication between one 
 place and another was slow and uncertain ; and vddle one man, 
 by accident or through his supeiior wealth and power, had 
 Aveapons and other implements of bronze or iron, or even of 
 silver and gold, his neighbour might be obliged to remain con- 
 tent with a chisel or axe of stone, or, if a hunter, he might be 
 satisfied Avith a few flint-headed arroAvs to his boAv. In the 
 same Avay, one man might be rich or ostentatious enough to 
 depose in the grave elegant vessels of superior manufacture, 
 while another at the same time Avould use only the rude urn of 
 clay and gravel baked hastily in the sun. Nothing indeed is 
 more unsafe than the rule that mere rudeness of construction 
 is a proof of antiquity. One or tAvo circumstances have been 
 discovered that are certainly rather startling. In Belgium, on 
 the borders of the Ardennes, a cromlech Avith a Eoman inter- 
 ment in it has been recently found in the middle of a Eoman 
 cemetery.^ A discovery of a somcAvhat similar kind Avas made 
 by Mr Bateman, in his researches among the barroAvs of 
 Derbyshire, AAdiich he describes as folloAvs : ‘ In a plantation on 
 the summit of Minninglowe Hill,’ he says, ‘ are two tumuli 
 of large size, one being nearly fifteen feet high from the level 
 of the ground. In the centre, and in four places in the area of 
 the circle, are large cists, or, as they now appear, from the soil 
 being removed from them, large cromlechs, exactly of the same 
 construction as that well-known Druidical structure, Kits-Cotty 
 House. They are formed of the large limestones of the countiy, 
 and have all had covers of the same, only tAvo of which now 
 
 remain in their places The soil in the interior of the 
 
 cists of the large barroAV Avas removed down to the surface of 
 the rock on the 5th of July, 1813, Avhen it Avas found that all 
 the interments had been before removed, Avith the exception of 
 one, which was a skeleton, laid at full length on the outside of 
 the cist, unaccompanied by any Aveapon or ornaments. In the 
 cell near which this body lay, Avere found fragments of five 
 
 ^ ‘ Le seul tombeau qui, dans ce cimetiere Romain, rneritait ce nom, 
 consistait en cinq enormes pierres en quartiers de roches. Trois de ces 
 pierres forinaient un triangle dont les deux autres etaient la base et le cou- 
 vercle. Dans ce tombeau, ainsi que pres des assiettes niortuaires, j’ai 
 trouve des ferrements et des clous, qui indiqueraient que ces restes de 
 Remains auraient etc enfermes dans une sorte de cercueil en bois, dont il 
 lie r'ste ulus trace .’ — Ihilletin de la Socidtd Ilistoriqae et Archiologique d4 
 Soisso)^s^ tom. iii. p. 187. 
 
ICS 
 
 THE BRITONS. 
 
 [chap. III. 
 
 unis, some animal bones, and six tliird brass Roman coins, 
 namely, one ol Claudius Gothicus, two of Constantine the 
 Great, two of Constantine Junior, and one of Yalentinian. An 
 attempt to penetrate the substance of tlie mound was then 
 made, wliich, from want of time, proved ineffectual. A few 
 human teeth, and a third brass coin of Constantine, were the 
 only relics found in this part of the excavation.’ Sir Richard 
 Colt Hoare also found Roman coins in one of the supposed 
 British barrows in Wiltshire. 
 
 These fads might perhaps be considered to be accidental ; 
 but it is very remarkable that the only excavation within the 
 area of Stonehenge of which we possess any account, brought 
 to light Roman remains. We are informed by Aubrey that 
 the Duke of Buckingham, in 1620, ‘did cause the middle of 
 Stonehenge to be digged, and this under digging was the cause 
 of the falling downe or recumbencie of the great stone there.’ 
 He tells us that in the course of this ‘ digging ’ they found 
 ‘ a great many horns of stags and oxen, charcoal, batter- 
 dashes (?), heads of arrows, some pieces of armour eaten out 
 with rust, and rotten bones.’ An inscribed tablet of tin is 
 pretended to have been found at Stonehenge, in the reign of 
 Henry Ylll. ; and, according to Inigo Jones, the cover of a 
 thurlbahun, or iucense-cup, was found within the area at a 
 later period. ‘ In more modern times,’ adds Sir Richard Colt 
 Hoare, whose description is more to be depended upon, ‘ Ave 
 have found, on digging, several fragments of Roman as Avell as 
 of coarse British pottery, parts of the head and horns of deer 
 and other animals, and a large barbed arrow-head of iron. Dr 
 Stukeley says that he dug close to the altar, and at the depth 
 of one foot came to solid ehalk. Mr Cunnington also dug 
 about the same place to the depth of nearly six feet, and found 
 that chalk had been moved to that depth ; and, at the depth 
 of three feet, he found some Roman pottery, and, at the depth 
 of six feet, some pieces of sarsen stones, three fragments of 
 eoarse half-baked pottery, and some charred Avood. . . . In 
 digging into the ditch that surrounds the area. Mr Cunnington 
 found similar remnants of antiquity ; and in the Avaggon tracks, 
 near Stonehenge, you frequently meet Avith chippings of the 
 stones of Avhich the temple Avas constructed. Soon after the 
 fall of the great trilithon in 1797, Mr Cunnington dug out 
 some of the earth that had fallen into the excavation, and found 
 a fragment of fine black Roman pottery, and since that another 
 piece in the same spot ; but I have no idea that this pottery 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 BRITISH COINS. 
 
 109 
 
 ever lay beneath the stones, but probably in the earth adjoining 
 the trilithon, and, after the downfall of the latter, it fell Avith 
 the mouldering earth into the excavation.’ 
 
 Although some of the remains of antiquity Avhich are from 
 time to time dug up in our island may belong to an age more 
 remote, the most probable view of the case seems to be, that 
 the mass of our British antiquities belong to the age immedi- 
 ately preceding the arrival of the Eomans, and to the period 
 Avhich followed. 
 
 The date of one class of British antiquities, the coins, are 
 more easily fixed, and they will, perhaps, eventually throw' 
 some light on one period of British history. These coins hat^e 
 been found in considerable quantities in most parts of England, 
 often in hoards, and they are remarkable for the large propor- 
 tion in gold and silver. Many of them have inscriptions, 
 always in Eoman characters, Avhich, as far as tve can judge 
 from discoveries hitherto made, express the names of the chiefs 
 for Avhom they were minted. In form they resemble the Greek 
 coinage, being thicker in proportion to their size than Eoman 
 coins, and usually slightly convex on one side and concave on 
 the other. Some of these British coins show a considerable 
 degree of artistic skill, and bear distinct representations of 
 human heads, animals, and other figures, Avhile a still greater 
 number are extremely rude, and some of them bear confused 
 marks and attempts at devices Avhich appear totally inexplica- 
 ble. These, like everything that is mysterious, have furnished 
 ground for many theories, founded on the supposition that they 
 had some connection with the mythology or history of the 
 British tribes. But a more careful study and comparison has 
 shown us that the British, like the Gallic coinage, consisted 
 merely of imitations of Greek and, subsequently, of Eoman 
 coins. It appears that when the chiefs began to mint money, 
 they adorned it with mere copies of the figures on foreign coins 
 brought as models by their coiners, and that, while their rela- 
 tions with Eome induced them to adopt Eoman inscriptions, 
 they chose in preference the forms and pictorial devices of tin; 
 money of Greece, selecting especially those of the Macedonian 
 kings. The first minters Avere probably brought over from Gaul, 
 and they made tolerably good copies of the originals, as Ave find 
 to be the case in many of the coins of Cunobeline. Subsequently 
 these copies seiwed again as models to British and very unskilful 
 artists, and in their hands they gradually degenerated into 
 forms Avhich can only be understood Avluni Ave place them beside 
 
110 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap, in 
 
 the more perfect copies from which they were imitated. Some- 
 times we only trace the British imitation of the Greek coin 
 throug-h an intermediate Gallic copy. To explain better this 
 gradual degeneration, and furnish at the same time an example 
 of one of the ruder types of the British eoins, we give a cut 
 I’epresenting three gold coins, in their obverses and reverses. 
 The uppermost is a <>’old stater of Philip of Macedon. The 
 
 second is a gold coin of one of the Gaulish chiefs, in which 
 the head of the king is copied in a very rude manner, with 
 the wreath round the head ; but the charioteer and horses are 
 given in a manner much more rude, though still distin- 
 guishable. The name of Philip has been transformed into a 
 rude ornament. The lowermost coin is a rude British copy 
 of the same type — one of a hoard of British gold coins found in 
 Whaddon Chace. Until compared with the two previous coins, 
 we cannot even guess at what the coiners intended to repre- 
 sent ; but on laying the three coins thus side by side, we trace 
 distinctly on the obverse the wreath and ears of the head of 
 Philip of Macedon, while it is equally evident that the reverse 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 BRITISH COINS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 was intended as a copy of the cliarioteer. In this, as in many 
 cases of the British coinage, the die was cut clumsily and much 
 larger than the piece of metal which was to receive the impres- 
 sion. Hence the coin only represents a part of the subjeet, 
 and as the metal sometimes fell on one side of the field, and 
 sometimes on another, we have often to compare several 
 examples of a British coin before we get the design complete ; 
 md the accidental discovery of one which contains a portion of 
 tlie design not previously found often explains what was before 
 unintelligible. Our next cut represents another palpable copy 
 
 Greek und British Coins. 
 
 of a Greek coin. The large figure is the obverse of a silver 
 tetradrachm of Alexander the Great, in which that monarch is 
 represented under the character of Hercules, with the head and 
 mane of the lion’s skin over his head, and the claws tied in a 
 knot under his neck and chin. The smaller coin beside it is a 
 silver coin of a British chief, whose name is represented by the 
 Eoman letters epat. Mr Beale Poste has, I think, mistaken 
 part of what was intended to represent the lion’s claws for a 
 Greek K, and he proposes to read the inscription in Greek 
 characters, KEPAT {kerat), which he interprets as referring to 
 Caractacus. But, in general, the British coins seem rather to 
 have been struck by chiefs who were friendly or submissive to 
 the Homans, than b}^ those who were warring against them. 
 The eagle on the reverse of the coin just described was probably 
 also copied from a Greek or Homan model. Among the Homan 
 coins copied by the Britons is one of Augustus, with a figure 
 of Victory seated on the reverse. Euture examinations and 
 discoveries will, no doubt, lead to the identification of them all. 
 A figure of an animal, on some British brass coins found in 
 Kent, is evidently the rude copy of an elephant, from one of the 
 consular coins. The charioteer of the coin of Philip, copied 
 
112 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [cHAr, in. 
 
 more or less nidely, is rather a common reverse of the British 
 coins. Many of the figaires, still unintelligible, will probably 
 be explained by future discoveries. One of the reverses of the 
 coins of Tasciovanus, which has been described as ‘ an unknown 
 ornament,’ seems to have been intended for the prow of a 
 Eoman galley. 
 
 The knowledge of British coins is as yet in its infancy, and 
 comparatively little has been done towards classifying* them in 
 a satisfactory manner. From the process of degeneration 
 shown above, and other circumstances, it appears that the 
 ruder coins are often to be considered, in point of date, as the 
 latest, and not as the earliest. The best in point of workman- 
 ship, and the most numerous, are those of Tasciovanus and 
 Cunobeline : of the latter nearly fifty varieties are already 
 known. Of the names inscribed on these coins, the varieties 
 are not numerous, and it seems most probable that they all 
 represent cliiefs. The greater number are, unfortunately, 
 without inscriptions, and, therefore, it is impossible from the 
 coins themselves to determine the tribes or chiefs to whom they 
 !)elonged. By careful observations of the places where they 
 were discovered, certain types have been found to be peculiar to 
 certain districts, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that they 
 belonged to the British tribes there located. But we must 
 wait till further discoveries throw light on this subject. It is 
 impossible to say how long the British coinage remained in 
 circulation ; but it has been found mixed with Eoman money, 
 though I believe the latter Avas of the consular period or of the 
 earlier emperors. 
 
 Among the monuments of a remote period which it is most 
 difficult to class, are the earthworks and entrenchments which 
 are found in considerable numbers in every part of our island. 
 In some parts there is scarcely a hill-top which is not crowned 
 with a circle of ditches and eml)anknients, and in some cases they 
 are of colossal magnitude. These have been ascribed, too indis- 
 criminately and too hastily, to the British period, and have 
 been called British camps and British towns. In some cases, 
 it will be found, on examination, that these entrenchments 
 were merely intended to inclose a barrow or a cemetery. 8oine 
 of them were, probably, medieval. They may, in some 
 instances, have inclosed a primitive town or village : and we 
 know that the early Anglo-Saxon mansion was a mere structure 
 of wood inclosed by an earthen entrenchment. It has been 
 also rather too hastily assumed that the Eomans never, under 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 l^RITISH VILLAGES. 
 
 113 
 
 any circumstances, departed from the rectano-ular system of 
 castrametation, which is not justified by a careful examination 
 of facts. 
 
 Nevertheless, if there is a difficulty in fixing the date of 
 what are usually called British camps, there is one very inter- 
 esting class of earthworks which, doubtless, belong to an early 
 period, and which are scattered over many parts of our island. 
 They are generally found at some distance from the Boman 
 towns, but they are usually not far from Roman roads. These 
 are groups of shallow pits, or rather of bowl-shaped excavations, 
 on the surface of the ground. These curious works have been 
 observed with most care by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, in Wili- 
 shire, who calls them British villages ; but they occur in 
 Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and probably in most 
 other parts of the country, where the traces of them have not 
 been obliterated by cultivation ; but some of the most perfect 
 specimens are met with on the Wiltshire downs. Two such 
 traces of settlements are found on Knook Down, near Heytes- 
 bury, which seem to have been proteeted by an ancient fortress, 
 now called Knook Castle. Sir Richard Colt Hoare states that 
 ‘ the site of these villages is decidedly marked by great 
 cavities and irregularities of ground, and by a black soil. 
 Where the moles were more abundant, numerous coins were 
 constantly thrown np by them, as well as fragments of pottery 
 of difierent species. On digging in these excavations, we 
 find the coarse British pottery, and almost every species of what 
 has been called Roman pottery ; also fibiilcB, and rings of brass 
 worn as armillcB or bracelets ; flat-headed iron nails, hinges of 
 doors, locks and keys, and a variety of Roman coins, of which 
 the small brass of the lower empire are the most numerous, and 
 particularly those of the Constantine family. Of the larger 
 and first brass, we have coins of V^espasian, Nerva, Antoninus, 
 Trajan, Julia Mammaea, and Postumus ; of the denarii, we 
 have Caligula, the elder Paustina, Julia Mammma, the elder 
 Philip, Gallieniis, and Gratianus : the small brass are too 
 numerous to particularize, but some of the smallest are remark 
 able, having only a radiated head (often very rude) , and one or 
 two Roman letters, which, perhaps, may have been struck 
 during the latest struggles between the Britons and Saxons. 
 In digging within these British villages, Ave have but rarely 
 discovered any signs of building Avith stone or Hint ; but Ave 
 have several times found very thin stones laid as floors to a 
 room. The fire-places were small excavations in the ground, in 
 
lU 
 
 THE BEITOXS. 
 
 [chap. III. 
 
 whicli we liave frequently found a large flat hearthstone; and 
 in two parts of this extensive village we have discovered hypo- 
 causts similar to those in the Eoinan villa at Pitmeacl, near 
 Warminster. These are regular works of masonry, made in 
 the form of a cross, and covered with large flat stones, well 
 cemented by mortar. We have also, during our investigations 
 of this spot, repeatedly found pieces of painted stucco, and of 
 brick flues ; also pit-coal, and some fragments of glass, or 
 crystal, rings, beads, &c. In one of the banks raised for the 
 old habitations, we discovered a skeleton with its head laid 
 towards the north ; at its feet was a tine black celt [of stone], 
 and at the distance of a few feet was a bead. In this, as well 
 as in the generality of other British villages, the attentive eye 
 may easily trace out the lines of houses, and the streets, or rather 
 hollow ways conducting to them ; these are particularly visible 
 in the upper village on these downs, as well as the entrance to 
 it. The whole adjoining country is also strongly marked by 
 the intersection of slight banks along the sides of the hills, 
 which point to us the limits of ancient British cultivation, and in 
 many instances the smallness of them will show the contracted 
 scale on which agriculture was at that time carried on.’ 
 
 Several groups of similar works are described by the same 
 writer in difl’erent parts of his great work on ancient Wiltshire. 
 Of these not the least remarkable is the very extensive group 
 called the Pen Pits, near Stourton, the character of which ap- 
 pears somewhat doubtful. Another group, of a more definite 
 character, runs along the brow of a slight eminence in the 
 neighbourhood of Wily, known by the popular name of Stockton 
 Works. ‘ Stockton Works,’ says Sir llichard Colt Hoare, ‘ap- 
 pear to have been originally surrounded by a ditch, and a single 
 rampart of earth, of which a considerable part towards the east 
 still remains ; but the western boundary, and many of the in- 
 terior works, have been much defaced by a great waggon track, 
 which for many ages has passed through the works. The ori- 
 ginal entrance was on the eastern side, near the head of a steep 
 valley; but many other adits, of a more modern date, have been 
 made for the accommodation of waggons frequenting the wood. 
 At one point there is also an entrance to an inner work, where 
 we see numerous exeavations, &c., and near the centre is a sin- 
 gular little work of a pentagonal form ; and beyond it the irregu- 
 larities and cavities continue deep and numerous for a consider- 
 able distance to the westward. These works cover the space of 
 sixty-two acres, and extended, probably, much further towards 
 
CHAP, in.] 
 
 BRITISH VILLAGES. 
 
 115 
 
 tlie west, and into the vvood on the south, but they are so defaced 
 ill many places, and in others so very doubtful, that what now 
 remains can only be considered as a very imperfect specimen of 
 tlie original works. We have dug in various places within the 
 area, and found both large and small Homan coins, pieces of 
 brass, iron nails, fragments of millstones, brick flues, tiles, and 
 both British and Roman pottery ; also the neck of a glass bottle, 
 of a sea-green colour; in short, all the vestiges of a numerous 
 population.’ The writer from whom we are quoting adds : — 
 ‘ A series of coins, from the first Claudius to Theodosius, mark 
 also their continued residence on this spot for a long period ; 
 they are so numerous and common, that the labourers employed 
 to dig flints throw them up and leave them amongst the 
 stones : twice, on visiting these works, I found coins in this 
 situation.’ 
 
 There can be little doubt that the excavations described by 
 Sir Richard Colt Hoare are the floors of dwellings, the super- 
 structure of which consisted of perishable materials ; and we 
 should be justified in considering them as the remains of the 
 villages occupied by the pastoral and agricultural population 
 during the Roman occupation of the island. What he calls 
 British pottery was no doubt the commoner and rougher de- 
 crip tion of Roman ware ; and the coins, which he could not ap- 
 propriate, seem to have been the small rude coins, or possibly 
 the later imitations of the Roman money, known to antiquaries 
 by the name of in'mimi. This may be remarked as a very 
 curious circumstance, because, though it has nothing to do with 
 the antkpiities of the British period, it seems to show, that in 
 some parts of the island, even in the country villages, the 
 peasantry were not driven from their habitations. In other 
 parts of the country, we have not always the same certain indi- 
 cations of the people who inhabited the settlements indicated 
 by their excavations, as were found in Wiltshire, and in some 
 places perhaps they only mark the sites of villages of a much 
 later date, destroyed amid the turbulence of the middle ages.^" 
 
 * A careful antiquary makes the following: remarks, in the Leicester 
 (Jhrouicle^ on the ‘Deserted Villag-es ’ of Leicestershire : — ‘ On the north- 
 eastern side of the county of Leicester may be found, apart from human 
 habitations, sites of ancient villages, of which not a fragment is now 
 visible above-ground. One of these lies near Ingarsbj^ a second near Cold 
 Newton, and a third near Humberstone. An ordinary passer-by would 
 not notice these curious sites, and the peasant may daily pass over their 
 broken surfaces without experiencing any emotion of curiosity or interest ; 
 but it is not so with the intelligent man and the readei’ of history. In their 
 
 I 
 
116 
 
 THE BRITOXS. 
 
 [chap. III. 
 
 We find the habitations of the early inhabitants of these 
 islands under circiiinstances wliicli seem to denote a still lower 
 scale of civilisation. These are the caves on the sea-coast, sucii 
 as Kent’s Hole, near Torquay, in Devonshire, and other caves 
 on that and the Cornish coast, which interest the g-eolog-ist as 
 well as the antiquary. The cave just mentioned was explored 
 by a local geologist, who has given the following account of 
 the appearances which presented themselves when it was first 
 examined: — ‘The floor of the entrance, except that it had the 
 appearance of being broken up, offered nothing remarkable to 
 detain us. We shall have occasion to return to it presently. 
 Not so the lateral branch by which it communicaies with the 
 body of the cavern on the left. Under a ledge on the left was 
 found the usual sprinkling of modern bones, and, in the mould 
 beneath, which had acquired the consistence of hard clay, were 
 fragments of pottery, calcined bones, charcoal, and ashes ; in 
 the midst of all were dispersed arrow-heads of Hint and chert. 
 The ashes furnishes a large proportion of the mould. In the 
 same heap were discovered round slabs of rooting slate, of a 
 plate-like form, some crushed, others entire. The pottery is 
 of the rudest description, made of coarse gritty earth, not 
 turned on a lathe, and sun baked ; on its external margin it 
 bears zigzag indentations, not unlike those represented on the 
 urns found by Sir Eichard Colt Hoare in the barrows of Wilt- 
 shire. These fragments, there seems no reason for doubting, 
 are the remains of cinerary urns, which once contained the sub- 
 stances scattered around, and to which the slates served for 
 covers. At a short distance, nearer the entrance, were found, 
 ill a continuation of the same mould, articles of bone of three 
 sorts ; some of an inch long, and pointed at one end, or arrow- 
 
 minds these spots excite inquiry and reflection. They know that the face 
 of the country has witnessed many a “ bloody broil,” and that populous 
 hamlets have been razed to the ground in the times of civil war or feudal 
 contest. One of the sites well calculated to elicit observation lies, as we 
 have hinted, near to Humberstone. About two miles to the north-east of 
 it, midway between Barkby and Scraptoft, may be found a field present- 
 ing numerous irregularities of surface, which is known as the “ Town 
 field.” On paying a visit to this a few days ago, we were struck with 
 the evidence it afforded of former occupancy, and of having been covered 
 with buildings and fortified works. It slopes in a northerly direction, a 
 brook running along the lower ground. On the upper part may be traced 
 very clearly three sides of an encampment or enclosure, defended by a 
 mound and trench. In the part bordering on the brook, but higher up 
 in the field, traces of the existence of buildings are obvious. There can be 
 little doubt this is the site of the town of Hamilton, which is marked in 
 maps as being in this quarter.’ 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 HABITATIONS IN CAVES. 
 
 117 
 
 heads; others about three inches long, rounded, slender, and 
 likewise pointed. Conjecture was long busy as to their destin- 
 ation. They were thought by some to be bodkins, by others 
 for confining the hair, like those ornaments used by the women 
 in Italy ; lastly, they were supposed, with more probability, to 
 be a species of pin for fastening in front the skin which served 
 savages for garments. The third article does not seem so easy to 
 explain ; it is of a difierent shape, quite fiat, broad at one end, 
 pointed at the other ; the broad part retains the truncated form 
 of a comb, the teeth of which were broken off near their root ; 
 whether it was used for a comb, or for making nets for fishing, 
 is not clear. There was only this solitary example found, and 
 two of the former, but several of the first, with a quantity of 
 bone chips. All three bore marks of polish. Nearer the 
 mouth we collected a good number of shells of the mussel, lim- 
 pet, and oyster, with a palate of the scarus. This, as well as 
 the nacre of oysters, which was thickly disseminated through 
 the mould, served, as they do at the present day among the 
 savages, most probably for ornament. The sliell-fish may have 
 furnished bait for fishing. The presence of these rude articles 
 renders it probable that they were collected here by the ancient 
 aborigines, who divided their time between the chase and 
 fishing in the adjacent sea. Close to the opposite wall, in 
 the same passage, buried in black mould, I found a stone 
 hatchet, or celt, of sienite, the only one found in the cavern. 
 Another of the same material, but of a difierent shape, I 
 found shortly after, not far from the cavern, near Anstis Cove, 
 which labourers engaged in making the new cut had just thrown 
 up with the mould. As we advanced towards the second mouth, 
 on the same level, were found, though sparingly, pieces of pot- 
 tery. The most remarkable product of this gallery were round 
 pieces of blue slate, about an inch and a half in diameter, and 
 a quarter thick. In the same quarter were likewise found sever- 
 al round pieces of sandstone grit, about the form and size of a 
 dollar, but thicker and rounder at the edge, and in the centre 
 pierced with a hole, by means of which they seem to have been 
 strung together like beads. Clusters of small pipes or icicles 
 of spar, such as depended from the roof at our first visit, we 
 saw collected here in heaps, buried in the mud. Similar 
 collections we had occasion to observe accompanied by char- 
 coal, throughout the entire range of the cavern, sometimes 
 in pits excavated in the stalagmite. Copper ore, with these 
 various articles in the same stuff, was picked up ; a lump much 
 
THE BRITONS. 
 
 118 
 
 [chap. III. 
 
 oxydiseci, which tlie late Mr Phillips analysed, was found to be 
 pure virgin ore. 
 
 ‘ Having taken a general survey of the surface of the floor, we 
 returned to the point from which we set out, viz., the common 
 passage, for the purpose of piercing into the materials below 
 the mould. Here, in sinking a foot into the soil (for of stalag- 
 mite there remained only the broken edges adhering to the 
 sides of the passage, and which appeared to be repeated at 
 intervals), we came upon flints in all forms, confusedly disse- 
 minated through the earth, and intermixed with fossil and 
 human bones, the whole slightly agglutinated together by eal- 
 careous matter derived from the roof. My collection possesses 
 an example of this aggregation in a mass, consisting of pebbles, 
 clay, and bone, in the midst of which is imbedded a fine blade 
 of flint, all united together by sparry cement. The flints were 
 in all eonditions, from the rounded pebble as it came out of the 
 chalk, to the instruments fabricated from them, as arrow and 
 spear-heads, and hatchets. Some of the flint blocks were chip- 
 ped only on one side, such as had probably furnished the axes ; 
 others on several faces, presenting planes corresponding exactly 
 to the long blades found by their side, and from whieh they 
 had been evidently sliced oft* ; other pebbles still more angular 
 and chipped at all points, were no doubt those whieh yielded 
 the small arrow-heads. These abounded in by far the greatest 
 number. Small irregular splinters, not referable to any of the 
 above divisions, and which seem to have been struck ott* in the 
 operation of detaching the latter, not unlike the small chips in 
 a sculptor’s shop, were thickly scattered throughout the stufl*, 
 indicating that this spot was the workshop where the savage 
 prepared his weapons of the chase. . . . With the exception of a 
 boar-spear (of iron) and a blade of the same metal not far from 
 it, very much rusted, all the articles in the mould or in the dis- 
 turbed soil consisted of flint, chert, sienite, and bone.’ 
 
 These caves, like the remains of the villages already described, 
 were probably inhabited in the time of the Homan rule, but by 
 that portion of the population who lived by fishing. We need 
 only look to the condition of the fishers and wreckers on the 
 wilder parts of the Cornish coast not a hundred years ago, to 
 form a notion of what must have been the savage mode of life 
 of a similar class in the same localities long after the Roman 
 
 * ‘ Cavern Researches ; or. Discoveries of Organic Remains, and of 
 British and Roman Reliques, in the Caves of Kent’s Hole, Austis Cove, 
 Ac.’ By the Rev. J. MacEnery. 
 
CHAP. III.] 
 
 HABITATIONS IN CAVE^. 
 
 110 
 
 occupation. Caves of a very similar character have been dis- 
 covered more recently in King’s Scar, near Settle, in Yorkshire,^' 
 in which the remains are mostly Eoman, and they were here 
 mixed witli coins, some of which were Roman, while the greater 
 proportion belonged to that class of rude copies of Roman coins, 
 struck when the island was losing its dependence on Rome. 
 The fisher population is thus traced in these rude habitations, 
 uninterrupted in their vocation, and probably unchanged in 
 their condition and manners, through the revolutions of empires. 
 
 * A description of these singular caves, with a number of engraving's, 
 will be found in Mr Roach Smith’s ‘ Collectanea Antiqua,’ vol. i. p. (>9. 
 
120 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 Britain at the beg-inning of the Second Century — Towns enumerated bv 
 Ptolemy — Hadrian — The Wall — Lollius Urbicus ; the Wall of Anto- 
 ninus — Rebellion of the Soldiery in Britain — Albinus contends for the 
 Purple — Campaigns of Sever us, who dies at Eburacuin {York ) — The 
 Caledonians — Carausius usurps the Purple — Allectus — Britain re- 
 stored to the Empire by Constantins — Constantine the Great — Revolt 
 of Magnentius — The Piets and Scots. 
 
 Before the end of the first century, Britain was reduced to 
 a Roman province ; it began to receive an influx of population 
 from foreign lands, and there appears to have been a frequent 
 and general intercourse between this island and Rome. Its 
 exports, and even its peculiarities, were already well known in 
 Italy. The oysters of Rutupim {Richborough) were favourites 
 at the table of the rich — 
 
 Rutupinove edita fundo 
 
 Ostrea, 
 
 and the whales which were seen in the British seas were pro- 
 verbial for their magnitude — 
 
 Quanto dclphinis balaena Britannica major. 
 
 The same poet, Juvenal, tells us that the learning and elo- 
 quence of Greece and Rome had established themselves in the 
 far west — 
 
 Nunc totus Graias nostrasque habet orbis Athenas ; 
 
 Gallia causidicos docuit facunda Britannos ; 
 
 De conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule. 
 
 A boast of his contemporary. Martial, leaves no doubt of the 
 rapid progress which civilisation had made in this land after tlie 
 Roman legions liad taken possession of it — 
 
 Dicitur et nostros cantare Britannia versus. 
 
 Indeed, various circumstances in subsequent history show that 
 
CHAP. IV.j 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 121 
 
 whatever was new at Rome was quickly communicated to this 
 distant province of the empire. 
 
 The Roman troops had now, indeed, been long* engaged in 
 building towns and in making roads ; and under their influence 
 the face of the country was undergoing a rapid and extraordin- 
 ary change. We have seen that, after some of the British 
 chiefs entered into relations with the Romans, a town or two 
 were built, such as Verulamium and Camulodunum, in imita- 
 tion, probably, of those on the Continent, and differing entirely 
 from what had been called towns in the time of Caesar. We 
 have no means of ascertaining how many such towns were built, 
 and it is by an assumption without authority that writers have 
 been accustomed to say that this or that Roman town was 
 built on the site of a previous town of the Britons. But under 
 the influence of Roman manners and refinements, cities and 
 towns soon rose up on all sides, and were joined together by an 
 immense system of military and other roads. The first indica- 
 tion of these towns on any considerable extent is found in the 
 pages of Rtolemy, who has merely enumerated those which 
 were then of most account. We find that when he wrote 
 (about A.D. 120), Rutupim was already the principal port of 
 Kent, and the usual point of debarkation for visitors from the 
 Continent. Not very far from it was another principal town of 
 Kent, called Darveriium (Aapoveproy), no doubt a corruption 
 of Durovernum {Canterhary) . Londinium', which Ptolemy places 
 in Cantium, was already, in the time of Tacitus, known as a 
 great trading town. Within the district of the Regni of Surrey 
 was Noviomagus, which seems to have stood in the neighbour- 
 hood of Bromley, on the borders of Kent. In the ancient dis- 
 trict of the Belgae were three important towns, Venta {Winches- 
 ter')^ Aquae Calidae (Bath), and Ischalis (Ilchester). The small 
 district of the Durotriges, in Dorset, possessed but one town 
 which Ptolemy thought worthy of notice., and of that his copy- 
 ists seem to have corrupted the name ; for it is probable that 
 what he calls Dunium, was the same place called by later 
 writers Durnovaria (Dorchester). Further west, in the territory 
 of the Dumjionii, four towns are enumerated, one of which, Isca, 
 is known to have occupied the site of the present Exeter, but 
 the other three, Yoliba, L^zela or Uxela, and Tama re, are less 
 certain^ though they are supposed to have stood respectively, 
 the first on the river Fowey, the second in the neighbourhood 
 of Bridgewater, and the third on the Tamar. The two districts 
 to the north of the Helgm, those of the Attrebates and the 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 122 
 
 [CHAr. IV. 
 
 Dobuni, bad each an important city, the first called Caleva 
 {Sllchester), the other, Corinium {Cirencester'). 
 
 North of the Thames were the towns of Camulodnnum {CoU 
 Chester'), in Essex, and another, Yenta {Caistor), in the country 
 of the Iceni, in Norfolk. More westward lay Verulamium {St 
 Albans), and, to the north of this town, another called Sal in m 
 (SaX^i^ai), the site of which is supposed to be Salndy, or Sandy, 
 near Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire. In the country of the Coritavi 
 were Lindum {Lincoln), and Ragm, or, according to the more 
 correct reading, Ratse {Leicester). In the small coast district to 
 the north of the Humber, wliich had been the territory of the 
 Barisii, there was a town called by Ptolemy, Petuaria, the site 
 of which is not certain. Some of the most important Roman 
 towns in the island were now scattered over the once wild haunts 
 of the fierce Brigantes. Eirst of these was Eburaciim {York). 
 the head-quarters of the sixtli legion. The others were Isuritim 
 {Aldhorough), Caturactonium {Catterlc), Olicaiia all in 
 
 Yorkshire; Galaguin or Galacum, an uncertain site, but sup- 
 posed to be near Kendal, in Westmoreland ; Epiacum (Lanclies- 
 ter), in Durham, Yinnovium {Blnchester), in the same county, 
 Rigodunum, believed to be the place subsequently called Coc- 
 cium, in Lancashire, and Camunlodunum, or, as later writers 
 call it, Camboduniim {Slack), in Y^orkshire. Deva, the garrison 
 of the twentieth legion, occupied the site of the present city of 
 Chester. Below it stood Yiroconium or Uriconium {Wroxeter), 
 in Shropsliire ; Brannogenium (supposed to be near Leintward- 
 ine), on the northern borders of Herefordshire ; and, more 
 westwardly, Mediolanium, a town on the banks of the Tanad, in 
 North Wales. Ear down in the western part of Wales, in a 
 part of Cardiganshire still rich in antiquities, Avasa toAvn named 
 Liientinum {Llanio)', further south Avas Maridunum {Caermar- 
 tkeyi) ; and eastAvard again, in the borders of the Silures, was 
 Bullseum, supposed to be the same toAvn Avhich is mentioned at 
 a later period under the name of Burrium {TJsk^. By confound- 
 ing two names, Ptolemy has omitted the Silurian Isca {Caerleon), 
 Avhich Avas the head-quarters of the second legion. 
 
 Since the campaigns of Agricola, the conquerors had covered 
 the lowlands of Scotland, as far as the borders of the great 
 (adedonian forest, Avith an extraordinary number of towns and 
 stations on the sites of most of Avhich the spade still brings to 
 light traces of Roman civilisation. Ptolemy enumerates no less 
 than twenty towns (TroAftc) to the north of the Brigantes, the 
 names of which were Lucopibia {Wkitheru), and Retigonium 
 
CHAr. IV.] 
 
 ROMAN TOAVNS IN BRITAIN. 
 
 123 
 
 [Stranraer) , in tlie district of the Novantse, on the extreme coasts 
 of Galloway ; Carbaiitorigum {Kircudbright), Uxeluin, Corda, 
 and Trimontiiim, the three last of uncertain site, but believed to 
 have ranged across the district north of the head of Solway 
 Firth, as they were in the district of the Selgovse. The first 
 two have been supposed by some to be represented by entrench- 
 ments found at Kaeburnfoot, in Eskdale, and Birrenswork Hill, 
 in Armandale. The Eoman Trirnontium is supposed to be Eil- 
 don, in Lauderdale. The Roman towns in the extensive district 
 of the Damnii, who occupied the larger portion of the lowlands, 
 were Colania {Carstairs), Yanduara {Paisleg), Cov\d^ {nncei'tain) , 
 Alauna {Kier), Lindum and Victoria {Deal gin Ross). 
 
 In the district of the Otadeni were built Curia {Carrie), and 
 Bremeniurh {Rochester) ; in that of the Yacomagi,, bordering on 
 the district of the Caledonians, Banatia {Bonness), Tamia {Brae- 
 mar Castle), Pteroton Castrum {Burghhead), and Tuesis, a town 
 on the Spey, perhaps at Cromdale ; in that of the Yenicontes, 
 Orrea {Bertha at the head of the Tay) ; and among the Texali, 
 Devana {Old Aberdeen). 
 
 The strength which was thus permanently established in the 
 north shows us to what a state of dependence the Romans had 
 now reduced all the southern parts of the island. Further evi- 
 dence of this is seen in the distribution of the Roman legions, 
 which had now been placed in the permanent quarters which 
 they held until nearly the moment of their final withdrawal. 
 The fourteenth legion, the one which had crushed the insurrec- 
 tion of Boadicea, had been drawn from Britain by Yitellius in 
 the year 70, and had never returned. Several of the others had 
 left at a still earlier period. Four only remained — the second, 
 sixth, ninth, and twentieth. Of these, the second was posted 
 at Isca {C: rleon), and the twentieth at Leva {Chester), whence 
 they held in restraint the mountaineers of Wales, and of Cum- 
 berland and W^estmoreland, the retreat of such of the Brigantes 
 as still retained their wild independence, and protected the 
 country from the Irish pirates, Avho landed usually in the Severn 
 and the Dee. The sixth legion Avas established at York, from 
 whence it conld be marched quickly into Scotland. After the last 
 campaign of Agricola, the ninth legion suddenly disappears, and 
 is no more heard of in history ; but as Ave find it commemor- 
 ated in inscriptions found at York, it is supposed to have been 
 combined Avith, or incorporated into, the sixth. The north 
 of England and the loAvlands of Scotland Avere thickly covered 
 Avith posts of auxiliaries ; and Ave trace other bodies of auxili- 
 
124 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 aries scattered in tlie towns of tlie south, hut not in such 
 numbers as to lead us to believe that they were placed there as a 
 curb on the population. 
 
 The Komaii writers have, unfortunately, left us very few 
 notices of the internal affairs of our island after it was reduced 
 to a province ; and for many years subsequent to the departure 
 of Agricola, Britain is hardly noticed. We are, probably, to 
 suppose from this, that it remained without any serious disturb- 
 ances, and that the progress of Romanising and civilising went 
 on without interruption. We do not even know who succeeded 
 Agricola in the propraetorship, and we only learn incidentally 
 that the governor of this province, towards the end of the reign 
 of Domitian, was an officer named Sallustius Lucullus, whom 
 that tyrant caused to be put to death for having allowed a new- 
 foi'ined spear he had invented to be called, after his own name, 
 Lucullian. But the frequent weakness of the central power, 
 and the various struggles for the empire, gradually enfeebled the 
 imperial power in the distant provinces, and threw them into 
 disorder. This was especially the case in Britain. During the 
 1 ‘eduction and conquest of the lowland tribes, the fierce Cale- 
 donians had risen into so much importance, that their name be- 
 gan not only to be used for the collective tribes to the north of 
 the Brigantes, but it was adopted very often as a common term 
 far the Britons in general — that is, for all those who had not 
 acknowledged themselves Roman subjects. They probably 
 carried on the same plan of warfare which was continued by 
 their descendants to a comparatively recent period. Rushing un- 
 expectedly from their strongholds in the mountains and forests, 
 they swept over the open country, plundering, slaughtering, and 
 bui’ning, and disappeared with their booty before a sufficient 
 force could be brought together to encounter them. In such 
 warfare, wild tribes, who used to move about rapidly, with no 
 permanent residences or possessions, had great advantages over 
 a rich and civilized country, Avhich it required a steady govern- 
 ment and active and skilful commanders to protect. These 
 seem to have been wanting during that period which preceded 
 the accession of Hadrian, and it is probable that the successes 
 of the Caledonians had encouraged some other British tribes to 
 revolt. The emperor Hadrian visited Britain in person in the 
 year 120, and he is said to have found many things that required 
 reformation. We have no account of his proceedings, but it ap- 
 pears that he restored the island to order, and that he drove 
 back the Caledonians into their fastnesses. We are justitied in 
 
CHAl*. IV.] 
 
 HADRIAN’S WALL. 
 
 l2o 
 
 believing that he marched in person into tlie northern wilds, 
 from the satirical verses of a contemporary poet,^ and we learn 
 from direct testimony that he caused that formidable barrier to 
 be built across the island from the Solway to the Tyne, of which 
 we still trace the stupendous remains ; a massive wall, nearly 
 seventy miles in extent, extending over plain and mountain, 
 from Bowness on the Solway Firth to the now celebrated locality 
 of Wall’s End on the Tyne, accompanied on its southern side 
 by an earthen vallum and a deep ditch, and fortified with a 
 formidable series of twenty-three stationary towns, with inter- 
 mediate mile-castles and watch-towers. It has been the custom 
 to consider the wall only as the structure raised by Hadrian, 
 while the earthen vallum or rampart was ascribed to Severus ; 
 but I entirely agree with Mr Collingwood Bruce, who has re- 
 cently published a most interesting volume on ‘ The Roman 
 Wall,’ that both are parts of one work, erected by the former 
 emperor. 
 
 This immense work seems to have been part of a system of 
 circumvallation adopted by the emperor Hadrian, for it appears 
 that remains of similar walls are found on the distant frontiers 
 in Germany. I suspect it has been rather hastily supposed that it 
 implies that this emperor relinquished the territory between it 
 and the more northerly line of forts erected by Agricola ; for the 
 towns and forts to the north of the wall seem still to have been 
 kept up, and to have been continued till the decline of the em- 
 pire. Perhaps it was intended to protect the richer and more 
 highly cultivated country to the south of the ‘ lower isthmus* 
 from the sudden and destructive inroads to which it had previ- 
 ously been exposed. We know from the history of the border, 
 at a later period, how far, without a barrier of this kind, the 
 ravages of the Scots might be carried, and what damage might 
 be effected before a sufficient force could be gathered on any 
 particular point to drive them back. 
 
 * The historian Spartianus has preserved the epigram written on 
 Hadrian by the poet Florus, as well as the emperor’s reply. The first was 
 contained in the three lines : 
 
 Ego nolo Caesar esse, 
 
 Ambulare per Britannos, 
 
 Scythicas pati pruinas. 
 
 To w'hich the emperor replied as follows ; — 
 
 Ego nolo Florus esse, 
 
 Ambulare per taberiias, 
 
 Latitare per popinas, 
 
 Calices pati rotundos. 
 
126 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 The expedition of Hadrian seems to have been followed by a 
 period of profound tranquillity,* and we learn from the historian 
 Xiphilinus, that, about twelve years afterwards, the proprsetor, 
 or, as he was then called, the legate of Britain, named Julius 
 Severus, was able to carry away some of his best officers and 
 troops to assist in the war against the revolted Jews. The 
 name of another propraetor under Hadrian, perhaps the suc- 
 cessor of Julius Severus, Priscus Licinius, has been found in 
 inscriptions, but nothing further is known of him. 
 
 Hadrian was succeeded, in the year 138, by the emperor 
 Antoninus Pius. His propraetor in Britain, Lollius Urbicus, 
 was a man of energy and talent, which he was soon called to 
 exercise in withstanding a new irruption of the northern bar- 
 barians. We learn, quite incidentally, of an insurrection to the 
 south of Hadrian’s wall, at this period. f The remains of the 
 Brigantes seem to have preserved a precarious independence, 
 perhaps in the rugged country extending from the wilds of 
 Lancashire over the lake district, in the same manner as wild 
 Irish clans occupied the Wicklow mountains for ages after the 
 surrounding plains had acknowledged the domination of the 
 Anglo-Normans, and these probably imitated the northern 
 Caledonians in making occasional predatory outbreaks. On 
 the present occasion these had attacked a small tribe living under 
 Homan subjection, called the Gemini, to which they had per- 
 haps been encouraged by the invasion of the Caledonians 
 beyond the wall. The Brigantes were quickly overwhelmed, 
 and we are told that the greater part of the tribe was destroyed. 
 The Homan arms were equally successful against the Caledo- 
 nians, who were driven into their mountains, and Lollius Urbi- 
 cus caused a new barrier to be raised for their restraint. We 
 have seen how, when Agricola had reduced the lowland districts 
 to subjection, he erected a line of forts across what has been 
 termed the upper isthmus, from the Porth to the Clyde. Lol- 
 lius iJrbicus raised, on the same site, a new line of forts, and 
 joined them together by an immense continuous rampart, of 
 earth and turf, which from the name of the emperor under 
 
 * The expedition of Hadrian to Britain was commemorated by several 
 coins in large and middle brass, which are interesting, because some of 
 them give on the reverse a figure seated with a spear and shield, which, 
 as it is surrounded by the word bhittannia, is supposed to have been 
 intended for a personification of Britain. These coins, especially the large 
 brass, are rare. 
 
 •f This insurrection and destruction of the Brigantes is mentioned by 
 Pausanias, Arcad. lib. viii. cap. 43. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 LOLLIUS URBICUS. 
 
 127 
 
 whom it was built, is usually called tlie wall of Antoninus. 
 It is now called popularly Graham’s Dike, and alono- its course 
 are frequently found inscribed tablets eommemorating* the por- 
 tion built by the different troops and cohorts of the Roman 
 army.^ We learn from these inseriptions that, besides the 
 numerous bodies of foreign auxiliaries which were permanently 
 stationed in the north, the three legions in Britain, the second, 
 the sixth, and the twentieth, were all drawn from their quarters 
 to take part in the eampaign of Lollius Urbieus. His sueeesses 
 threw splendour on the reign of Antoninus, and coins were 
 struck bearing on the reverse a ffgure of Victory surrounded by 
 the letters of the word Britannia. 
 
 In spite of the ene^'getic measures of Urbieus, the Caledo- 
 nians soon reappeared in arms, and the circumstance that they 
 seem almost always to have risen on the death of the emperor, 
 shows that the barbarians must have had intelligenee among 
 their enemies. They calculated, no doubt, that, amid the hesi- 
 tating inactivity which naturally followed sueh an event, they 
 might make an extensive raid with less danger of interruption. 
 The Roman province was thus invaded on the aceession of 
 Marcus Aurelius, in 161, but the invaders Avere cheeked by a 
 new propraetor, Aufidius Victorinus. An invasion of a still 
 more formidable character followed the accession of Commodus ; 
 a Roman commander, Avho attempted to arrest their progress, 
 was killed, and his army cut to pieces ; and the emperor was 
 obliged to send an offieer Avho was remarkable for his extraordin- 
 ary perseverance and capability of sustaining the hardships of 
 war, named Ulpius Marcellus, to support the authority of Rome 
 in this distant province. From this man the Caledonians met 
 with terrible reverses, and the island Avas again restored to 
 peace. Ulpius Mareellus Avas, hoAvever, soon reealled, for, in 
 the eyes of a tyrant like Commodus, merit itself Avas a crime. 
 His departure Avas followed by a mutiny among the troops in 
 Britain, arising from dissatisfaction at the proceedings of the 
 imperial favourite Pereunis, Avho displaced the men of senato- 
 rial rank from the eommands Avhieh they had ahvays held, and 
 
 * The following, from a richly sculptured stone found at West Kilpa- 
 trick, is the usual formula of these inscriptions : 
 
 IMP. C. T. AE. HADKIANO ANTONINO AUG. PIO P.P. A'EX. LEG. XX. V. V. 
 
 F. P. P. 1111 CDXI. 
 
 To the emperor Caesar 2' it us ^ Hus Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius^ 
 the father of his country. A v exillation of the twentieth legion., {snr- 
 named) the valiant and victorious^ executed four thousand four hundred 
 and eleven paces. 
 
128 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV. 
 
 appointed in tlieir stead yonno*er men taken from the equestrian 
 order. The officers in Britain met and consulted, and they 
 finally sent an armed deputation of fifteen hundred men to lay 
 their grievances at the foot of the throne. When they arrived 
 at the gates of Rome, Commodus went out to meet them, and, 
 aware that there was discontent among his other troops, and 
 that it might be dangerous to provoke them, he abandoned his 
 minister to his accusers, and they put him to death. Still the 
 troops in Britain remained unsatisfied, and the mutiny con- 
 tinued, on which Publius Helvius Pertinax, a commander of great 
 military talent, was sent to appease them ; but instead of return- 
 ing to their obedience, they disclaimed the authority of Commo- 
 dus, and invited their new commander to be their emperor. 
 This he prudently declined, and he succeeded in restoring order 
 ill the province, though not without considerable personal risk, 
 for, in opposing himself to the fury of one of the mutinous 
 legions, he was struck down, and left for dead. 
 
 At length Pertinax obtained his recall, and was succeeded in 
 the proprsetorship by Decimus Clodius Albinus. This governor 
 soon made himself popular in his government, especially among 
 the troops, and he seems even to have retained the favour of 
 the emperor Commodus, who conferred upon him the title of 
 Cmsar. At length an unfortunate accident had nearly proved 
 his ruin. It was reported that Commodus was dead, and this 
 rumour quickly reaching Britain, Albinus assembled his troops, 
 and addressed them on the event. He used some expressions 
 in his speech which, being repeated before the emperor, gave so 
 much displeasure, that an order was immediately despatched 
 for the recall of the proprmtor, and a creature of Commodus, 
 named Junius Severus, was appointed to succeed him. But 
 the murder of Commodus, before the order could be carried in- 
 to execution, saved Albinus for a more glorious, if not for a 
 happier fate. 
 
 The imperial throne was now oceupied for a moment by the 
 same Pertinax who had preceded Albinus in the government of 
 Britain. He ivas raised to the purple by the prsetorian guards, 
 who, three months afterwards, rebelled and cut off his head, and 
 then offered the empire for sale. The disgraceful purchase was 
 made by a rich but worthless merchant, named Didius Julianus. 
 Three commanders, in different parts of the empire, stepped 
 forward at this moment to resist the tyranny of tlie praetorian 
 soldiery, and expel the emperor of their choice ; these were, 
 Severus in Pannodia, Pescennius Niger in Syria, and Albinus 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 THE EMPEROR SEVERUS. 
 
 120 
 
 ill Britain. Severus, witl* liis cliaracteristic activity, was tlic 
 tirst ill tlie tield, and, marcliiiig upon Rome, put to death tlie 
 usurper, degraded tlie praetoi’iau guards from their privileges, 
 and assumed the purple. Severus was a man possessing extra- 
 ordinary talents for empire, indefatigable in pursuing the object 
 of his ambition, unscrupulous in attaining the object of it, and 
 merciless towards those who stood in his way. He had gained 
 possession of the empire, but he had still two competitors in 
 the tield, against whose united foi’ces he would perhaps have 
 been unable to struggle. It was his policy therefore to separate 
 his rivals, and while he prepared to march against Niger, he 
 pacified Albinus with professions of the Avarmest friendship, 
 conferred upon him the title of Caesar, and, making him nomi- 
 nally his associate in the empire, caused money to be coined in 
 his name, and statues to be erected in his honour. Albinus 
 thus gained over, Severus proceeded to the east to encounter 
 Pescenni us N iger . 
 
 This occurred in the year 193. Niger was defeated in battle 
 near Antioch, and slain, and after a protracted struggle, Severus 
 returned victorious to Rome in 196, and prepared to rid him- 
 self of his other rival Albinus. The governor of Britain was a 
 formidable antagonist ; he also was a man of great military ta- 
 lents ; he was popular in his province as well as in Gaul, and 
 he was closely allied by blood and friendship with some of the 
 greatest and oldest families in Rome. He was ambitious, too, 
 and, though his vanity had been flattered by the honours showered 
 on him by Severus, he seems to have let it be known that he 
 was not yet satisfied, and that he aimed at securing for himself 
 the imperial dignity. We are told that, during the absence of 
 Severus in the east, Albinus had been invited to Rome to as- 
 sume the purple, and that it was the knowledge of these in- 
 trigues which determined the emperor Severus to destroy him. 
 This was not, however, an easy task. It is evident that the 
 Roman province of Britain had become at this time extremely 
 popidous and rich. Multitudes of auxiliary troops had been 
 gradually transplanted into it, and bad no doubt taken with 
 them or been followed by colonies of their countrymen. Mer- 
 chants, tradesmen, artisans, even probably artists, and men of 
 letters, bad sought their fortune where the increase of commerce 
 and civilisation opened a field for their exertions. The strength 
 of the native Britons had been drawn off to serve in foreign 
 countries ; ^ and that part of the original population which re- 
 
 * It was the constant policy of the Romans to draught off the rising 
 
130 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 iiiained at home had probably been o-reatly diminished in num- 
 bers, and reduced to tlie condition of serfs. In fact, from this 
 time forward, when the Eoman writers speak of the Britons who 
 existed in the island as a people, they include under that 
 name only the Caledonian tribes of the north. Britain was 
 thus looked upon as one of the most powerful and important 
 provinces of the empire ; and its propraetor, surrounded by 
 troops devoted to his person, with a population which seems to 
 have been always ambitious of an independent emperor of its 
 own, might easily set the court of Rome at defiance. Severus, 
 therefore, aware of all these circumstances, determined to de- 
 stroy his opponent by treachery, and lie wrote him a letter in 
 terms of the most affectionate friendship, which was entrusted 
 to messengers in whom he could contide for the execution of his 
 secret orders. These were, that they should endeavour to ob- 
 tain a private interview with Albinus, and if they succeeded 
 they were instantly to slay him ; if they were not admitted to a 
 private interview, they were to insinuate themselves among his 
 cooks and with the servants who waited at his table, and by 
 bribing them, convey a deadly poison, which the emperor had 
 given them for that purpose, into his food. It happened that 
 Albinus and his ofticers were well aware of the treacherous 
 character of Severus, and that they were on their guard. H is 
 messengers had no sooner arrived in Britain, than they were 
 seized, and so strictly examined, that they made a fidl confes- 
 sion. They ^vere at once ordered for execution, and Albinus, 
 conscious that now his only chance of safety was immediate 
 action, caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, and declared 
 war against Severus. He marched into Gaul, and took posses- 
 sion of the city of Lyons, near which was fought the decisive 
 
 population of the conquered provinces, and send them to occupy stations ; 
 and, in fact, to form colonies in other countries. It was, indeed, the most 
 etfectual manner of destroying; the nationality of the people they had sub- 
 jected to their power ; for, holding- no natural sympathy with the land in 
 which they were settled, and regarded only as Roman soldiers, they gradu- 
 ally came to consider themselves as a part of Rome. We find, mentioned 
 in old writers and in inscriptions, numerous aim and cohorts of Britons in 
 various parts of the Roman empire. According to the Notitia, the fourth 
 ala of Britons was stationed in Egypt. The ticenty-sixth cohort of 
 Britons occurs in Armenia. A body of the ‘ Invincible Younger Britons ’ 
 were stationed in Spain ; and one of the ‘ Elder Britons ’ in Illyricum. 
 The ‘Younger British Slingers {exculcatores) ’ are found among the Pala- 
 tine auxiliaries. Other bodies of Britons are found in Gaul, Italy, and 
 other countries. Britons of tlie tribe of the Horesti (in Scotland) have 
 been traced by Mr Roach Smith on the banks of the Rhine. See hia 
 ‘ Collectanea Antiqua,’ vol. ii. p. 134:. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 BATTLE OF LYOXS. 
 
 131 
 
 battle wliicli secured the empire to Severiis, and put an end to 
 the ambitious projects of Albinus by his death. T’he power of 
 the province of Britain was exhibited in the numerous and 
 excellent army which its governor led into the held. The 
 ancient liistorian from whom we obtain the most detailed ac- 
 count of these events, Xipliilinus, estimates his force at a hun- 
 dred and hfty thousand men, part of whom probably were Gauls ; 
 and, if we suppose tliis to be exaggerated, it is certain that his 
 soldiers were sufficiently numerous and brave, to leave the event 
 long doubtful in a contest with the military force of the empire 
 under the command of the emperor himself. 
 
 The great battle of Lyons was fought on the 19tli of Eeb- 
 ruary, 197. It appears probable that the victor immediately 
 appointed to the government of Britain one of his commanders 
 who had served in the campaign against Albinus, named Virius 
 Lupus, who perhaps led back the shattered remains of the 
 British legions. At all events, we find this officer established 
 there as propraetor very soon afterwards. At this period some 
 great change was taking place in the population of North Britain, 
 which we have a difficulty in explaining, though it is supposed 
 to have arisen from a large immigration of foreign tribes, per- 
 haps from the north of Europe. The slight notices of events in 
 Britain given by the Eoman writers throw no light upon the 
 subject, further than showing us that the Caledonian tribes had 
 suddenly become much more numerous and formidable, and that 
 apparently a new tribe under the name of Mmatm had established 
 themselves immediately to the north of the barrier of Antoninus. 
 Dion Cassius, the historian of these events, informs us that ‘ the 
 two greatest tribes among the Britons are the Caledonii and the 
 Mrnatse, for even the names of all the other tribes have in a 
 manner merged in these two. The Mrnatse dwell close to the 
 wall which divides the island into two parts, and the Caledonii 
 live beyond them. Each of these people inhabit wild mountains, 
 where there is no water, and desert plains and marshes, where 
 they live without walls or cities ; neither do they practise hus- 
 bandry, but live by pasturage, or the chace, and on berries 
 which grow in the woods ; for they never taste fish, although 
 their lakes and rivers furnish an inexhaustible supply.*^ They 
 live in tents, naked and barefooted, having their wives in 
 
 * It is a curious circumstance, that the apparently superstitious aversion 
 to the eating of fish was preserved in Scotland to a very recent period ; 
 and 1 am not sure if it does not still to some degree exist in the High- 
 lands. 
 
 K 
 
132 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV, 
 
 common, and they rear all the children which are horn to them. 
 The government of these tribes is democratic, and they delight 
 above all things in pillage. They fight from chariots, which are 
 drawn by small swift horses ; they fight also on foot, run with 
 great speed, and are most resolute when compelled to stand. 
 Their arms consist of a shield and a short spear, which has a 
 brazen knob at the extremity of the shaft, that when shaken it 
 may terrify the enemy by its noise. They use daggers also. 
 They are capable of enduring hunger, thirst, and hardships of 
 every description ; for they will plunge into the marshes, and 
 remain there several days, with only their heads above the water. 
 When they are in the woods they subsist on bark and roots ; 
 and they prepare for all emergencies a certain kind of food, of 
 which if they eat only so much as the size of a bean, they neither 
 hunger nor thirst.’ 
 
 Such were the northern tribes, as report, probably applying 
 the description of those who were in the lowest state of civilisa- 
 tion to the whole, pictured them at Rome. We have before 
 had occasion to observe that the Caledonians appear to have 
 had quick intelligence of the condition of the southern province, 
 and they seem, according to the same policy which led their 
 descendants at a much more recent period to select the moment 
 when the Edwards and Henries were absent in their French 
 wars, to make their most formidable inroads into England, to 
 have chosen the moment of the insurrection of Albinus, and of 
 the troubles and weakness which followed, to invade the Roman 
 province. The history of these invasions is extremely obscure. 
 It appears to have been the Mseatae who conducted them, and 
 the sudden turbulence of this people, their strength and their 
 position, certainly give force to the opinion that they were a 
 new colony from Scandinavia or from the north of Germany. 
 Virius Lupus was at length induced to adopt the dangerous ex- 
 pedient of purchasing peace with the Mseatae, who received the 
 money, and then, entering into an alliance with the Caledonians, 
 renewed their hostilities. The propraetor gave them more gold, 
 and they remained quiet during two years, and then in conjuim- 
 tion with their allies recommenced their predatory excursions 
 with more ferocity than ever. At length, in the year 208 , 
 Virius Lupus was so much embarrassed by the attacks of these 
 northern enemies, that he sent an urgent message to the emperor 
 Severus, praying for a considerable reinforcement of troops, and 
 representing the advantage which would arise from the presence 
 of the emperor himself. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 SEVERUS IN BRITAIX. 
 
 133 
 
 Severus had found little happiness in the gratification of his 
 ambition ; the severity of his rule on one hand, and the weak 
 indulgence he displayed towards his own family, had raised him 
 troubles both abroad, where he was annoyed by frequent insur- 
 rections, and in his own household, where his domestic hours 
 were embittered by the undutiful and even cruel conduct of his 
 sons Caracalla and Geta. He was not unwilling, therefore, to 
 change his domestic torments even for the hardships of a cam- 
 paign in the inclement north, although age, now advancing upon 
 him, was rendered more burthen some by the attacks of a cruel 
 disease. When the letter of Virius Lupus arrived, announcing 
 that the Roman province was overrun by the northeim plunder- 
 ers, the sound of war seemed to stir up the spirit of the old 
 veteran, as if he had suddenly recovered his youthfid energies. 
 He instantly assembled his army and placed himself at its head, 
 and, ordering his sons to accompany him, he made a forced 
 march through Gaul, stopping nowhere, although the painful 
 disease of his joints, with which he was habitually afflicted, was 
 at this time so severe, that he was obliged to be carried on a 
 litter. He thus reached the shores of Britain in an incredibly 
 short space of time. It was late in the year 208, yet, without 
 a moment’s delay, he drew together the armies from difi'erent 
 parts, and, with those he had brought with him, concentrated a 
 vast force, and marched at once to meet the enemy. The latter 
 were astonished at the rapidity of his movements, and quickly 
 ceasing their hostilities, they sent envoys, who met him perhaps 
 at Eburacurn {Yo7'k), begging for peace, and offering to make 
 amends for their previous offences. But Severus had come too 
 far to be so easily satisfied, and he was resolved to deprive them 
 of the power of further hostility. He detained their ambassa- 
 dors for some time, and then sent them away without any 
 answer to their demands. 
 
 The emperor established his court at Eburacurn, the second 
 city of the island, and the station of the sixth legion. He 
 there made extensive preparations for the war, and at the begin- 
 ning of the year 209 he put his forces in motion. He found it 
 necessary to separate his two sons, who not only treated their 
 father with insolent disrespect, but quarrelled with each other. 
 Geta was left to command the southern province, assisted by a 
 council of the oldest and most experienced of the emperor’s 
 friends, while Caracalla accompanied him into the wilds of 
 Ckaledonia. They had no sooner passed the boundary formed 
 by the Forth and Clyde, and the wall of Antoninus (rd TTpofiejo- 
 
134 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [CHAr. IV. 
 
 Xr/jUfVa pevijarct re kcu '^w/jara rfic 'Vwjuiuiw)' apycTjc), than 
 they were involved in daily skinnislies with the harbar ans, who 
 only showed themselves in small bodies, and manifested a reso- 
 lution to avoid a general engagement. The Eomans had to 
 undergo extraordinary hardships, for as they drove the enemy 
 before them they were obliged to force their way through thick 
 forests and immense morasses, with a climate to the asperity of 
 which they were unaccustomed. But everything seemed to 
 yield to the stern will of their extraordinary leader, who, in the 
 midst of tlie most incredible difficulties and hardships, caused 
 bridges and roads to be thrown over the marshy places, actually 
 tilling some of them up, so as to give his troops a solid footing ; 
 while he cut down forests, and made roads over the mountains. 
 In the course of these labours the lloman soldiers frequently 
 fell into ambuscades of the natives, who exposed sheep and 
 oxen a little way out of the line of their march, and then fell 
 upon them suddenly when they went to carry away the booty. 
 So certain were they that all stragglers would be killed without 
 mercy, and probably subjected to horrible indignities, that 
 whenever a soldier was rendered unable to keep up with the 
 march of his comrades, we are told that they put him to death, 
 rather than let him fall alive into the hands of their enemies. 
 We are assured by the old writers, that the Homans lost not 
 less than fifty thousand men in this invasion. Yet neither 
 marsh nor forest, rain nor storm, of which there seems to have 
 been no lack, averted the inflexible will of the aged emperor, 
 who, sometimes on horseback, but more frequently stretched on 
 his litter, which he was not able to leave for days together, con- 
 tinued to advance until he reached the extreme northern coast 
 of Britain. He there observed the parallax of the sun, and the 
 comparative length of the days and nights, and he ascertained 
 beyond a doubt that Britain was an island. Severus was now 
 willing to treat with the Caledonians, against whom his opera- 
 tions had often been hindered and embarrassed by the unfilial 
 behaviour of Caracalla. At times when the old man was unable 
 to leave his bed, he tried to persuade his son to take the com- 
 mand of the troops, and march against the barbarians. But 
 Caracalla only occupied himself in corrupting the soldiers, in 
 order that, in case of his father’s death, he might use them 
 against his brother Geta, and obtain the empire entirely for 
 himself. He was even impatient of the lingering duration of 
 his father’s life, and is said to have attempted to bribe his phy- 
 sicians and servants to hasten his death. When he found tlie. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 SEVERUS IN CALEDONIA. 
 
 135 
 
 old king’s attendants too faithful to listen to his proposals, he 
 resolved to slay him himself. One day Severiis, having had the 
 soles of his feet punctured, had thus obtained so much relief 
 from his complaint, that he was enabled to ride on horseback. 
 He left the camp with his son and a detachment of his forces, 
 to receive a surrender of arms from the Caledonians and to 
 confer with them on terms of peace. The emperor rode for- 
 ward towards the enemy, with his son behind him, and the 
 troops following in the rear. At this moment Caracalla sud- 
 denly checked his horse, and, drawing his sword, prepared to 
 stab his father in the back ; but the troops, who saw the 
 treacherous movement, set up a shout, Avhich made the emperor 
 turn round, and thus saved his life. Severus had seen the drawn 
 sword, but, without appearing to take any further notice, he 
 proceeded in his negotiation Avith the Caledonians. When this 
 was concluded, he retired to his tent, and sending for his son, 
 reproached him with his murderous intentions in the presence 
 of two of his confidential friends, Papinian, the celebrated 
 laAvyer, and Castor. Provoked at the couduet of his children, 
 Severus hastened the treaty with the Caledonians, and it was 
 agreed that they should give up a considerable portion of their 
 territory to the Romans, on condition that he should retire with 
 his army into the Roman province. Pie accordingly returned 
 to York, it is supposed towards the end of the year 209. It has 
 been popularly supposed that the following year was employed 
 in the construction of that immense line of fortification Avhich 
 recent examinations and a careful consideration of ancient testi- 
 monies have left little doubt was the sole Avork of the emperor 
 Pladrian. It is not, indeed, probable that, after having added 
 to the Roman territory toAvards the north, a man like Severus 
 Avould raise a barrier on the limits to Avhich the Roman poAver 
 had been confined, Avhen almost at its loAvest ebb.’*^ 
 
 It is possible, however, that Severus may have repaired the 
 Avail, and it seems that, during his stay at P]buracum, he not 
 unfrequently visited its towns and garrisons. We are told that 
 on one of these visits to the wall, he aa^s returning to the near- 
 est station (^mansio), Avhen he Avas accosted by an ‘ Ethiopian ’ 
 soldier, celebrated among his comrades for his Avit,f Avho bore 
 
 * We owe the account of the Caledonian campaigns of Severus chiefly 
 to the historian Herodian, who wrote about thirty years after they took 
 place. Some particulars are added by a later writer, Xiphilinus. 
 
 t .(Ethiops quidam e numero militari, clarae inter scurras fama^, et cele- 
 bratorum semper jocorum. — JEaus ISpartianus^ de Vit. ISever. c. 22. 
 
138 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IV. 
 
 a crown of cypress, and who, when tlie emperor seemed offended 
 by what he looked upon as an ill omen, acldressed him in atone 
 of vulgar adulation, ‘ You have been everything, and conquered 
 everything ; noAV then be a god.’ ^ Other fatal omens accom- 
 panied the emj)eror’s progress, one of which occurred atEbura- 
 cum, when on his return tliither he went to offer sacrifice in 
 the temple of Bellona. While he was there, confiding in the 
 solemn promises of the northern barbarians to preserve the 
 peace, news suddenly arrived that the Maeatae had again united 
 with the Caledonians, and that they had recommenced their 
 predatory inroads. The emperor was furious at the faithlessness 
 of the barbarians, and raising himself up, to order his officers 
 to prepare for a new campaign, he addressed them in the words 
 of Homer — 
 
 Tail/ /jL-n Ti? VTTiKfpuyoi aiTrvv oXtdpnv 
 
 \sXpd^ 6’ u/xaTspa^' bvTtva yuarTtpi uvrrjp 
 
 Kovpov iovTa (papoi^ os (pvyot alTrvi/ 6\t{)pov. 
 
 which is translated by Cowper — 
 
 Die the race ! 
 
 May none escape us ! Neither he who flies, 
 
 Nor even the infant in the mother’s womb 
 Unconscious. 
 
 But Severus was sinking rapidly under his bodily infirmities, 
 and he was at this moment suffering under so severe an attack 
 of his disease, that he was unable to walk or ride. The troops, 
 murmuring at his absence, and agitated by the intrigues of his 
 worthless son, saluted Caracalla with the imperial title of 
 Augustus. When tliis was told to Severus, all the energies of 
 the warrior were roused, and, causing himself to be placed on 
 the tribunal, he commanded the new emperor, Caracalla, with 
 all who had joined in the act of insubordination, whether tri- 
 bunes, centurions, or private soldiers, to appear before him. 
 Then suddenly addressing them, he said, ‘ Soldiers, it is not the 
 feet, but the head, which discharges the duties of a general ; ’ 
 and in the same breath he gave the order to march against the 
 enemy. But the old man’s effort was fatal to him. He relaps- 
 ed into a state of helpless weakness, was carried back to his 
 palace, and died in Eburacum, or York, on the 4th of February, 
 
 * We have not much difficulty in fixing the scene of this anecdote. A 
 detachment of Moors was, as we learn from the ‘ Notitia Imperii,’ stationed 
 at Aballaba ( TFatch-cross .^), which was no doubt the town where the em- 
 peror on this occasion sought a lodging. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 THE EMPEROR CARACALLA. 
 
 137 
 
 211. By Ills will, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were to 
 share between them his enormous treasures and the Roman 
 empire. 
 
 Caracalla, eager to secure the grand object of his ambition, 
 and to possess alone his father’s empire and his treasures, seems 
 to have kept the real state of the health of Severus from the 
 knowledge of his mother and brother until his death. He then 
 caused most of the officers of his father’s household to be put 
 to death, and tried to corrupt the army ; but they remained 
 faithful, and insisted on acknowledging the two brothers as 
 equal, according to their father’s will. Bailing in his attempt 
 upon the soldiery, Caracalla made a hurried peace with the 
 barbarians, and, pretending to acquiesce in the will of Severus, 
 he hastened to the south to join his brother and mother. The 
 body of the late emperor was consumed on a funeral pile at 
 York, and the ashes having been placed in an urn of alabaster, 
 they carried it with them to Rome. 
 
 Such were the events which have given a classic celebrity to 
 the city of York. A long period passed over, and many em- 
 perors sat on the throne, before Britain is again mentioned in 
 the ancient historians. The government seems to have been 
 carried on with a silent tranquillity, which leaves us to suppose 
 that the island prospered, and that it was visited by no great 
 dangers or troubles to excite attention at Rome. In fact, the 
 next great events that we shall have to contemplate are not over- 
 whelming attacks of the barbarians, but revolts of the island 
 against the imperial government. Two or three inscriptions 
 found in different parts of England refer distinctly to this period, 
 and as they belong prmcipally to dedications and restorations 
 of* buildings, they seem to confirm the supposition that the is- 
 land remained in peace. One of these, raised by the troop of 
 Asturians stationed at Cilurnum on the Wall {Chesters), relates 
 to the rebuilding of a temple, and shows us not only that in 
 221, under the reign of Heliogabalus, Marius Yalerianus was 
 propraetor of Britain, but that the troops and people in this dis- 
 tant province took so much interest in tlie revolutions at Rome, 
 that no sooner had Heliogabalus been deposed and assassinated, 
 than his name was erased from the inscription, in this remote 
 and comparatively obscure town. Another inscription, found 
 in Cumberland, shows that the propraetor of the emperor Gor- 
 dian, in the year 243, was Nonnius Philippus. 
 
 Amid the disorder and anarchy of the reign of Gallienus (260 
 to 268), a number of usurpers arose in different parts of the 
 
138 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CH.IP. IV. 
 
 empire, wlio were popularly called the thirty tyrants, of whom 
 Lollianus, Victorinas, Postnmus, the two Tetrici, and Marius, 
 are believed on good grounds to have assumed the sovereignty 
 in Britain. Perhaps some of these rose up as rivals at the same 
 time, and from the monuments bearing the name of Tetricus, 
 found at Bittern, near Southampton, we are perhaps justified in 
 supposing that the head-quarters of that commander lay at the 
 station of Clausentum and along the neighbouring coasts. We 
 have no information of the state of Britain at this time, but it 
 must have been profoundly agitated by these conflicting claim- 
 ants to empire. Yet, though so ready to rise in support of their 
 own leaders, the troops in Britain seem to have turned a deaf 
 ear to all solicitations from without. When an officer in the 
 Homan army, named Bonosus, born in Spain, but descended of 
 a family in Britain, proclaimed himself emperor, in the reign of 
 Aurelian, and appealed for support to the western provinces, he 
 found no sympathy among the British troops. Another usurper, 
 whose name has not been recorded, had taken advantage of his 
 appointment to the government of the island by the emperor 
 Probiis to assume the purple. The frequency of such usurpa- 
 tions within the island seem to show a des-ire among the in- 
 habitants to erect themselves into an independent sovereignty. 
 We are told that a favourite courtier of Probus, named Vic- 
 torinas Maurusius, had recommended this usurper to the pro- 
 prmtorship, and that, when reproached on this account by the 
 emperor, Victorinas demanded permission to visit Britain. 
 Wlien he arrived there, he hastened to the propraetor, and sought 
 his protection as a victim who had narrowly escaped from the 
 tyranny of the emperor. The new sovereign of Britain received 
 him with the greatest kindness, and in return was murdered in 
 the night by his guest. Victorinas returned to Rome to give 
 tlie emperor this convincing proof of his ‘ loyalty.’ Probus 
 was succeeded in the empire by Cams, and he was followed by 
 Dioclesian, who began his reign in the year 284, and who soon 
 associated with himself in the empire the joint emperor Max- 
 imian. Their reign, as far as regards Britain, was rendered 
 remarkable chiefly by the successful usurpation of Carausius. 
 
 About this time another great change was taking place among 
 the independent tribes in the north, the particulars of which are 
 lost in the obscurity of history. It is supposed that the Dal- 
 readic colony, under a leader whom tradition in the time of Bede 
 named Reuda, now passed over from Ireland into the wilds of 
 Lorn and Kintire, and laid the foundation of that people who 
 
CHAP, IV.] 
 
 CARAUSIUS. 
 
 139 
 
 iiltiinately gave to the whole of North Britain the name of Scot- 
 land. It is certain that, after the period of which we are now 
 speaking, we lose sight of the old name of Caledonians, and even 
 of the more recent one of Mmatse, and in their place appear those 
 of Piets and Scots, with a tribe which w'as apparently of older 
 date, and which now gained notoriety for its savage ferocity, the 
 Attacotti. At the same time the eastern and south-eastern 
 coasts of Britainbegan to be infested with the predatory incursions 
 of tlie Saxon seafarers from the mouth of the Elbe. To oppose 
 these it was found necessary not only to erect a series of for- 
 tresses along the coast, but to establisli and keep np a strong 
 fleet in the channel, which had its places of rendezvous at Ges- 
 soriacum {Boulogne), and in the ports on the coasts of Kent, 
 Sussex, and Hampshire.*^ Among the officers of this fleet who 
 distinguished themselves most against the enemy, was a Mena- 
 pian of low birth, probably of the Batavian tribe of the Menapii, 
 named Carausius, whose talents soon caused him to be singled 
 out from his fellow-soldiers, and he was eventually appointed to 
 the command of the whole fleet. His ambition seems now to 
 have been fixed on a higher aim, and he appears to have formed 
 leagues and alliances, tlie object of which could hardly be mis- 
 understood. lie showed his military and naval skill in his fre- 
 quent victories over the German pirates ; but information was 
 carried to the emperors that the plunder which he recaptured 
 from the barbarians was seldom restored to those from whom it 
 had been first taken, and it was even intimated, that instead of 
 preventing the attacks of the enemy, he always contrived to let 
 them first load themselves with plunder, and then attacked them 
 and deprived them of their prey. By these or other means 
 Carausius collected enormous wealth, which also was reported 
 to Maximian, who sent orders to put the commander of the 
 British fleet to death. Carausius was soon informed of the em- 
 peror’s intentions, and became aware fhat he had only one chance 
 of safety. He seems to have been extremely popular among the 
 soldiery both on land and in the fleet ; his great wealth gave 
 him the means of attaching the mercenary to his fortunes ; and, 
 making use of both these advantages, he entered into an alliance 
 witli the Franks, on whose borders he seems to have been bom, 
 
 * The British fleet is mentioned in an inscription found at Lymne, the 
 Portus Lemanis, one of the Roman ports on the southern coast ; it is the 
 dedication of an altar, probably to Neptune, by Autidius Pantera, pr;efect 
 of the British fleet . . . . iv . . . aram .... avfidiv pantera praepect 
 
 CLAS. BRIT. 
 
140 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [CHAr. IV. 
 
 and with other German tribes, seized the great naval station of 
 Gessoriacum, and proclaimed himself one of the emperors of 
 Home. Embarrassing revolts in other parts of the empire en- 
 couraged him in his design. 
 
 Having thus proclaimed himself the equal and colleague of 
 Hioclesian and Maximian, the talents of Carausius enabled him 
 to retain his usurped sovereignty during a period of seven years. 
 History has left us no account of the manner in which his 
 government Avas carried on, but he was evidently a man of very 
 extraordinary abilities, for it is said that, during this period, he 
 not only set the power of Home at defiance, but that he protected 
 his subjects from the Saxons, and that he compelled the bar- 
 barians of the north to keep within the limits of their Avoods 
 and marshes. One of the most extraordinary characteristics of 
 the short reign of Carausius is the number and variety of his 
 coinage. UpAA ards of three hundred difierent types are knoAvn, 
 and there can be little doubt that there are many others yet 
 unknoAvn. These authentic monuments throAV some light on 
 his character and history, and Ave have every reason to hope, 
 that, in the hands of a skilful antiquary, they Avill some day be 
 rendered still more available.^ Of the great variety of reverses 
 found on these coins, many, no doubt, refer to historical events. 
 One of these, Avith the legend expectate veni, is supposed to 
 have been struck on his arrival in Britain, after having assumed 
 the imperial title at Gessoriacum ; the figure beneath the 
 inscription represents the genius of Britain, Avith a trident in her 
 hand, Avelcoming the neAV emperor. A number of coins having 
 such inscriptions as adventvs caraa'SI, adventvs avgvsti, 
 &c., Avith others inscribed victoria avgvsti, and virtvs 
 AVGVSTI, seem to have been struck on his return from success- 
 ful expeditions against his enemies. One, Avith a figure of a 
 trophy between two captives, and the inscription victoria ger, 
 perhaps commemorated some exploit on the coast of Germany. 
 His care to conciliate the troops is shoAvn not only in coins Avith 
 the inscriptions concordia militvm and tides militvm, but 
 in others struck in honour of each particular legion. The 
 second legion, Avith its badge the capricorn, and the tAventieth, 
 Avith its badge the boar, are thus commemorated, as Avell as 
 
 * The antiquary Stukeley published a ‘ Medallic History of Carausius,’ 
 which, although it displays too much of that writer’s hasty speculations 
 and conclusions, shows us with how much advantage the coins might be 
 made to illustrate the history. My friend Mr Roach Smith has announced 
 a work on the coins of Carausius and Allectus, Avhich we may be sure Avill 
 be a valuable addition to the early history of this island. 
 
CHAP. IV.] 
 
 CARAUSIUS. 
 
 141 
 
 several leu'ions or parts of legions stationed in Gaul, which no 
 doubt took part with the usurper. Other inscriptions, such as 
 VBEHTAS AVG, AEQVITAS AVG, FORTVNA AVG, FELICITAS AVG, 
 HILARITAS AVG, LAETITIA AVG, PAX AVG, PROVIDENTIA AVG, 
 RESTITVT SAECVLI, SAECVLI FELICITAS, TEMPORVM FELICITAS, 
 no doubt were intended to proclaim the prosperity and happiness 
 of the province under the rule of Carausius. When embarrass- 
 ments in other parts of the empire obliged Maximian to leave 
 him for a while to the enjoyment of his assumed dignity, and 
 even, it is said, to agree to a treaty of friendship Avith him, 
 Carausius proclaimed himself au associate in the empire by 
 coins Avith inscriptions such as caravsivs et fratres svi 
 (round the three heads of Carausius, Dioclesian, andMaximian), 
 PAX AVGGG, SALVS AVGGG, PIETAS AVGGG, &C., the three g’s 
 indicating the three emperors. But the most curious of all the 
 coins of Carausius yet discovered, is one Avhich Avas formerly 
 in the possession of my friend, Mr Roach Smith, and Avhich, 
 contrary to the universal practice of the earlier Roman coinage, 
 gives the emperor’s head AAuth a front face, instead of a profile. 
 From this circumstance, and from its superior execution, Mr 
 Smith is inclined to believe that it Avas struck expressly as a 
 
 correct portrait of this remarkable man, and as thus it forms 
 one of the most interesting records of our history, it is here 
 given from his ‘ Collectanea Antiqua,’ where it Avas first pub- 
 lished. This unique coin is in small brass, in an excellent state 
 of preservation, and Avas found at Wroxeter, in Shropshire, the 
 site of the Roman toAvn of Uriconiiim.^ 
 
 We have said that Carausius held the supreme power in 
 Britain during nearly seven years (from 287 to 293). In 292, 
 the two emperors, Maximian and T)ioclesian, strengthened their 
 government by the appointment of tAVO Caesars, Constantius and 
 
 * This coin is now, with Mr Roach Smith’s collection of antiquities 
 from Roman London, in the British Museum. 
 
142 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap, it. 
 
 Galerms ; and Constantins, to whose lot the provinces of the 
 west fell, prepared immediately to reduce the island chieftain. 
 We have the account of the events that followed chietly from 
 imperial panegyrists, who conceal all the circumstances advan- 
 tageous to the usurper, but their outline is no doubt coiTect. 
 Constantins having collected a very powerful army, made a rapid 
 march to Gessoriacum, and laid siege unexpectedly to the grand 
 naval station of Carausius. Then, as now, this port could only 
 be entered at full tide, and Constantins took advantage of the 
 ebb to block it up entirely with an embankment of piles and 
 stones. Before this, however, had been effected, Carausius, 
 who was in Gessoriacum at the time of the arrival of Constan- 
 tins, took to his ships and sailed away to Britain. 
 
 Gessoriacum soon surrendered to the imperial arms, but 
 Constantins found a greater obstacle to his immediate success 
 ill the want of ships. Four years passed away in the construc- 
 tion of a fleet, in the course of which Carausius himself had 
 ceased to live. The empty bauble of empire had excited the 
 ambition of A.llectus, an officer whom Carausius had placed at 
 the head of his fleet, and who basely and treacherously mur- 
 dered his master. Allectus immediately seized the imperial 
 authority, and, ivithout the abilities of Carausius, attempted to 
 Ibllow in his course. During three years, while Constantins re- 
 mained inactive, or only occupied in reducing to obedience the 
 Franks and other allies of the usurper, xAllectus was allowed to 
 remain undisturbed. His coins include some which are different 
 from those of his predecessor, and, considering the duration of 
 his reign, they are almost as numerous. At length, in the year 
 296, Constantins had completed his vast preparations for inva- 
 sion, and he is said to have been the first to set sail. His 
 ])rincipal force, under the command of the praefect Aselepiodotus, 
 which had assembled in the mouth of the Seine, immediately 
 followed, and directing their course towards the western coast of 
 Britain, were enabled by a thick fog to elude the fleet of Allec- 
 tus, which was stationed off' the Isle of Wight. It was after- 
 wards said in praise of Aselepiodotus, that he ventured out to sea 
 on a stormy day, with a side wind (which was then considered 
 bold seamanship), and that when he landed on the British 
 coast, he burnt his galleys, that his troops might find their only 
 safety in victory. 
 
 Meanwhile Allectus, who expected that the imperial forces 
 would cross over directly into Kent, had taken up a position in 
 the neighbourhood of London. He no sooner received intelli- 
 
CilAP. IV.] 
 
 CONSTANTIUS. 
 
 143 
 
 geiice of the landing of Asclepiodotns, than he linrried hastily 
 to meet him, earning with him only a part of his troops, and 
 those chieily his Prankish auxiliaries. The eonsequence was 
 that he was defeated in his first engagement with his enemies, 
 and he was himself slain in the battle. As much of his army 
 as escaped fled to London, plundered that rich city, and pre- 
 pared to sail Avith the spoils to the continent. But they were 
 so closely pursued by the imperial army, that the greater part 
 of them are said to have been slain in the streets of the capital. 
 According to the panegyrists, the population of Britain hailed 
 the day of the arrival of Constantins as that of their redemption 
 from an oppressive and cruel tyranny. The imperial com- 
 mander took up his residence in York, from Avhich Ave may 
 perhaps assume that he had been called to the north to repress 
 the turbulence of the Piets and Scots. But all Ave knoAv of his 
 proceedings is the simple fact, that he had beeti in Britain 
 nine years Avhen, in the year 305, the resignation of Dioclesian and 
 Maximian left the Eoman empire to Galerius and Constantins. 
 
 Constantins, avIio is usually known by the name of Constan- 
 tins Chlorus, Avas the father of C-onstantiue the Great ; but the 
 story that his Avife Helena Avas of British origin appears to be a 
 mere fable. At the time of his father’s accession to the empire 
 of the West, Constantine Avas serving in the army under Gale- 
 rius, in Nicomedia, and it is supposed that Galerius, avIio Avould 
 Avillingly have been Avithout a partner in the empire, intended 
 to keep him as a hostage for his father. But Constantine 
 made his escape, and travelling Avith extreme rapidity, reache^d 
 Gessoriacum in safety, and hnding his father there, passed Avith 
 him into Britain, Avhere he assisted in the government, and soon 
 ingratiated himself Avith the troops and Avith the people. They 
 proceeded immediately to the north, to direct an expedition 
 against the barbarians, but Constantins Avas already struck Avith 
 disease, and, after this expedition, on the 25th of July, 306, he 
 died at York. The soldiers immediately saluted his son Con- 
 stantine as their emperor, and Galerius Avas induced to yield to 
 their wishes. Constantine remained resident in our island, 
 though his acts are not recorded, until, six years afteiuvards, he 
 Avas called away to enter upon the contest Avhich ended in mak- 
 ing him sole ruler of the Iloman Avorld. 
 
 Britain now enjoyed a continued calm of more than thirty 
 years. The emperor Constans paid a visit to Britain in 347, but 
 we know not for Avhat purpose ; though it is probable that the 
 British legions had begun again to show an inclination to throAv 
 
144 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 4CHAP. IV. 
 
 off their dependence on Rome. Three years after his return 
 from Britain, Constans fell a sacrifice to tlie ambition and trea- 
 son of Magmentins, one of his officers, a Hriton by birth. The 
 troops in Britain probably supported the cause of Magnentius, 
 and, after that usurper’s defeat and death, in 353, the province 
 suffered severely from the anger of the conqueror. The historian 
 Ammianus Marcellinus tells us that a Spanish notary, named 
 Paulus, who had gained by his cunning and astuteness the sur- 
 name of Catena (the chain), was sent to Britain to institute 
 proceedings against those who had espoused the cause of Mag- 
 nentius. Paulus made use of the powers which had been given 
 him by the emperor in so cruel and oppressive a manner, that he 
 became an object of general detestation ; and Avhen the civil 
 ruler of the island, whose name was Martin, interfered in favour 
 of his victims, he attempted to involve him, and many of his 
 officers, under the same accusations. Ammianus tells us how 
 Martin tried to save himself and his friends by slaying the im- 
 perial accuser, but faiiing in the attempt, he immediately killed 
 himself with his own sword. ‘ Paulns returned to court steeped 
 in ]R*itish blood, and dragging with him a multitude of wretched 
 victims loaded with chains, whose looks depicted the hopeless- 
 ness of their destiny. Some of these suffered horrible tortures 
 at the hands of the executioners ; while others were proscribed 
 and exiled, and othei’s had their heads struck from their bodies 
 on the scaffold.’ 
 
 The visitation of Paulus Catena was followed by one of a 
 different kind, but no less disastrous to the inhabitants of the 
 province. The Piets and Scots joined together, and began to 
 carry their ravages far into the south. Britain had, no doid)t, 
 been robbed of much of its military force in the recent struggles 
 for empire, and it had been further weakened by the severities 
 of Paulus ; its troops, therefore, were insufficient for its defence, 
 and they were obliged to send over into Gaul to ask assistance 
 of Julian, to whom Constantins had entrusted the defence of 
 that province against the incursions of the Germans. Julian 
 sent to Britain his magister armorum, or camp marshal, Lupi- 
 cinus, a brave and experienced officer, who took with him some 
 light auxiliary troops, with a few companies of the Heruli, 
 Maesians, and Batavians, and hastened over from Gessoriacum 
 to Rutupise, and thence to London. We have no further account 
 of his expedition, but he probably retaliated severely on the 
 northern invaders, for the island seems to have had again along 
 period of undisturbed tranquillity. 
 
CHAP, v.l THE ITIXEKARTES OF BRITAIN. Uo 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Journey through Roman Britain — Londinium — Great Road from Loii- 
 diniurnto Segontium — Verulainium ; Uriconium, &c. — Direct North- 
 ern Road from Londinium ; Duiobrivae, Lindum, Danum, Ebura- 
 cum, Isuriurn — Passage of the two Walls — Stations on the Wall — 
 Branch to Luguballium and Blatum Bulgiuni — Eastern Road ; Camu- 
 lodunum, Camboricum — From Londinium to Calleva — Branch to 
 Corinium and Glevum ; Isca, and Maridunum — From Glevum by 
 Magna to Deva, and thence through Coccium to the North — Cross 
 Roads — Salinas and other towns — The Western Road, from Calleva to 
 Sorbiodunum, Durnovaria, and Isca Dumnoniorum — Aquae Solis — 
 The trajectus to Wales, and the Sarn Helen — The Road on the 
 Southern Coast; Venta Belgarum, Clausentum, Portus Magnus. 
 Regnum, Anderida, Portus Lemanis. 
 
 At the period we have now reached, tliefaceof the island was 
 strangely altered from that which it presented when visited by 
 Cmsar. Well iidiabited and well cultivated, it was divided like 
 a network by innumerable roads, many of them wide and all of 
 excellent construction, which formed a communication between 
 a multitude of tlourishing cities ^nd towns. Several principal 
 lines of roads carried the traveller into and across the island in 
 ditferent directions.^ 
 
 * Two imperfect itineraries, giving us the names and distances from each 
 other of the towns and stations on the principal military roads, have been 
 preserved. The first is contained in the great Itinerarium of the Roman 
 empire, which goes under the name of Antoninus, and is believed to have 
 been compiled about a.d. 320. The other is contained in the work of 
 Richard of Cirencester, and is supposed to have been copied by a monk of 
 the fourteenth century, from an older itinerary or map. They differ a 
 little from each other, and, though our faith in Richard’s Itinerary is not 
 strong, it is certain nearly all the roads he gives which are not in Antoni- 
 nus have been ascertained to exist. Traces of many Roman roads are 
 found all over the country, not mentioned in these itineraries, and names 
 of a great number of towns found neither in Antoninus nor in Richard, 
 are given by an anonymous geographer of Ravenna, who wrote about the 
 middle of the seventh century ; but as he has placed them in no regular 
 Older, it is very difficult now to identify their sites. 
 
146 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 fCHAP. V. 
 
 The stranger wlio embarked at Gessoriacum, on the coast of 
 Gaul, was carried, guided at night by tlie light from the lofty 
 pharos of Dubrae {Dover), into the port of Rntnpiae, celebrated 
 for its oysters, Avhich was tlie usual place of landing from the 
 Continent. The citadel of Entupiae stood on an elevation com- 
 manding the beach, and its massive walls still remain at Eich- 
 borough, about three-quarters of a mile to the north-east of the 
 modern town of Sandwich. Erom the masses of white marble 
 that have been scattered about, it is evident that this citadel was 
 adorned with handsome buildings. The town lay behind the 
 (htadel, spread over a gentle declivity, while at the top of the 
 hill to the north are still seen the remains of its amphitheatre. 
 Eiitupiae stood on the edge of the isle of Thanet, separated, from 
 the rest of Cantinm by a creek whicli ran through to the month 
 of the Thames, where its entrance was defended by another 
 towm and citadel, named Eegulbium, now Etecnlver, of which a 
 portion of the walls still remains. Another Eoirian port seems 
 to have occupied the site of the modern harbour of Eamsgatc.’^ 
 From Eutnpiae the traveller crossed over the water — the place 
 whence the Eutnpine oystei-s were taken, and where, in digging, 
 the remains of the oyster-beds are still found — to the site of 
 the present town of Sandwich, and here he entered the high 
 road, which led directly over the downs, by the present village 
 of Ash, to a large town called Durovernnm, which occupied 
 probably the whole site of the modern city of Canterbury. Part 
 of the Eoman walls were standing a century ago, and tesselated 
 pavements and other antiquities discovered there at different 
 times, show its importance. It was the point from which sever- 
 al roads branched, commnnicating with the towns on the coast, 
 Eegulbium, Eutupise, Dubrm, and the Portus Leman is. The 
 road leading to the interior of the island left Durovernnm on tlie 
 north-east, and proceeded over the high grounds of the forest of 
 Blee, by a town named Durolerum, the probable site of which 
 seems to be Davington, but which Avas apparently one of those 
 unimportant stations that have left scarcely a trace behind, to a 
 more important town named Durobrivm, on the site of the pre- 
 sent city of Eochester, situated on a river then called the Madus, 
 now the Medway. The road then proceeded across towards the 
 
 * On the antiquities jf Ilutupiie and Reg:ulbiuin, the reader should con- 
 sult the excellent work by Mr lloach Smith, ‘ The Antiquities of Kich- 
 borough, Eeculver, and Lymne,’ in whi'.di they have been investigated 
 with remarkable skill and care. It is itself almost a manual of Romau 
 antiquities. 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 ROMAX LONDON. 
 
 147 
 
 banks of the Thames, where the traveller arrived at a town named 
 Vao-niacae, the situation of which is also somewhat doubtful, 
 tliouo'h it is generally believed to have stood in the neighbour- 
 hood of Southfleet. Traces of Roman settlements are found 
 thickly scattered along the line of this road, and between it and 
 the Thames. From Yagniacae the road proceeded by Dartford, 
 over Shooter’s Hill, across Blackheath, and to a town in the 
 territory of the ancient tribe of the Regni, called Noviomagus, 
 which is supposed to have stood on the side of Holwood liili, 
 in the parish of Bromley. Fifteen Roman miles to the north 
 brought the traveller again to the banks of the Thames, at the 
 foot of the bridge by which he entered the great commercial 
 town of Londinium. 
 
 Roman London was built on the elevated ground on both 
 sides of a stream, known in after time by the name of Wall- 
 brook, which ran into the Thames not far from Southwark 
 Bridge, and extending westward to the edge of a hill overlook- 
 ing another stream, called in later times Holbourne, and on the 
 east almost to the Tower. Its walls were identical with those 
 which enclosed the mediaeval city of London. At this time it 
 seems to have had two principal lines of streets, one running 
 from the bridge northward in the line of Bishopsgate-street, 
 the other branching from it, and running along or near the line 
 of the modern Watling-street, till it left the city by Ludgate. 
 At the western end of this street the principal temples and 
 public buildings seem to have stood, crowning the hill, and 
 occupying the side which sloped down to the river. The 
 northern and north-eastern parts of the town were occupied 
 with extensive and — to judge by the remains which have been 
 brought to light — magniheent mansions. Londinium had in- 
 creased much in extent since it had been founded by the 
 Romans. It has been supposed by a recent writer that the 
 first town was confined to the hill on the east of Wallbrook.* 
 Mr Roach Smith discovered, in excavations on the site of the 
 Royal Exchange, pits which had been receptacles of the rubbish 
 from the shops and houses of Roman London at an earlier 
 period of its existence, and which had been afterwards filled up 
 and built over. At the period to which our last chapter has 
 brought us, the city had extended to the other side of the 
 
 * This notion on the earliest form of Londinium was published in an 
 essay on the orif^inal site of Roman London, by Mr Arthur Taylor, in the 
 thirty-third volume of the ‘ Archaeologia. ’ 
 
 L 
 
118 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 Thames, and the borough of Southwark stands upon groniul 
 which covers the floors of Roman houses and the pavings ot‘ 
 Roman streets.^ 
 
 Two principal roads led out of Londinium on the north side 
 of the Thames ; one apparently in the direction of Bishopsgate, 
 the other westward, through Lndgate, across Holbonrne, and in 
 the direction of Fleet-street and the Strand. Without New- 
 gate, on each side of this road, the principal sepulchral monu- 
 ments of the citizens of Londinium appear to have stood. It was 
 the grand route to the west of Britain ; but somewhere near 
 the present site of Knightsbridge another large road branched 
 off northward, and proceeded in a direct line along the modern 
 Kilburn road, until the traveller arrived at a town named 
 Sulloniacm, the traces of which are now found on an elevation 
 called Brockley Hill, a little south of Elstree, on the borders 
 of Hertfordshire. Hence the road continued its direct course, 
 through a rich and varied country, to the grand municipal city 
 of Yerulamiurn, the extensive walls of which are still traced in 
 the neighbourhood of St Albans. Verulamium was the fashion- 
 able town of the south-east, and possessed, what probably few 
 towns in Britain did, a theatre. 
 
 From Verulamium the road proceeded through the same rich 
 country, nearly straight, to a town named Hurocobrivae, which 
 must have stood at or in the immediate vicinity of the modern 
 town of Dunstable, which is marked as an ancient station by 
 the number of tumuli and intrenchments in the neighbourhood. 
 It was apparently the great market of these agricultural dis- 
 tricts, over which the goddess Diana presided, as it was known 
 also by the name of Forum Dianae. On leaving this place the 
 traveller continued his route across the beautiful country to the 
 south of Woburn till he entered a more open valley, where he 
 reached the town of Magiovintum, supposed to have stood at 
 the place where the road crossed the river Ousel, in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of Fenny Stratford. The road then again 
 
 * Numerous particulars relating to Roman London will be found in 
 papers by Mr Roach Smith, scattered through the volumes of the ‘ Archae- 
 ologia,’ of the Society of Antiquaries, and other archaeological works. See 
 also a paper on this subject in my ‘ Archaeological Album.’ Whenever 
 excavations are made within the limits of the city of London, the workmen 
 come to the Roman floors at a depth of from twelve to eighteen or twenty 
 feet under the present level. Since the first edition of this volume was 
 published, Mr Roach Smith has given to the public his valuable work on 
 the early antiquities of the capital of Britain, entited ‘ Antiquities of 
 Roman London.’ 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 THE NORTH-WESTERX ROAD. 
 
 140 
 
 mounted higher ground, passing over the site of Stoney Strat- 
 ford, and so on to Lactodorum, a town occupying the site of 
 the modem Toweester. The road then turned slightly north 
 to Weedon, at which point a cross road turned off leading to 
 what some have considered two towns, Isannavaria and Benna- 
 venta, which have been placed at Burnt Walls and Burrow Hill, 
 ancient sites near Daventry, though others have imagined this to 
 be one town under two different names. The main road con- 
 tinued its course from Weedon in a straight line across an open 
 country to the neighbourhood of the modern town of Lilbui’iie, 
 where it crossed the river Avon at Dove Bridge. Here stood a 
 town called Tripontiuin, which must have possessed something 
 remarkable in its bridge or bridges across the river. Tumuli 
 and earthworks, scattered over the country around, again mark 
 it as a place of some importance. The country now became 
 more uneven, and the road proceeded till it reached the top of a 
 hill within the borders of Leicestershire, where stood the town 
 of Benonse, the site of which is now occupied by High Cross. 
 The next town at which the traveller arrived was Mandues- 
 sedum, occupying the slope of a hill over the river Anker, and 
 surrounded by high grounds. The site of this town is now 
 called Manceter (in the county of Warwick), and the square 
 iritrenchments of the ancient station are still seen, while the 
 hills to the south are covered with tumuli. After leaving 
 Mandiiessedum, the traveller passed through a continuation of 
 rich agricultural district, open to the north, but rising into a 
 fine hilly country to the south, the road generally taking the 
 higher grounds, until it reached the town of Eteocetum. The 
 last traces of its buildings have long disappeared, but the tra- 
 dition of them appears to be preserved in the modern name of 
 the site, Wall, in Staffordshire. The road turned hence west- 
 ward, proceeding direct through Stretton, till it crossed the 
 little river Penk, where stood the town of Pennocrueium. The 
 road now went through a more wooded and hilly country, until 
 the traveller arrived at Uxaconium, apparently but a small un- 
 important town, which has been placed by some at Bed Hill, a 
 little to the north-east of Shifihall, in Shropshire, and by others 
 at Oaken -gates, near Wembridge. It proceeded thence, turn- 
 ing slightly south, to the important town of Yiroconium or 
 (Jriconium, the remains of which are found at the modern 
 village of VVroxeter. Important excavations have been, during 
 the last few years, made on this site, which have thrown eon- 
 siderable light on the early history of our island. L'riconiuin 
 
150 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 was one of the largest Roman cities in Britain. It was snr- 
 ronnded by a wall and toss, the remains of which may be traced 
 all round, and are upwards of three miles in extent; and inclose 
 a space of about double that of Roman London. The town 
 occupied a picturesque and strong position, at the foot of the 
 celebrated Shropshire hill of the Wrekin, which, perhaps, gave 
 its name to the place, and on the bank of the river Severn, just 
 where it is joined by the Tamar. It was evidently of con- 
 siderable importance, and well inhabited ; it had a forum of 
 great extent, and it possessed a theatre of considerable size 
 in the heart of the town, as well as an amphitheatre outside.* 
 Here one branch of the great road crossed the Severn, and 
 proceeded in a north-west wardly direction to Rutunium, a 
 Roman town, the site of which is generally placed at Rowton, 
 in Shropshire, after which it entered Wales, passing under the 
 north end of the Breidden mountain, to a town called 
 Mediolanum, situated where the road crossed the river Tanad. 
 The traveller then pursued his Avay among the wild mountains 
 of North Wales, till he approached the majestic heights oi 
 Mons Heriri {Snmedort'), and halted at a station of that name, 
 the intrenchments of which are still observed at a place named 
 from them Tomen-y-mur, in the valley of Maentwrog. Thence 
 the road led down to the coast, where the traveller entei’ed 
 Segontium, one of the most important Roman towns in Wales, 
 tlie walls of which are still visible at Caer Seiont, near Caer- 
 narvon, on the coast of the Irish Sea. 
 
 If the stranger were not bound for the midland districts, he 
 might leave Londinium by the gate known in later times by tlie 
 name of Bishopsgate, and pursue the great road to the nortli. 
 His way at first ran through woods and corn districts, ami the 
 traveller passed over considerable distances without meeting 
 with towns or stations. His first halting-place was a small 
 station named — we are not certain why — Ad Fines, the site of 
 which is supposed to have been at Broughing, in Hertfordshire, 
 at the confluence of two streams, the Rib and the Quin. 
 Thence the road proceeded in a direct line to Durolipons, the 
 site of which is fixed without doubt at Godmanchester, on the 
 river Ouse. Tlie traveller had now entered upon the lowq flat 
 
 * I have published an account of these excavations, and of the discoveries 
 made in the course of them, in a rather large volume entitled ‘ Uiiconium ; 
 a Historical Account of the Ancient Roman City, and of the Excavations 
 made upon its site at Wroxeter, in Shropshire, forming a sketch of the 
 Condition and History of the Welsh Border during the Roman Period. 
 By Thomas Wright, M.A., F.S.A. 8vo. London, 1872.* 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 TOWNS IX THE NORTH ROAD. 
 
 lal 
 
 country on the borders of tlie fens, to avoid which the road 
 turned a little west, and then continuino; its dreary course to 
 the north reached a district covered with potteries, in the midst 
 of which he entered a rich and eleg'ant town named Durobrivm, 
 situated on one of the sluo’gish rivers of this district, which in 
 modern /times is called the Nen, and the site of the Roman 
 town is now occupied by an obscure villao*e called Castor.'^ 
 Hence tlie road continued nearly north, with a slight curve, to 
 another town of some importance, named Causennee, or, accord- 
 ing- to other authorities, Isinse, situated on slightly elevated ground. 
 There can be no doubt that this town occupied the site of the 
 modern Ancaster, which has been celebrated for its Roman 
 antiquities since the time of Leland.f Another stage brought 
 the traveller to Lindum, a noble city, both for the elegance of 
 its buildings, and its position on a lofty isolated hill, command- 
 ing extensive views on every side over the flat country around. 
 Its modern representative is easily recognized in the city of 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The traveller who is not willing to follow the dreary road 
 we have been describing, might take another route, which, 
 though less direct, lay through a more beautiful country, in 
 which the towns wei*e more numerous and interesting. He left 
 Londinium by its western gate, and, proceeding along the road 
 already described, he passed through Sidloniacae, Yeridamiuin, 
 Hurocobrivae, Magiovintum, Lactodorum, and Tripontium, to 
 Venonae. There, instead of continuing his route to Manduesse- 
 dum, he took another great road which turned off to the north- 
 east, and proceeded direct to Ratae, one of the largest and most 
 important of the midland cities, adorned with rich mansions 
 
 * The very interesting: antiquities of this Roman town were explored by 
 the late Mr E. Tyrrell Artis, of Castor, who published them in a series of 
 expensive plates, but which were not accompanied with a text. 
 
 t Leland, in his Itinerary, vol. i. pp. 28, 29, has left us the following- 
 note on the antiquities discovered at Ancaster in his time : — ‘ In tymes 
 past it hath bene a celebrate toune, but not waullid, as far as I could per- 
 ceive. The building of it lay in lenghth by south and north. In the 
 south ende of it be often tymes founde in ploughing great square stones of 
 old buildinges and Romayne coynes of brasse and sylver. In the west 
 ende of it, where now meadowes be, ar founde yn diching great vaultes. 
 . . . An old man of Ancaster told me that by Ureby, or Roseby, a plough- 
 man toke up a stone, and found another stone under it, wherein was a 
 square hole having Romaine quoin in it. He told me also that a plough- 
 man toko up in the feldes of llarleston a 2 miles froTM Granteham a stone, 
 under the which was a potte of brasse, and an helmet of gold, sette with 
 stones in it, the which was presentid to Catarine princes dowager. There 
 were bedes of silver in the potte, and writings corruptid.’ 
 
152 
 
 TllK ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V'. 
 
 and temples, and other public l)nildiiio-s.'^ Its site is now 
 occupied by the town of Leicester. Thence, keeping to tlie 
 eastward of the great forest of Charnwood, the road proceeded 
 over a rich country to Yerometnin — a town supposed to have 
 stood in the immediate neighbourhood of Willoughby, on the 
 borders of Nottinghamshire. A few miles more brought the 
 traveller to a town on the river Trent, named Margidunum, 
 supposed to have stood at or near Bridgeford, and next he 
 reached a station on the same river, called, no doubt from its 
 bridge over the river. Ad Pontem, l)elieved to have stood near 
 the modern village of Parndon. The next halting-place was 
 Crococolana, a town supposed to have stood at Brough, in 
 Lincolnshire, from uhich another stage took him to Lindum.t 
 
 Here he again took the north road from Londinium, and 
 soon after leaving Lindum he turned off westwardly, and, after 
 a short stage, repassing the river Trent, halted at the town of 
 Segelocum, or Agelocum, on the site of the modern town of 
 Littlcborough. Thence, still keeping a little westward, the road 
 brought him, after a somewhat longer stage, to the more im- 
 ])ortant station of Danum, a site now known by the somewhat 
 celebrated name of Doncaster. Prom Danum the road turned 
 tiorth, and after a shorter stage, reached Legiolium, supposed to 
 have occupied the site of the modern village of Castleford, at 
 the conhuence of the Ayr and the Cahler, and proceeded thence 
 to the town of Calcaria, which probably received its name from 
 its lime-works, and is now represented by Tadcaster, the last 
 station before reaching Eburacum, the second, if not the first, 
 city in Britain. 
 
 There was another road from Lindum to Eburacum. It pro- 
 ceeded in a direct line from the former place to a town or station 
 on the Humber {Abus), called — no doubt from the great river 
 near which it stood — Ad Ahum, supposed to have been at Win- 
 terton. The traveller arrived here in two stages, stopping only 
 at a half-way station, the only name of which that has come 
 
 * The importance and beauty of Ratae are evinced by the numerous fine 
 tesselated pavements that have been found there. Some of its public 
 buildings appear to have been standing in the time of Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, who speaks of a subterranean temple of Janus : ‘ In quodam sub- 
 terraneo quod sub Sora fluvio intra Legecestriam fieri praeceperat. Erat 
 autem subterraneum illud conditum in honorem bifrontis Jani.’ — Galf. 
 Mon. Hist. Brit.., lib. ii. c. 14. 
 
 t The Roman towns between Ratae and Lindum have been less almost 
 than any others examined by modern antiquaries, and their sites are only 
 fixed by conjecture. 
 
C V.] 
 
 EBURACUM. 
 
 153 
 
 down to ns is one taken from its position, In Medio. Erom 
 Ad Abnin tlie traveller crossed the Humber in a boat, and 
 landed at another town, called, from the river on which it stood. 
 Ad Petuariam, supposed to have occupied the site of Brough, 
 on the Humber, where interesting Roman antiquities have been 
 found. Erom Brough the road seems to have proceeded to 
 Ebiiracum without any intermediate station, a distance esti- 
 mated in the ancient Itinerary at forty-six Roman miles, so that 
 it perhaps went by a circuitous route, joining some one of the 
 roads from Eburacnm to the coast. 
 
 El)uracum, or Eboracum^ (as its name was ditferently spelt), 
 occupied the banks of a navigable river called the Urus (now 
 the Ouse). Within its walls, which were of considerable extent, 
 stood the imperial palace, and no doubt other magnificent edi- 
 fices, and both within and without were temples to most of the 
 Roman gods, as well as to the eastern deities, Serapis and 
 Mithras. Outside the walls, the city was surrounded Avith ex- 
 tensive and well-built suburbs. f 
 
 Many roads branched off from Ebnracnm in different direc- 
 tions. Several of these ran towards the coast, and communicat- 
 ed no doubt with trading ports. Of these the principal Avas a 
 military road, leading by tAvo toAvns, named Deiweiitio and 
 Delgovitia, to an apparently important town on the coast called 
 Praetoriiini. Various positions have been fixed for these towns, 
 chieHy on the assumption that Praetorium stood at Elamborough 
 Head. There are extensive remains of an important Roman 
 station at Old Malton, on the river Derwent, and as Ave knoAv 
 that there Avas a Derventio in the interior of the island on a 
 river called the Derwent, it is not improbable that the station 
 at Old Malton may have been Derventio. But the Roman an- 
 tiquities of East Yorkshire have as yet been very imperfectly 
 explored. 
 
 The great north road Avhich Ave have been pursuing, after 
 leaving Eburacnm, turned westAvard, in the direction of the 
 Ouse, until at the end of a comparatively short stage, the tra- 
 
 * l^hurnmm is the spelling- griven in the Itinerary of Antoninus, in 
 Ptolemy, and in the g-eographer of llavenna, while an inscription formerly 
 found at York, but not preserved, as well as the Homan, historians who 
 mention this place, call it Ehoracum. The weight of authority, however, 
 seems to be turned in favour of the former, by an inscription more recently 
 discovered, and certainly reading euvr. 
 
 t An excellent volume on the Roman antiquities of York was pub- 
 lished by the Rev. C. Wellbeloved, of that city, under the title of ‘ Ebura- 
 cum, or York under the Romans,’ which is recommended earnestly to the 
 student of the history and antiquities of the Romans in Britain. 
 
154 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. t. 
 
 veller arrived at another large and well-built town, Isuriiiin, 
 the walls of which are still traced at Aldborough, and within 
 them the excavator meets continually with the tesselated floors 
 of the Roman houses.^ A longer stage, carried the traveller to 
 Cataracto, or Cataractonium, the ancient name of which has 
 been preserved by the village of Catteric, on the river Swale, 
 and a few miles further the road crossed the river Tisa {tJie Tees), 
 it is supposed at Piercebridge, near Darlington, where there 
 was also a station. The traveller had now entered the modern 
 county of Durham, and the road pursued its course nearly north, 
 through a rich and interesting country, to Vinoviuin, a town of 
 some extent, of which there are considerable remains in the 
 modern hamlet of Binchester, near Bishop Auckland. The 
 next town on this road was Epiacnm, which occupied a lofty 
 brow on a tongue of land formed by the junction of two small 
 streams on the west side of the modern village of Lanchester, 
 where abundant remains of the Roman town have been found. 
 It appears by inscriptions found on this site, that this town 
 had its basilica or court-house, and its public baths and arsenal, 
 and other important buildings. The road now turned west- 
 wardly again till it reached Yindomora, which is supposed to 
 be the station traceable at Ebchester, on the borders of North- 
 umberland, f A few miles further he came to the town of Cor- 
 stopitum, the modern site of which is called Corchester, near Cor- 
 bridge on the Tyne, and before he reached it, a bridge, of which 
 the remains are still to be traced, carried the traveller over the 
 river Tina. He was now only about two miles from the great 
 wall erected by the emperor Hadrian, which the road passed at 
 an opening a little to the west of the station of Hunnum. On the 
 other side of the wall the road separated into two branches, one 
 of which turned ofl* towards the coast, while the other proceeded 
 to the town of Habitancum (now Risingham), situated on a 
 pleasant stream, in a small valley, sheltered by surrounding 
 hills. An inscription found in this place commemorates the 
 I’eb lidding, in the reign of Caracalla, of the gate and of the 
 
 * A series of very carefully executed plates of the tesselated pavements 
 of Isurium were published by Mr H. Ecroyd Smith, who has since pub- 
 lished a quarto volume, illustrated with numerous engravings, on the An- 
 tiquities of Aldborough. 
 
 t Some doubt has been thrown on the appropriation of these two last 
 sites, though it does not appear to be well founded. J^o other sites answer 
 so well to Epiacum and Vindomora, and we can find no other names for 
 what, by the remains still visible, were evidently town« of considerable 
 importance. 
 
CKAP. V.] 
 
 THE TOWN OF LUGUBALLIU:\l. 
 
 155 
 
 walls, which had become ruinous by age : the remains, which 
 after so many centuries still present themselves, show that they 
 were rebuilt well. A very little further stood the town of Bre- 
 menium, which an inscription identifies with the modern village 
 of High Eochester. Here also a bridge passed over the river. 
 The traveller then pursued his way by longer stages by Trimon- 
 tium, which lias been fixed at Eildon, and Curia, placed by 
 some at Currie, and by others at Borthwick Castle, to the east- 
 ern end of the vallum of Antoninus, and passing it, if he were 
 bound to the far north, he proceeded to the towns of Alauna, 
 Lindum, Victoria, and Orrea. 
 
 In the course of the great road from Eburacum to the north, 
 it liad several smaller offsets or branches. One of these led 
 apparently from Yinovium to the important town of Pons H^lii, 
 or Newcastle, and another to the stations which commanded the 
 mouth of the Tyne, at Jarrow and South Shields. A larger 
 branch turned off* a little beyond Cataracto, and carried the 
 traveller westward to the town of Lavatrse, which, there seems 
 little reason for doubt, occupied the site of the present town of 
 Bowes. A few miles further he reached Verterse, which is sup- 
 posed to have stood on the site of the town of Brough in 
 Westmoreland, where many Eoman anticpiities have been found 
 at diff'erent times. ^ He was now on the confines of the mount- 
 ainous district which had formed the stronghold of the 
 Brigantes ; to the south rose the heights of Stanemoor, while to 
 the west were seen the still nobler mountains of the lake dis- 
 trict, which he approached nearer as he reached the next town 
 of Brovonacm, supposed to have stood at the modern village of 
 Kirby-Tliore, where Eoman anticpiities are found, and Bro- 
 cavium, which its position and the numerous antiquities found 
 there seem to identify with Broughain.t Another stage and 
 the traveller arrived at the important city of Luguballium, or 
 Luguvallium, with its temples and palaces, and other public 
 
 * In the time of Leland, Brough seems to have been proverbial for 
 the antiquities continually found there. He says ; — ‘ Borow, now a 
 vyllage, set in Lunesdale a vi. myles beneth the foctte of Dentdale, hath 
 beene by likelyhod sum notable town. The ploughmenne find there 
 yn ering lapides quadratos^ and many other straung thinges ^ and 
 this place is much spoken of the inhabitants there.’ — Itinerary^ vol. vii. 
 p. 48. 
 
 t ‘ At Burgham is an old castel that the commune people ther sayeth 
 doth synke. Abowt this Burgham plowghmen fynd in the feldes many 
 square stones, tokens of old buildinges. The castel is set in a stronge place 
 by reasons of ryvers enclosing the cuiitery therabowt.’ — Leland' a Itinerary^ 
 vol. vii. p. 49. 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 lo6 
 
 edifices. There can he no donht that the inodern city of Car- 
 lisle stands upon its ruins. From Lngnballinm the road ao-ain 
 passed the wall of Hadrian, proceedino* by the Castra Explora- 
 tornm, which is identified with the n odern Netherbv, where 
 numerous antiquities have been found, Blatnm Bnlgium, which 
 is placed at Middleby, and Uxelum, which is supposed to have 
 stood at Gastleover, and so on to Colania, the modern Lanark, 
 and Yandnaria, or Paisley, where it passed the western extremity 
 of the p’eat barrier of Antoninus, and ended at the remote 
 town of Theodosia, or Dumbarton. f 
 
 The traveller in Britain has thus, by two different roads, 
 passed the wall of Hadrian, and tlie more northern earthen 
 vallum of Antoninus. The first of these monuments must 
 have attracted his attention by its extraordinary character, and 
 he would be tempted to cross the island by the gTeat road which 
 accompanied its course. As he approached it from Eburacum 
 he entered a populous region, which marked the great com- 
 mercial importance of the stations on the Tyne. Strong posts 
 commanded the entrance to the river both on the south and on 
 the north. One of these stood at Tynemouth, where, as we 
 learn from a mutilated inscription still preserved, the usurper 
 Maximinus, then an officer in the sixth legion, erected some 
 public buildings, which included a basilica, as well as a temple, 
 which seem to have occupied the site of the famous abbey of 
 after ages. A few miles up the bank of the river brought the 
 
 * There is a curious passage in Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert (chap. 27). 
 where the saint is described as visiting the city of Lugubalia, and as being 
 taken by the citizens to see the Roman walls, and the wonderful fountain 
 which had been built there by the Romans. ‘Yenit ad Lugubaliain 
 civitatem (quae a populis Anglorum corrupte Luel vocatur). . . . 
 
 Postera autem die deducentibus eum civibus ut videret moenia civitatis, 
 fontemque in ea miro quondam Romanorum opere exstructum.’ This was 
 in the seventh century. Leland, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 speaks of the numerous antiquities found at Carlisle in his time 
 vol. vii. p. 54). ‘In diggying to make new building yn the towne often 
 tymes hath bene, and now a late, fownd diverse fundations of the old cite, 
 as pavirnentes of streates, old arches of dores, coyne, stones squared, 
 paynted pottes, mony hid yn pottes so hold and muldid that when it was 
 stronly towchid yt went almost to mowlder ; as yn M . . . glalbyls bowse 
 yn digging for the squaryng .... his gardin and orchard, the 
 which ston . . . eth much sowth. The hole site of the towne is sore 
 chaungid. For wher as the stretes where and great edifices now be vacant 
 and garden plottes. In the feldes abowt Cairluel yn plowghing hath be 
 found diver.se cornelines and other stony s well entayled for seales, and in 
 other places of Curnbarland in plowinge hath be fownd brickes conteyn- 
 inge the prints of antique workes.’ — Page 54. 
 
 + The Roman antiquities of Scotland have been collected in a volume, 
 entitled ‘ Caledonia Romana,’ by Robert Stuart. Edinburgh, 1845. 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 TIIK AYALL OF IIADRIAX. 
 
 167 
 
 traveller to tlie town or station of Seo-edunnm. Here tlie wall 
 of Hadrian be«’an, and from tins circuinstaiice the spot has 
 received in modern times the name, now so widely celebrated, 
 of Wallsend. The wall was a massive work of masonry, vary- 
 in”- from six to nearly ten feet in thickness, and from eighteen 
 to nineteen feet high. On the north it was accompanied by a 
 foss thirty-six feet wide, and fifteen feet deep. To the south 
 was anotlier lesser foss, with a triple entrenchment of earth and 
 stones. At no great distance apart, along the line of the wall, 
 were stations or towns, each consisting of a citadel, strongly 
 walled, with streets and habitations within, and often extensive 
 suburbs without. Between these towns stood smaller fortresses, 
 which, from the circumstance of th-eir occurring at the distance 
 of one Roman mile from each other, have been termed mile- 
 castles ; and between each of these again were four small sub- 
 sidiary buildings, which for distinction have been termed watch- 
 towers. 
 
 The wall, as we have just stated, began on the east at Sege- 
 dununi. It there advanced to the south into the river Tyne, as 
 far as the low-water mark, while it pursued its course westwardly 
 to a town of great extent and commercial importance, named, 
 from its bridge across the river Tyne built by Hadrian, Pons 
 /Elii, which occupied the site of the present town of Newcastle. 
 Little more than two miles from this place brought the traveller 
 to Condercum, a town beautifully situated on an elevated knoll, 
 which commands views of the valley of the Tyne to the south- 
 west, and northwardly of the distant and lofty Cheviots. The 
 houses and walls of the ancient town may still be traced in the 
 unevenness of the sod which covers them, at a spot which is now 
 called Benwell. Thence the wall proceeded over hill and vale, 
 for the country was here much varied, to the next town, which 
 appears to have been of less importance, and was called Yindo- 
 bala ; its site is now called Rutchester. The next town which 
 presented itself to the traveller was named Hunnum, apparently 
 a handsome and well-inhabited place, the deserted site of which 
 may now be distinctly traced at Halton-Chesters. He now cross- 
 ed the great road which passed the wall in its way from York, 
 and, pursuing the course of the wall, crossed the northern Tyne 
 by a bridge, of which the piers still remain, and entered the large 
 town of Cilurnum, the extensive ruins of which, well described 
 as a British Pompeii, are visible near the modern hamlets of 
 Chesters. This station also had its temples and public build- 
 ings, which, to judge from the broken statues and fragments of 
 
158 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 architectural decoration which are found there, must have been 
 distinguished by their beauty. The next town, Procolitia, dis- 
 tant only a sliort stage, is traced at the spot now called Carraw- 
 burgh. Another stage, about the same length, brought the 
 traveller to the fine town of Borcovicus, perhaps, after Pons /Elii, 
 tiie largest on the wall, the very extensive remains of which are 
 found at a place now named Housesteads. He was now among 
 the hills, surrounded with magnificent scenery, and might con- 
 template in the distance the rugged mountains which sheltered 
 the nortliern enemies of Rome. A little to the west of Borco- 
 vicus, he left the wall to proceed a short distance south, to the 
 town of Yindolana, the site of which is now marked distinctly 
 by the remains of walls and houses at Chesterholm. He then 
 regained the wall, and arrived at ^Esica, the walls of which are 
 still seen at Grreat Chesters. The wall now again ran its course 
 through the mountains, in some places rising up or descending 
 precipitous heights, which struck the traveller with astonishment 
 and even with terror. The ground was unfit for towns, and the 
 next he came to, Magna, was built a little to the south of the 
 wall, on the ground below, at a place now called Carvoran, on 
 a little river, and by the side of a high road which ran south- 
 ward to the town of Aliona, which is believed to have stood at 
 Whitley Castle, about two miles to the north of Alston, and 
 northward into the country between the two walls. Hence, 
 following the valley, the traveller came soon to Amboglanna, a 
 larger town, of which there are very extensive remains at Bird- 
 os wald, in a rich valley on the river Irthing. Further on, a 
 little south of the wall, stood Petriana, at a place now called 
 Cambeck Fort, and a short distance south-east of this, on a road 
 which led from Magna direct to Luguballium, thus avoiding 
 the circuit here made by the wall, was another station, named 
 Bremetenracum, the intrenched area of which is supposed to be 
 still traced in the park at Brampton. The next town on the 
 wall was Aballaba, supposed to have stood at Watch-cross, though 
 its site is not quite certain. The traveller, in following the 
 course of the wall, now passed successively the towns of Con- 
 gavata, near which the wall joined the city of Luguballium, 
 Axelodunum, Gabrosentse, and Tunnocelum, where it ended 
 on the coast of the estuary of Ituua (the Solwajj Frith). The 
 last-mentioned town is supposed to have occupied the site of 
 Bowness ; the others are donbtful, but they have been placed by 
 conjecture at Burgh-upon-Sands and Drund)urgh. A road from 
 Luguballium led through a series of towns which were evidently 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 CAMULODUNUM. 
 
 159 
 
 connected with the wall as a system of defence m^ainst the in- 
 cursions of the northern barbarians and their allies from Hibernia. 
 This road proceeded from Luguballium to Olenacum, which is 
 supposed to have been the strong station now seen at Old Carl- 
 isle ; Virosidum, supposed to be identical with the Koman re- 
 mains at Marvport and the adjacent village of Ellenboroiigli, on 
 the coast of Cumberland ; and Glanovanta, the site of which is 
 more doubtful.^ 
 
 The stranger who was desirous of visiting the eastern districts 
 of Britain, the old territory of the Trinobantes and the Iceni, 
 might have proceeded from the south to Lindum by a more 
 circuitous route. Leaving the great northern road soon after 
 it quitted Londinium, he proceeded by a road which took an 
 easterly direction, till he reached a town named Durolitum, or 
 Durositum, which is believed to have stood near Romford in 
 Essex. The next town he came to was called Cmsaromagus, 
 and is generally identified with the modem Chelmsford. Cano- 
 nium, which followed, is usually placed in the vicinity of Kelve- 
 don, on the river Pant. Erom thence the traveller approached 
 the grand city of Camulodunum, or, as it is called in the Itine- 
 rary, Camalodunum, the capital of the British princes after they 
 had submitted to the Ptomans, and the first Roman city in the 
 island which was honoured with the rank of colonla. History 
 speaks of its temples and public buildings ; and if, at any earl y 
 period of its history, it was exposed to attack without walls of* 
 defence, that want was so well supplied at a subsequent period, 
 that the ponderous masonry of its walls has endured to the 
 present day, and ought never to have allowed anybody to hesitate 
 in placing the site of this ancient city at Colchester.f A few 
 
 * No district in England is so interesting for its antiquities as that of the 
 wall of Hadrian. It has been made the subject of an excellent and most 
 instructive volume, by the Kev. J. Collingwood Bruce, of Newcastle-up(m- 
 Tyne, under the title of ‘The Roman Wall : a historical, topographical, 
 and descriptive Account of the Barrier of the Lower Isthmus, extending 
 from the Tyne to the Solway, deduced from numerous personal Surveys.’ 
 The Wall district shows us in a remarkable manner the effect of modern 
 cultivation in destroying ancient monuments. From Newcastle to the 
 ancient Amboglanna '{Birdoswald)^ which extends over a wild and insecure 
 country, the stations and posts are easily identified, and buildings of all 
 kinds lie in masses of ruins, which are only slightly covered by the accu- 
 mulation of earth. To the west of Amboglanna, the country has been more 
 highly cultivated, and the plough has so completely obliterated the trace of 
 Roman works, that we can only guess at the sites of ancient towns, and 
 the positions of all the western stations of the wall are very doubtful. 
 
 t The only good account of the Roman antiquities of Colchester will be 
 found in a paper by Mr Roach Smith, in the ‘ Journal of the Archaeological 
 Association,’ vol. ii. p. 29. 
 
160 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 miles to the north of Camiilodunum, the road crossed the river 
 Sturiiis {Siottr), where there was a station called Ad Ansain, 
 supposed to have stood on the site of the present village of 
 Stratford. The traveller then proceeded by longer stages to the 
 towns of Conibretonium and Sitomagiis, which are conjectured 
 to have stood at Burgh, near Woodbridge, and at Dunwich, on 
 the coast. The course of this road is, however, at present very 
 uncertain, and we only know that it ended at the eastern Yenta, 
 or Venta of the Iceni, which, there seems no reason to doubt, 
 stood at Caistor, near Norwich. From Yenta the Itinerary 
 brings us, without any intermediate station, to Camboricum, 
 Avhich occupied the site of the modern town of Cambridge. 
 Another road from Colchester led by Yilla Faustini, the position 
 of which seems to be exceedingly doubtful, to Iciani, a town 
 which has been conjectured, perhaps only from a fancied resem- 
 blance of name, to have occupied the site of the modern Ickling- 
 ham, and in that case the road seems there to have joined the 
 other road from Yenta to Camboricum. There was also a direct 
 road from Camulodunum to Camboricum, of which the Itine- 
 raries give no account. Camboricum was without doubt a very 
 important town, which commanded the southern fens. It had 
 three forts or citadels, the principal of which occupied the dis- 
 trict called the Castle-end, in the modern town of Cambridge, 
 and appears to have had a bridge over the Cam or Granta ; of 
 the others, one stood below the town, at Chesterton, and the 
 other above it, at Granchester.^ Numerous roads branched off 
 from this town. One of these proceeded to Durolipons {God- 
 mancliester), where it joined the great north road, and proceeded 
 by it to Lindum. Another ran north into the Fens, towards 
 Ely and Lynn. Others proceeded to Yenta of the Iceni and to 
 Camulodunum. Another proceeded southward to London, 
 having stations at Chesterford and perhaps at other places in its 
 course. Lastly, a continuation of the road from Yenta ran in 
 a south-westerly direction towards the fashionable districts of 
 Gloucestershire and Somerset. Bede calls the representative of 
 Camboricum, in his time, ‘ a little deserted city,’ and tells us 
 how, when the nuns of Ely wanted a coffin for their saintly ab- 
 bess, Etheldreda, they found a bv'^autiful sculptured sarcophagus 
 of white marble outside the city walls of the Roman town.f 
 
 * A very valuable essay on the Roman antiquities of Cambridge, and on 
 the Roman roads branching from it, by a well-known and distinguished 
 antiquary, Mr C. C. Babington, was published by the Cambridge Anti- 
 quarian Society, 8vo. 18-33. 
 
 t ‘ Venerunt ad civitatulam quandam desolatam, non procul iude si tarn, 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 AYESTERX TOWXS -GLEVU^r. 
 
 101 
 
 If the traveller, when he entered Britain, desired to visit the 
 western parts of the island, he left Londiniuin by its western 
 gateway, and proceeded along the great road, leading through 
 the present towns of Brentford and Hounslow to Staines, where 
 it crossed the Thames over the bridge, from which the Homan 
 town at this place took the name of Pontes. Having here 
 passed the river, the traveller came to a town named Bibracte, 
 the position of which is not known, and then continued his 
 way through a rich and varied country to the great town of 
 Calleva, the walls of which, as they still remain at Silchester, 
 on the northern border of Hampshire, enclose an area three 
 miles in circuit. Thence he proceeded over hilly grounds and 
 heaths to a town named Spinm, the name of which seems to be 
 preserved in the modern village of Speen, in Berkshire. The 
 road then carried him over a more level and open country, 
 after a long stage, to Coriiiium, a town tilled with magniticent 
 houses and public buildings, which occupied the site of the 
 modern Cirencester. Some of the richest and most elegant 
 mosaic pavements in this island, dug up here, show its ancient 
 splendour.* Another stage conducted the traveller over the 
 hills to the large colonial city of Glevum, now represented by 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Glevum was a town of great importance, as standing not 
 only on the Severn, near the place where it opened out into the 
 Bristol Channel, but also as being close to the great Roman 
 iron district of the Forest of Dean. A road passed the Severn, 
 and ran north-westward over the hilly country on the east of 
 the forest to the town of Ariconium, the great station of the 
 iron manufcictm-es of this district, a tine position, commanding 
 an extensive prospect over the surrounding country. Its site 
 is now called Weston, at a short distance to the south-east of 
 Ross. The road proceeded hence across the beautiful country 
 on the banks of the Wye, among hills covered with cinders and 
 iron furnaces, to the town of Blestium, which anticpiaries agree 
 in placing at Monmouth, on a bend of the river. Thence the 
 old road, continuing nearly in the same direction, carried the 
 traveller to Bnrrium, another considerable town, the remains 
 
 quie linp:ua Anglorum Grantacestir vocatur; et mox invenerunt juxta 
 muros civitatis locellum de niarmore albo pulcherrime factum, operculo 
 quoque similis lapidis aptissime tectum .’ — Bedce Hist. Eccl.^ lib. iv. 
 c. 19. 
 
 * See the recently published work on the Roman antiquities of Ciren- 
 cester, by Messrs Buckman and Newmarch, entitled ‘ Illustrations of the 
 Remains of Roman Art, in Cirencester, the site of Ancient Coriiiium.’ 
 
162 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 of wliicli \vdve been found at Usk. This beautiful country, and 
 all tlie southern coast of Wales, were well inhabited. After a 
 short stag’e the traveller arrived at the grand city of Isca, the 
 head-quarters of the second legion, remarkable for its theatre, 
 its temples, and its palaces.^ It stood on the river Usk, in a 
 deep bottom, surrounded by lofty bills. Part of its massive 
 walls still remain at Caerleon. The road proceeded lienee to a 
 station on the banks of the river Tibia {the Taaf), which it 
 crossed, and continued its course to the town of Bovium, which 
 is supposed to have stood at Ewenny, and to that of Nidum, 
 the name of which appears to be preserved in that of Neath. 
 A shorter stage than the two last brought the traveller to the 
 town of Leucarum, the name of which is again preserved in the 
 village of Llychwr, on the borders of the counties of Glamorgan 
 and Caerniarthen. Another stage conducted him to the more 
 important town of Maridunum, finely situated on a beautiful 
 river. Its site is occupied by the modern town of Caermarthen.f 
 Twenty Roman miles further west was a station, which was 
 probably of too little importance to have a name of its own, as 
 it is simply designated in the Itinerary as Ad Yigesimum, 
 which we may translate ‘ at the twentieth milestone.’ Its 
 site is supposed to be the spot now called Castle Flemish. 
 The traveller next arrived at the town of Menapia, represented 
 by the modern city of St David’s, on the point of the pro- 
 
 * Alarg-e portion of the buildings of Isca seem to have been standing in 
 the latter part of the twelfth century, when Giraldus wrote. He speaks oi 
 splendid palaces, a gigantic tower, public baths, a theatre, temples, sub- 
 terranean buildings, aquseducts, or sewers, and he remarks the ingenious 
 method of warming the houses by means of hypocausts ; ‘ Erat autem hiec 
 urbs antiqua et autentica, et a Romanis olim coctilibus muris egregie con- 
 structa. Videas hie multa pristinae nobilitatis adhuc vestigia ; palatia 
 immensa aureis olim tectorum fastigiis Romanos fastus imitantia, eo quod 
 a Romanis principibus primo constructa et sediticiis egregiis illustrata 
 fuissent ; turrim giganteam ; thermas insignes ; templorum reliquias ; et 
 loca theatralia muris egregiis partim adhuc extantibus, omnia clausa. 
 Reperies ubique, tarn intra murorum ambitum quani extra, aediticia sub- 
 terranea, aquarum ductus, hypogeosque meatus. Et quod inter alia notabile 
 censui, stuphas undique videas miro artificio consertas, lateralibus qui- 
 busdam et pra3angustis spiraculi viis occulte calorem exhalantibus.’ — 
 Girald. Camb.^ Itiner. Camhrice^ lib. i. c. 5. Recent discoveries of con- 
 siderable interest, made on the site of Isca, have been described by Mr 
 John Edward Lee, of Caerleon, in a quarto volume, entitled ‘ Delineations 
 of Roman Antiquities found at Caerleon,’ and in a supplementary volume, 
 entitled ‘ Description of a Roman Building and other Remains lately dis- 
 covered at Caerleon.’ 
 
 t The Roman walls of Maridunum were partly standing in the time of 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, who says ; ‘ Est igitur hsac urbs antiqua coctilibus 
 muris partim adhuc extantibus egregie clausa. — Itin. Camb.y lib. i. c. 10. 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 THE AYELSPI BORDER. 
 
 163 
 
 montory called by Ptolemy Octopitarum Promontorium. This 
 was one of the ports from whieh ships passed over into Ireland. 
 
 Prom Burrium, a branch road turned off to the north-east, 
 and carried the traveller towards the mountains of the interior 
 of Wales, until he reached, at the foot of lofty hills, a town of 
 no great magnitude, named Gobannium, which is supposed to 
 have occupied the site of the present town of Abergavenny. 
 Thence, returning eastwardly, he entered a fine open country 
 surrounded with hills, in the centre of winch was a town of 
 much larger dimensions, which probably, from that circumstance, 
 was called Magna. Its site is still to be found at Kenchester, 
 near Hereford, where its tesselated floors are found in digging. 
 The traveller here joined the direct road which had proceeded 
 from Ariconium, through the rich country now forming the 
 county of Hereford, to Magna, and thence it continued its 
 course northwardly to Bravinium, a Roman town, supposed to 
 have stood on the banks of the Teme, near the village of 
 Leintwardine. The road proceeded thence to Uriconium, or 
 Wroxeter, on the Severn,*^ and so continued its course north- 
 wardly. But the traveller might at Uriconium take the north- 
 eastern road, which has been followed before, to Rutunium, the 
 modern Row ton, or Ruyton, from whence another branch road 
 carried him first to a town named Bovium, and, at a later 
 period, Banchorium, which later name seems to be preserved 
 in that of the modern village of Bangor on the border of Plint- 
 shire, and thence to the great city of Deva, the station of the 
 twentieth legion, the interesting remains of whose labours. are 
 still found at Chester, on the Dee. 
 
 Deva, as may be supposed from its importance, both in a 
 military and in a commercial point of view, was the centre of 
 an extensive system of roads. One of these proceeding west- 
 wardly, carried the traveller first to Yarae, which stood at the 
 modern Bodfari, the pass through the range of mountains which 
 bound the Yale of CTwyd, and then to Conovium, a town, of 
 which the remains are found at Caer-hun in the vale of the 
 Conway, at the northern foot of the mountain range of Snow- 
 don. Another stage carried him to Segontium. If the tra- 
 veller had taken the western road from Deva, at the end of the 
 first stage, he would have reached the town of Coidate, sup- 
 posed to be Kinderton in Cheshire. Here he joined the 
 northern road from Uriconium, and proceeded by it to Man- 
 
 * See before, p. 150. 
 
 M 
 
164 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 cuiiiuin, now Manchester, and to the important town of Coccium, 
 the site of which is found at Eibchester, celebrated for its 
 Roman antiquities.^ The next town on this road was near the 
 sea, and was called, no doubt from the river on which it stood, 
 Ad Alaunam. Its site is now occupied by Lancaster. Roads 
 from tliis town and from Coccium met at Bremetonacm, which 
 has been placed at Overborough in Lancashire. Thence, in one 
 direction, the road continued straight to Bronovacse, and so 
 forwards to Luguballium. The other road turned into the lake 
 district, and proceeded first to the town of Galacum, supposed 
 to have stood at or near Kendal, then to Alonae, which has been 
 identified with Ambleside, at the head of Windermere, thence 
 to Galava, which is supposed to have occupied the site of the 
 modern town of Keswick, and so on to Glanoventa and the 
 coast towns at the entrance of the Solway. 
 
 From Coccium a road led eastwardly to the coast, where a 
 port-town named Portus Sistuntiorum is supposed to have 
 occupied the site of the town of Preckleton in Lancashire. 
 Eastwardly from Coccium this road passed over a ridge of hills 
 on the borders of Yorkshire, where, in one of the passes, was a 
 station named from them Ad Alpes Penninos, to a town appa- 
 rently of some importance called Olicana, now Ilkley in York- 
 shire, from whence there was a road direct to Isurium, and 
 another by Calcaria to Eburacum. Another road from Olicana 
 led the traveller back to Mancunium, which also was the centre 
 of several roads. One of these led eastward to Cambodunum, 
 which seems to be rightly placed at Slack in Yorkshire, whence 
 branch roads proceeded to Calcaria and to Danum. We will 
 return, however, by the southern road to Condate, whence the 
 road proceeded by another Mediolanum, which is placed at 
 Chesterton in Staffordshire, to Eteocetum, or Wall, on the 
 north-western road. Hence a road proceeded south, through 
 an intermediate station, of which the name is lost, to the town 
 of Saiinae, remarkable then for its salt-works and its salt-baths.f 
 
 * An altar found at Eibchester, and now preserved in St John’s College, 
 r ambridge, which has only recently been correctly read, seems to identity 
 Eibchester with Bremetonacse, in which case the Eoman topography of 
 this district requires a new investigation and arrangement. 
 
 t In a very curious Latin tract on the marvels of Britain, attached in 
 manuscript to the pretended history of Nennius, and as old, no doubt, as 
 the earlier part of the twelfth century, we have an account of a warm 
 bath at Wich, or Droit wich, the walls of which were built of tiles and 
 stones, and in which the bather always found the water of the temperature 
 he wished : ‘ Tertium miraculum ; stagnum calidum quod est in regione 
 
CHAP. V.] 
 
 WORCESTER. 
 
 165 
 
 Its site lias still the same eelebritv, and is called Droitwicli. 
 Ptolemy, at a much earlier period of the Roman rule, mentions 
 a town called Salinse, which he seems to place in the south of 
 Jnncolnshire • but this may possibly be an error of his copyists. 
 The Salinae of which we are speaking* was a place of import- 
 ance, on account of its salt trade, and several Roman roads are 
 still traced from it ; one of these led eastwardly, by another 
 town called Alaiina, now Alcester, on the river Alne in Warwick- 
 shire, crossing the river Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon. An- 
 other road led southerly, from Salinse to a town of which 
 the name is lost in the ancient Itinerary, but which we can 
 hardly doubt occupied the site of the modern city of Worcester. 
 This last place stood on the verge of the iron district, and seems 
 to have been distinguished by its forges, as Alauna was by ils 
 smiths.^ The road next crossed the Avon at a station named, 
 from the river. Ad Antonam, and so continued its course to 
 Glevum. The station on the Avon was the first stage in pro- 
 ceeding from Glevum to Alauna, and so to Benonse and Ratse, 
 and to Lindum. The road by Salinae and Eteocetum was also 
 continued northerly, to a town called — also, no doubt, from a 
 river — Ad Trivonam, supposed to have stood at Bury, in the 
 parish of Bramsion in Staffordshire. Thence the road pro- 
 ceeded to Derventio, which occupied the site of the hamlet of 
 
 Huich, et muro anibitur ex latere et lapide facto, et in eo vadunt homines 
 per onme teinpus ad lavandum, et unicuique sicut placuerit illi lavachruiu 
 sic fiat sibi secundum voluntatem suam ; si voluerit lavachrum frigidum, 
 erit, si calidum, calidum erit.’ 
 
 * A very curious legend relating to the destruction of this town, is given 
 in the life of St Egwin, the founder of Evesham, in Capgrave’s ‘ Nova 
 Legenda Anglias.’ The inhabitant^, we are told, were an arrogant race, 
 given to every kind of luxury. ‘ Erat namque juxta Eovesham ad octo- 
 milliaria castrum Alnecester, regale tunc mansum, cujus loci habitatores 
 quanto rerum opulentia et temporalium abundantia affluebant tanto magis 
 gula8 et luxuriae dediti, studentes avaritiae et cupiditati misericordia Dei 
 se indignos efficiebant.’ — They were principally workers in iron, and when 
 tlie saint came to preach to them, in contempt of his doctrine they beat 
 upon their anvils with a great noise. — ‘ Et cum castrum illud veluti 
 nernoribus undique consitum contlandi ferrum locus esset aptissimus, et 
 fabris et ferri exclusoribus maxi me repleretur, gens incredula incudes 
 ferreis malleis tanto strepitu contiaue percutiebat, ut beati viri sermo non 
 audiretur et a castro recedere cogitaretur.’ — Upon this, he addressed his 
 prayers to^ Heaven, — ‘ contra artem fabrilem castri illius dominum impre- 
 catus est.’ — And the town was immediately destroyed. ‘ Et ecce subito 
 castrum ipsum terra absorbuit, ita quod novo super veteri qualitercumque 
 reaediticato usque in hodiernum diem in constructione novaruin domoruni 
 in fundamentis antiqua aediticia reperiuntur. Nunquam enini postea in 
 loco illo aliquis artem fabrilem recte exercuit, nec aliquis earn exercere 
 volens ibi v.gere potuit.’ 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V 
 
 ir>G 
 
 Little Cliester on the Derwent. The road now entered the 
 great mining district of the mountains of the Peak, and con- 
 ducted the traveller to the town of Liitudarum, now Chester- 
 field, where the metals were brought to be transported to the 
 south or the north. The road continued its course thence 
 through the town of Morbium, supposed by some to have 
 occupied the site of the modern Templeborough in Yorkshins 
 to Legiolium, and so on to the city of Eburacum. Morbium 
 was on the western coast, a Notitia station, it is identified in 
 Moresby by an inscription recording the Cataphracteridm located 
 tliere.^ 
 
 The central districts of Roman Rritain appear to have been 
 traversed in every direction by cross roads. The traveller, in 
 liis return to the south, when he reached Eteocetum, might 
 turn by the great road south-eastward towards Londinium, till 
 he reached Tripontium, whence he turned off, by Benaventa and 
 Isannavaria, south-westward to the town of Brinavm, which is 
 believed to have stood at a place called Black Ground, near 
 Chipping Norton, where considerable remains are found. The 
 country he now entered was thickly populated, and seems to 
 have been covered with small towns and elegant villas. Two 
 of the former stood near together at Bicester and Alcester, in 
 Oxfordshire. The latter is considered to be the Roman ^Elia 
 Castra, the next station on this road, which proceeded thence 
 over Ottmoor to Dorocina, which is identified with Dorchester 
 in Oxfordshire. Six Roman miles hence the road passed the 
 Thames to a station which, if we could suppose the number in 
 the old Itinerary was wrong, might be the post on Sinodun Hill, 
 which has been celebrated for its antiquities ever since the days 
 of Leland,t otherwise we must either place it at or near Wall- 
 ingford. The Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester calls it Tamesis. 
 Hence the road proceeded direct to Calleva, but the Itinerary 
 mentions no intermediate station. 
 
 The traveller from the metropolis passed through this city on 
 
 * Horseby is in error in placing all these towns and stations in clo^e 
 sequence. There seems to have been a station at Templeborough, but the 
 name is not known. 
 
 t ‘ From AFalingford to Sinodune a mile and a half. This place is 
 wonderful dikid about, and stondith on a hille in Barkshir, hanging over 
 the Tamise. It is yn by estimation half a mile. And withyn it hath 
 beene sum toune, or, as the commune voice sayith, a castello in the 
 Britannes tyme, defacid by lyklihod by the Danes. At this tyme it berith 
 very plentifullye both barley and whete, and numismata Romanornm be 
 ther found yn ploughyng. About this Sinodune begiimith the fruteful 
 Vale of Whitehorse.’ — Leland' s Itin.^ vol. ii. p. 14. 
 
CHAP. V.] TOWNS IN THE SOUTHERN DISTRICTS. 
 
 1G7 
 
 liis way to tlie western extremities of the island. From Calleva 
 lie had a choice of two routes ; one led him to the southern 
 Yenta, or, as it was called, from the tribe in whose district it 
 stood, Venta Eelo*arum, an important town, represented by the 
 modern city of Winchester. Hence the same road proceeded 
 to the post of Clausentum, now Bittern, on the Southampton 
 Water, from whence he migdit sail over to the Isle of Vectis, or 
 Wight. Between Venta and Clausentum was a small town or 
 station called Ad Lapidem.^ Another road proceeded westward 
 from Venta to the town of Brigis, or Brige, supposed to have 
 stood at or near Broughton, in Hampshire, and soon after leav- 
 ing this place the traveller approached the commanding fortifi- 
 cations of Sorbiodunum, surrounding the summit of a bold hill 
 in the midst of a valley, and now called Old Sarum. The other 
 road from Calleva ran direct by a town called Vindomis, sup 
 posed to have stood near Finkley beyond Whitchurch and 
 St Mary Bourne, over the eastern part of Salisbury Plain to 
 Sorbiodunum. The main road, leaving Sorbiodunum, proceed- 
 ed to a town called Y^indogladia, the traces of which are believed 
 to be visible on the Dorsetshire Downs, near the Gussages, in 
 the neighbourhood of Blandford. The next town of importance 
 was Durnovaria, now Dorchester, but there appears to have been 
 an intermediate station, the name of which is lost. The road 
 now passed nearer the coast, and, after a long stage, in which 
 there were probably some intermediate stations the names of 
 which are not known, reached the town of Moridunum, placed 
 by some at Honiton and by others at Seaton, and then pursued 
 its course to the western Isca, called, from the British tribe 
 which inhabited the district, Isca Dumnoniorum, a rich and 
 important city on the borders of the mining districts. Its repre- 
 sentative is the modern Exeter, remarkable for the number of 
 Roman antiquities which have been from time to time dug up 
 in it. The road next made a bend southward to avoid the 
 wilds of Dartmoor, crossed the river Durius (the Bart), where 
 there was a station, and there appear to have been others 
 
 * This place, which no doubt received its name from some remarkable 
 monumental stone which was standing in the time of the Anglo-Saxons, 
 was still known by its Roman name in the time of Bede, who tells us how 
 the two young brothers of Oswald, king of Wight, were carried thither to 
 be concealed from their enemies — perhaps among the ruins of the ancient 
 town ; ‘ Ubi cumdelati essent in locum qui vocatur Ad Lapidem, occuleii- 
 dos se a facie regis victoris credidissent.’ — Bed. Hist. Ecc., lib. iv. c. 16. 
 The memory of the monument that gave name to the Roman station, seeiiis 
 to be pieserved in its present name of Stoneham. 
 
1G8 
 
 THE liOMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 where the road crossed the rivers Tamara (the Tamar), A^oluha 
 (the Fowey), and Cenia ( the Fat), on its way to the extremity 
 of Cornwall. This was a wild country, and perhaps thinly in- 
 habited. 
 
 The extensive and rich district between Sorbiodunum and 
 Gleviim was covered in every direction with extensive and 
 magnificent villas, marking it out as the most fasliionable part 
 of the island. In its centre stood a city remarkable for its 
 splendid edifices, its temples, its buildings for public amuse- 
 ment, and still more so for its medicinal baths. Tor this latter 
 reason it was called Aquae Solis, the AYaters of the Sun, and for 
 the same cause its representative in modern times has received 
 the name of Bath. Bemains of the Homan bathing-houses have 
 been discovered in the course of modern excavations. Among 
 its temples was a magnificent one dedicated to Minerva, who is 
 supposed to have been the patron goddess of the place. ^ From 
 inscriptions found at different periods, it appears that military 
 commanders, high municipal officers, and other persons of rank, 
 frequented this city for the benefit of its waters, and, perhaps, to 
 mix in its fashionable society. 
 
 As might be expected. Aquae Solis was the centre of many 
 roads, which communicated with every part of the island. One 
 road went northwardly to Corinium (Clrencestei) , whence the 
 traveller might proceed across the island to Lindum (Lincoln), 
 or he might go to Glevum (Gloucester) and to the towns on the 
 Severn, or he might turn eastward towards London. The road 
 from Corinium to Aquae Solis continued its course southwardly 
 from the latter place to another bathing town called Ad Aquas, 
 and now known by the someAvhat similar name of Wells. Here 
 the road separated into two branches, one of Avhich proceeded 
 to a town called, from the river on which it stood. Ad Uxellam, 
 now Bridgewater, and thence to Isca (Exeter ) ; the other led by 
 a town of some importance named Ischalis, now Ilchester, to 
 Aloridunum on the southern coast. The traveller, who woidd 
 proceed direct from Londinium to Aquae Solis, followed the 
 western road till he reached the town of Spiuae (Speen), where 
 
 * The temple of Minerva, at Bath, is mentioned by Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth (Hist. Brit., lib. ii. c. 10), and it was, perhaps, standing in his 
 time. The ruins of it were found in the course of excavations for the found- 
 ations of a new Pump Room, at the close of the last century. A magnifi- 
 cent volume on the Roman antiquities of Bath, was published by Samuel 
 Lysons, and forms a part of his Reliquiae Romano- Britannicce. Leland 
 {Itin., vol. ii. p. 34) describes a considerable number of Roman sculptures 
 then (in the time of Henry YIII.) built up in the town-walls of Bath. 
 
3IIAP. Y.l 
 
 SOUTH WALES. 
 
 169 
 
 he turned oft’ by a branch road which led him by the towns of 
 Cunetio, the site of which has been traced, by Eoman anti- 
 quities found there, at Folly Farm, near Marlborougdi, and Yer- 
 lucio, which, for similar reasons, has been fixed at Hig'hfield, in 
 Sandy Lane, near Heddington, to Aqum Solis. From Aqum 
 the same road was continued to a station on the Avon called Ad 
 Abonam, or Abona, which seems to be correctly placed at Bit- 
 ton, and thence to another post on the banks of the Avon, 
 where it enters the Bristol Channel, thence called Ad Sabrinam, 
 and believed to have stood at Sea-Mills, a short distance from 
 Bristol. Hence was the trajectus, or passage, across the estu- 
 ary, and the traveller landed on the opposite coast at a station 
 called Ad Trajectum, supposed to have stood on a spot now 
 called Severn-Side. He now entered upon the great road 
 through Wales, called still by the Welsh the Sarn Helen, or 
 road of Helen, from a notion that a Eoman empress of that 
 name caused it to be made. A short stage brought him to a 
 strongly fortified town, name Yenta, and often, to distinguish it 
 from other towns of the same name in the island, Yenta Silurum. 
 Its walls are still seen at Caerwent. If he liked he might pro- 
 ceed hence to Isca (^Caerleon), and so along the southern road, 
 which is called by some old writers the Yia Julia, to Menapia ; 
 but his direct road lay by Burrium [Usk)^ and Gobannium 
 {Ahei'gavenny), whence the Sarn Helen is distinctly traced across 
 the mountains to the Luentinum of Ptolemy, which, from its 
 remains that have been discovered at Llanio, in Cardiganshire, 
 seems to have been an important post, and thence in a direc- 
 tion parallel to the western coast up to Conovium and Segon- 
 tium. 
 
 One road only remains to be noticed. When the traveller 
 was at Clausentum, on the Southampton river, he might have 
 returned eastward along the coast. The first stage on this road 
 carried him to Portus Magnus, the extensive and massive walls 
 of which are still standing at Porchester. The next stage brought 
 him to Eegnum, a large town, represented by the modern Chi- 
 chester. Where the road passed the river Avon was a station, 
 probably a mere posting place, called, from its distance from 
 Eegnum, Ad Decimum, but of which no traces are left to mark 
 its site. The road then carried him to the important port of 
 Anderida, which there can hardly be a doubt is Pevensey, 
 a place remarkable for its imposing remains of Eoman build- 
 dings.^ A road went hence across the AVvrald to Novioma- 
 
 * Considerable excavations were made in the Roman area at Pevensey, 
 
170 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V. 
 
 gus and Londiuium, having a station in the midst of the forest, 
 which from it was called Silva Anderida. The coast road, after 
 leaving Anderida, proceeded to a post, or station, on the Lymne 
 river, named Ad Lemannm, and then running across the land to 
 avoid the low marshes on the coast, about ten miles further it 
 readied the Portus Lemanis, at the place now called from it 
 Lymne, where so many interesting discoveries have recently been 
 made.^ The road next passed behind Folkestone, where, though 
 not mentioned in the Itinerary, there was probably a small town, 
 perhaps the elevated entrenchments now called popularly Csesar’s 
 Camp, which contained a lighthouse or pharos. At the next station, 
 Dubrse, now Dover, the pliaros itself, within somewhat similar 
 entrenchments, is still standing. The road now conducted the 
 traveller to Rutupise, whence, having thus traversed the whole 
 island, and viewed the excellence of its roads, its flourishing 
 towns, the highly-cultivated plains of the interior, its forests and 
 mountains rich in mineral productions and game, he might em- 
 bark and return to Gaul. 
 
 in 1852, under the direction of Mr Roach Smith, and have been described 
 in his ‘ Report on Excavations made upon the site of the Roman Castrum 
 at Pevensey, in Sussex, in 1852,’ 4to, 1858. 
 
 * The account of the recent excavations on this interesting site is given 
 in Mr Roach Smith’s ‘ Antiquities of Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne,’ 
 and in a separate volume by the same well-known antiquary, entitled a 
 ‘ Report on Excavations made on the site of the Roman castrum at Lymne 
 in Kent, in 1850,’ 4to, 1852. 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE ROMAN TOWNS. 
 
 171 
 
 CPIAPTER YL 
 
 A Roman Town in Britain — Its Walls, Towers, and Gates — Materials and 
 Modes of Construction — The Houses — Their Plan and Arranp^ement 
 — The Tesselated Pavements and Frescoed Walls — Method of AVarm- 
 ing the Houses ; the Hypocausts — The Baths — AVindows and Roofs 
 — Distribution of the Houses in Streets — Public Buildings ; Temples, 
 Basilicse, Theatres, Amphitheatres— The Suburbs and Burial-places 
 — Sanitary Arrangements; Sewers, Rubbish-pits. — The Language of 
 Britain. 
 
 We liave seen in the precedino- chapter liow thickly Roman 
 P)ritain Avas studded with towns, even if we only reckon those 
 marked in the official Itineraries, which have perhaps come down 
 to us themselves in an imperfect form. When Ave look, on one 
 hand, at the description of Britain in the anonymous cosmogra- 
 phy of the seventh century, Avhere many names occur that are 
 not mentioned elsewhere ; and when we consider, on the other 
 hand, the numerous sites of Roman towns or stations that may 
 still be traced in different parts of the island, which are not 
 mentioned in the Itineraries, Ave are still more struck Avith the 
 picture of Roman Britain as it thus presents itself to us. The 
 English reader of the nineteenth century Avill naturally be curi- 
 ous to have some notion of the appearance of these toAvns, and 
 of their comparative magnitude and comforts ; and fortunately, 
 although much remains to be done by the antiquary in this re- 
 spect, accidental discoveries have furnished iiSAvith considerable 
 materials for gratifying his Avish. 
 
 We havK no means of ascertaining the periods at Avhich, or 
 the circumstances under which, the Roman toAvns in Britain 
 were built. The Roman Camulodunum Ave knoAv was founded 
 by a body of disbanded veterans, and the other towns seem to 
 have been built in the same manner by bodies of troops, Romans 
 or auxiliaries, as they advanced in the occupation of the island. 
 We learn from the earlier historians, that, though the troops had 
 here and there fortitied stations — cadia or castella — the toAvns 
 
172 
 
 [chap. ti. 
 
 THE R0MAX.=5. 
 
 were not siiiTOuiuIed with walls. S-uch was the case with Camn- 
 lodunum, Londiniiiin, and Yerulaininm. But subsequently — 
 we cannot fix the period, though it was no doubt at the time 
 when the towns rose into political importance — they were all 
 surrounded with walls, and these walls, which were so massive 
 in character that in some instances they have outlived sixteen 
 centuries, must have formed so prominent an object in the out- 
 ward appearance of the town, that they will naturally first attract 
 our attention. 
 
 The more usual form of the enclosure, following that of the 
 Roman camp, was a parallelogram more or less elongated, but 
 in some cases, especially in large towns, such as Calleva (Sll- 
 chester), Magna \Kencliester') , Uriconium (Wroxeter), and per- 
 haps Durovernum {Canterbury)^ the walls inclosed an area of a 
 very irregular form. When the town stood on the coast, or on 
 the banks of a large river, there were usually walls only on three 
 sides, the side to the sea or river being open. Brom their 
 ruinous condition in modern times, we are imperfectly acquainted 
 Avith the altitude of the walls of the Roman towns in Britain. 
 The Avails of Rutupiae {Richboroiigh), Avhere most perfect, are 
 nearly thirty feet high, but this Avas perhaps an unusual eleva- 
 tion. The Avails of Gariannonum (Burgh in Suffolk), Avhere 
 they appear to be of nearly their original height, have an ele- 
 vation of only fourteen feet. The great Avail of Hadrian Avas 
 not above eighteen or nineteen feet high. The highest part of 
 tlie Avail at Lymne is about tAventy-three feet. At Lymne, the 
 Avails are about fourteen feet thick ; those at Richborough are 
 at the bottom between eleven and tAvelve feet thick, and diminish 
 slightly toAvards the top ; Avhile those at Burgh, in Suflblk, are 
 not more than nine feet in thickness 
 
 The Avails Avere supported at the corners, and at ceiiain dis- 
 tances along their face, by toAvers, either square or round. At 
 Richborough, there Avere round toAvers at the corners, and tAvo 
 square towers at each side wall. The round toAvers have been 
 here so entirely destroyed that their existence Avas only ascer- 
 tained by excavations. The cut on the next page represents the 
 loAA^er part of the toAver at the south-west angle, as thus brought 
 to light, Avith a part of the adjacent Avail. It Avill be seen that 
 the angle of the wall Avas built first, and that the tower, Avhich, 
 as far as it remains, is a solid mass of masonry, was added 
 afterwards. The square toAvers along the face of the Avail seem 
 to liaA^e been attached much in the same Avay ; they projected 
 only about eight feet from the Avall^ and Avere solid to the height 
 
CH.-1F. Ti.j TOWEKS AND GATEWAYS. 176 
 
 of eight feet from the foiiiulatiou, after which they were hollow 
 in the centre and they were built into the main wall at tlm 
 
 Wall and Tower at Richborough {BiUupitv), 
 
 top. This was probably tlie case with the round towers also. 
 At Burgh Castle tlie towers are all round, and they are singular 
 in their construction. From the foundation to about one half 
 their elevation, that is, to the height of about seven feet, they 
 are entirely detached from the wall, but at tliat height they 
 become enlarged in diameter, so as to join to the wall. They 
 consist of solid masonry, with the exception of a hole in the 
 centre of the upper surface, two feet deep, and as many wide, 
 the object of which is by no means evident. The towers at 
 Lymne appear to have been quite solid. The most perfect of 
 them is represented in the cut on the next page. It remains 
 about ten feet in height, and seems, like those at Eichborough, 
 to have been built separate from the wall ; the other towers at 
 Lymne have been segments of circles, joined to the wall. In 
 other instances we find no round towers, but only square but- 
 tresses ; at Aldborough and York these seem to have been small 
 hollow towers. At Caerwent the wall is supported by a series 
 of pentagonal towers or buttresses, perfectly solid, and built up 
 against the wall, and not into it, though they may have been 
 attached at the top. At York, the large multangular tower 
 which occupied one corner of the walls is still standing. 
 
174 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 Each fortress or town had generally one principal entrance 
 gate, wliich, for its importance, was usually called the decuman 
 gate {£Jorta decumand). Sufficient remains of the principal 
 
 gateway have been preserved in very few instances in Britain to 
 enable us to understand its form, probably because it was often 
 composed, more or less, of larger stones, which offered a tempt- 
 ation to mediaeval builders. At Lymne, the great entrance 
 gateway stood about the middle of the eastern wall. It con- 
 sisted of two semicircular solid towers, with the gate probably 
 in a curtain between them. It was raised upon a solid plat- 
 form of immense stones, and, when recently uncovered, the 
 stones which formed the pavement bore distinct impressions, 
 worn by the wheels of the carriages which had passed over 
 them. Our engraving represents the ruins of this gateway as 
 they appeared after the earth which covered them had been dug 
 away. The lower part of the tower on the left was well pre- 
 served, and the stones of the lower course of the other Avere 
 in their place when first opened, but they were soon cleared 
 away or covered, and the tower is only represented by a small 
 mound of shapeless masonry. The stones, partly displaced, 
 which formed the platform, are seen in front ; the stones of the 
 gateway were thrown in confusion in a deep hollow behind. 
 Some of them appeared by their mouldings to have formed the 
 
-Ruins of the Gate at Lymne (Portm Lemanis). 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 EOMAX TOWN GATES. 
 
 1 i t 
 
 lintels ; one seemed to be the base of a column, and in others 
 were found holes still containins^ masses of lead which had fixed 
 the ironwork of the hinges of the gate. On the left is seen 
 the wall as it joined up to the gateway tower. The most 
 singular circumstance in the structure of this gateway was the 
 manner in which the semicircular towers joined the wall. The 
 latter was cut off vertically at right angles, and the corner of 
 the tower joined the corner of the wall, so that the inner flat 
 surface of the tower was in a line with the outer surface of the 
 wall. Thus the tower and the wall did not support each other, 
 and if there was nothing else to strengthen them, an enemy 
 might have broken his way through the point of junction with 
 the greatest ease. This, however, is probably to be explained 
 by supposing that the gate itself was an edifice built of large 
 blocks of stone, and forming the continuation of the wall, and 
 that the two towers were only facings or supports to it. 
 
 The decuman gate at Richborough was in the middle of the 
 western wall, and excavations have shown that it also stood 
 on a platform of large stones. The wall adjoining to it has 
 been much damaged and broken, but it appears to have been 
 cut through by a small opening in its whole height, in which 
 opening a gateway was built of larger stones. There are no 
 traces of its having had towers as at Lymne. At Pevensey 
 (A/tderlda) , the prineipal gateway stood at one corner of the 
 angular area, and had side towers, as at Lymne. The founda- 
 tions of the buildings of this gateway have been laid open in 
 the eourse of recent excavations. The most perfect example 
 of a Roman gateway now existing in this country is that called 
 the Portway gate, at Lincoln, which is represented in our cut 
 on the next page. It will be seen at once that this differs 
 essentially from those we have been describing, and in fact it 
 is not the decuman or principal gate of the Roman city of 
 Lindum, but one of the subonliuate entrances. The two actual 
 entrances, one for carriages and the other for foot passengers, 
 are well preserved, and the wall, running off inwardly at right 
 angles between them, appears to have formed part of the portal 
 buildings, containing guard-rooms and other offices. At Col- 
 chester, Mr Roaeh Smith diseovered very interesting remains 
 of the buildings attached to one of the gates of Camulodunum. 
 It was the gate on the west side of the town, and consisted of 
 a chief entrance for horses and carriages, and a subordinate 
 archway, apparently on each side, for foot passengers. It was 
 protected by advanced bastions. The chief entrance was not 
 
17 a 
 
 THE KOMAXS. 
 
 [CIIAP. VI. 
 
 quite twelve feet wide. The subordinate arcliway on the rio’lu 
 hand on entering* is preserved in comparatively a perfect state, 
 the upper part of it entirely composed of long tiles. By the 
 
 side of it is a room in the form of a quadrant, twenty-six feet 
 in length by fourteen in width, entered by a large arched door- 
 way, and which, there can be little doubt, was a guard-room. 
 At Borcovicus {Housesteads)^ on the wall of Hadrian, the gate- 
 ways, especially that on the western side, remain in a state in 
 which we can easily understana their details. This western 
 gateway had two portals or passages, with a square guard-room 
 on each side. Its outer face was level with the wall of the 
 station, and each portal led through a passage which extended 
 the depth of the two guard-rooms, which were entered by doors 
 from the passage. At Colchester, the entrance to the guard - 
 room was not from the passage, but from the interior wall. 
 ‘ This gateway,’ says Mr Collingwood Bruce, speaking of the 
 entrance to Borcovicus, ‘ as well as the others which liave 
 been explored, is, in every sense of tlie word, double. Two 
 walls must be passed before the station can be entered ; each 
 is provided with two portals, and each portal has been closed 
 with two-leaved gates. The southern entrance of the outside 
 wall has alone, as yet, been entirely cleared of the masonry 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 AVALLED TOAVNS. 
 
 179 
 
 wbicli closed it. The jamhs and pillars are foriiied of massive 
 stones of rustic masonry. The doors, if we may judge from 
 the fragments of corroded iron which have been lately picked 
 up, were of Avood, strengthened with iron plates and studs ; 
 they moved, as is apparent from the pivot-holes, upon pivots 
 of iron. In the centre of each portal stands a strong upright 
 stone, against Avhich the gates have shut. Some of the large 
 projecting stones of the exterior wall are worn as if by the 
 sharpening of knives upon them ; this has probably been done 
 by the occupants of the suburban buildings after the closing 
 of the gateway. The guard-chambers on each side are in a 
 state of choice preservation, one of the walls standing fourteen 
 courses high.* Were a roof put on them, the antiquary might 
 here stand guard, as the Tiingrians did of old, and, for a while, 
 forget that the world is sixteen centuries older than it was 
 when these chambers were reared.’ 
 
 Besides these larger gateways, there were posterns and smaller 
 gateways, more or less numerous, according to the extent of the 
 walls. At Bichboroiigh there is a well-preserved postern gate, 
 of a peculiar construction, in the middle of the north-eastern 
 wall. The gate is covered by an advanced wall, which outwardly 
 has the appearance of a large square tower. The entrance is on 
 one side, and runs first by the side of the main wall and between 
 it and the advanced wall, and then turns at a right angle through 
 the main wall into the iiiclosure. It appears to have been open 
 to the top, Avithout any covering. At Lymne there appear to 
 have been several small portals, and some of what were outwardly 
 semicircular towers had small chambers below. 
 
 From the dilapidated state in Avhich the Avails of the Homan 
 stations in this country now present themselves, Ave cannot form 
 a perfect idea of their appearance Avhen entire. The Avails of 
 Chester, and probably those of other places, Avere crowned Avith 
 an ornamental coping, above Avhich perhaps rose battlements. 
 There is an illuminated MS. of the Psalter in the British 
 Museum (MS. Hark, No. 603), Avhich appears to belong to the 
 latter end of the Anglo-Saxon period, and in Avhich Ave find 
 several pictures of walled towns, no doubt either copied from 
 much more ancient drawings of such objects, or representing 
 the Avails as they Avere still seen. In either case, though they 
 are often defective in regard to perspective, and the artist, by a 
 conventional mode of treating his subject Avhich Avas common 
 in the middle ages, represents the buildings of the interior only 
 by a temple or public edifice, these pictures no doubt give us a 
 
180 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VI . 
 
 tolerably accurate notion of tlie appearance which the Avails of a 
 Roman town must have presented. Onr engraving represents 
 a part of one of these pictures, in which the mode of represent- 
 ing the sun (Apollo) is peculiarly classical. The serpentine 
 figure in the interior is intended to represent Avater running in 
 two streams from a pond or reservoir. The supporting tOAvers, 
 Avith the exception of those of the gateAvay, are here square, and 
 they all appear to be, like those in our Roman remains, solid up 
 to a certain height. The diminishing of the gateway towers, as 
 they rise, is also to be remarked. The principal gateway at 
 Lymne must, Avhen entire, haAm borne a close resemblance to 
 th^^ one in this picture. Another similar gateAvay is shown in 
 
 Sketch of an ancient Town-wall, from MS. Harl. No. 603. 
 
 the smaller cut annexed, taken from the same manuscript. The 
 supporting toAvers are here round, still solid at the bottom, and 
 terminating at the top in the same manner as those of the gate- 
 Avay. The opening at the bottom of the tower to the right is 
 probably intended to represent a postern entrance, rather than 
 a loAv Avindow. 
 
 The masonry of Roman buildings in this country is univers- 
 ally good, and the materials Avell chosen and Avell prepared. 
 The tOAvn Avails generally consist of tAAm parallel facings of stones 
 and tiles, the interior filled up Avith a mass of mortar mixed 
 with rubble and other materials. The stone for building may 
 be generally traced to neighbouring quarries ; but if none good 
 enough is found in the neighbourhood, it Avas often brought 
 from a considerable distance. Some of the stone used for build- 
 ing at Richborough is supposed to have been brought over from 
 

CHAP. VI. J 
 
 FACING STONES. 
 
 133 
 
 Graul. The careful and exact manner ui wliicli even tlie small 
 facing stones of the walls are squared, shows them to be the 
 work of excellent masons. In general, these facing stones are 
 slightly wedge-shaped, the smaller end being placed towards 
 the interior of the wall, which seems to have been intended to 
 give them a better hold on the mortar. In Hadrian’s Wall, the 
 lacing stones, which taper towards the inner extremity consider- 
 ably, are remarkably long in comparison to the size of the face 
 which presents itself outwardly ; tin' latter being nsnally eight 
 or nine inches by ten or eleven, while the length inwardly is as 
 niuch as twenty inches. Tliis was no doubt designed for 
 strength. The part of the stone exposed to the weather was 
 cut across what masons call the bait, to hinder its scaling off 
 by the lines of stratification. The facings of the stones in 
 Hadrian’s Wall are sometimes roiigldy tooled, or, as it is tech- 
 nically termed, scabbed with the pick ; and in some parts of the 
 line this tooling takes a definite form. Sometimes the pattern 
 tins formed consists of upright, or nearly upright, lines ; at other 
 
 Facings of Stones, Hadrian’s 'Wall. 
 
 times the stone is scored with waved lines, or with small squares, 
 and with other designs. Of the three examples here given, the 
 one in the middle, which is usually termed diamond-broaching, 
 is the most common. The masons’ marks are often found on the 
 stones in Roman buildings, and resemble most closely those of 
 the masons of the middle ages. Sometimes they consist of a 
 letter, perhaps the initial of the mason’s name ; but they are 
 more usually crosses, triangles, and other geometrical figures. 
 The cut in the next page represents four of the more commun 
 masons’ marks on the Wall of Hadriau. 
 
 One of the most remarkable characteristics of Roman building 
 was the extensive use of bricks, or, perhaps more properly 
 speaking, tiles ; for the latter word, as we now understand it, 
 expresses more accurately the form of the Roman building tiles. 
 They are always fiat, generally from half an inch to an inch, or 
 even two inches, in thickness, and the smaller tiles are generally 
 
 N 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CKA?. vr. 
 
 iS4 
 
 Masons’ Marks, Hadrian’s Wall. 
 
 about seven iiielies square. But others are found consi(leral)ly 
 larg-er, and these are often mucb longer than broad. The old 
 writers, sucli as Pliny and Vitruvius, give exact directions for 
 the making of tiles, and in those found in England the clay has 
 evidently been prepared and tempered with great care , they are 
 most commonly of a dark red colour, but in others the colour is 
 much brighter, and tiles of the two colours are mixed together 
 in a regular arrangement, no doubt for the purpose of ornament. 
 Our cut on the next page represents a group of the different 
 sorts of tiles most commonly used in Roman buildings in Bri- 
 tain. In front are three ordinary building tiles, of different 
 shapes and dimensions ; one, taken from the remains of a house 
 found at Dover {Dahr^E), has four holes, which had been used 
 in some way or other to fix it in its place. The two standing 
 behind are flue tiles, for the passage of air or water. These are 
 always scored, in patterns of great variety, apparently for the 
 purpose of being fixed more tenaciously by the mortar. Many 
 of them, for purposes which will be explained hereafter, hav^ 
 square holes at the sides. The tile Ij^ng fiat on the left has its 
 edges turned, or, as it is technically termed, flanged, and was 
 used principally for roofing, though we find these flanged tiles 
 employed sometimes for forming the body of drains, and they 
 are not unfrequently met with in the bonding courses of walls, 
 probably when the builders fell short of the regular building 
 tiles.* The other is a ridge tile. 
 
 * An example of this will be found in the cut on p. 174. from Lymne, 
 wherA there is a row of flanged tiles in the walls adjacent to the tower. 
 
HOMAN TILES. 
 
 1S6 
 
 CT»A»* \T.J 
 
 The ordinary building-tiles often bear inscriptions indicating 
 the troops or officials, by whom, or under whose directions, the 
 
 Roman Tiles. 
 
 buildings were erected. This is especially the case with the 
 different legions. Thus at Chester {Leva) the tiles bear the 
 name and title of the twentieth legion, leg. xx. v. v, (Jegio xx. 
 valens inctrix) ; at Caerleon {Isca) and the stations thereabouts, 
 and in South Wales, we find tiles with tlie inscription leg. ii. 
 A.VG. {legio ii. Angusta)', and at York 
 (Elmracum) the inscriptions on the tiles 
 are leg. vi. vict. (legio vi. victrix), and 
 r,EG. IX. Hisp. {legio ix. Hispanica). At 
 T.ymne and Dover, on the Kentish coast, 
 the usual inscription on the tiles is cl. 
 
 Bii., which is supposed to mean clamarii 
 Britannici, the marines of the British 
 fleet. The inscriptions on tiles found in 
 London are more difficult of interpreta- 
 tion. They read prb. lon, or ppbr. lon, 
 or as it occurs in one case, p. pii. br. 
 
 This latter form of the inscription occurs 
 on a flanged tile, found in excavations 
 in the city, which is represented in the annexed cut. The 
 most probable interpretation is that which explains it as 
 ■proprcBtor Britannice Londinii^ the Propraetor of Britain at 
 Loudinium. This inscription has thus a peculiar interest, as 
 
 Flanged Tile fruiii 
 London. 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 186 
 
 [CHAP. VI. 
 
 showing that Roman London was the seat of government of 
 the province. 
 
 The tiles were probably made in the neighbourhood of tlie 
 buildings in which they were used, and the brick-yards seem to 
 have been unenclosed, for we find on the surfaces of many of 
 them the indentations not only of the feet of men, but of a 
 considerable variety of animals which have passed over them 
 before they were baked. On bricks found at Wroxeter 
 (‘onium), we find the footsteps of several kinds of dogs, of 
 sheep, of goats, and of pigs. The tile to the right in the 
 annexed cut, which was found at Wroxeter, has the prints of 
 the feet of a dog; the other, from an extensive Roman villa, 
 at Linley Hall, near Bishop’s Castle, in Shropshire, presents 
 the impressions of the two shoes of a man who has stood upon 
 it. They are remarkable for their numerous and large nails, 
 The tiles found at Wroxeter also present impressions of the feet 
 of a cow, and of those of apparently a colt. 
 
 As stated before, the Romans chose good stones for their 
 buildings, and squared them and fitted them together with 
 great care, and even where the facings of their walls have been 
 exposed to the air so many centuries, if not injured by the 
 hands of man, they preserve a remarkable freshness of appear- 
 ance. But wherever they have been buried by the accumula- 
 tion of soil, when the earth is removed the masonry appears as 
 fresh as if it had been the work of yesterday. Such was the 
 case with the town walls at Lymne, as well as the lower parts 
 of the walls at Richborough as shown in our cut on p. 173. 
 (in the walls of Cilurnum. on Hadrian’s Wall, as on those of 
 
CfiAP. VI.] 
 
 KOMAN WALLS. 
 
 187 
 
 Pe\^erisey, the marks of the trowel on the mortar are still dis- 
 tinctly visible, and our cut annexed shows the regular appear- 
 ance of the masonry at another station on the wall, Borcovicus, 
 as it appeared when uncovered. 
 
 Wall at Housesteads in Northumberland {Borcovic'us), 
 
 This latter is a very good example of Homan masonry. Tlie 
 walls, even in houses, liatl generally one or two set-off courses 
 of stone at the bottom. There were two, as we here see, in the 
 walls of Borcovicus, and this seems to have been gCRerally the 
 case on the line of Hadrian’s Wall. In some instances the 
 second course was bevelled off into a moulding. At Rich- 
 borough, as shown in our cut on page 173, there was one foot- 
 ing course bevelled off in this manner. In the Wall of Hadrian, 
 as we are informed by Mr Bruce, the foundation had been pre- 
 pared by the removal of the natural soil to the width of about 
 nine feet. This excavation was at most from fifteen to eighteen 
 inches deep. On tlie outer and inner margins of the ground 
 thus bared, two rows of flags, of from two to four inches in 
 thicTness, and eighteen to twenty in breadth, v/erc generally 
 laid without mortar. On these lay the first course of facing- 
 stones, which were usually the largest stones used in the struc- 
 ture. In higher courses the facing-stones are uniformly of 
 freestone, but on the ground course a whin-stone is occasionally 
 
188 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [ciiAr. VI. 
 
 a'ntroduceci. Tlie flao’. stones of the foanclation usually project 
 from one to five inches beyond the first course of facing-stones, 
 and these again usually stand about an inch or two beyond the 
 second course, after which the wall is carried straight up. The 
 foundation of the walls at Richborough is formed of two rows 
 of boulders, laid upon, or a very little below, the surface of the 
 natural soil, which is a compact pit-sand. A t Burgh Castle, in 
 Suffolk, the ancient Gariannonum, the massive walls were 
 simply built upon the plain ground. The chalk and lime of the 
 original soil was covered with earth hard beaten down ; upon 
 this were laid planks of oak nearly two inches thick, and upon 
 them a bed of coarse mortar, on which the first stones of the 
 superstructure were placed. Some years ago, one of the round 
 towers, undermined by a channel cut by continual floods of rain, 
 was overthrown, and thus the nature of the foundation was 
 shown, the form and even the grain of the oaken planks being 
 impressed on the mortar. At Wroxeter {Uriconmm), in the 
 buildings of the town, the walls have very deep foundations in 
 the ground. 
 
 The Roman bricks, or tiles, were not used in construction as 
 we use them now, to form the mass of the wall, but they were 
 built in as bonding courses, or used for turning arches, and for 
 various other purposes of ornament or strength. The bonding- 
 courses of bricks are peculiarly characteristic of Roman masoni-y 
 in this country, as well as on the continent. They are shown, 
 as seen at Richborough and Lymne, in our cuts on pages 173 
 and 174. In both these localities, the courses consist of two 
 rows of tiles ; at Burgh, in Suffolk, tliere are three rows of tiles 
 in each course ; and at Colchester there are three and four rows 
 of tiles in a course. Sometimes they are still more numerous. 
 In the multangular tower at York there are five rows in a 
 course ; and the walls of a building in Lower Thames Street, 
 London, discoverec] in 1848, were constructed entirely of tiles 
 set in mortar, without any courses of stones. At Richborough 
 the first bonding course of tiles commences at three feet fom 
 inches from the surface of the ground at its present level, and 
 about five feet from the bottom of the wall ; and they are re- 
 peated upwards at distances varying from three feet three inches 
 to four feet three inches. The distances between the bonding- 
 courses vary in other places, and they appear not to have been 
 regulated by any fixed rule. In some rare instances the rows 
 of tiles went through the whole thickness of the wall, but 
 generally they only run one tile deep. They are almost always 
 
CHAP, VI.] 
 
 EOMAN WALLS. 
 
 
 multiplied at the angles and turnings of Avails. At Eicliborougli, 
 in the angles, there are generally two short courses betAveen 
 each of the regular courses. In some instances, more especially 
 in houses and public buildings, the angles of tlie Avails are com- 
 posed entirely of tiles. Arches are generally formed of tiles 
 placed in a position radiating from the centre. In some in- 
 stances, large arches and vaults are composed entirely of im- 
 mense masses of tiles placed in this manner, as in the fragment 
 called the Jury Wall, at Leicester, and in the arched gateAvay 
 already mentioned at Colchestcn*. 
 
 The system just described Avas the one generally folloAved in 
 Eoman buildings in this country, though there are exceptions. 
 In the Avails of several Koman towns, as at Eeculver (Recjul- 
 hiiim), Silchester {Calleva), Kenchester {Magna), CaerAvent 
 {Venta Slliirum), Chester {Leva), and in Hadrian’s Wall, and 
 all the stations adjacent to it, tiles are not used. It is not 
 possible, Avith our present knoAvledge, to assign any reason for 
 this deviation from the general practice. At Silchester there 
 are bonding courses of single roAvs of large flat stones. At 
 Caervvent, Avhere the Avails are faced Avith limestone, there are 
 four bonding courses of red sandstone, Avhich Avhen fresh Avoukl 
 look like tiles. Similar variations are found in regard to the 
 stone-masonry. The walls at Chester Avere formed of large 
 squared stones, and must haA^e had a very noble appearance. 
 The Avails of Burgh Castle and Silchester, and those of Eich- 
 borough, in the interior, Avere faced Avith flints. At Silchester, 
 the flints Avere placed in Avhat is popularly called herring-bone 
 work. The small remains of Avails at Kenchester also exhibit 
 herring-bone Avork. Yariations like this arose no doubt from 
 fashion or caprice Avhich prevailed in particular districts, or was 
 adopted by certain masons. The herring-bone masonry is often 
 found in Eoman buildings; and Avas seen in its perfection iii 
 the numerous houses brought to light by the excavations of ^Ir 
 Artis at Castor {Barohrwcd) . 
 
 The mortar employed by the Eomans possesses several pecu- 
 liarities ; and Ave learn from the directions of YitruAdus, that 
 the composition of it Avas attended to Avith great care. It 
 strikes the ordinary observer by its extreme strength and 
 durability; he Avill bi*eak Avith much greater ease the stones 
 with Avhich the Avail is faced than the mortar Avhich holds them 
 together. As Ave find it in Britain, the Eoman mortar is gener- 
 allv composed of lime, pounded tiles, sand, and gravel, more or 
 less coarse, and even small pebble stones. These ingredients 
 
190 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 vary in tlieir quantities, but usually tbe lime and pounded tiles 
 predominate, which is the cause of its extreme hardness. Oc- 
 casionally, as at Silchester, Caerwent, and Kenchester, the 
 pounded tiles are omitted, and in common buildings, mortar of 
 an inferior description is used, composed merely of sand and 
 lime. At Hichborough, the mortar used in the interior of the 
 wall is composed of lime, sand, and pebbles, or sea-beach ; but 
 the facing-stones throughout are cemented with a much finer 
 mortar, in wdiich pounded tile is introduced.^ 
 
 The mode in which the wall was constructed seems to have 
 been as follows. The facing-stones were tirst built up to a 
 certain height, and set in mortar of a finer and better descrip- 
 tion. Then fresh liquid mortar was poured in in large quan- 
 tities in the space between, heaps of rubble or stones were cast 
 in with it, and the whole soon hardened into a solid mass. In 
 some instances, the stones of the interior of the wall are placed 
 in layers, and are arranged with considerable precision. The 
 
 * ‘ The Tenacity of the mortar which was used forms an important 
 element in the strength of the whole fabric. That which is in use now is 
 generally spoiled, from a variety of circumstances. The prevailing prac- 
 tice is, first of all to slack the lime by pouring a quantity of water upon it 
 ■when lying in a heap ; in most cases this does not sufficiently pulverize it ; 
 it is then mixed with any earth bearing the least resemblance to sand, and 
 the two are worked together very imperfectly with a shovel. The mortar 
 thus made often stands and hardens, so as to require to be once and again 
 mixed with water, and worked up before it is used. It thus becomes quite 
 impoverished ; and after all, for the convenience of the mason, it is em- 
 ployed in so dry a state, that the stone soon takes all the moisture from it, 
 and it becomes little better than powder. The gigantic railway operations 
 of recent times have driven men out of the beaten track, and compelled 
 them afresh to discover the Roman method of preparing mortar. On the 
 authority of engineers well acquainted with the Roman Wall, I am enabled 
 to state, that the mortar of that structure is precisely similar to the grout 
 and concrete of the railway mason of the present day. Specimens of the 
 ancient and modern grout are before me, and there cannot be a doubt as to 
 the identity of their preparation. The following is the mode in which the 
 railway engineer prepares his mortar. The lime, in the state in which it 
 comes from the kiln, is first ground to powder, and is then mixed with 
 sand and gravel, and chippings of stone. The purposes for which ihe 
 mortar is required, indicate the coarseness and quantity of the interming- 
 ling gravel. When wanted as concrete, to form, independently of other 
 materials, the foundation of some heavy structure, stony fragments of 
 larger size are mingled with the lime than when the mortar is to be used 
 to cement chiselled stones, or even than when wanted to constitute, with 
 rubble, the interior of a wall. The mixture of pounded lime and gravel, 
 when made, is not mingled with water until the moment of application to 
 the work for which it is required, but it is then intimately united with an 
 abundant quantity of it. When used as concrete, the mass will, in three 
 hours, have solidity suflicient to bear the weight of a man, and in about 
 three days it will have acquired a rock-like firmness.’ — Bruce's ^ Roman 
 Wall^' p. 86. 
 
CHAT. VI.] 
 
 KOMAX MORTAR. 
 
 IfO 
 
 interior of the walls at Lymne is composed chiefly of the hard 
 stone of the neighbourhood, which has been thrown into the 
 mortar in rough pieces as quarried. In the Wall of Hadrian, 
 whin-stones, as the material most abundant in the district, were 
 ‘puddled in’ amongst tlie mortar to fill up the interior of the 
 wall. When this had been done, more courses of facing-stones 
 were built up, and then the interior was filled in in the same 
 manner, and when the whole was finished it formed a solid, 
 compact mass. In the walls at Richborough, and at other 
 places, we trace a number of small holes on the face of the 
 walls, which wmre probably made to support scaffolding. In 
 some cases, where the walls, as in the buildings at Wroxeter 
 {TJriconium) , were not more than three feet thick, these holes go 
 light through. 
 
 In some parts of the Roman walls in Britain we observe 
 irregularities, wdiich seem to have arisen from the accidental 
 deficiency of particular kinds of materials. In the pharos at 
 Dover, when the masons ran short of the large tiles which are 
 so plentifully employed in its construction, they hewed pieces 
 of the Rolkestone rock into the form of tiles, and used them 
 instead. In other instances, we find roof or other tiles used 
 instead of building tiles. An instance has been already noticed, 
 and wdll be seen in our engraving of the tower at Lymne, 
 oil p. 171, where, at the bottom of the Avail, on the left, tiles 
 with turned or flanged edges are used along with the plain flat 
 tiles. 
 
 Having thus examined the walls, with their towers and 
 gates, let us pass through the latter, and survey the interior. 
 A town consisted then, as now, of its private and its public 
 buildings, the former of which would naturally vary much in 
 form and magnitude, according to the caprice as well as the 
 quality of those for Avhom they Avere built. The discovery of 
 the buried city of Pompeii first threw any considerable light on 
 the domestic arrangement of Roman houses, yet difference of 
 climate, and many other causes, existed in this island Avhich 
 should make us cautious in applying to Roman houses in Britain 
 the rules Avhich Ave knoAV Avere observed in Italy. The only 
 instance Avith Avhich Ave are acquainted of a small separate house 
 in a Roman town in this country, is one recently discovered at 
 Lymne, in Kent, a plan of Avhich is here given. This house, 
 which stood north and south (the semicircular projection looking 
 due south), Avas about fifty feet (east and Avest;, and thirty feet 
 in the transverse direction, exclusive of the semicircular part 
 
THE HOMANS. 
 
 VI. 
 
 )92 
 
 Lchat. 
 
 and tlie eastern recess. Tlie walls evidently remain only to tlie 
 level of what was originally the floors, and we have no indica- 
 
 tion of the position of doors or windows ; but, from an examin- 
 ation of the motion that must have been given to the ruins by 
 the ancient landslip which reduced them to their present con- 
 dition,^ it is probable that this house stood on the south side 
 of the street at the entrance of the principal gateway, and 
 therefore that the entrance-door of the house stood at its 
 northern wall, which was supported by buttresses. The arrange- 
 ment of this house was very simple, for it seems that it con- 
 sisted of four rooms of about the same dimensions. We have 
 no means of ascertaining whether it had any upper story, but 
 there seems little doubt that it was a detached house. The 
 accompanying engraving of Eonian foundations laid open at 
 Aldborough in Yorkshire, clearly represents a long row of 
 
 * At some period long after the Homan town at Lymne had been ruined 
 and deserted, an extensive landslip took place on the site, which is easily 
 explained by geologists, the consequence of which was that a great part of 
 the walls has been overthro\\Ti, and much of the interior appears to have 
 been entirely defaced and destroyed. The house of which the plan is given 
 above had suffered less than most of the other buildings, and although the 
 walls were in part dislocated, it was easy to restore them in the phui 
 
Foundations of K-oman Houses at Alborough, Yorkshire (Isurium). 
 
LpRARV 
 
 UNlVERs/TYofit^UNOia. 
 
 if' 
 
 ry 
 
 
CHAP, vr.] 
 
 ROMAN HOUSES. 
 
 1S5 
 
 houses, tliough they are by no means easily explained. Tlie 
 corner to the left appears to have been a little shop, and the 
 other rooms in a line with it may perliaps have served the same 
 purpose. 
 
 It has been questioned whether the Ptoman houses in this 
 country were built of stone and brick up to the roof, or whether 
 they were only raised a little above the floor, to support a 
 superstructure of wood. It is a remarkable circumstance that, 
 in most of the numerous villas which at dift’erent times have 
 been discovered and examined, the walls are found remaining 
 about as high, or very little higher, than the floors, and that 
 they do not terminate in a broken line as though the walls had 
 been thrown down, but in a regular level through the whole 
 building. We must, however, take into consideration, on the 
 other hand, the circumstance that the upper walls would, in the 
 middle ages, be gradually carried away for materials down to 
 the then level of the ground ; and instances have occurred, 
 especially in the larger country villas, where the walls remain at a 
 greater elevation in some parts than in others, and in which they 
 have evidently been broken away. Walls of timber, too, would 
 hardly have supported such heavy roofs as those formed of 
 flags, and we might expect to And more distinct indications of 
 them. Perhaps the safest conclusion to which we can come is, 
 that in houses of people of wealth and importance the walls 
 were of masonry, while in the more ordinary houses the masonry 
 of the walls may have risen only two or three feet above ground, 
 and sometimes not so much, to support a superstructure of 
 timber. In exposed districts, and more especially in the north, 
 houses of stone were no doubt more common. Mr Poach 
 Smith discovered a Poman house in the neighbourhood of 
 Hadrian’s Wall, the walls of which, built of stone, are still 
 standing to an elevation above the doors and windows, the 
 openings of which remain.* 
 
 Generally, however, the only parts of a Poman house which 
 remain perfect are the floors and substructure, which, therefore, 
 will naturally first attract our attention. We invariably find 
 that in a certain number of the rooms of a Poman house ,in 
 Britain the floors were supported, not on the solid ground, but 
 upon a number of short thick columns, arranged in regular 
 
 * An engraving of this house is given in Mr Roach Smith’s Collectanea 
 Antiqiia^ vol. ii. p. 188. 
 
196 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAl’. VI. 
 
 rows, with narrow passages between them. These formed wdiat 
 were called the hvpocaust (from a Greek word signifying liter- 
 ally or heat underneath ) ; it was the Itoman method of warm- 
 ing a house. These pillars were generally formed of piles of 
 square tiles ; sometimes, as in a building found at Inverness in 
 Scotland, described in Stuart’s ‘ Caledonia Romana,’ in one 
 found at Wroxeter {TJriconium), and described in the ninth 
 volume of the ‘ Archaeologia/ and in other instances, the co- 
 lumns supporting the floor were of stone, or stone columns 
 mixed alternately or irregularly with brick pillars. Along with 
 these supporting pillars were rows of flue tiles, chiefly against 
 the walls, and flue tiles of various forms were laid against 
 the walls above, so as to distribute the hot air over the building. 
 These flue tiles have square holes on one side to admit hot air 
 or smoke, from the tires of the hypocaust. Sometimes, but this 
 is of rarer occurrence, instead of these pillars, the floor was sup- 
 ported on parallel walls of masonry, with passages in which the 
 tires were made, and through which the heat was conducted. 
 Tlie fire was made under the arch in the outer wall below the 
 level of the gi-ound, and appears to have been approached from 
 without by the servants who had the care of the fires, in the 
 same manner that we now approach the stoves of hot-houses. 
 Similar arches in the foundations of the walls communicated 
 between the hypocaust of one room and that of another. In 
 our plan, just given, of the house at Lymne, the two rooms on 
 the right had hypocausts with pillars of square bricks, the lower 
 parts of most of which were found when the covering of eartli 
 was first cleared away. At i and i were the passages, built in 
 rougher masonry than the walls, which led to the fire-places 
 under the two arches indicated in the Avails. Three other arches, 
 through the wall which divided these tAvo apartments, all neatly 
 turned Avith the large flat tiles, formed the communication be- 
 tween the hypocausts. Another similar arch in the Avesterii 
 Avail of the more northerly of these tAVo rooms communicated 
 Avith the parallel Avails of rough masonry Avhich formed a hypo- 
 caust under a part of the room marked B. The small recessed 
 room at the south-east corner, supported by much thicker 
 columns of bricks than those of the other hypocaust, may per- 
 haps have served as the kitchen, or cooking room. The ar- 
 rangement of the hypocaust Avill perhaps be Ijetter understood 
 by the annexed cut of one of these structures found in a Roman 
 house at Cirencester, Avhich Ave give because it presents several 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 ROMAN" HYPOCAUSTS. 
 
 197 
 
 peculiarities. One of the supports here is a stone pillar, another 
 stands upon a stone base. Between the last row of nillars and 
 
 Hypocaust at Cirencester (Co? inmm). 
 
 tlie side-wall, is a row of upright flue-tiles, and in the wall its('lf 
 are two apertures, intended no doubt to convey the hot air into 
 the upper part of the building. In this instance the hypocaust 
 only extended under one half of the room, the pavement of the 
 other half resting upon a prepared solid foundation.^ The room 
 marked B, in the plan of the house at Lymne, seems to have 
 had a similar arrangement in this respect. The more we 
 
 * We should avoid giving refined and unnecessary explanations where 
 very simple ones are sufficient. In Messrs Buckman and Newmarch’s 
 work on the Roman remains at Cirencester, from which our cut of the 
 hypocaust is taken, the circumstance of the hypocaust extending under one 
 half only of the floor, is explained by considering that ‘ the two parts of 
 the room were intended for use at different seasons of the year, and that it 
 was the triclinium of the house ; that portion over the hypocaust being 
 the triclinium hybernum^ and the other end the triclinium cestivumiov 
 in warm weather.’ It seems to me very easy to understand how a room 
 may be perfectly well warmed by a hypocaust on one side only, but I do 
 not perceive how this arrangement would make one half of the room warm 
 and the other half cold, which I presume is the meaning of this explana- 
 tion. If there were in summer no fire in the hypocaust, it would be quite 
 as cool over it as on the other side of the room ; and if there were a fire in 
 it, no part of the room could be cool. 
 
19S 
 
 THE RO>rAXS. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 examine tlie remains of Homan buildings in Britain, the more 
 we are struck with the care and ingenuity displayed in pro- 
 viding for internal warmth, as well as for other comforts. In 
 many instances, the subterranean hypocausts are elaborately 
 arranged. The excavations in the large villa at Woodchester, 
 in Gloucestershire, at the latter end of the last century, 
 brought to light a hypocaust which is represented in an engrav- 
 ing in our next chapter. It consisted of parallel walls, pierced 
 with an elaborate system of flues, formed of ridge tiles placed 
 two and two together, so as to form pipes. Eows of flanged 
 tiles were placed along the sides of the walls, thus making hol- 
 lows through which the hot air was distributed equally over the 
 whole interior surface of the walls of the apartment. 
 
 In laying the floors, a layer of large flat tiles was first placed 
 on the columns of the hypocaust. Flanged tiles were not un- 
 frequently used for this purpose, with the flanged edges some- 
 times turned upwards and sometimes downwards, perhaps 
 according to the caprice of the builder. Sometimes there were 
 two layers of tiles, and in some cases, where tiles were probably 
 not at hand, thin flag-stones were used instead. Upon these 
 was laid a mass of tine mortar or concrete, generally about six 
 inches thick, in the surface of which the pavement was set. 
 This pavement was variously constructed according to the 
 richness and elegance of the house, and to the purposes for 
 which the apartment was designed. In rich houses the principal 
 floors were beautifully ornamented with figured pavements, 
 composed of very small cubes or tesserae of different colours. 
 In less expensive houses, the ornament was plainer, and formed 
 of much larger tesserae. Ordinary floors were usually paved 
 with tesserae of brick, which we should perhaps rather call 
 small tiles, one or two inches square. In a few instances a 
 mere floor of flag-stones has been found laid regularly over the 
 mass of concrete. 
 
 It is quite impossible, in the condition in whicli the founda- 
 tions of the Roman houses are found, even to offer a probable 
 conjecture on the use or objects of the several rooms which we 
 are enabled to trace by them. We can have little doubt that 
 the principal rooms warmed by hypocausts were those in which 
 the masters of the house were accustomed to assemble together, 
 or receive visitors. In the larger country villas it has been ob- 
 served that the rooms with hypocausts lie often on the southern 
 part of the building, and it has therefore been assumed that 
 they were the winter apartments, while the summer apartments 
 
chAP. VI. 1 ROOMS OF A HOUSE. .99 
 
 were placed with a more nortlierii aspect, and were without 
 hypocausts ; but this observation does not hold good in all 
 cases. There is one peculiarity which is observed almost in- 
 variably in Roman houses in IR-itain ; one room has always a 
 semicircular recess or alcove, and in some, but rarer, instances, 
 more than one room possesses this adjunct. It is not omitted 
 even in the little house at Lymne, of which we have given a plan. 
 There is, generally, as in the example just cited, at each side 
 where it joins the room, an advancing piece of wall or pier, as 
 though a curtain, or something of that kind, had been drawn 
 across to separate the recess from the room. In a suburban 
 villa, which was partially excavated in Leicester {Rated), a shcat 
 pillar was found lying upon the tesselated pavement of the 
 semicircular recess, which seemed to have served as an altar, or 
 to have supported a small statue, and it has been conjectured 
 that this recess served as the sacrarium, or place of domestic 
 worship, where the image of the patron god of the family was 
 placed. A Roman house of any extent generally presents to 
 vie^v such a numerous assemblage of crowded and very small 
 rooms, that we are led to believe that some of the transverse 
 walls have ordy been raised to a slight elevation above the floor, 
 and that they served for seats or other purposes in the middle 
 or at one side of the room. In one or two instances low^ pro- 
 jections have been observed in the interior of the wall of a room, 
 which have every appearance of having been intended for stone 
 seats. Drains and gutters are often found in and under the 
 floors, for carrying off water, and these are sometimes ingeni- 
 ously, and even elaborately, constructed; generally of tiles; 
 pieces of leaden pipe have also been found, formed by turning 
 a thin plate of lead rounded into the form of a cylinder. 
 
 Many writers have concluded hastily, that every house wdth 
 a hypocaust was a public bath ; but it required very little 
 observation and comparison to expose this error. In some 
 instances, but more especially in country villas, we find baths 
 belonging to the house, generally in a room v^hich seems to 
 have been set aside for them. Two such baths were observed 
 in the villa excavated at Ilartlip, in East Kent. One of these, 
 which is represented m the cut annexed, was of very small 
 dimensions, being oidy three feet six inches in length by three 
 feet one inch in width, and about two feet deep. At the 
 bottom, on one side, was a seat six inches and a half wide. A 
 moulding of plaster ran round the floor and up the angles, arai 
 the irterior w'as originally covered entirely with stucco, panned 
 
TEE HOMANS. 
 
 '’I 
 
 W) 
 
 EivlA in a Villa at flartlip, Kent. 
 
 o( a pink or red colour, as appeared by portions of it still 
 reinainino*. From the size of this bath, it must have been 
 
 Second Batli in the Villa at Hartlip. 
 
 intended for partial immersion and ablution ; in fact, alter 
 the use of the hot vapour bath, which was usually in an 
 adjacent room. Adjoining was another bath, represented 
 ju our second cut, of larger dimensions than the former, 
 .tt u'jis six feet two inches in length, by fourteen in widi!j, 
 

 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 \ 
 
i 
 
 ■I 
 
 ! 
 
 \ 
 
 
 The Process of Fresco-Painting, from a Monument at Sens, in Franct. 
 
CMAP. VI.] 
 
 PAINTINGS OF THE WALLS. 
 
 203 
 
 but it was only fourteen inches deep. Both baths were per- 
 haps deeper when the building- was perfect. This bath also 
 had a seat extending the whole length of one side, but it was 
 composed of hollow flue-tiles, placed lengthways, and coated 
 over with a thick layer of cement ; the sides, as in the former, 
 had been stuccoed and painted, and a similar moulding ran 
 round the bottom. Both had leaden pipes still remaining, 
 which conducted the water from the baths through the external 
 wall of the house. There was no pipe or channel of any kind 
 for conducting water to eitlier of these baths, so that either hot 
 or cold water must have been brought when wanted in buckets 
 or other vessels. A room adjoining was probably open to the 
 baths ; a recess in the wall of this room is supposed by Mr 
 Eoach Smith to have held a cistern for warm water. 
 
 Internally, the walls of the apartments were invariably covered 
 with a thick coating of plaster, or stucco, composed of lime, 
 sand, and small stones, so tempered as to harden into a very 
 solid and Arm mass. The surface of this was made perfectly 
 smooth, and upon it was laid a very thin coating of fine cal- 
 careous cement. On this, while moist, the various designs 
 were painted, and the whole became so durable, that on the 
 broken fragments we pick up among the ruins of the houses 
 and villas in this country, the colours often look as bright and 
 fresh as if they had but just been laid on. The accompanying 
 engraving, from Mr Eoach Smith’s valuable work on Eoman 
 London, represents the process of painting the walls in fresco 
 as sculptured on the sepulchral monument of a Eoman painter, 
 found at Sens in France {Senona), ‘The subject,’ Mr Smith 
 says, ‘ represents the decoration of a corridor in fresco paint- 
 ing. A low scaffold is constructed, partly on tressels, and 
 partly resting upon the basement of the corridor. Upon this 
 scaffold are the painter and his plasterer. The latter is on the 
 right side of the relief, and is exhibited in the act of laying on 
 the thin finishing coat of plaster {intonaco) for the painter, who 
 is following him. He has his float in his left hand, and is 
 passing it over the wall, while his right hand is thrust downward 
 into a pail of water, most likely to reach a brush to sprinkle 
 the rough coat or ground so as to render it sufficiently moist to 
 receive the intonaco^ or thin cement of lime, which', in general, 
 would not be thicker than a crown piece. The painter is 
 following the plasterer, to lay on his colours while the plaster 
 is still wet. He appears as if resting one foot upon a stool, 
 which, perhaps, has also a talflet of mixed colours upon it. 
 
201 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 Beliind liim is a cylindrical box, in which, it may be imagniied, 
 lie has his rolls of paper or parchment with designs of the 
 work he is engaged upon. There is a short ladder to mount 
 the scaffold, by the side of which is a stool, with a tablet of 
 colour upon it; and close by this the painter’s assistant is 
 mixing tints; and his action is energetic, no doubt to indicate 
 liaste. This is quite in accord with the modern practice of 
 fresco ^painting, which requires every department to be con- 
 ducted with rapidity as well as with skill. The assistant must 
 always have the tints ready mixed, and in sufficient quantity 
 for the work. Under the arch of the corridor, at the left side 
 of the relief, is the director or master-designer. He is seated 
 with an open book or tablet before him, and appears to be 
 studying or reviewing the design.’^' Some of the fragments 
 found among the ruins of Roman houses in Britain belong to 
 walls painted of a uniform colour ; others are striped, or made 
 to represent arabesques and other patterns. Some fragments 
 in the museum of Mr Roach Smith (now in the British 
 Museum), taken from the site of a large building near Crosby 
 Hall, in London, exhibit a sort of decorated trellis-work on a 
 red ground, in the divisions of which are stars, or flowers, in 
 yellow, white, and dark blue colours, with a man carrying a 
 staff and what appears to be a basket ; the whole pattern, man 
 and all, being repeated over the face of the wall, and enclosed 
 in a dark border, upon which is a stripe of white. The cut in 
 the next page represents a fragment of this design, drawn on a 
 scale of one-third the actual size. Other fragments are painted 
 in imitation of coloured marbles. A considerable variety of rather 
 elegant patterns were found in the ruins of a Roman villa at 
 Chesterford, in Essex, among which were some representing 
 portions of the human figure. The most remarkable of the 
 latter was the foot of a female, as large as life, with drapeiy 
 flowing round it. In one of the larger rooms of the villa at 
 Combe-End, in Gloucestershire, the lower part of the wall 
 remained covered with the fresco painting, on which were a 
 row of feet, also as large as life, which had belonged to the 
 figures in some grand historical painting that had once adorned 
 the walls of this apartment. In one of the rooms of a building 
 at Wroxeter the walls were tesselated, the tessellne 
 
 being half-an-inch by three-fifths in dimension, and of alternate 
 colours, so as to produce the effect of chequer work. 
 
 Illustrations of Roman London, by Charles Roach Smith, p. 61. 
 
CHAI. VI.] riO:MAX DOORS AXD WIXDOWS. 
 
 206 
 
 Where we find the opening-s of doors, they are in general 
 narrow, and they appear to have been s([nare-headed, like the 
 
 ordinary doors of the present day. Among the stations on 
 Hadrian’s Wall, where the materials of the buildings have not 
 been so extensively cleared away, ornamental heads of doors 
 and windows in stone have been found, and some of them are 
 engraved in Air Bruce’s ^ Koman Wall.’ We seldom open 
 Homan houses of any extent without finding abundant frag- 
 ments of window-glass, so that there can be no doubt that the 
 Roman windows were glazed. Some fragments of very thin 
 window^-glass were picked up under the walls of the houses 
 within the Roman town of Lymne, where the walls had no 
 doubt been pierced with windows above. At Wroxeter, on the 
 contrary, the Roman window-glass hitherto found is very thick, 
 some slightly exceeding the eighth of an inch. We have little 
 information on the nature of the ceilings and roofs of the 
 Roman houses in Britain. Supporting columns, and fragmenis 
 
206 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. vr. 
 
 of ornament and plaster, found in some of the villas, seem to 
 show that the more important apartments were sometimes 
 vaulted ; but it is probable that the ceiling was more usually 
 fiat. In the midland and southern parts of Britain, the houses 
 appear to have been most commonly roofed with tiles, consist- 
 ing of parallel courses of flanged tiles, with the flanges turned 
 upwards, and the joints covered with ridge tiles. This arrange- 
 ment will be best understood by 
 the accompanying cut. In other 
 cases, especially in the northern 
 parts of England, the houses were 
 roofed with slates. In the stations 
 on the wall, thin slabs of free-stone 
 slate, with nail-holes in them, as 
 well as the nails themselves, are 
 lound on the ground. Sometimes 
 A.rrangement of Roof Tiles, tlie roofing was formed of flags of 
 stone, shaped into hexagons, as at 
 tig. h in our next cut, with half-flags («) for the top. These 
 overlapped one another, so as to form a pattern of lozenges, as 
 
 0 
 
 Arrangement of Roof Flags. 
 
 represented in the cut, the ridge being no doubt covered with 
 a row of ridge-tiles. This kind of roof seems to have been 
 common at Wroxeter (UricoyiiuTii), where the fallen flags are 
 Ibund scattered about in great abundance, with the iron nails 
 which held them to the woodwork still remaining. These flags, 
 at Wroxeter, are formed of the micaceous laminated sandstone 
 found on the edge of the North Staffordshire and Shropshii’e 
 coal-field, and must have given the houses a very glittering 
 appearance in the sunshine. At Maryport, in Cumberland, 
 when some parts of the interior of the station were excavated, 
 it Avas found that the houses had been roofed with Scotch 
 slates, which, with the pegs that fastened them, lay scattered 
 about in the streets. In the Homan villas in the soutl\, we 
 
CHAP. vi.J ARRANGEMENT OF HOUSES IN STREETS. 207 
 
 often find the roofing tiles scattered over the floors of the rooms 
 ill the same manner. 
 
 We have few opportunities of examining the internal ar- 
 rangements of a Roman town, and until the uncovering of 
 Pompeii, our knowledge on this subject was very limited. 
 Where a modern town stands on the site of an ancient town, 
 Avhich is the case with most of the more important Roman 
 cities in Britain, it is of course impossible to excavate ; and 
 where such is not the case, there have usually been so many 
 difficulties to contend with in obtaining permission to dig, and 
 raising the necessary funds, that very little progress has yet been 
 made. Yet there are many localities in this island, where the 
 site of an ancient city of great extent lies merely covered 
 with earth, and that not very deep, and in which excavations 
 would, no doubt, lead to very interesting results. Among 
 the more remarkable of these, we may enumerate Silchester 
 {Calleva), Old Verulam Aldborough (Imrkim), 
 
 Ribchester (supposed to be Cocclum), Caerwent {Fenta,) 
 Wroxeter* {U?iconium), Kenchester {Magna), and some others. 
 Some of the towns on Hadrian’s Wall, though not so large 
 or magnificent as these great cities, appear, from the com- 
 parative neglect in which their ruins were left, to promise 
 perhaps more than some of the larger sites. It has been often 
 assumed by some that the streets of the Roman toAvns in Britain 
 were arranged with great regularity, and by others that the'" 
 were in general identical with the streets of the modern towns 
 that occupy their sites ; but both seem equally erroneous. At 
 Wroxeter [TJnconium), as far as the excavations have been 
 carried, the streets appear to have run at right angles to one 
 another, and to have been tolerably wide. They are paved 
 with small cobble-stones, like the streets of our mediaeval 
 towns. A variety of excavations, however, in the city of 
 London have proved that the principal streets, such as Cheap- 
 side, Cornhill, &c., are in almost every instance traversed by 
 masses of Roman houses underneath. We have learnt from 
 the discoveries at Pompeii, that Roman streets were arranged 
 irregularly, and they were there in general narrow. Perhaps 
 even in Roman London there were only two or three lines of 
 streets through which any kind of carriage could pass, and 
 
 * It need hardly be remarked that very important excavations have 
 now been made at this place under the direction of the author of the pre- 
 sent volume; and a volume has been published under the title of ‘Uri- 
 conium : a Histoi-ical Account of the Ancient Roman City, and of the 
 Excavations made upon its site at Wroxeter, in Shropshire ; ' by Thomas 
 Wright, London, 1872. 
 
203 THE iUJAlA>’S. [cnAi. v-. 
 
 the rest were only narrow alleys. A small part of tiie Homan 
 town of Cilurnum, at Chesters in NortlmmberlaiKl, has been 
 
 Plan of Houses at Chesters in Northumberland {Cilurnum) . 
 
 uncovered, and presents us with a curious example of these 
 small alleys and houses. A plan of it is given in the cut 
 on the present page. Eight apartments are here repre- 
 sented, which belonged to at least two, if not to three, 
 houses. Descending a few steps at L, we enter a street or 
 alley, three feet wide at one extremity, and four at the other. 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 J:"U15L1(J BUILDINGS. 
 
 209 
 
 n, Hiiothev street runs off at right angles, wliieli is about 
 four feet wide. At d, an eritrance door, approached by steps, 
 leads into tlie room E, which, as well as the other rooms 
 with which it communicates, is paved with thin flag-stones, 
 and has a hypocaust underneath. There is one of the semi- 
 circular recesses at G, which has an aperture through the 
 wall, perhaps one of the fire-places of the hypocausts, though 
 Mr Bruce tells us that the furnace, which warmed the suite 
 of apartments, stood near F, at the south-eastern extremity of 
 the building. When these hypocausts were first opened, the 
 soot in the flues was found as fresh as if it had been pro- 
 duced by fires lighted the day before. In the room to the 
 north of that we first entered, at c, was found a bath, in good 
 preservation, covered with stucco, which was painted red. 
 Near it, at B, the exterior wall of the house had been broken 
 in, and among the rubbish was found the statue ol a river god. 
 Tlie pavements had been damaged by the falling in of the roof. 
 The steps at D were much worn by the tread of feet, and stones 
 had been inserted in place of others which had been wmrn out, 
 which also were partially worn; hence Mr Bruce thinks that this 
 was a public building of some kind. Outside the circular recess, 
 A, there seemed to have been a larger open space than the street 
 first mentioned. A door nearly opposite that at d led into the 
 house I, of which two apartments were uncovered, both having 
 similar floors and hypocausts. The street ii D appears to com- 
 municate by a narrow^ passage with another transverse sti’eet, but 
 the ground beyond has not been cleared away. The rooms of 
 the house i are in dimension each about twenty-four feet by 
 seventeen ; that at E about nineteen feet by fifteen. The walls 
 of the latter house had been covered internally wdth a stucco 
 painted dark red. 
 
 At Maryport, in Cumberland, where excavations w'ere made 
 in 1766, the streets were found to be paved, like those at Cilur- 
 num, with large flag-stones, which w^e are told w^ere much worn 
 by use, particularly the steps into a vaulted room, supposed to 
 have been a temple.’ The foundations at Aldborough, repre- 
 sented in our plate, at p. 193, seem evidently to have belonged 
 to a row of houses, apparently with shops in front ; but the artist 
 has, by an oversight, represented them as parallel to the town 
 w’all, whereas in reality they are at an angle to it. They have 
 not been excavated to any extent backw^ards ; but there are 
 reasons for supposing that in the more important towns, 
 the great dwelling-houses stood, as at Pompeii, back from 
 
210 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 [chap. VI. 
 
 the street, and that each was inclosed outwardly with small 
 houses and shops. At Durol)nv8e {Castoi'), as far as we can 
 judge from Mr ^Artis’s plan, the houses were scattered about in 
 no regular order. 
 
 The numerous pieces of sculptured stone which are found 
 about the ruins in the remains of Eoman towns, show that the 
 houses did not want in architectural ornament. Capitals and 
 shafts of columns, cornices, mouldings, and other fragments, are 
 frerpiently met with ; but as these materials were in after times 
 much more useful, and more easily carried away, than the 
 masonry on the walls, it seldom happens that there is a sufficient 
 quantity left to enable us to form a notion of the manner in which 
 the building was adorned. It is remarkable, also, that these 
 architectural fragments, although often very elegant, are seldom 
 of pure style ; instead of plain or simply fluted columns, we 
 often have them covered with scales, or leaves, or other designs, 
 as if the models had been brought from Egypt or India; and 
 the bases and capitals are sometimes profusely ornamented. The 
 same circumstance of the utility of the materials caused the 
 public buildings to disappear sooner than the dwelling-houses, 
 and there are few cases in which they have been distinctly 
 traced out in modern times. Lysons discovered so many archi- 
 tectural fragments of the Temple of Minerva at Aquae Solis 
 {Bath), that he was enabled to make a restoration of the build- 
 ing ; and considerable remains are said to have been found, and 
 perhaps still exist under-ground, of the temple of the same god- 
 dess at Coccium {Rlbchester) . No doubt, every town had its 
 temples, of greater and less magniflcence, which were filled with 
 the votive altars that are discovered so numerously in some 
 parts of the country. A few inscriptions have been found re- 
 cording the building or repairing of such edifices. At Regnum 
 {Chichester), a temple was dedicated to Neptune and Minerva.^ 
 At Condercum, on Hadrian’s Wall {Bemcell), an officer stationed 
 there ‘ rebuilt from the ground ’ a temple dedicated to the 
 Dem Matres, and to the genius who presided over his troops. f 
 At Cilurnum {Chesters), a temple which was dilapidated through 
 age, was rebuilt in the year 221, during the reign of Helio- 
 gabiilus.J At Petriana {Camheck Fort), a temple to the 
 
 * See the commemorative inscription in our note on p. 51. 
 
 t MATRIHVS .... TEMPLVM A SOLO KESTITVIT. — BrilCe' S ‘ Wall, 
 
 p. 140. 
 
 t TEMPLVM VETVSTATE CONLAPSVM IIESTITVEIIVNT.— p. 186. 
 
CHAP, vr.] 
 
 PUBLIC BUILDING?. 
 
 211 
 
 deities ‘ of all nations,’ which had througli age fallen into 
 decay, was similarly restored.* * * § 
 
 Such slabs were generally placed against the walls of the 
 building they commemorated, and it was not always thouglit 
 necessary to describe in them the nature of tlie building itself, 
 so that they are now often useless for identification. Yet in 
 some instances public buildings are commemorated by name. 
 Thus an inscription found at Habitancum {Risingham), comme- 
 morates the restoration of the gate and walls.f We learn also, 
 from such inscriptions, that at Epiacurn {Lanclieder'), the pub- 
 lic baths and basilica (or court-house) were built from the 
 foundations in the reign of Gordian; X lhat some other build- 
 ings (the name is partly obliterated), with a basilica and temple, 
 were built on the site of the modern Tynemouth ; § that public 
 baths and a basilica were rebuilt at Coccium (Rlbchester ) ; || 
 that the public baths at Lavatrse (Botces) had been burnt doAvn, 
 and rebuilt and dedicated to the goddess Eortune (they were 
 probably joined with a temple), under the propraetor Virrius 
 Lupus ; ^ and that, at the Ecman town which occupied the 
 site of Netherby in Cumberland, a basilica for riding, Avhich 
 appears to have taken some time in building, was completed under 
 Severus Alexander (a.d. 221 — 235).* * As well as its basilica 
 and public baths, Epiacurn (LancJiester^ had an arsenal and a 
 building for the commanding officer, or governor’s lodgings. ft 
 It appears from these inscriptions that every town of any 
 importance had a basilica, or court-house, and public baths, 
 and that these were usually placed together, and joined often 
 with a temple. In several of our ancient Eoman towns, as at 
 Leicester, and, formerly, at Kenchester, masses of masonry 
 within the town, which it has not been easy to account for, 
 may have formed part of these combined buildings. Remains 
 
 * . . . OMXIVM GENTIYM TEMPLVM OLIM VETVSTATE COXLABSVM. — 
 
 Horsley. 
 
 f PORTAM CVM MVRIS VETVSTATE DILAPSIS.— p. 331. 
 
 t BALXEVM CVM BASILICA A SOLO IXSTRVXIT. — LysOUS. 
 
 § . . . . GYRVM CVM BASI ET TEMPLVM FECIT. — Bruce^ p. 319, SO 
 read by Mr Bruce ; Horsley read it cvrvm ; but on examining this altar, 
 which is in the collection of the Society of Antiquarians, with Mr Roach 
 Smith, I agree with him that the true reading seems to be cypvm (for 
 cippum) CVM BASI ET, &c. The stone is much worn in the upper part. 
 
 II BALINEVM REFECT . . . ASILICAM VETVSTATE COXLABSAM SOLO 
 RESTiTVTAM. — Whitaker. 
 
 H BALIXEVM VI IGXIS EXVSTVM. — llorsUy. 
 
 * BASILICAM EQVESTREM EXERCITATORTAM lAMPRIDEM A SOLO 
 COEPTAM AEDIFICAVIT COXSVMMAVITUVE. — LySOnS. 
 
 t t PRIXCIPIA ET ARMAMEXTARIA COXLAPSA RESTITVIT. — LySOnS. 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. vt. 
 
 ^A2 
 
 of public baths liavc been found in excavations in some of tlie 
 Roman towns in Britain, as, for instance, at Silcliester. The 
 basilica and public baths of Uriconium {WToxeter) have been 
 uncovered; the former was 226 feet long, and the batV? 
 covered a square of about 200 feet. Of other public buildinc’s 
 we know little. Giraldus Cambrensis speaks vaguely of buihl- 
 ings for theatrical purposes at Caerleon, but perhaps he only 
 meant the amphitheatre. A theatre of considerable extent, 
 and elaborate construction, has been brought to light at Yeru- 
 lamium (near St Albans).^ A theatre has also been found at 
 Wroxeter. The Romans were everywhere passionately addicted 
 to gladiatorial exhibitions, and almost every station had its 
 amphitheatre. We need only mention those at Richborough, 
 Colchester, Silcliester, Dorchester, Cirencester, Wroxeter, and 
 Caerleon. The amphitheatre at Richborough has been recently 
 excavated, and it was then found that it was not, as had been 
 supposed, a mere raised circle of earth, but that it had been 
 surrounded with walls, and had doubtless seats and passages 
 of masonry. The same was probably the case with the other 
 amphitheatres just referred to. At Aldborough there are 
 remains of a stadium, and perhaps also at Leicester. 
 
 The walls of the Roman towns in Britain varied much in 
 extent. Tliose of Silcliester, which are three miles in circuit, 
 inclose an area of about a hundred and twenty acres; tlie 
 walls of Wroxeter are upwards of three miles in circuit ; those 
 of Kenchester inclosed about twenty ^one acres ; the walls of 
 Colchester included a hundred and eight acres ; while the walls 
 of Lymne inclose only twelve acres, and those of Richborough 
 not more than four. It is evident that, in cases like the latter, 
 we must consider the fortress as a mere citadel, and suppose 
 that the town stood around. In the other instances, the waf 
 surroundeci the town. In many cases, however, the popula- 
 tion became gradually too large to be contained within the 
 inclosure, aud then suburbs were built outside. Most of the 
 stations along Hadrian’s wall appear to have consisted of an 
 inner town and an outer town. There are reasons for believing 
 that the walls of Roman London were erected at a later date, 
 when that city had reached its full extent, and hence we cannot 
 trace that it had any suburbs on the northern side of the 
 Thames ; but it had apparently a large one on the southern 
 
 * An account of this discovery was published in a pamphlet entitled 
 ‘A Description of the Roman Theatre of Verulam,’ by Mr R. Gro\e 
 Lowe, of St Albans, under whose care the excavations were carried on. 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE SUBURBS. 
 
 13 
 
 bank. Eburaciim had been probably fortified earlier, and it 
 had increased more rapidly, and accordingly we find tinit it 
 had extensive suburbs at each of its gates. That on the side 
 towards Calcaria (^Tadcaster) extended, as we are informed by 
 Mr Wellbeloved, as much as a mile along the road, and the one 
 on the road to Isui-ium {AldborongJi) was nearly as long. Ex- 
 tensive suburbs have also been traced round Caerleon, and it is 
 the tradition of the place, that the ancient city filled a circuit 
 of nine miles. Considerable suburban buildings have, in like 
 manner, been discovered at Leicester. 
 
 The suburbs were probably not built so closely as the town 
 itself, but consisted often of detached villas. They were also 
 the site of the cemeteries, and the tombs generally stood along 
 each side of the road. The principal sepulchral monuments of 
 the Roman citizens of London appear to have stood outside 
 Liidgate, where inscribed stones have been found ; but we 
 know also that there was a large cemetery at the outside of 
 Bishopsgate. At York, the burial-places were without all the 
 gates, but the road leading to Calcaria has been called empha- 
 tically, on account of the great number of interments found 
 along it, the Street of the Tombs. 
 
 Before we quit the Roman towns, we must notice one of 
 their important features, the sanitary precautions. We have 
 seen how careful the inhabitants were to keep themselves warm 
 and dry, and they seem not to have neglected cleanliness. 
 Traces of pipes and drains are found in their houses, which 
 were no doubt intended to carry off superfluous water and filth. 
 AVe have no means of ascertaining how the streets were drained, 
 but we seldom carry on excavations long on the sites of Roman 
 towns without meeting with large and extensive servers. At 
 Wroxeter one of the streets has a gutter running down the 
 sides, well formed of hewn stones, and something like those 
 still found in old towns like Salisbury. A large drain of this 
 description was found outside the town at Hunnum, on the 
 AA^all {Halton-CJiestey's). ‘My informant,’ Mr Bruce tells us, 
 
 ‘ crept along it for about one hundred yards ; the bottom of it 
 was filled with hardened mud, imbedded in which were found 
 a lamp and many bone pins, such as those with which the 
 Romans fastened their woollen garments.’ The Roman sewers 
 at Lincoln are still in good preservation, and are constructed 
 of excellent masonry. They are covered with large flags of 
 stone. A smaller transverse drain brought down the waters 
 from each house. The accompanying cut, representing a part 
 
214 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. V . 
 
 of the interior of one of these sewers, with the mouths of two 
 transverse drains, is taken from a sketch by Mr Roach Smith, 
 
 Interior of a Sewer at Lincoln {Lindum), 
 
 who walked up it about a hundred yards. Mr Smith tells me 
 that the sewers of the city of Treves (the Roman Trevin), stiU 
 in use, bear a close resembiarme to th^se of Lincoln, arnl they 
 are probably of Roman origin. » 
 
 As far as we can judge by existing remains, water was not 
 conducted into the Roman houses. It was probably brought 
 by aqueducts or watercourses to a fountain or conduit in the 
 town, whence the inhabitants fetched it in buckets. We learn 
 from Bede, how St Cuthbert was shown the extraordinary 
 Roman fountain at Carlisle, which, no doubt, had supplied the 
 citizens of Luguballium with water. Giraldus Cambrensis 
 speaks of watercourses at Caerleon, but, as his words are some- 
 what vague, these may perhaps have been merely sewers. But 
 on the line of Hadrian’s Wall, we still see the curious water- 
 course which supplied the Roman town of iLsica (Great dies- 
 fers), and which was worked through a tortuous course of six 
 miles. In a similar manner, an aqueduct (or rather two 
 aqueducts), of considerable extent and labour, was constructed 
 to bring the water from a distant stream to Epiacum (Lanches- 
 ter^ ; they delivered their water into a reservoir outside the walls, 
 near the south-west corner of the station, and there, no doubt, 
 the irdiabitants went to take it for their domestic purposes 
 
OHAK VI.] 
 
 EUBBISH PITS. 
 
 215 
 
 One cimimsiance remains to be noticed with regard to the 
 eeuiioniy of the Roman towns. We have as yet discovered no 
 arrangements about the Roman houses for personal easement, 
 but- close at the outside of Roman towns are found numbers of 
 deep and very narrow round wells, which, no doubt, are the 
 remains of conveniences for this purpose. The discovery of 
 such wells is the sure sign of the proximity of a Roman station. 
 They are numerous at Richborough and at Winchester, and 
 have indeed been observed in many other places, and they are 
 rich mines for the antiquary, from the great number of mis- 
 cellaneous articles they contain. In fact, they appear to hav(^ 
 been common depositories for refuse of every description, such 
 as animals’ bones, broken pottery, and a variety of other articles 
 which have been dropped in by chance, or thrown in inten- 
 tionally, and they have hence been very properly termed 
 rubbish holes. The earth taken from the bottom of those at 
 Richborough, on being examined by an experienced chemist, 
 was pronounced to be the remains of stercoraceous matter. 
 These pits are formed so carefully, and are some of them so small 
 in diameter, and at the same time so deep, that we might 
 almost suppose that they had been made with a large cheese- 
 scoop. Perhaps they were originally covered with some light 
 structure. Some antiquaries, from finding broken urns in 
 them, have imagined that these pits were sepulchral, but they 
 have probably been misled by erroneous impressions of acci- 
 dental circumstances connected with them.^ 
 
 There is one other question of great interest and importance 
 connected with the towns of Roman Britain, — the origin and 
 formation of our language. 
 
 It is remarkable how generally in the earlier ages of peoples, 
 fable usurps the place of history. And even long after the 
 memory of the past has assumed a form which we look upon as 
 history, it still continues to be little more than legend and 
 romance. It is one of the great results of the deeper and more 
 comprehensive studies of the present day, to dispel by degrees 
 the dark clouds of error thus formed, and drag from behind 
 them the truth which has been so long hidden. 
 
 * See a paper in the ‘ Archaeologia,’ vol. xxxii., on such pits, found at 
 Ewell, by Dr Diamond, and another, in vol. xxxiv., on a similar pit found 
 at Stone, Bucks, by Mr Akerman. In the latter it is stated, erroneously, 
 that sepulchral deposits were found in the wells at Richborough ; they 
 were carefully examined by good antiquaries as they were cut away by 
 the railway excavators, and moat certainly there was nothing sepulchral 
 ab(mt them ; they had literally been receptacles of filth and refuse. 
 
216 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [CTIAr. VI 
 
 Tliere is, perhaps, no part of history which has been more 
 obscured by tlie causes alluded to than that of the Eomau and 
 post-Eoiuan period of our island, and yet it is one in which we 
 must all feel the o-reatest interest. Our old histories represent 
 the Eomans as finding the isle of Britain occupied by an ab- 
 original population of Celtic races, formed into tribes under a 
 number of great chieftains, whom with much trouble they re- 
 duced to subjection, in which subjection they remained during 
 the Eoman period, and then, when the Eomans departed from 
 the island, they recovered their old position of British chief- 
 tains, and retained it, till they fell before the Saxon invaders. 
 Various researches and discoveries, but especially a more com- 
 prehensive study of the written records of history, and a more 
 extensive examination of the remaining monuments of the Eo- 
 inan age of our island, have shown us that most of our common 
 notions of our condition during that period are very erroneous. 
 I will endeavour to put this in a more correct light. 
 
 The Eomans appear to have had an especial regard for the 
 Western provinces of the Empire, and the natural consequence 
 was that those provinces soon became far more entirely Eoman- 
 ised than the provinces of the East. This, indeed, was more 
 easy in the one case than in the other ; for the Eastern Empire 
 was founded upon bygone civilisations which far exceeded that 
 of Eome itself, whereas the population of the Western Empire 
 consisted chiefly of only half-civilised tribes, which hardly had 
 one common system of action, and which, therefore, were more 
 easily acted upon. The province of Gaul was especially Eoman, 
 both politically, and in the extent of its Eoman civilisation. 
 
 This province of Gaul had already been completely formed 
 under the rule of the emperor Augustus. It was then, as we 
 have just seen, covered with towns and cities connected with 
 each other by admirable roads. The cities were, in every re- 
 spect, Eoman cities, tilled with noble buildings, and other ob- 
 jects, displaying the perfection of Eoman art. Tlie population 
 was dressed in the Eoman costume, and their manners were 
 entirely Eoman. The only language talked through the pro- 
 vince, with the exception of two remote districts the conditions 
 of which are explained by other causes, was Latin. This was 
 the case in all the Eoman provinces of the West, and was in- 
 sisted upon, at all events in theory, in the East also. The 
 emperor Claudius, who was himself a native of Lugdunum 
 {[jf/ons), the capital of Gaul, is said to have been especially 
 linn in insisting upon the use of the Latin language. We are 
 
CHAP. VI.] THE LITIX LANGUAGE IN BRITAIN. 
 
 217 
 
 informed by the historian Dio Cassius, tliat a Roman citizen 
 from Lycia, having been sent by his province on a deputation 
 to the emperor, and not being able to reply to his questions 
 in Latin, was immediately deprived of his rights of citizenship. 
 ‘ No man,’ said Claudius, ‘ can be a citizen of Rome who is 
 ignorant of the language of Rome ! ’ Claudius is understood 
 to have introduced the common use of the Latin language into 
 Rritain. 
 
 Not only did the Latin language become that of the towns 
 in the provinces, and no doubt that of the people also, but art 
 and literature sprang up and to some degree flourished among 
 them. One or two well-known Latin writers of tlie later Ro- 
 man period came from the provinces. I need hardly say that 
 the almost classic poet Ausonius was a native of Burdigala 
 {Bordeaux). And, in fact, all the writing we can trace in 
 Gaul during the Roman or post-Roman period, was undoubt- 
 edly in the Latin tongue. It continued, indeed, long after the 
 overthrow of the Roman empire in the West to be the ver- 
 nacular language of the people of Gaul, and it was by the 
 Gauls themselves called Roman — in fact, they then considered 
 themselves Romans — and so firmly was it identified with them, 
 that even the conquests of the Franks, whose language of 
 course was Teutonic, not unlike our Anglo-Saxon, did nothing 
 towards unseating it. We have a curious record of this con- 
 dition of the Latin language in Gaul so late as the middle of 
 the 9th century; when, at a great meeting at Strasbourg, in 
 the March of the year 842, Charles le Chaiive, king of France, 
 and his brother Louis, the king of Germany, made mutually a 
 solemn oath for their two peoples, Louis made his oath in Ger- 
 man, while Charles made his in Latin, or, as they call it, 
 liomana lingua^ and Charles’s Roman is still pure Latin in 
 words, though it has undergone a certain amount of degrada- 
 tion in form. After the 11th century, this language, still 
 under the name of lloniane, begins to come out largely in 
 literature; it still preserves the remains of Latinity in form. 
 This, in the abundance of literary monuments of the ages which 
 follow, goes on softening down, until the memory of Romanism 
 itself is lost, and then it is called French. 
 
 Thus was formed gradually the French language of the pre- 
 sent day from the Roman or Latin language as talked in Gaul. 
 There is mixed with it, in its modern form, a German element, 
 derived from the Franks, but no Gallic (Celtic) element that I 
 aiii aware of. In this same manner have been formed the 
 
2i8 
 
 THE ROMA^^S. 
 
 [chap. VI, 
 
 Dioclern languages of all the Eoman provinces of the Western 
 Empire, and they all betray their origin. The Latin, or Roman, 
 language as talked in the Southern Peninsula produced tlie 
 Italian, that of Aquitania produced the Proveri9al, and that of 
 Hispania the Spanish. All these languages were known in the 
 middle ages to those who spoke them by the name of Romane 
 tongues. It is a name which plays an interesting part in the 
 mediaeval literary history of Western Europe. There is only 
 one exception to what I have just been describing, and that is 
 found in the instance of the province of Britain. It is a very 
 interesting and important question, which is worthy of our con- 
 sideration. 
 
 VVlieii the Romans came to Britain, they found the island 
 occupied by a number of independent tribes, under different 
 cliieftains, the greater part of which appear to have been of 
 Celtic race, talking a Celtic tongue, but to judge from the 
 accounts they have left, there were some tribes of a different 
 origin. Such, for instance, were the Belgm, who no doubt had 
 passed over from Gaul, and spoke the language of the Belgae 
 there. To the latter they applied the term Wcelisc or Wcehc. 
 In the German of the middle ages, the French language 
 was always spoken of as WcelscJi, and it is the name used 
 to signify Italian in the German of the present day. In 
 fact the principal foreigners to them were the provincials 
 of the Roman provinces, whom they always found speaking 
 Latin. So, when our Anglo-Saxon forefathers came to 
 Britain, they called tlie Roman population they found here 
 Wcdlsc, or Welsh, no doubt on account of the language 
 they spoke. Thus all circumstances combine to show that 
 Latin was the language spoken in the Roman province of 
 Biitain. I have a strong suspicion, from different cir- 
 cumstances I have remarked, that the towns in our island 
 continued, in contradistinction from the country, to use the 
 Latin tongue long after the empire of Rome had disappeared, 
 and after the country had become Saxon, and they settled in 
 our south-western counties, Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Somer- 
 setshire. The Belgee, no doubt, talked Latin, and it was 
 equally the language of their colonists in Britain ; and there, 
 as in other parts of the island, Latin was no doubt the language 
 talked in the Roman provinces and towns. We have evidence 
 of this in the fact that in exploring the Roman remains here, 
 whether in town or country, when we meet with inscriptions, 
 they are invariably expressed in Latin. Even in Wales, where 
 
CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 210 
 
 Eoman inscriptions are tolerably abundant, I have never beard 
 of one which was Roinano-Celtic. And, in fact, the existence 
 of anything’ of this kind is so rare, that I think we may con- 
 sider it doubtful if we have now any authentic sample left of 
 the language which the Britons talked when the Romans came 
 to our island. It was no doubt a Celtic dialect, but it seems 
 to be only preserved to us in the formation of the names of 
 places which are older than the Anglo-Saxon, chiefly of moun- 
 tains and rivers, and we are rather led to believe that it closely 
 resembled the languages of Ireland and Scotland. I confess 
 that I am much inclined myself to the opinion that the Welsh 
 language has a different origin, which may perhaps be accounted 
 for as follows : It seems to be commonly acknowledged, that 
 the Welsh is the same dialect of Celtic as the Breton tongue of 
 Armorica, and several stories are told in connection with the 
 Peninsular War of the earlier part of the present century, of the 
 ease with which the Welsh soldiers in our army understood 
 and conversed with the Bretons our allies. There can be little 
 doubt that, during the period at which the Saxon settlement 
 of our island took place, the Bretons of Prance were great ad- 
 venturers on the sea. At a very early period, but rather later 
 than this, they were the principal visitors to Newfoundland ; 
 and I think it more than probable that in the time of which 
 we are speaking they sent expeditions to the coasts of Britain 
 in the same manner as the Angles and Saxons, and as it was 
 in a manner the part of the island which looked to them, just 
 as the others regarded at this time the various peoples of the 
 northern race. Thus the Bretons formed their establishment 
 in Cornwall and Wales, and the Welshmen, to whom the Anglo- 
 Saxons gave a name which signified strangers, and the Cornish, 
 who speak the same dialect, began soon to consider themselves 
 as the original inhabitants of Britain, and have been so con- 
 sidered ever since. This belief was strengthened by the circum- 
 stance that the settlers had brought with them from Brittany 
 their national legends, which seem to have formed the mass of 
 the early British poetry in Geoffrey of Monmouth and that class 
 of writers. Thus I myself feel very strongly the belief that 
 the Welshmen of the present day are not the descendants of 
 the ancient inhabitants of our island, but a later Celtic colony 
 from Armorica, and this explains how they became so familiar 
 wi^h the Bretons of the maritime districts of the north-west of 
 Prance. 
 
 On a fair consideration of all these facts, I am led to the 
 
 p 
 
220 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 fCHAr. VT. 
 
 belief that the lang*ua2:e spoken throug-hout the isles of Britain 
 was Latin, and that if the Angles and Saxons had never come, 
 Ave should haA^e been noAv a people talking a Neo-Latin tongue, 
 closely resembling Erench. The Irish or Gaelic has perhaps 
 the best claim to be considered as representing the language ot 
 the Ancient Britons. 
 
CHAP. VII. 1 
 
 EOMAN ROADS. 
 
 221 
 
 CHAPTER TIT, 
 
 The Country — Roman Roads, and their Construction — Milliaria: the 
 Roman Mile — Bridges — Roman Villas; Woodchester, Bignor, &c. — 
 Tesselated pavements, and the Subjects represented on them — Rustic 
 Villages — Agriculture and Fanning — Country Life; the Chase — 
 British Dogs, 
 
 With the imperfect view which we have thus been able to 
 obtain of a Roman town in Britain, we see enough of comfort 
 and elegance to convince us that the island was then in- 
 habited by a population which had reached a high degree of 
 civilisation and retiiiement. Of tliis we shall find still more re- 
 markable traces when we leave the town and proceed into the 
 countiy. The first objects that would there attract attention 
 were the roads, which were constructed with such extraordiiiarv 
 skill that even now many of the best roads in England are laid 
 upon the ancient Roman foundation. 
 
 Vitruvius has given exact directions for making a road. 
 They began, it appears, by making two parallel furrows, the 
 intended width of the road, and then removed all the loose 
 earth between them till they came to the hard solid ground, 
 and they filled up this excavation with fine earth hard beaten 
 in. This first layer was called the pavlmentiim. Upon it was 
 laid the first bed of the road, consisting of small squared stones, 
 nicely ranged on the ground, which was sometimes left dry, 
 but often a large quantity of fresh mortar was poured into it. 
 This layer was termed statumeii. The next was called rudus or 
 raderatio, and consisted of a mass of small stones, broken to 
 pieces and mixed with lime, in the proportion of one part of 
 broken stones to two of lime. Tlie third layer, or bed, whicli 
 was termed mccleus, was formed of a mixture of lime, chalk, 
 pounded or broken tiles, or earth, beaten together, or of gravel 
 or sand and lime mixed with clay. Upon this was laid the 
 surface or pavement of the road, wliich was called technically 
 mmmum dorsum, or summa crusta. It was composed some- 
 
222 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. vii. 
 
 times of stones set like the paving stones in our streets, and 
 sometimes of liag-stones cut square or polygonally, and also, 
 probably oftener, of a firm bed of gravel and lime. The roads 
 were thus raised higher than the surrounding grounds, nud on 
 this account the mass was termed agger. 
 
 The residt of the above process would be a Roman road of 
 the most perfect description ; but we must not suppose that in 
 any part of the empire tliese directions were always strictly ad- 
 hered to. On the contrary, there are tew Roman roads exist- 
 ing which do not in some way or otlier vary from them ; some 
 are entirely without the miclem, in others there was no 
 datimen. Nevertheless, there is always found a sufficiently 
 close resemblance between the structure of the old Roman 
 roads as they exist, and the directions given above. They are 
 often found in our island in an extraordinary degree of per- 
 fection ; uhere they have been used to the present time as high- 
 roads, they are naturally worn down, and it is only at rare in- 
 tervals that we can find any characteristic to identify them, 
 except it be the extraordinary straightness of the course ; but 
 where the course of the road has been changed at a subsequent 
 period, and especially where it runs along an uncultivated 
 lieath, the ancient Roman road often presents itself to our view 
 in an imposing embankment for several miles together. When 
 they came upon higher ground, the Romans were not in the 
 habit of entrenching, but they often raised the embankment 
 higher even than in the plain, probably as a measure of pre- 
 caution. Thus, on the summit of the Gogmagog hills, near 
 Cambridge, the embankment of the Roman road is very lofty 
 and remarkably perfect. They seem seldom to have turned out 
 nf their course to avoid a hill, and, in some instances, we find 
 tiie koman road proceeding direct up an acclivity which we 
 should not encounter at the present day. A Roman road runs 
 over the top of one of the mountains of Westmoreland, almost 
 two thousand feet above the level of the sea, which is named 
 from it. High Street. 
 
 The. roads here described are of course to be looked upon as 
 the grand military roads of the empire, those along which the 
 lines of the Itineraries are traced, and which formed the direct 
 communication between the towns in this island Avhich have 
 been enumerated in a former chapter. But there were numer- 
 ous other roads in all parts of the island, such as the Romans 
 termed vice vicuiales, branch roads, privatce, private roads, 
 acjrorice, count rv roads, device, by-roads. These were con- 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 EOMAX ROADS. 
 
 223 
 
 striicted with much less labour than tlie others, yet they were 
 still sufficiently good and durable to have left distinct traces 
 down to the present time. They were sometimes paved with 
 flag-stones, as is the case with one over the hills near Mon- 
 mouth, where the stones are fitted together with care, though 
 they are of all shapes and sizes. This, as it has been already 
 observed, was probably a common way of paving the streets of 
 towns. The Roman road leading direct from Lymne to Can- 
 terbury, seems, by old accounts, to have been paved in this 
 manner, and it is still, no doubt from that circumstance, called 
 Stone Street. The stones themselves, in the course of ages, 
 have been carried away for various purposes of utility. Other 
 larger roads, which seem to have traversed nearly the whole 
 island, and which were not constructed in the same laborious 
 manner as the military roads, were probably intended for com- 
 mercial purposes, such as those which branch from the salt dis- 
 tricts of Droitwich, and from the mining districts. Antiquaries 
 seem often to have been so misled by their dissimilitude to 
 the great Roman military roads, as to imagine many of these 
 to have been British. It is not very probable that the older 
 inhabitants of the island, such as Crnsar found them, divided 
 into separate and hostile tribes, which seem often to have 
 changed tlieir boundaries, as they were pressed forwards by 
 other colonies, should have been great road-makers. 
 
 We know that the Roman roads were constructed and regu- 
 lated at an enormous expense, and we learn, from ancient 
 writers, that the office of curator viaruin was one which implied 
 considerable honour. Nearer the centre of the empire, if not 
 in the distant provinces, there were from place to place muta- 
 Hones, or places where post-horses might be taken, wliich were 
 termed agminales, and which were conducted by veredarii, or pos- 
 tilions. The keepers of these stations were called statores. It 
 was by means of these posts that Constantine, the son of Con- 
 stantins Chlorus, made his rapid and celebrated progress from 
 the east to join his father in Britain, and as they appear to have 
 been continued to the coast of Gaul, it is probable that tliey 
 were also established in this island. There were also found by 
 the road-side diversoria, cauponce, or tabernce dlversorice, places 
 of entertainment for man and horse, which were kept by dlver- 
 sores and caupones. Further, at stated intervals, stood man- 
 stones, the keepers of which, named manclpes, stopped the pas- 
 sengers to examine tlieir dlplomata, or passports. 
 
 Through ail the immense systems of great roads which thus 
 
224 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. VII. 
 
 run over the whole Eornan empire, the distances were marked 
 out with the ^I'eatest care, and at the end of each mille passes, 
 or Roman mile, was erected a milliary column or milestone, 
 {niilliarium'), with an inscription, indicating the distance from 
 the next town. These milestones usually consisted of a large 
 plain cylinder of stone, raised on a liase ; and the inscription 
 stated tlie name of the emperor under whose reign it was 
 erected, so that they were probably often changed, in order to 
 iionour a new emperor’s name. After the Romans had departed 
 from the island, these monuments were gradually taken for the 
 material, and only a few of them have been preseiwed, which is 
 to be lamented, as they would have thrown great light on the 
 Roman topography of Britain. The only perfect example known 
 at present in this countiy is one preserved in the local museum 
 at Leicester, and its inscription, which is as follows, states that 
 it was set up under the emperor Hadrian, at the distance of two 
 miles from Raise. 
 
 IMP CAESAR 
 
 OIV TRAIAN PARTH F DIV 
 TRATAN HADRIAN AVG 
 PONT IV COS III A RATIS 
 II. 
 
 It is a perfect cylinder, three feet six inches in height, and five 
 feet seven inches in circumference, and was dug up, in 1771, 
 by the side of the ancient Roman road, called the Foss-way, 
 about two miles to the north of Leicester, thus identifying the 
 Roman name of that town. There is another with an inscrip- 
 tion nearly perfect, at Caton, near Lancaster, also erected under 
 Hadrian. These milestones have been found more numerously 
 in Gaul, and one of them, discovered near the town of Yic-sur- 
 Aisne, has the following inscription, stating that it was raised 
 ill the fourteenth year of the reign of Caracalla, or a.d. 212, at 
 the distance of seven leagues from Soissons. 
 
 IMP CAES 
 M AVRELIO AN 
 TONING PIO 
 AVG BRITANNI 
 CO MAX TRIB 
 POT XIIII IMP II 
 COS III PPPRO 
 COS AB AVG 
 JVESS LEVG 
 VII. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 ROMAN ROADS. 
 
 225 
 
 It will be seen by tliis last inscription, that in ancient Gaul, 
 as in modern Prance, they reckoned by leagues, and not, as in 
 Britain, by miles. If we had but two consecutive milliaria 
 remaining in their places, we should be able at once to solve 
 the much-debated question of the length of the Roman miles 
 in Britain ; but, unfortunately, no such discovery bas yet been 
 made. We know that the mile consisted of a thousand passus, 
 ox paces, which, according to D’Anville, was equivalent to 756 
 French toises, or 4834*28 English feet. The English mile is 
 5280 feet. We gain, however, not much in knowing the exact 
 measure of the Roman mile, because we cannot place trust in 
 the numbers given in the Itineraries. The Roman numerals 
 were easily altered by careless copyists, and they are found to 
 be so often wrong in the texts of the Itineraries as they now 
 exist, that we can place no confidence in them, at all events as 
 far as regards Britain, and the only safe method of applying 
 them to tlie actual sites is first to find the traces of the stations, 
 and then compare them with the Itinerary. 
 
 One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Roman 
 roads is the extraordinary straightness of their course. The 
 great military roads may often be traced for many miles without 
 a single deviation from the direct line. When there is a 
 deviation, if between two stations, it was for some very import- 
 ant reason, and may generally be explained by the circumstances 
 of the locality. As we have before remarked, hills, even Avhen 
 of considerable elevation, presented no obstacle to the course of 
 the road. The Roman engineers even drained or filled up 
 marshes, when they stood in their way, if there were any 
 advantage to be gained by passing across them. We have 
 many proofs that the rivers in this country were passed by an 
 extensive system of bridges — it is probable, indeed, that a mili- 
 tary road seldom passed a river without one. Some of the 
 more important Roman bridges remained till a recent period, 
 forming the foundation of the modern structures which replaced 
 them. Such was the case little more than twenty years ago at 
 London, and when tlie old bridge over tlie Tyne at Newcastle 
 was taken down in 1771, the piers were found to be Roman 
 masonry. The foundation was laid upon piles of fine black oak, 
 which were in a state of perfect preser\ ation. The remains of 
 three bridges are found along the line of the Wall. When the 
 old Teigai-bridge in Devonshire, by which the Roman road 
 crossed the Teign in its way to Totness and Plymouth, was 
 taken down in 1815, the Roman work beneath was found in a 
 
THE HOMANS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 I’emarkahle state of preservation. It is tlie opinion of Mr Bruce 
 and of other antiquaries that the bridge at Newcastle, as well as 
 the others in the Wall district, had no arches, but that a hori- 
 zontal roadway of timber was laid on the piers. ‘ The founda- 
 tions of the piers of three Homan bridges in the region of the 
 Wall,’ Mr Bruce tells us, ‘ still remain ; one across the Tyne 
 at Corstopitum, one across the North Tyne at Cilurnum, and 
 another across the Bede- water at Habitancum ; an examination 
 of these has induced me to believe that they, at least, had no 
 arches. The piers are of a size and strength sufficient to with- 
 stand the thrust of the waters without the aid of an arch ; and 
 in one at least of these cases, the requisite spring of the arch 
 would have raised the road to an inconvenient height. An ex- 
 perienced mason, who examined carefully the ruins of the bridge 
 at Habitancum, told me that he observed that all the stones 
 which encumbered the spot were square, none of them having 
 the shape of stones used in building arches. It is certain that 
 in the medimval period the Newcastle bridge had a road of 
 timber.’ We cannot doubt, nevertheless, that many Roman 
 bridges had arches. Mr Roach Smith has pointed out a very 
 fine semicircular arched bridge over the little river Cock, 
 near its entrance into the Wharfe, about half-a-mile below 
 Tadcaster, on the Roman road leading southward from that 
 town (the ancient Calcaria), which he considered as Roman. 
 The masonry of this bridge is massive, and remarkably well 
 preserved, and the stones are carefully squared and sharply cut, 
 and on some of them the mason’s mark, an R, is distinctly 
 visible. The roadway was very narrow. The Saxons seem to 
 have preserved carefully the bridges they found in existence, 
 though they probably built few themselves; and I am inclined 
 to believe that most of the bridges in this country at the time 
 of the Norman conquest were Roman. The preservation of 
 these ancient bridges was considered of so much importance, 
 that the charge of them was often thrown upon the hundred, 
 or on the county. Thus, at Cambridge, the county was bound 
 to see that the bridge was kept in repair, and certain lands were 
 allotted for the expense of the repairs ; and I have very little 
 doubt that the bridge which in the thirteenth century was in 
 such a ruinous condition, that people’s carts used to fall over 
 into the river, was the ancient bridge of the Roman town of 
 Camboricum.^ It was probably from a broken Roman bridge, 
 
 * Hicunt quod reparatio et refcctio magni pontis Cantebrigiae pertinent 
 ad comitatuin Cantcbrigiae, et quidam de comitatu preedicto tenent terras 
 
CHAl’. VII.] 
 
 ROMAN VILLAS. 
 
 227 
 
 the remains of which seem to liave been visible in the time of 
 Lelaud, that the town of Pontefract, in Yorkshire {pons fr act us) 
 derived its name. 
 
 The objects, however, which must have struck the traveller 
 most forcibly as he passed along- the road between one town 
 and another, were the numerous country villas or mansions, 
 many of them magnificent palaces, covering- as much ground as 
 a whole town. Modern discoveries have shown us how mar- 
 vellously the country was covered, especially in some of the 
 southern and midland districts, with these great rural residences, 
 which will be better understood by the reader, if we describe 
 the relative positions of two or three known groups. Perhaps 
 the largest and most magnificent Roman villa yet discovered in 
 England is that at Woodchester, in Gloucestershire. Wood- 
 chester is situated in a beautiful valley in the high grounds 
 bordering on the vale of Gloucester, on the bank of a stream which 
 runs down thence into the plain to join the Severn, and at about 
 four miles from the Roman road from Gorin ium {Cirencester) to 
 the trajectus Augustl {Aust Passage) across the Channel. It 
 was about twelve miles from the town just mentioned, and the 
 same distance from Glevuin {Gloucester). If we left Corinium 
 by the ancient road just mentioned, we should fii*st have seen 
 on a hill to the right, between this road and the road to 
 Glevuin, a villa of some extent, the remains of which have 
 been discovered at Daglingworth, about three miles to the 
 north-west of Cirencester. Close to the road on the left, under 
 a hill about five miles from Corinium, was a Roman station, or 
 building, at a place now called Trewsbury. About two miles 
 further, on the right-hand side of the road, stood another hand- 
 some villa, which has been excavated to some extent at Hoc- 
 ben-y, in the parish of Rodmarton. Two miles more brought 
 us to a villa on the opposite side of the road, and, like the last, 
 close to it, which has been discovered in the parish of Chering- 
 ton. About six miles further, on the same side of the road, 
 extensive buildings have been found at a place called Kingscot, 
 which belonged either to a villa or to a station. About half- 
 way between the two last places, a by-way probably led to the 
 
 geldabiles qui debent pontem reficere qnando pons indiget reparatione et 
 refectione. Dicunt etiani quod pons praedictus debilis est, fractus, et dis- 
 solutus, ita quod carectse magnatuuni etaliorum ibidem transitum facientes 
 cadunt in aqua, ita quod tarn homines quam equi emergunt ad magmum 
 peviculum et dampnum ibidem transientium . — Hundred Molls vol. ii. 
 p. 392. 
 
22S 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VI!. 
 
 villa at Wooclchester, among the hills to the right. Eight or 
 nine miles from Kingscot, at a place called Croom-hall, remains 
 of another villa, or mansion, have been found, close to the left- 
 hand side of the road, where it passes over an eminence. A 
 few miles carried the traveller hence to the shores of the Bristol 
 Channel. If we had taken the road from Corinium to Gleviim, 
 we should first have seen the villa at Daglingworth, on the hill 
 to the left, and then, on the right hand, and near the road, 
 about seven miles from Corinium, we should have seen a fine 
 villa which has been discovered at Combe-end. On the other 
 side of the road, in a fine valley among the hills, about half-way 
 between the road and AVoodchester, was another rich villa, the 
 remains of which have been discovered at a place called Brown’s 
 Hill. In the vale of Gloucester, at the foot of the hills, about 
 four miles to the west of Woodchester, stood another handsome 
 villa, or perhaps a small town, at Erocester. All these places 
 are within a very small circuit, and have been discovered 
 accidentally, so that there may be others within the same 
 compass. 
 
 Let us now turn to Somersetshire, and take as a centre the 
 ancient town of Somerton, situated on a Roman road leading 
 from Ilchester in the direction of Glastonbury. If we follow 
 this road towards Ilchester, two miles from Somerton, two ex- 
 tensive Roman villas have been traced in the parish of Kings- 
 don, one near the Roman road, the other a little to the east, on 
 the bank of a small stream called the Cary. Further east, on 
 the other side of the stream, a third villa has been found at 
 Lytes Cary. These three villas are included in a distance of 
 about a mile. In the parish of Hurcot, joining Somerton to the 
 east, two villas have also been found, one near Somerton, the 
 other about three-quarters of a mile to the north-east. Barely 
 half a mile to the south-east of the latter is another extensive 
 Roman villa at Charlton Mackrel ; and in the opposite direction, 
 somewhat more than half a mile from the Hurcot villa, is an- 
 other at Copley. To the east of this, in the parish of Littleton, 
 close to the Roman road just mentioned, a group of several Roman 
 villas has been found. Proceeding along the road northwardly, 
 at about four miles from Somerton, we arrive at Butleigh 
 Bottom, where a Roman villa of considerable extent has been 
 traced. Villas are found in equal abundance within two or 
 three miles to the west of Somerton, among which the most 
 extensive is that at Pitney, covering an acre and a half of 
 ground, and containing a very remarkable pavement. It may 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 I^OMAX VILT.AS. 
 
 229 
 
 be remarked that tlie walls of the villas in this district abound 
 in herring-bone work. We might give similar examples of the 
 profusion with which the Eoman villas were scattered over 
 the country in Hampshire and Oxfordshire. In the latter 
 county, two noble villas stood within a mile of each other, 
 in the parishes of Stonesfield and North Leigh, near the 
 Eoman road now called the Akeman Street. The splendid 
 Eoman villa at Bignor, in Sussex, at the foot of the hills to the 
 north of Arundel, close by the Eoman road from Eegnum 
 {Cliiclieder) to London, has a situation something like that of 
 Woodchester. Over the hills, between two and thi'ee miles to the 
 north-west of Bignor, a villa has been traced near the church 
 at Huncton. To the north-east, by the side of the Eoman 
 road to London, at about two miles distant from Bignor, traces 
 of Eoman occupation are found, and about three miles further, 
 in the pjarish of Pulbo rough, thei-e has been a Eoman .station. 
 Eather more than six miles to the south of Bignor, the 
 discovery of a Eoman sepulchre at Avisford seems to indi- 
 cate the vicinity of another villa ; about six miles eastwardly 
 from this place a villa has been found in the parish of Ang- 
 mering : and another villa has been found on the coast of Bog- 
 nor, about seven miles to the southward of Avisford.^ 
 
 While we are thus speaking in general terms of villas scat- 
 tered over the country so thickly, few will imagine what an im- 
 mense pile of building a Eoman villa usually Avas. I Avill, 
 therefore, proceed to describe one of the largest in this country, 
 that of Woodchester, which Avas opened partly under the 
 superintendence of Mr Lysons during the years from 1793 
 to 1796. Nothing could be finer than the site Avhich the 
 Eoman proprietor had here chosen for his residence. A 
 square level platform, Avith a little narrow goi’ge on the north, 
 down Avhich a small stream ran into the larger stream that 
 Avashed the foot of its eastern declivity, Avas backed by a 
 hill Avhich sheltered it from the damp Avinds of the Avest. 
 
 * The villas of Woodchester and Bi^or formed the subject of very 
 splendid publications by Lysons. An account of the Pitney villa and 
 pavement was published by Sir Bichard Colt Hoare, in a thin 8vo volume, 
 printed in 1832. A description of the North Leigh and Stonesfield villas 
 was printed in 1836, by Mr Henry Hakewill, in a similar form. The 
 great collection by Lysons contains, in addition to Woodchester and 
 Bignor, accounts of villas at Littlecote in Wiltshire, Frampton in Dorset, 
 Withington in Gloucestershire, Horkstow in Lincolnshire, and some 
 others, all illustrated with magnificent plates of pavements, &c. Accounts 
 of other villas will be found in the various volumes of the Archeeologia of 
 the Society of Antiquaries, 
 
2S0 
 
 TEIE ROMANS. 
 
 [OHAI. \l\ 
 
 It was also sheltered from the east winds by a hill which 
 rose oil the opposite side of the stream. The main valley 
 
 splendid pavement. This consisted of a central circular com- 
 
 * Tbft rooms in wliich mosaic pavements were found, are shaded in 
 the p.un. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 VILLA AT AVOODCIIESTER. 
 
 231 
 
 partment of about twenty-five feet in diameter, consisting of 
 an outer border formed of a Vitruvian scroll, edged on each 
 side by a guilloche, and enriched witli foliage proceeding 
 from a mask of Pan, having a beard of leaves. Immediately 
 within this border was a wide circular band containing repre- 
 sentations of twelve difierent animals, on a white ground, with 
 trees and flowers between them. Within this circle was a 
 smaller band, separated from it by a guilloclie and a border of 
 acorns, and containing representations of birds on a white 
 ground. Among them was a figure of a fox. On the southern 
 side was a figure of Orpheus playing on the lyre. This band 
 was bounded internally by a twisted guilloche, and within was 
 a central hexagon about ten feet in diameter. This centre had 
 been entirely destroyed long before the time of the opening of 
 the villa by Lysons, but some old drawings, made on former 
 partial openings, show that the field was covered with figures 
 of fish and sea monsters. I am inclined to think that it was 
 a little lower than the rest of the pavement, and formed the 
 floor of a shallow reservoir for water. The circular compart- 
 ment I have been describing was inclosed in a square frame, 
 consisting of twenty-four compartments, enriched with a great 
 variety of guilloches, scrolls, frets, and other ornaments, edged 
 on the inside with a braided guilloche, on the outside with a 
 labyrinth fret, between a single fret and a braided guilloche. In 
 the four angular spaces between the great border of this gor- 
 geous pavement and the great circular compartment were the 
 remains of female figures, two of which appear to have occupied 
 each space ; they had evidently been naiads. At the four 
 inner corners of the scjuare were found sufticient indications that 
 they had, once been occupied by columns, which had no doubt 
 supported the roof, which was probably vaulted. It was found 
 that the pavement was supported by a hypocaust, or system of 
 flues, intended to warm the room. 
 
 On each side of this large apartment was found a passage, 
 twenty -nine feet four inches long by seven feet and a half wide, 
 the entrance into which was by a door three feet wide. The 
 floor of these passages was paved with coarse mosaic work, orna- 
 mented with a double labyrinth fret of a dark bluish-grey on 
 a white ground, surrounded by a plain red stripe. Curiously 
 enough, at the extremity of the eastern of these passages, part 
 of another pavement was discovered laid over it, afoot above its 
 level, formed of much coarser materials than the original 
 one, and very ill executed ; the design being merely stripes of 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 232 
 
 [chap. Vxi, 
 
 white, blue, and red, very irregularly put together. It had evi- 
 dently been an alteration made at a late period. 
 
 To the southward of these two passages, were, on each side 
 of the great apartment, two rooms, of which that nearest to the 
 great apartment on each side had a mosaic pavement, of the 
 same degree of coarseness as the passages, but of a simple and 
 elegant design, consisting of a mat of three colours, dark grey, 
 red, and white, suiTounded by a double red border. 
 
 These were the first discoveries made, and they led to a more 
 extensive investigation. On the south of the great apartment 
 a gallery was discovered, a hundred and fourteen feet in length, 
 by ten in width, except where it passed the wall of the great 
 pavement, where it was only nine feet wide. Tlie mosaic was 
 of the same degree of coarseness as that of the other passages, 
 but it was ornamented with a great variety of patterns, con- 
 sisting chiefly of labyrinths, mats, and stars, for the most part 
 in a good taste, forming square compartments, with a single 
 twisted guilloche and two plain red stripes running round the 
 whole of them. Those parts of the wall of this gallery which 
 remained on the south side were two feet thick, and beyond it 
 towards the south was a liard terrace floor. As the pavement 
 of the gallery was destroyed at the centre, and no foundations 
 of the wall remained there, it was impossible to ascertain if 
 there had been any entrance from this gallery immediately into 
 the room of the great pavement. 
 
 Excavations were now commenced at the end of the southern 
 gallery running from the large apartment, and the room to the 
 north of that marked No. 2 was found. This apartment, which 
 had been a square of twenty-two feet ten inches, appeared also 
 to have been new floored, for on excavating to the depth of 
 three feet, the workmen came to a floor of very hard cement or 
 terrace, on removing some of Avhich a small fragment of mosaic 
 ])avement was discovered, six inches below the level of that 
 door. The whole of the terrace door was then removed, not 
 without much didiculty, on account of the extreme hardness ot 
 the cement. Under it were found four fragments of a mosaic 
 pavement, which had been partly broken up. They were in a 
 very good style, and the design had consisted of dve octagonal 
 compartments, containing figures on a white ground, surround- 
 ed by a double labyrinth fret ; immediately within which, on 
 the north side, was a scroll of dowers, with a vase in the centre. 
 In the remains of the compartments, at the north-west and 
 south-east corners, were fragments of Bacchanalian dgures. 
 
CHAP. VTI.} 
 
 VILLA AT AVOODCIIESTER. 
 
 233 
 
 The octagon il compartment at the south-west corner was entire, 
 and contained figures of* two boys holding up a basket of fruit 
 and leaves, with the inscription bonvm eventvm under tliem, 
 in large capital letters. The compartment at the north-east 
 corner liad been nearly destroyed, but the letters biinii c . . . 
 remained, evidently for bhnh oolite, the Greek H being used 
 for the Latin E, of which there are other examples. The 
 inscription, when entire, would thus be, Bonum Ecentam heiie 
 coUte, a recommendation to worship well Bonus Eventus, one 
 of the twelve deities who presided over the affairs of husbandry.* 
 The walls of this room were two feet thiek, formed of stone, 
 roughly hewn, and remained to the height of about three feet 
 on every side. Fragments of stucco, painted in fresco, lay 
 scattered about. On the west side the wall was double, with 
 a space of six inches between, to secure the room against 
 humidity. Another system of flues for warming was found 
 under this room, the passages being about four feet deep. 
 
 The room adjoining, No. 2, had no tesselated pavement, but 
 the same hypocaust of flues extended under it, and outside the 
 wall was the fire-place communicating Avith them. The aperture 
 under the wall, where the fire seemed to have been placed, Avas 
 formed by bricks, one foot five inches long, one foot Avide, and 
 two inches thick ; it Avas one foot eleven inches Avide at the 
 bottom, and six inches at the top, Avhere a sort of arch was 
 formed by the edges of the bricks gradually advancing beyond 
 each other. This fire-plaee had Avails one foot eight inehes 
 thick on each side ; they Avere four feet two inches apart, and 
 projected outAvards four feet from the Avail. A considerable 
 quantity of skulls and bones of animals, chiefly sheep, Avere 
 found near the fire-place. 
 
 To the south of the room marked 2, Avas another apartment, 
 tAventy feet long, by tAvelve feet eight inches Avide, Avliich eon- 
 tained a mosaic pavement, of a tasteful design. It consisted 
 of a circular compartment, betAveen tAvo oblong ones, united 
 together by a single tAvisted guilloche, with a border formed by 
 a labyrinth fret, betAveen Avhich and the Avail Avas a considerable 
 space filled up Avith plain red tesserae, rather more than an inch 
 
 * So we are informed by Varro, de Re Rustiea, lib. i. There was a 
 temple of Bonus Eventus at Rome, and Pliny mentions statues of this 
 deity, which represented him holding a patera in the right hand, and an 
 ear of corn and a poppy in the left. He is represented in the same shape 
 pn the reverse of a coin of Titus ; and the reverse of one of Geta has a 
 ff'male figure holding a dish of fruits in her right hand, and ears of corn 
 in her left, with the inscription boni eventvs. 
 
THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. vii. 
 
 23 i 
 
 square. The circular coinpartinent was nearly (iesirovetl, bnt 
 it had probably contained a figure. This floor was also sup- 
 ported by a hypocaust, and it had a fire-place outside the wall, 
 near which was found a coin of Magnentius. 
 
 Two rooms were subsequently opened, between the room 
 No. 2, and the large room No. 1, and the one adjoining to the 
 latter had a tesselated pavement, consisting of two square com- 
 partments, filled with labyrinths, and united together by a 
 braided guilloche, on the outside of which were two narrow i-ed 
 stripes. The parts of the building next explored were the 
 large rooms, numbered 9 and 10, and the room to the left of 
 the latter. One of them was thirty-eight feet square; another 
 was thirty-eight feet by forty-six ; and the third was thirty- 
 eight feet by tifty-one. The walls remained in several places, 
 to the height of four feet from the foundation. Those on the 
 north side were two feet two inches thick, and were in some 
 places lined with brickwork ; the south walls were one foot t(m 
 inches thick. These walls were in several places plastered on 
 the outside, and painted of a dull red colour. Many frag- 
 ments of the stucco which had covered the walls internally, 
 and had been painted in fresco, with various colours, were 
 found among the rubbish. Some of them were painted with 
 large capital letters, which had formed parts of inscriptions. 
 These rooms appeared to have had tesselated pavements, which 
 had been broken up ; and several slices of marble of different 
 sorts, but chiefly foreign, were also found. These had, per- 
 haps, been employed to encrust the walls, a practice which we 
 know prevailed among the Eomans. Some of these pieces of 
 marble were not more than a quarter of an inch thick. Parts 
 of two stone columns, and fragments of statuary, were subse- 
 quently found in the room No. 10, and in the room adjoining 
 it to the left ; on digging trenches across, several inner walls, 
 two feet four inches wide, were discovered running in the 
 directions indicated by the light outlines in our plan. These 
 walls were covered with large flat stones on the top, which did 
 not rise higher than the foundations of the other walls, so that 
 it is probable that they supported a floor, and that their object 
 was to prevent humidity in the apartment above. Among the 
 ruins of this room were found quantities of tesserae, many frag- 
 ments ot the figured Samian ware, and of glass vessels, and 
 portions of two statues in Samian marble, which seemed to 
 have belonged to figures of Diana Lucifera and Meleager. At 
 the east end of the room, No. 9, great part of an arch wris 
 
CHAP, vir.] 
 
 VILLA AT WOODCHESTER. 
 
 235 
 
 discovered, about three feet below the surface of the earth, 
 which was doubtless connected with the substructure of the 
 floors. 
 
 From the autumn of 1795 to the summer of 1796, the 
 excavations were carried on more to the south, and the great 
 court, B, was traced, with the various apartments round it. 
 On the west side was a mass of buildings, containing twelve 
 rooms, which had been entered from the court by a vestibule, 
 between the rooms marked 18 and 19. In this vestibule a 
 fragment of a beautiful group, in white marble, of Cupid and 
 Psyche, was found, which had evidently been copied from the 
 same model as a well-known group of sculpture in the 
 Museum Florentinum. The walls in this part of the building 
 were of stone, with bonding courses of brick ; and among the 
 ruins were found thin slabs of stone, of an irregular hexagonal 
 form, which, no doubt, belonged to the roof. Pieces of stags’ 
 horns, several of them sawed off at the ends, were also found 
 here ; and several human bones were met with in the buildings 
 on the north and west sides of the great court. Many coins, 
 chiefly in small brass, were found here and in various parts of 
 the building. 
 
 A wall extended along the whole length of the south side of 
 the great court, B, near the centre of which were discovered the 
 foundation walls of three rooms, or perhaps of a gateway, with 
 a door on each side (No. 21). Here, as in many other parts 
 of the building, the walls were destroyed down to the founda- 
 tion, so that it was impossible to ascertain the width of more 
 than one of the doorways, which was four feet wide. Frag- 
 ments of large columns were found here, which showed that 
 there had been an imposing display of architectural ornament. 
 A little to the west of these foundations, and attached to the 
 long southern wall, were the remains of a singular building, 
 consisting of two parallel walls, three feet distant from each 
 other, connected by two transverse walls, having an opening 
 between them. At the bottom of this opening there was a con- 
 siderable quantity of coal ashes, and, at the west end, at the 
 height of fifteen inches from the bottom, was a small flue through 
 the wall. This building is described as presenting very much 
 the appearance of having held a boiler. 
 
 Considerable remains of buildings were also discovered on 
 the eastern side of this great court. A gallery first presented 
 itself, marked 24 in our plan, and measuring sixty-five feet 
 eight inches in length, by ten feet four inches wide. The en- 
 
236 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 trance from the court was eight feet eight inches wide. Another 
 opening in the east wall, immediately opposite and nearly of 
 the same dimensions, led into what appears to have been a 
 court, c, surrounded with apartments. Jn one of these rooms, 
 to the east of the court, there were two parallel narrow walls 
 (fifteen inches wide), running the whole length of the room, 
 and square projections from the Avest wall. As these walls 
 rose no higher than the foundation part of the other walls, they 
 ])robably supported a pavement. At the north end of this 
 room was found the leg of a statue, of white marble, and not 
 far from it was a foundation of square stones, which appeared 
 to have been intended as a pedestal. The outward Avail on the 
 east side of this range of building Avas entire to the height 
 of from four to five feet. It Avas three feet thick, and built of 
 stones roughly hcAvn, Avith six projections on the outside, Avhich 
 were evidently buttresses. We may, therefore, suppose that 
 this Avas the exterior of the Avhole building on this side. 
 
 At the north end of the range of rooms of which Ave are 
 now speaking, at No. 22, were found the remains of Avhat 
 Lysons considered to be a laconicum, or SAveating-room. At 
 the depth of five feet below the surface of the ground the ex- 
 cavators met with a very hard cement floor, eight feet ten 
 inches wide, and nine feet ten inches long. On removing this 
 floor, Avhich was eight inches thick, a layer of bricks Avas dis- 
 covered under it, Avhich proved to be the covering of flues that 
 ran under the floor. The flues Avere two feet two inches in 
 depth, and one of them Avas longitudinal, and four transverse- 
 The longitudinal Hue Avas one foot nine inches Avide at the 
 bottom, and seA^en inches at the top. The transverse flues Avere 
 six inches Avide at the top, and one foot six inches at the 
 bottom. They Avere built partly of unhewn stone, and partly 
 of brick, forming rude kind of arches. The intermediate 
 space between the transverse flues was filled up Avith ridge 
 tiles formed into funnels, and placed between layers of brick 
 and stone ; Avhile the interstices, Avhich Avere much wider than 
 is usual in walling, Avere filled with a reddish clay. The fun- 
 nels Avere on an average eighteen inches long, and four and 
 a-half in diameter, some formed by only one of the curved 
 tiles. A row of perpendicular funnels extended along the 
 north and south Avails, and seemed to have been carried up to 
 the top of the building. This elaborate hypocaust is shown, 
 as it appeared Avhen opened, in our accompanying plate, Avhich 
 is a view taken from the south-Avest corner, and exhibits a 
 
Hypocanst in tlie Roman Villa at VVoodcliester 
 
i^NlVERS/TyoffLLlNCIS. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 VILLA AT WOODCIIESTER. 
 
 239 
 
 fi*ag*inent of tlie cement floor, as well as tlie floor of anotlier 
 room on the east. The latter lias no flues or hypocaust under* 
 ip^ath, but at the north-east corner was a sort of basin hol- 
 lowed in the floor, from Avhich a leaden pipe passed through 
 the wall. From the opposite corner of this room was a pas- 
 sage, with a floor of cement, rising towards the west, to more 
 than three feet above the level of the other part. The upper 
 part of it is destroyed, but at the south-east corner of the 
 great court is a passage, which appears to have been one of the 
 entrances to it. 
 
 From excavations made in different parts, it appeared that 
 the great court, c, had been laid with a coarse sort of terrace 
 pavement. Further excavations outside the southern wall of 
 the great court, brought to light a continuation of the western 
 wall, with an apartment in the corner, No. 27, and further on 
 a range of rooms, at 28. The excavations were next carried 
 on from the north-east corner of the great court, B, along the 
 eastern side of the court. A, which led to the discovery of a 
 new series of apartments, Nos. 3 1o 8, with traces of pave- 
 ments and hypocausts. These and the corresponding rooms 
 on the west side were carefully examined. In the room, No. 
 11, were found eight square stone pillars, two feet nine inches 
 and three-quarters high, which seemed to have been the sup- 
 ports of a hypocaust. On each side of the court was a gallery, 
 sixty-two feet live inches long, and eight feet five inches wide, 
 each of which had possessed handsome mosaic pavements, and 
 which joined up to the great gallery on the north side of the 
 court. These galleries had had flues under them, and on the 
 outside of the walls of each, within the court, were short 
 parallel avails, that appeared to have been the fire-places to 
 hypocausts. In some of the rooms on the west side, remains 
 of very handsome mosaic pavements were discovered. The 
 floors on the east side of the court appeared to have been 
 much more thoroughly destroyed than on the west. The walls 
 of the apartment. No. 3, avere continued northwardly, but 
 could not be traced except at intervals, as they ran under the 
 churchyard and the church ; and it avas evident that the avhole 
 mass of buildings had extended much further in that direction. 
 Perhaps there was another court. A transverse avail beloav the 
 room. No. 27, appeared also to lead to other buildings, so that 
 in spite of the immense extent of the building thus uncovered, 
 it appears that it was by no means the avhole villa. 
 
 Our cut on page 237 gives a plan of as much of this exten- 
 
240 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 sive building as has been explored, and will furnish us with a 
 general notion of its arrangements. It covers an area of five 
 hundred and fifty feet by above three hundred feet. The ap- 
 proach was by a level platform from the south, with outl)uild- 
 ings on the left, if not also on the right. Here the visitor 
 approached apparently a long dead wall, with the grand portal 
 in the centre. On passing through the entrance gateway, he 
 found himself in an immense court, about a hundred and fifty 
 feet square, with masses of buildings on each side. In front 
 of him was another gateway, which led him into a second 
 court, ninety feet square, surrounded on three sides by a gallery, 
 or, as the ancients called it, crt/ptoporticns, which was, no doubt, 
 either closed in, or capable of being closed in, as the hypo- 
 causts under it show that it was intended to be warmed. Op- 
 posite the gate by which the visitor entered, was probably 
 another portal that led him through the northern cryptoporticus 
 into the grand hall. No. 1, which was decorated with every 
 kind of ornamentation, and perhaps with a fountain or basin 
 of water in the middle. It is possible that beyond this there 
 was another small court, surrounded by buildings, the founda- 
 tions of v/hich lie under the churchyard and church. A simple 
 glance at the plan is sufticient to show us that it is useless to 
 attempt to give any explanation of the mass of rooms which 
 surround these different courts. It seems reasonable to suppose 
 that the more elegant and private apartments were those built 
 round the inner court, A. The apartments round the little side 
 court, c, were perhaps, as Lysons supposed, baths and rooms 
 for purposes connected with them. Perhaps those on the other 
 side of the court were rooms for recreation and conversing, and 
 they seem to have been adorned with sculptures, and perhaps 
 with pictures, ornamental pottery, and plants.^ 
 
 The only common feature in the Roman villas in Britain 
 seems to have been the large courts round which the buildings 
 were grouped : and it is in this alone that they bear any close 
 
 ♦ The Roman villas no doubt long remained, as imposing ruins, after 
 ibe departure of the Romans. The earth gradually accumulated, till, at a 
 much later period, the upper parts of the walls were cleared away for the 
 materials, leaving the substructure underneath. The pavements have 
 suffered most from being accidentally discovered, from time to time, by the 
 ignorant peasantry, who broke them up, imagining that treasures wtro 
 concealed under them. Perhaps the Caledonian or Saxon invaders oftt'U 
 destroyed the pavements for the same cause. The early Saxons imagined 
 that all statues and busts were implements of magic, and that the dan- 
 gerous spell could only be broken by breaking them. Hence, we seldoiu 
 find more than fragments of statues. 
 

 
 Of ILLINOIS. 
 
Corner of the Cryptoporticus, Roniaii Villa at Bignor. 
 
CUAr. VI r.] 
 
 ROMAN VILLAS. 
 
 243 
 
 resemblance to the directions given by Vitruvius.^ In the villa 
 at Bignor there were also two courts, larger even than those at 
 Woodchester, hut they lay with a different aspect, running 
 north-west and south-east, instead of nearly north and south. 
 The inner court at Bignor was surrounded by a more perfect 
 and extensive cryptoporticus than that at Woodchester. The 
 court itself was a parallelogram, not quite perfect, as the 
 northern side was a little longer that the side opposite. The 
 southern cryptoporticus measured a hundred and thirty-seven 
 feet nine inches in length, and eight feet in width. The western 
 cryptoporticus, extending across the width of the court, was 
 ninety-six feet long, by ten wide. The great outer court ap- 
 peared not to have had buildings round it, although traces ol 
 buildings were found towards the middle of the area. Thert^ 
 appears to have been a large entrance gate from the outside ol 
 the building into the inner court on its southern side. The 
 ])aths, which were more extensive and more clearly defined than 
 at Woodchester, were attached to the inner court, near its south- 
 eastern corner. The cryptoporticus of the villa at Bignor had 
 had tesselated pavements ; the level of the floor on the northern 
 side was more elevated than the others, and at the northern 
 corner, where this northern cryptoporticus joined the western 
 one, there was a small square room, with a very elegant pave- 
 ment, through which, by means of steps, people passed from one 
 into the other. The accompanying plate represents this room 
 as it appeared when first discovered. The painted stucco 
 remained fresh on the wall. The end of the floor of the 
 northern cryptoporticus is seen to the right. It is singular that 
 under the middle of the court at Bignor, foundations of old 
 walls were found, which appeared to have belonged to a pre- 
 vious villa that had been rebuilt on a different plan. At Nortli 
 Leigh, in Oxfordshire, the stone materials of a former building 
 had been made use of, for the stones of an arch which were 
 found in one of the larger rooms, had been made out of frag- 
 ments of columns, and the mouldings of bases and capitals still 
 remained on the back. The inner quadrangle only of this villa 
 has been explored, if it ever consisted of more than one. There 
 was a large entrance gateway with several rooms adjoining on the 
 south-eastern side, and the apartments round the other three 
 
 * Lysons attempted to trace out the design of the villa at Woodchester, 
 by applying the rules given by Vitruvius, but I think without much suc- 
 cess, although that villa is more regular in its plan than most of the 
 others. To most of them the rules of Vitruvius seem quite inapplicable. 
 
244 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHA'^. VII. 
 
 sides are very iiiiineroiis. The quadiMiig-le is not an exact 
 square ; the dimensions of its four sides being, north-east, a 
 hundred and sixty-seven feet ; south-east, a hundred and 
 eighty-six feet ; south-west, a hundred and tifty-three feet ; and 
 north-west, two hundred and thirteen feet. 
 
 Many of the Eoinan villas hitherto discovered in this country 
 appear to have been of nearly equal extent with those described 
 ai)ove, and we derive an extraordinary notion of the condition 
 of the island at this period from the number of these extensive 
 and evidently maguiticent buildings which have been discovered. 
 As these discoveries have generally been the result of accident, 
 there can be no doubt that we are only acquainted with a 
 small number of the villas which were scattered over the soil of 
 Eritain. The number already discovered amounts probably to 
 not less than a hundred. Some of the most maguiticent lay in 
 the south-west. In Gloucestershire, besides the great villa at 
 AVoodchester, and the extensive group which has already been 
 mentioned as scattered over the country around it, large villas 
 liave been discovered at Lidney Park, Great AVitcombe, Eod- 
 niarton. Combe-end, AVithington, Eisley, and Stancombe Park, 
 near Eursley. No less extensive villas have been found in 
 Somersetshire, at Combe St Niclmlas, East Coker, and AVellow; 
 in AViltshire, at Eromham, Littlecote Park, Pitmead near 
 AVarminster, and Rudge near Eroxti eld; in Dorset, at Pramptou, 
 Lenthy Green near Sherborne, and Halstock ; in Hampshire, 
 at Eramdean, Crondall, West Dean, and Thruxtoii ; in Sussex, 
 at Eignor, and in other places ; at Easildon, in Eerkshire ; in 
 Oxfordshire, among many other places, at North Leigh, 
 Stonestield, Great Lew, and AVigginton ; in Northamptonsliire, 
 at Cottersbook, AYelden, Eurrow Hill, Harpole, &c. ; in Not- 
 tinghamshire, at Mansfield AA'oodhouse. Kent and Essex appear 
 to have been covered with extensive villas, but they seem to 
 have been generally less magnificent than those in tlie west, 
 and no fine tesselated pavements have yet been found in them. 
 In the former of these two counties they lay thickly scattered 
 along the road from Canterbury to London, and on the banks 
 of tlie Medway towards Maidstone, as well as on the southern 
 coast. Among the principal villas found in Essex are those at 
 AATst Mersey, discovered long ago, and those explored more 
 I'ecently in tl'ie north-west of tlie county, at leklington, Chester- 
 ford, and Hadstock. Lincolnshire appears to have been a 
 rich and important district, and large villas with magnificent 
 pavements have been found at Horkstow, AAunterton, Roxby 
 
Chap, yii J 
 
 EOMAX VILLAS. 
 
 245 
 
 near the Huinber, Hasehy, Storton, Scampton, and Grantliain. 
 It must be borne in mind that Lincolnshire is comparatively 
 unexplored, and so are most of the northern and midland 
 counties. Yorkshire must have contained many fine country 
 mansions of this kind, yet I am only aware of the discovery of 
 one, at Hovingham, in the North Eiding*. Some years ago, 
 remains of a Eoman villa were found at Buxton, in Derbyshire, 
 which seems even at that early period to have been visited 
 for its mineral waters ; and several have been found on the 
 AVelsh border in Shi’opshire and Herefordshire, as well as in 
 North and South Wales. 
 
 Many of the villas which have been opened present unequi- 
 vocal traces of having been plundered and injured by the 
 violence of invaders, and sometimes they bear traces of having 
 been burnt. Here and there human bones have been found, 
 and while many of these may be accounted for by subsequent 
 interment, yet in some cases there can hardly be a doul)t of 
 their having belonged to persons who were slain when the 
 building was attacked. In 1833, some excavations at Silchester 
 brought to light Eoman baths, in a good state of preservation, 
 having, like the baths discovered in the villas, leaden pipes to 
 carry off the water. In one of these pipes were found two 
 hundred Eoman coins in brass, and in the bath lay a human 
 skeleton, which, with a slight stretch of the imagination, may 
 be supposed to have been that of an inhabitant of* Calleva, who 
 had sought refuge there when the city was invaded by the 
 enemy, in the hope of saving his little treasure by concealing it 
 Avhere no one would think of seeking for it. Perhaps, if we 
 carefully noted the articles of domestic use which are dug up in 
 the excavations, ^ve might at least form probable conjectures on 
 the purposes of the rooms in which they were found. The 
 number of such articles found at Woodchester was much less 
 than might be expected from the space excavated ; they con- 
 sisted chiefly of several knives and choppers, a weight, a key, 
 some fibulae and buckles, and several hair-pins, and other small 
 personal ornaments of this kind ; two spears, and parts of 
 weapons, wdth a considerable quantity of pottery, and a certain 
 number of coins. The latter are always found scattered about. 
 We are often tantalised by finding mere fragments of what 
 might have given us the most important information relating to 
 the occupiers of these villas. Such are the fragments of in- 
 scriptions on the walls found at Woodchester. Inscribed stones 
 were found within the quadrangle of the villa at Pitney, but 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 246 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 they also proved mere fragments, one of them having the 
 words : — 
 
 PATER 
 
 PATRI 
 
 SANG 
 
 The other, which appears to have been a sepiilcliral inscription 
 and to commemorate probably some member of the household 
 who had been buried in the court, had the impeifect inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 VIXI SIN 
 TRIGINTA 
 QV.E CAPI 
 NONO A 
 
 The most interesting portion of the villas, as they now re- 
 main, is, however, the tesselated pavements. These are beau- 
 tiful as works of art, and interesting for the subjects they re- 
 present ; and they must have been the result of immense labour 
 and great skill. These tesselated pavements were not confined 
 to the country villas, but were used in the better mansions in 
 the towns, and examples have been found in London, Ciren- 
 cester, Gloucester, Caerleon, Caerwent, Kenchester, Leicester, 
 York, Aldborough, Lincoln, Colchester, Canterbury, Dorchester, 
 &c. Some of those found in London, Circencester, and Leices- 
 ter,^ are of very superior execution. As I have stated before, 
 these pavements are formed with a number of small tesserse, or 
 cubes, set into a line cement, and arranged in patterns or sub- 
 jects, somewhat in the manner of Berlin wool patterns ; but in 
 the pavements the cubes are of different sizes, which enabled 
 the artist to give far more freedom to his lines and effect to his 
 picture. The cubes were made of different substances, in order 
 to produce various shades of colour ; some being of stone, others 
 of terra-cotta, and others again of glass. Professor Buck man, 
 in his description of the beautiful pavements found in Cirences- 
 ter, has given us an excellent analysis of the materials of which 
 they are composed. Six of the colours employed there are 
 natural substances, and show us how skilfully the Roman artist 
 turned to account the materials furnished by the neighbourhood. 
 
 * Part of an extremely fine Roman tesselated pavement has been un- 
 covered in the cellar of a grocer in Leicester, who has kept it open, and 
 shows it to visitors at a shilling each. It is well worth visiting. The 
 principal pavements at Bignor, in Sussex, have also been kept open, and 
 they are protected by buildings erected over them. 
 

 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 TESSELATED PAVEMENTS. 
 
 249 
 
 White was produced by small cubes of chalk, which, oii account 
 of its softness, was used very sparingly, and only where it was 
 necessary to produce very high relief. The hard, fine-grained 
 free-stone from the quarries round Cirencester furnished a cream 
 colour, and, when it had been exposed to a certain degree of 
 heat, it served for a grey. Vellow was furnished by the oolite 
 of the gravel drift of the district. The old red sandstone, from 
 Herefordshire, was used to produce a chocolate colour; and 
 slate-colour was furnished from the lime-stone bands of the 
 lower lias in the vale of Gloucester. Three colours, light red, 
 dark red, and black, were produced by terra-cotta ; and one, a 
 transparent ruby, by glass. Other materials are used in difter- 
 ent parts of the country, the coloured glass being always the 
 rarest. ‘ When the tesserae were all set, and the cement hard- 
 ened, the finish appears to have been given by polishing over 
 the surface of the whole, which not only gave a perfectly smooth 
 surface to the floor, but increased the brilliance of the effect ; 
 the cream-coloured and grey stones, from their hardness, took a 
 fine polish, whilst we may conceive that the reds, being made of 
 terra-cotta, woidd remain opaque, and this very contrast tended 
 to heighten the ettect, which was perhaps the reason why sub- 
 stances capable of high polish were not chosen in all instances.’ 
 
 When the tesselated fioor had no hypocaust under it, it was 
 usually laid on a very substantial foundation. Mr George Maw, 
 of Benthall Hall, near Broseley, who carefully examined the 
 fragments of tesselated pavements recently discovered at Wrox- 
 eter, in the corridor of the large building supposed to be the 
 basilica of Uriconium, has given me the following account of its 
 structure, with the drawings, from which the illustrations in our 
 two plates are engraved : — ' As one of the numerous evidences 
 of the great interest the Eomans entertained for this tesselated 
 work, the care and expense they went to in the preparation of 
 the foundations may be noticed. At Wroxeter they consist of 
 four distinct strata of materials, forming together a bed between 
 two and three feet in thickness. On the native ground they 
 first placed a layer of large lumps of sandstone, rather irregu- 
 larly disposed, and above eighteen inches thick {e e in the sec- 
 tion in our first plate), the uneven surface of which was made 
 tolerably smooth by a bed of soft concrete or mortar {d d), ex- 
 actly like that now used in ordinary building. In breaking up 
 the foundations, its surface, pressed in between the broken 
 stones, looks, after an existence of fifteen hundred years, as 
 fresh as the day on which it was prepared. On this bed of 
 
250 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. VII. 
 
 mortar was placed the stratum {c c) on which the tesserae were 
 laid, about two and a halt’ inches thick, exceedinglv hard and 
 evidently composed of a mixture of roughly-pulverised burnt 
 clay and lime, prepared with more care than the others, being 
 of a very uniform thickness, and having its upper and under 
 surfaces perfectly level. On tliis hard and even stratum the 
 tesserae (a a) were bedded in a layer of white and very hard 
 cement {b b), not more than half an inch thick. The patterns 
 of these Wroxeter pavements are all of a very simple descrip- 
 tion, and not comparable either in design or execution to many 
 existing specimens. They are mostly very simple arrangements 
 of geometrical forms, surrounded by fret borders or plain bands, 
 consisting for the most part of but two materials, viz., a cream- 
 coloured compact limestone or marble, and a bluish-black lime- 
 stone. It is probable that both these materials have been 
 brought from a distance, or perhaps imported, as they occur 
 nowhere in the neighbourhood. The light stone is identical 
 with that of a similar colour composing the Eoman mosaics 
 found on the continent and the mediseval mosaics of Italy, where 
 it is called palombino The dark stone appears to have been 
 sparingly used, as though it were difficult to procure. In the 
 ])lain dark margins next the walls it is replaced by a much 
 coarser stone of a dark green colour (travertine), obtained, I be- 
 lieve, at the foot of the Wrekin, close at hand. Fragments of 
 this stone also occur interspersed here and there in the body of 
 the pavements, probably used to repair them. In addition to 
 these three materials, bits of red earthenware are introduced in 
 a guilloche border surrounding one of the panels.’ 
 
 In the subjects represented on these pavements, we observe 
 a considerable variety ; though, as far as the discoveries go, two 
 or three subjects seem to have been more popular than the 
 others. It is not impossible that the subjects thus chosen may 
 have had some reference to the purpose for which the room was 
 designed. One of the most popular subjects hitherto observed, 
 is that of Bacchus seated on a tiger or leopard, which perhaps 
 indicates a love of conviviality among the people to whom these 
 extensive residences belonged. This subject, which usually 
 forms the centre of a pavement, was found in the fine pavement 
 discovered in Leadenhall-street, in London ; in the pavement at 
 Thruxton ; and in others at Stonesfield and Brampton. Another 
 very popular central subject was Oi’pheus playing on the lyre, 
 which seems to have been a favourite, because it gave the oppor- 
 tunity of picturing birds and beasts in the field of the pavement. 
 
Tessellated Pavements at Wroxeter, No. 2. 
 

 LISRAI?y 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSlTyoflLUNeiS. 
 
 I 
 
 
 - W/ 
 
 
CHAP. VI r.] 
 
 TESS ELATED PAVEMEXTS. 
 
 253 
 
 This subject lias been found in pavements at Woodcliester, 
 Horkstow, Winterton, and Littlecote. A field covered with 
 fishes and sea monsters is also not an uncommon subject, and 
 has been found at Witcombe, Cirencester, Withino-ton, and 
 Rromham in Wiltshire. The four seasons formed another 
 favourite subject, which has been found at Thruxton, Littlecote, 
 and Cirencester; in the latter place, the seasons are represented 
 bv heads in medallions, in a circle alternating with four other 
 medallions, of which two are destroyed, but the two which re- 
 main contain respectively Bacchus on the tiger, and Actseon. 
 At Littlecote, the seasons are represented by female figures 
 riding on different animals in a circle round the figure of 
 Orpheus. The Gorgon’s head forms a centre piece in pave- 
 ments found at Bignor and Bramdean ; an Amazon encounter- 
 ing a tiger, at Brampton ; Actmon, at Cirencester ; Mercury, 
 at Dorchester ; and Hercules and Antaeus, at Bramdean. A 
 line pavement at Horkstow was divided into compartments, each 
 containing a group of mythological and emblematical figures ; 
 along' the side were represented chariot races, enlivened by 
 accidents, one carriage being overthrown by the wheel going 
 off, and another with the horse fallen down. The pavement at 
 East Coker represented hunting scenes, and, on a fragment pre- 
 served from destruction, were seen the attendants carrying home 
 the slaughtered deer. On one of the pavements at Bignor 
 there is a border of winged Cupids, or Genii, in the characters 
 of gladiators, in armour, with shields, swords, and tridents. 
 The large pavement at Frampton was also divided into compart- 
 ments containing mythological subjects, such as Bacchus, Nep- 
 tune, Diana hunting, &c. On the sides of a compartment 
 containing a large bearded head of Neptune, was an inscription, 
 intended evidently for verse, and relating to the picture ; on one 
 side are the lines, — 
 
 NEPrVNl VERTEX REG MEN 
 SORTITI MOBILE VENTJS 
 
 On the other,- - 
 
 SCVLTVM CVI CERVLEA EST 
 
 DELFINIS CINCTA DVOBVS 
 
 Under a compartment, which was nearly destroyed, was the 
 fragment of another inscription, — 
 
 . . . NVS PERFICIS VLLVM 
 
 . . . . GNARE CVPIDO.* 
 
 Lysons supplies it; f acinus per jicis ulluni . . , ignore cupido' The 
 
254 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. VII. 
 
 A pavement at Thruxton bore an inscription, wliicli seems to 
 have commemorated the person for whom the villa was built ; 
 but unfortunately only a portion of it remains perfect, which 
 is distinctly read as follows : — qvintvs natalivs natalinvs 
 ET B ODEN I. Of the line at the other side of the pavement 
 (the continuation of the inscription), fragments only of two 
 letters were found, apparently a V and an O, and some anti- 
 quaries have rather hastily concluded that these must have be- 
 longed to the word VOTO, and propose to read the whole QjUiii- 
 tn.s Natalius Natalinus et Bodeni fecerunt ex voto^ i.e., Quintus 
 Natalius Natalinus and the Bodeni have made this in fulfilment 
 of a vow. But there are strong reasons against such an inter- 
 pretation : it is not probable that this is a votive ofiering ; the 
 Bodeni seem to be an invention of the interpreter, and a com- 
 parison of the space with the number of letters in the first 
 half of the inscription and the position of the fragments, will 
 show that there must have been more letters in the lost part 
 than are here supplied, and that the last o of the supposed voto 
 was not the end of the inscription. We should perhaps have 
 found a letter or two at the beginning of the second line, which 
 would have completed the name of the wife of Quintus Nata- 
 lius Natalinus.* 
 
 It must be observed that, when we compare the different 
 pavements representing the same subject, we do not find them 
 copied after the same model, or treated in the same manner. 
 It is also curious that the subjects most frequently repeated 
 wei’e the same on the continent as in Britain. The central 
 Orpheus, with his circle of animals, has been found in a pave- 
 ment at St Colombe, in France, and in one at or near Friburg, 
 in Switzerland ; the Gorgon’s head has also been found in 
 pavements in France ; and a pavement of fishes and sea mon- 
 sters was found at Pan. Perhaps the artists who made the 
 pavements, carried about with them a professional list of sub- 
 jects which they offered for choice, if their employer had not a 
 subject of his own to propose. 
 
 It is impossible to discover, from the appearance of these 
 villas, to what class of the community they usually belonged, 
 but we can hardly doubt that their owners were men of wealth, 
 
 meaning these inscriptions were intended to convey, is more evident than 
 the construction of the words. 
 
 * The interpretation alluded to was proposed by the late Dr Ingram, of 
 Oxford, and has been recently published under the sanction of the Ar- 
 cha3ological Institute of Great Britain, in the proceedings of the Salisbury 
 meeting of 1849. 
 
CHAP. VII.] THE STATE OF AGRICULTUEE. 2no 
 
 who sought here that splendid country retirement to which we 
 know the Roman gentry were much attached. When we con- 
 sider the great number of rooms which were grouped round the 
 different courts, we must be convinced that the lord of the 
 mansion had a numerous household, troops of slaves, and 
 menials, and clients ; and it is not improbable that some of the 
 buildings, more distant from the domestic apartments of the 
 family, were separate dwellings, tenanted by his farmers, and 
 even by their labourers. But the peasantry in general, no 
 doubt, lived in huts, slightly constructed, and of perishable 
 materials, either separately, or grouped together in villages. 
 These villages are apparently the settlements, the nature of 
 which has been described in a former chapter, and which have 
 been commonly called British villages. The coins and other 
 remains found in them, show that they belonged to the Roman 
 period, but it is highly probable that the peasantry who inhabited 
 them were chiefly of the old British race. 
 
 We know very little of the state of agriculture in this island 
 under the Romans, though, as it was celebrated for its fertility, 
 it was probably extensively and highly cultivated. When 
 Caesar visited the island, he remarked chiefly the large herds of 
 cattle, whicli are the principal wealth of uncivilised peoples, 
 but under the Romans it appears to have been celebrated for 
 the production of corn. The emperor Julian, in one of his 
 orations, states that when he commanded in Gaul, about the 
 year 360, agriculture had been so entirely interrupted in the 
 countries bordering on the Rhine, by the ravages of war, that 
 the population was in danger of perishing by famine. In this 
 emergency, Julian caused six hundred corn-ships to be built 
 on the Rhine, with timber from the forest of the Ardennes, and 
 these made several voyages to the coast of Britain, and, return- 
 ing up the Rhine laden with British corn, distributed it among 
 the towns and fortresses on that river, and he thus obtained a 
 sufficient supply to prevent the threatened calamity. Gibbon 
 has supposed that each of Julian’s corn-ships carried at least 
 seventy tons, which I am told is a very low estimate. But 
 taking this, and reckoning wheat at sixty pounds a bushel, the 
 six hundred vessels would have carried at each voyage a hun- 
 dred and ninety-six thousand quarters, which would not be 
 a very large export. But as we are ignorant of the number of 
 voyages they made, and the estimate of tonnage is perhaps too 
 small, we are justified in supposing that the export was large 
 enough to prove that this country was very extensively, and, 
 
2.36 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 perhaps, for tlie ai>;e, very well eiiltivated. hi many parts of 
 Britain we find distinet marks of former cultivation o.i land 
 which is now common, and has certain’y lain fallow for ages, 
 and it is not impossible that it may have been the work of the 
 Roman ploughshare. A curious legend has been told in some 
 parts to explain these appearances of ancient cultivation ; it is 
 pretended that when, in the time of king John, the country lay 
 under an interdict, the pope’s ban fell expressly on all cultivated 
 land, and that the superstitious peasantry, iinagining that the 
 lands which were not cultivated when the bull was written were 
 excepted from its ellects, left their cultivated lands, and 
 ploughed the wastes and commons as long as the interdict 
 lasted. The suggestion made above is at least as probable an 
 explanation as the legend. Mr Bruce observed similar traces of 
 cultivation on the waste lands in Northumberland, and he is 
 probably right in attributing them to the Romans. ‘ A little 
 to the south of Borcovicus,’ he says, ‘ and stretching westward, 
 the ground has been thrown up in long terraced lines, a mode 
 of cultivation much practised in Italy and the East. Similar 
 terraces, more feebly developed, appear at Bradley ; I have seen 
 them very distinctly marked on the banks of the Rede-water, at 
 old Carlisle, and in other places.’ It is probable that Julian’s 
 corn-ships came for their cargoes to the Tyne or the Humber. 
 
 To judge by the accompanying cut, the plough used in Roman 
 Britain was rather of a primitive construction. It represents a 
 Roman bronze, said to have been found at Piersebridge in 
 Yorkshire, and now in the collection of Lord Londesborough. 
 
CHAP. VII.] 
 
 HUXTING. 
 
 2o7 
 
 The fii^ure of the ploughman gives us prohahly a correct picture 
 of the costume of the Eornano-British peasant. Fruit-trees 
 were also cultivated with care, and tlie Eomans are said to have 
 introduced, among others, the cherry. We may probably add 
 the vine. 
 
 One of the chief occupations of country life among the higher 
 classes was the chase, to which the Eomans were much attached. 
 If we cast onr eyes over the map of Roman Britain, we per- 
 ceive considerable tracts of land which the great roads avoided, 
 and in which there were apparently no towns. These were 
 forest districts, represented by the mediaeval forests of Charn- 
 wood, Sherwood, and others, which abounded in beasts of the 
 chase. Some of the more extensive forests were inhabited by 
 wild boars, and even by wolves. The chase of the boar appears 
 to have been a favourite pursuit in Britain. An altar was 
 found at Durham, dedicated to the god Silvanns, by the prefect 
 of an ala of soldiers, who had slain an extraordinary fine boar, 
 which had set all the hunters before him at defiance.^ At 
 Birdoswald in Northumberland {Amboglannal), was found a 
 small altar dedicated also to Silvanus by the hunters of Banna. f 
 The Roman pottery, made in Britain, was frequently ornamented 
 with hunting scenes, in which the stag or the hare is generally 
 the victim, -and it gives us pictures of the dogs for which Britain 
 was famous. J These are at times represented with something 
 of the character of the modern bull-dog or mastiff, while others 
 have the more delicate form of the greyhound and stag-hound. 
 Skulls of dogs found at Wroxeter have been pronounced to be 
 those of mastiffs and greyliounds. The classic writers contain 
 not unfrequent allusions to the dogs of Britain. Claud ian, 
 enumerating those peculiar to different countries, speaks of the 
 British breed as capable of overcoming bulls : — ■ 
 
 ‘ Mcigiiaque tauroruiii fracturae colla Britann^e.’ 
 
 ^ SILVANO INVICTO SACRUM C TETIVS VETVRIVS MICIANYS PRJEF 
 ALAE SEBOSIANAE OB APRVM EXIMIAE FORMAE CAPTVM QVEM MVLTI 
 ANTECESSORES EIVS PRAEDARI XON POTVERVNT V. S. L. P. This in- 
 scription is given in Camden. 
 
 f Banna was a town or station not mentioned in the Notitia Imperii^ or 
 in the Itineraries, but it is found in the list of Roman towns in Britain 
 g-iven in the Ravenna Cosmography, which places it between ^sica and 
 Uxellodunum. An ornamental bronze cup was found in a rubbish pit at 
 Rudge in Wiltshire, more than a century ago, having the names of live of 
 these towns in an inscription round the rim — aballava vxellodvm o 
 AMBOGLAN s BANNA . A . MATS. It seoms to have been made for a club 
 or society of persons belonging to these towns, perhaps hunters. 
 
 ^ Figures of these dogs will be given in the next chapter. 
 
258 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VII. 
 
 The more (kiicately-shaped dog:, often found on tlie Rornano- 
 Hritish pottery, appears to be the one named by the Romans 
 vertragus, which was also derived from this island. Martial 
 says, — 
 
 ‘ Non sibi, sed domino, venafcur vertragus acer, 
 
 Illesum leporem qui tibi dente feret.’ 
 
 And Nemesian speaks of the export of British hounds for the 
 purpose of hunting : — 
 
 ‘ Sed non Spartanos tantum, tanturnve molossos 
 Pascendum catulos ; divisa Britannia mittit 
 Veloces, uostrique orbis venatibus apto^-^Z 
 
CHAP, VIII.] 
 
 EOMAN MANUFACTURER. 
 
 259 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Manufactures of the Romans in Britain — Pottery— The Upchurch Ware 
 — Dymchurch — The Potteries at Durobrivse — The Samian Ware — 
 Romano- Salopian Wares — Other Varieties — Terra-cottas — Roman 
 Glass — Kimmeridge Coal Manufacture — Mineral Coal — Metals — The 
 Roman Iron Works in Britain ; Sussex, the Forest of Bean, &c. — Tin 
 and Lead — Other Metals — Bronze — The Arts ; Sculpture — Medicine ; 
 the Oculists’ Stamps— Trades ; a Goldsmith’s Sign. 
 
 With a considerable population, great riches, as evinced by 
 its numerous splendid villas, and an advanced state of civilisa- 
 tion, manufactures and trade must doubtless have been carried 
 on in Britain to a very considerable extent. Many of these 
 were naturally of a description which left few traces behind 
 them, but of the existence of others we have proofs of a more 
 substantial kind, and as they form a rather important class of 
 our antiquities, they deserve especial attention. We begin with 
 that of which the remains are most numerous, the pottery. 
 
 Any one who has sailed up the Medway, will have observed 
 that the left bank of the river, a little above Sheerness, consists 
 of low flat ground, cut by the water into innumerable little 
 creeks, and at high water almost buried by the sea. This is 
 called the Halstow and the Upchurch marshes. In the time of 
 the Romans the channel of the river appears to have been here 
 mucli narrower, and the ‘ marshes ’ had not been encroached 
 upon by the sea as they are now. If we go up the little creeks 
 in the Upchurch marshes at low water, and observe the sides of 
 the banks, we shall soon discover, at the depth of about three 
 feet, more or less, a stratum, often a foot thick, of broken pot- 
 tery. This is especially observable in what is called Otterham 
 creek, and also in Lower Halstow creek, where it may be traced 
 continuously in the banks, and may be brought up by handfuls 
 from the clay in the bed of the creek. This immense layer of 
 
260 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 broken pottery, mixed with plenty of vessels in a perfect, or 
 nearly perfect, state, has been traced at intervals throuoh an 
 extent of six or seven miles in length, and two or three in 
 breadth, and there cannot be the least doubt that it is the re- 
 fuse of very extensive potteries, which existed probably during 
 nearly the whole period of the Eoman occupation of Britain, 
 and which not only supplied the whole island with a particular 
 class of earthenware, but which perhaps also furnished an ex- 
 port trade ; for we find urns and other vessels precisely similar 
 to the Upchurch ware in considerable quantity among the 
 Roman pottery dug up in the neighbourhood of Boulogne. 
 The clay which constitutes the soil in the Upchurch marshes is 
 very tenacious, of a dark colour, and of fine quality, well calcu- 
 lated for the manufacture of pottery. 
 
 The prevailing colour of the Upchurch pottery, which is of a 
 fine and hard texture, is a blue-black, which was produced by 
 baking it in the smoke of vegetable substances. A sufficient 
 number of perfect examples have been found, to show that the 
 variety of forms was almost infinite ; but a few of the more 
 remarkable are given in the lower group on the accompanying 
 plate. The patterns with which it is ornamented, though gener- 
 ally of a simple character, are also extremely diversified. Some 
 are ornamented with bands of half-circles, made with compasses, 
 and from these half-circles lines are in many instances drawn to 
 the bottoms of the vessels with some instrument like a notched 
 piece of wood. Some are ornamented with wavy intersections 
 and zigzag lines ; while on others, the ornament is formed by 
 raised points, encircling the vessels in bands, or grouped into 
 circles, squares, and diamond patterns. The crossed-lined 
 pattern of the large urn in the back-ground of our group, is a 
 very common one. Mr Boach Smith has found tracings of 
 buildings in the neighbourhood of the marshes, which perhaps 
 mark the habitations of the potters. It is evident from the 
 extent of the bed of pottery, that a great number of workmen 
 must have been employed here; and, as might be expected, we 
 scarcely excavate a Roman site in any part of the island without 
 finding samples of the Upchurch ware. 
 
 There can, indeed, be no doubt that the Upchurch marshes 
 furnished a great proportion of the commoner pottery used in 
 Roman Britain. A few years ago, as Mr James Elliott of 
 Dymchurch, the engineer of the Dymchurch marshes, was carry- 
 ing on excavations connected with the works of the sea-wall 
 ihere, where the clay difters not much from that at Upchurch, 
 
ussAty 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIV£RS/Ty of ILLINOIS. 
 
 i 
 
 J 
 
UNIVERSITV of \tUH6\S. 
 
P. 263. Castor, Northaiiiptonshire (Durobrivcp). 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 UPCHURCH POTTERY. 
 
 263 
 
 be found traces of extensive potteries on that part of the south- 
 ern Kentish coast. The examination of the ground was not 
 carried out sufficiently to decide on the character of the ware 
 manufactured there, but the fragments seemed to be rather those 
 of amphorae, and such-like vessels, than the sort of pottery made 
 at Upchurch. 
 
 The site of the potteries which produced another prevailing- 
 sort of Komano-British pottery, was discovered by the late Mr 
 Artis, at Castor, on the eastern boundaries of Northamptonshire, 
 the site of the Homan town of Durobrivae. These potteries 
 extended thence westward, along the country bordering on the 
 Nen, to the neighbourhood of Wansford. The Durobrivian 
 pottery was of a superior quality, and adorned with more ele- 
 gance than that made in the Upchurch marshes. Some ex- 
 amples of this ware are given in the upper group on our plate. 
 It also is usually of a bluish or slate colour, but the ornaments, 
 which are in relief, and added with the hand after the vessel had 
 been made and burned, are sometimes white. They consist 
 often of elegant scrolls, like those in our engraving, and of a 
 variety ot other patterns. Among these, scenes of stag and 
 hare hunting are very common, and they are executed with a 
 freedom of touch which shows much artistic skill in the work- 
 men. The annexed cut represents on a diminished scale one of 
 
 Hunting Subject, from Durobrivian pottery. 
 
 these hunting scenes, in which we have a picture of a British 
 stag-hound. In some rare instances, figures of men are intro- 
 duced, urging on the dogs, or spearing the stag or boar : and 
 the costume of these figures indicates a rather late period of thf 
 Roman sway in Britain. In the pictures of hare-hunting scenes 
 the dog has much the same form as that here represented, but 
 in some fragments, of which our second cut is an example, we 
 see a dog of a stronger and fiercer description, which, perhaps, 
 if we had the whole pattern, would be found to be engaged in 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 264 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 bunting the boar. Other favourite representations on this pot- 
 tery were dolphins and other fishes. In- 
 dented vases, usually of a dark copper colour, 
 like that in the middle of our group, are 
 also characteristic of the potteries of Duro- 
 brivm : in examples found at Chesterfield, 
 in Essex, these indentations are filled with 
 figures of the principal deities, in white. 
 
 Similar pottery appears to have been manu- 
 factured in Flanders ; and the large urn in 
 the back-ground of our group was found at British Dog. 
 Eredene, in the department of the Lis. 
 
 The Roman potteries at Castor have a peculiar interest from 
 the circumstance that Mr Artis’s researches were there rewarded 
 l)y the discovery of the potters’ kilns, and that he was thus 
 enabled to investigate the process of the manufacture. This we 
 shall be best able to describe in his own words, giving in tlie 
 accompanying engraving a sketch of one of the kilns, as it ap- 
 peared when uncovered. One of these kilns, discovered in 
 1844 at Sibson, near Wansford, Mr Artis described as follows : 
 — ‘ This kiln,’ he says, ‘ had been used for firing the common 
 blue or slate-coloured pottery, and had been built on part of the 
 site of one of the same kind, and within a yard and a half of 
 one that had been constructed for firing pottery of a difterent 
 description. The older exhausted kiln, which occupied part of 
 the site of that under consideration, presented the appearance of 
 very early work ; the bricks had evidently been modelled with 
 the hand, and not moulded, and the workmanship was alto- 
 gether inferior to that of the others, which were also in a very 
 mutilated state ; but the character of the work, the bricks, the 
 mouths of the furnaces, and the oval pedestals which supported 
 the fioors of the kilns, were still apparent. The fioors had been 
 broken up some time previous to the site being abandoned, and 
 the area had then been used as a receptacle for the accumulated 
 rubbish of other kilns. 
 
 ‘ During an examination of the pigments used by the Roman 
 potters of this place,’ Mr Artis continues, ‘ I was led to the 
 conclusion that the blue and slate-coloured vessels met with 
 here in such abundance, were coloured by sufibcating the fire of 
 the kiln, at the time when its contents had acquired a degree of 
 heat sufficient to insure uniformity of colour. I had so firmly 
 made up my mind upon the process of manufacturing and firing 
 tliis neculiar kind of earthenware, that, for some time previoi;s 
 
U^MY 
 
 ^SVERSiTY of ILLINOIS. 
 
Roman Potter's Kiln at Castor (Durbrivce). 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 SMOTHER KILNS. 
 
 267 
 
 to the recent discovery, I had denominated the kilns in which 
 it had been fired, smother kilns. The mode of manufacturing 
 the bricks of which these kilns are made, is worthy of notice. 
 The clay was previously mixed with about one-third of rye in 
 the chaff, which, bein^ consumed by tlie tire, left cavities in the 
 loom of the grains. This might have been intended to modify 
 expansion and contraction, as well as to assist the gradual dis- 
 triliution of the colouring vapour. The mouth of the furnace; 
 and top of the kiln were no doubt stopped ; thus we find every 
 part of the kiln, from the inside wall to the earth on the outside, 
 and every part of the clay wrappers of the dome, penetrated with 
 the colouring exhalation. As further proof that the colour of 
 the ware was imparted by firing, I collected the clays of the 
 neighbourhood, including specimens from the immediate vicinity 
 of the smother-kilns. In colour, some of these clays resembled 
 the ware after firing, and some were darker. I submitted them 
 to a process similar to that I have described. The clays, dug 
 near the kilns, whitened in firing, probably from being bitumin- 
 ous. I also put some fragments of the blue pottery into the 
 kiln ; they came out precisely of the same colour as the clay 
 fired with them, which had been taken from the site of the kilns. 
 The experiment proved to me that the colour could not be 
 attributed to any metallic oxide, either existing in the clay, or 
 applied externally ; and this conclusion is confirmed by the ap- 
 pearance of the clay wrappers of the dome of the kiln. It 
 should be remarked, that this colour is so volatile, that it is ex- 
 pelled by a second firing in an open kiln. 
 
 ‘ I have now traced these potteries to an extent of upwards 
 of twenty miles.^ They are principally confined to the gravel 
 beds on the banks of the Nen and its tributary streams ; the 
 clay used at some of them appears to have been collected at 
 some little distance from the works. The kilns are all con- 
 structed on the same principle. A circular hole was dug, from 
 three to four feet deep, and huir in diameter, and walled rcuiid 
 to the height of two feet. A furnace, one-third of the diameter 
 of the kiln in length, communicated with the side. In the 
 centre of the circle so formed was an oval pedestal, the height 
 of the sides, with the end pointing to the furnace mouth. Upon 
 this pedestal and side wall the floor of the kiln rests. It is 
 formed of perforated angular bricks, meeting at one point in the 
 
 * Mr Artis, in another report, estimates the number of hands who must 
 have been employed at once in the Durobrivian potteries, at not less than 
 two thousand. 
 
2(38 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 centre. The fiim:ice is arclied with bricks moulded for the 
 purpose. The sides of the kiln are constructed with curved 
 bricks, set edgeways, in a thick slip (or liquid) of tlie same 
 material, to the height of two feet.* I now proceed to describe 
 the process of packing the kiln, and securing uniform heat in 
 firing the ware, which was the same in the two different kinds 
 of kilns. They were first carefully loose-packed with the articles 
 to be fired, up to the height of the side walls. The circum- 
 ference of the bulk was then gradually diminished, and finished 
 in the shape of a dome. As this arrangement progressed, an 
 attendant seems to have followed the packer, and thinly covered 
 a layer of pots with coarse hay or grass. He then took some 
 thin clay, the size of his hand, and laid it flat on the grass upon 
 the vessels ; he then placed more grass on the edge of the clay 
 just laid on, and then more clay, and so on until he had com- 
 pleted the cirele. By this time the paeker would have raised 
 another tier of pots, the plasterer following as before, hanging 
 the grass over the top edge of the last layer of plasters, until he 
 had reached the top, in which a small aperture was left, and the 
 clay nipt round the edge ; another coating would be laid on as 
 before described. Gravel or loam was then thrown up against 
 the side wall where the clay wi-appers were commenced, pro- 
 bably to secure the bricks and the clay coating. The kiln was 
 then fired with wood.f In consequence of the care taken to 
 plaee grass between the edges of the wrappers, they could be 
 unpacked in the same sized pieces as when laid on in a plastic 
 state, and thus the danger in breaking the coat to obtain the 
 contents of the kiln could be obviated. 
 
 ‘ In the course of my excavations, I discovered a curiously- 
 constructed furnaee, of which I have never before or since met 
 with an example. Over it had been placed two cireular earthen 
 fire vessels (or cauldrons) ; that next above the furnace was a 
 third less than the other, which would hold about eight gallons. 
 The fire passed partly under both of them, the smoke escaping 
 by a smoothly-plastered flue, from seven to eight inches wide. 
 The vessels were suspended by the rims fitting into a circular 
 groove or rabbet, formed for the purpose. The composition of 
 
 * See the kiln represented in the accompanying engraving, in which the 
 two labourers are standing on the original level of the ground, while the 
 single man, with the spade, stands on a level with the bottom of the pit in 
 which the kiln was built. 
 
 + In the furnace of a kiln discovered by Mr Artis in 1822, there was a 
 layer of wood ashes from four to five inches thick. This kiln, which was 
 iii a very perfect state, was covered in again undisturbed. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 DUROBRIVIAX POTTERY. 
 
 260 
 
 the vessels was that of a clay tempered with penny-earth. They 
 contained some perfect vessels and many frag-ments. It is 
 probable they had covers, and I am inclined to think were 
 used for glazing peculiar kinds of the immense quantities of 
 ornamented ware made in this district. Its contiguity to one 
 of the workshops in which the glaze (oxide of iron) and some 
 other pigments were found, confirms this opinion.’ 
 
 Mr Artis then proceeds to explain the process by which the 
 Durobrivian pottery was ornamented. ‘ The vessel, after being 
 thrown upon the wheel, would be allowed to become somewhat 
 firm, but only sufficiently so for the purpose of the lathe. In 
 the indented ware, the indenting would have to be performed 
 with the vessel in as pliable a state as it could be taken from 
 the lathe. A thick slip of the same body would then be pro- 
 cured, and the ornamenter would proceed by dipping the 
 thumb, or a round mounted instrument, into the slip. The 
 vessels, on which are displayed a variety of hunting subjects, 
 representations of fishes, scrolls, and human figures, were all 
 glazed after the figures were laid on ; where, however, the 
 decorations are white, the vessels were glazed before the orna- 
 ments were added. Ornamenting with figures of animals was 
 ehected by means of sharp and blunt skewer instruments, and 
 a slip of suitable consistency. These instruments seem to have 
 been of two kinds : one thick enough to carry sufficient slip 
 for the nose, neck, body, and front thigh ; the other of a more 
 delicate kind, for a thinner slip for the tongue, lower jaws, eye, 
 fore and hind legs, and tail. There seems to have been no 
 retouching after the slip trailed from the instrument. Tield 
 sports seem to have been favourite subjects with our Roman o- 
 liritish artists. The representations of deer and hare hunts 
 are good and spirited ; the courage and energy of the hounds, 
 and the distress of the hunted animals, are given with great 
 skill and fidelity, especially when the simple and off-hand 
 process, by Avhich they must have been executed, is taken into 
 consideration.’ 
 
 The two descriptions of pottery just described were undoubt- 
 edly made in England ; the Upchurch Avare is found more or less 
 in almost all Roman sites, but that manufactured at Durobrivte 
 is by no means so common. We now come to a third description 
 of pottery, which is found in great quantities in Britain, though 
 we have every reason for believing that it Avas not made in this 
 island. It is that Avliich is usually termed Samian Avare ; and, 
 if it be not the pure Samian pottery of antiquity, it appears to 
 
270 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 have been an inferior description of the same class of ware. 
 The Samian ware was of great repute among the ancients, and 
 is frequently alluded to by Homan writers as that most used at 
 table. It appears certain that it was of a red colour, and the 
 terms applied to it in the classic authors answer to the specimens 
 which are found in such great abundance in England.^ It is 
 frequently mentioned by Plautus as the ordinary ware used at 
 table, as well as for sacred purposes. Pliny speaks of it as 
 being in common use for the festive board; and he gives 
 the names of several places famous for their pottery, amomr 
 which Aretium, in Italy, holds the first place. Sarrentum, 
 Asta, and Pollentia, in Italy, Saguntum in Spain, and Perga- 
 mus in Asia Minor, were, as we learn from this writer, cele- 
 brated for the manufacture of cups. Tralleis in Lydia, and 
 Mutina in Italy, were also eminent for manufactures of earthen- 
 ware. The manufactures of these different places were ex- 
 ported to distant countries. f Isidore of Seville, at the end of 
 the sixth century (he died in 610), speaks of the red pottery 
 made at Aretium (the modern Arezzo) which he calls Aretine 
 vases, and also of Samian ware, with an expression of doubt as 
 to the exact locality which produced the latter ; so that it was 
 probably made under that name in difierent parts of Homan 
 Europe. Modern researches at Arezzo, in Italy, have not only 
 brought to light a considerable quantity of the Aretine ware, 
 but also the remains of the kilns in which it was baked ; and a 
 scholar of that place, A. Eabroni, has published a book on the 
 subject, under the title of Storia degli anticld Vasi Jittili Aretini. 
 The specimens given in his engravings bear a general resem- 
 blance to the Samian ware found in Britain, and there are 
 some points in which the one seems to be imitated from the 
 other, yet there are also some very strongly marked circum- 
 stances in which they differ. The names of the potters are 
 different, and they are marked in a different form and position 
 
 ^ Among a large and very curious collection of Grfeco-Roman terra- 
 cottas from Lycia, are some fragments of red ware, closely resembling what 
 we call Samian ware, with the potter’s name, in Greek, similarly impress- 
 ed. These are now in the possession of Mr Mayer of Liverpool. Perhaps 
 they are samples of pure Samian ware. 
 
 The words of Pliny {Hist. Nat.., lib. xxxv. c. 12) are as follows : 
 ‘ Major quoque pars hominum terrenis utitur vasis. Sarnia etiamnuni in 
 esculentis laudantur. Eetinet hanc nobilitatem et Aretium in Italia ; et 
 calicurn tantum Surrentum, Asta, Pollenlia; in Hispania, Saguntum ; in 
 Asia, Pergamum. Habent et Tralleis opera sua, et Mutina in Italia ; quo- 
 niam et sic gentes nobilitantur. Hsec quoque per maiia terrasque ultro 
 citroque portantur, insignibus rotae officinis Erythris.’ 
 
WSRA-Ry 
 
 HWV£m»rygf,j^LlNeiS. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 SAMIAN WAKK. 
 
 273 
 
 on the vessels ; the red of the Aretine ware is of a deeper shade, 
 the fig-ures are in a superior style of art, and they seem to be of 
 an earlier date. 
 
 The common Samian ware is of an extremely delicate texture, 
 having somewhat the appearance of fine red sealing-wax. The 
 vessels composed of it are of all sizes and shapes, sometimes 
 strong, but more frequently thin, and consequently very fragile; 
 and it is only under favourable circumstances that we find them 
 unbroken. The frailty of the pure Samian ware appears, in 
 classical times, to have been proverbial; when, in Plautus, a 
 person is desired to knock gently, he exclaims, in surprise, 
 ‘ You seem to fear that the door is made of Samian ware.’ 
 
 M. Placide pulta. P. Metuis, credo, ne fores Samiae sient. — 
 
 Mencechm.^ 1. 98. 
 
 And, on another occasion, the brittleness of Samian ware is 
 directly mentioned — 
 
 Vide, quaeso, ne quis tractet illam indiligens — 
 
 Scis tu, ut confringi vas cito Samiuiii solet. — Bacch.^ 1. 166. 
 
 It is by no means unusual to find bowls and paterae of the ware 
 of which we are speaking, that have been broken by their 
 possessors in former times, and subsequently mended, generally 
 by means of leaden, but sometimes of bronze, rivets. This 
 shows the value which must generally have been set upon it. 
 
 The question whether this so-called Samian ware was ever 
 manufactured in Britain has given rise to some discussion among 
 antiquaries. In the mouth of the Thames, a short distance from 
 the Kentish coast between Eecnlver and Margate, is a spot 
 known popularly by the name of the Pan Kock, and Pudding- 
 pan Sand, because, almost from time immemorial, the fishermen 
 ill dragging there have been accustomed to bring up pieces of 
 ancient pottery, and not nnfrcquently entire vessels. These 
 are chiefly of the fine red or Samian ware. It was at first 
 supposed that these marked the site of an extensive manufac- 
 ture of this ware ; but other writers suggested as a more 
 probable explanation that some Koman ships laden with it, per- 
 haps from the potteries on the Ehine, had been wreeked in this 
 place, and the notion that it was the site of a pottery seems to 
 be abandoned. More recently, fragments of this ware having 
 been picked up about the Upchurch marshes, I believe in one 
 or two spots rather plentifully, it has been supposed that it 
 might have been manufactured there, and by experiment it 
 
274 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VIII, 
 
 appeared that the elay of the locality was capable of being 
 made into similar ware. But the evidence that such ware was 
 manufactured there appears to be quite insufficient ; and the 
 opinion generally received among antiquaries, after all the dis- 
 cussion which has taken place, seems to be, that the Samian 
 ware was not made in England, but that it was imported from 
 the continent. 
 
 The accompanying engraving represents a group of vessels 
 of Samian ware found in England ; but it is far from giving 
 
 Subjects from Samian ware. 
 
 any notion of the great variety of forms, or the still greater 
 diversity of ornament, which they present. Many of the 
 smaller vessels are quite plain, or are merely adorned Avith the 
 ivy-leaf, a very favourite ornament on this kind of Avare. The 
 characteristic moulding is the festoon and tassel, to Avhich the 
 someAvhat inappropriate term of egg-and-tongue border has 
 been given. The subjects represented on the more ornamental 
 vessels are extremely varied. Many of them are groups taken 
 from the ancient mythology, such as the labours of Hercules, 
 the amours of Jupiter, Diana surprised by Actseon, and Actseon 
 attacked by his dogs, Apollo and Daphne, and figures of Venus 
 and other personages of ancient fable. Many of the figures 
 and groups Avere evidently copied from some of the Avell-knoAvn 
 masterpieces of ancient art; thus Ave have Jupiter and Leda, 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 SAMIAN POTTERY. 
 
 275 
 
 an evident imitation of a celebrated sculpture at Rome, and the 
 tio-ures of the Fariiese Hercvdes, the Apollo Belvidere, and the 
 Venus de Medici, are often repeated. Some represent genii, 
 Cupids riding upon marine animals, tritons, griffins, and other 
 imaginary beings : others again represent domestic scenes, 
 hunting subjects, gladiatorial combats, groups of musicians and 
 dancers, and subjects of a still more miscellaneous description. 
 In the preceding cut are given three samples of the more com- 
 mon subjects — combats of gladiators — the war between the 
 pygmies and the cranes — and a dancing scene. Another series 
 of designs comprises scrolls of foliage, fruits, and flowers, ar- 
 ranged in different manners, and always with great elegance. 
 A multitude of the Samian vases found in this country, as well 
 as other articles, such as lamps, bronzes, and even knife-handles, 
 represent licentious scenes of the most infamous description. 
 Drinking vessels of this class are alluded to by Pliny ; ^ and 
 their comparative frequency in Britain, shows how deeply not 
 only the manners but the vices of Rome had been planted in 
 this distant province. 
 
 A great proportion of the vessels in this ware have the 
 name of the ])otter stamped in a label, usually at the bottom, 
 in the inside, but sometimes, especially on the embossed bowls, 
 on the outside. The manner in which the label is stamped 
 across the centre of the vessel is shown in the accompany- 
 ing cut, from a specimen found at Wroxeter In 
 
 this instance the reading of the name is somewhat obscure, 
 from the doubtful character of the two letters in the middle, 
 which may either be ligatured letters, 
 each standing for de, or merely capricious 
 forms of the D. In the former case it 
 might be read tededei. It is probable, 
 hovvever, that there is only one liga- 
 ture, and that we must read the name teddi. The name is 
 given in the nominative with r for fecit, or in the genitive, 
 with o, or or, or m, for ojfficma or manu : thus sabinvs f. 
 Sabmus fecit (Sabinus made it), amici m.. Amici manu 
 (by the hand of Amicus), of. felic, officina Felicis (from 
 the workshop of Felix). The name Avas often put merely in 
 the genitive singular, without the addition of of, or M, as in 
 
 * ‘ In poculis libidines cnolare juvit ac per obscaenitates bibero.’ — Flm. 
 Nat., lib. xxxiii., prowm. ‘ Va^a adulteriis cudata.’ — Ih., lib. xiv. 
 
 c. 22. 
 
276 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. viri. 
 
 the example in the foregoing cut. These names, of which 
 long lists have been made, are many of them Gaulish and 
 German, and they seem to point to the countries from whence 
 this class of pottery was derived. In fact, potteries of the 
 ware we term Samian have been found in France, particularly 
 on the banks of the Rhine, as at Brusche (Bas-Rhin), Lux- 
 embourg, Saverne (near Strasburg), and especially at Rhein- 
 zabern, in Bavaria. In these places not only have the potters’ 
 kilns been found, but the moulds, and the implements for 
 stamping borders and names. The annexed cut represents 
 
 two such stamps, from potteries discovered at Lezoux in 
 Auvergne. One has been used for stamping the pattern so 
 commonly found serving as a sort of frieze round the vessel ; 
 the other the stamp of the potter’s name, austri . or, and as 
 this name occurs on the Samian ware found in England, it fur- 
 nishes at least one proof of importation. Some of the moulds 
 from Rheinzabern are now preserved in the national museum in 
 Paris. These are earthenware bowls, with the figures impressed 
 on the inner surface, so that the vessel when formed of soft clay, 
 being placed in the mould and pressed in it, took the figures in 
 relief, and when dry had shrunk sufficiently to be taken out. 
 Sometimes the moulds were made in more than one piece, like 
 our moulds for plaster-of-Paris casts, but this was only when 
 
CHAP. Tin.] OTHER KINDS OF POTTERY. 
 
 277 
 
 tlie subjects were in relief. The impressions in tlie 
 
 moulds seem to have been made by a great number of small 
 stamps, each containing a single ornament, or a single figure or 
 group, and these were varied continually in making the moulds. 
 It is thus that we see the same figure often repeated on differ- 
 ent examples of the pottery with totally different accompa- 
 niments. This also explains why the figures on the pottery 
 are so seldom sharp and fresh ; in the course of making 
 the impressions in the moulds and casting from them the im- 
 pression had become imperfect, and the figures look often like 
 impressions in sealing-wax rubbed or bruised. The clay seems 
 to have received its redness from some substance mixed up with 
 it, which is supposed to have been oxides of iron and lead. 
 The kilns found in France appear to have borne a general re- 
 semblance to those discovered by Mr Artis. A few examples 
 of this red ware, which are now chiefly in the collection of Mr 
 Roach Smith, have been found in England, exhibiting a much 
 higher degree of artistic excellence, the figures of which are in 
 higher relief than the others, and have not been made with the 
 pottery, but moulded separately and then attached to the sur- 
 face of the vessel. This class of pottery is very rare. The 
 ware found in these foreign potteries is identical with that 
 which our antiquaries have agreed to call Samian ware in Eng- 
 land, it evidently came from the same moulds, and the potters’ 
 names are the same, so that we have little room for doubting 
 that it was imported into this country. I believe, however, 
 that Mr Artis discovered in the Durobrivian potteries traces of 
 an unsuccessful attempt to imitate the foreign red ware, and 
 such imitations of the Samian ware have been found among the 
 pottery at Wroxeter. 
 
 On this last-mentioned site, the Roman city of Uriconium, a 
 considerable quantity of different sorts of pottery have been 
 found, no doubt of local manufacture, as they are evidently 
 made from the clays of the Severn valley, apparently from the 
 neighbourhood of Broseley. Two sorts, especially, are found 
 in considerable abundance, the one white, the other of a rather 
 light red colour. The white ware, which is made of what is 
 commonly called Broseley clay, and is rather coarse in texture, 
 consists chiefly of rather handsomely-shaped jugs, of different 
 sizes, the general form of which is represented by the example 
 given in the accompanying cut ; of mortaria, differing somewhat 
 in form from the mortaria found on Roman sites in other parts 
 of England, and of which a fragment of one is also given in our 
 
278 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. vtti. 
 
 cut ; and of bowls of different shapes and sizes, which are often 
 painted with stripes of red and yellow. The red Eomano- 
 
 Romano- Salopian Ware. — White. Romano- Salopian Ware. — Red. 
 
 Salopian ware is also made from one of the clays of the valley 
 of the Severn, but is of finer texture, and consists principally 
 of jugs not dissimilar to those in the white ware, except in a 
 very different form of mouth, one of the simplest examples of 
 which is represented in our cut, and of bowl-shaped vessels 
 pierced with a multitude of small holes, which have no doubt 
 served the purpose of colanders. 
 
 Among the examples of pottery found in exploring Roman 
 sites, are many others which are totally dissimilar to the ware 
 made in the great potteries at Upchurch and Castor, and which 
 were probably derived from other potteries in Britain, the sites 
 of which have not yet been ascertained. Traces of potteries 
 have been noticed, I believe, in Lincolnshire and in several 
 other parts of England, but they have not yet been explored. 
 Some of the examples alluded to are V(n*y peculiar in character, 
 and of very rare occurrence. The two fragments represented in 
 the cut on the next page were found at Richborough ; but I 
 understand that similar ware has been found in one of the 
 Roman stations in Wales. They are of a red colour, and are 
 stamped with the ornament which, in the first example, is 
 evidently a rude copy of the festoon and tassel pattern of the 
 Samian ware. The lower one is curious for its resemblance to 
 the ornamentation of the Frankish pottery, which we shall 
 
CHAP, vm.] OTHER KINDS OF POTTERY. 
 
 279 
 
 describe further on. Our next cut represents an urn found at 
 York ; it is of a dusky grey colour, with a very singular orna- 
 ment in relief, which may be described as a frill pattern, and 
 which is far from inelegant. Two or three samples of this pot- 
 
 Pottery from Ricliboroug:h. 
 
 Urn from York. 
 
 tery may be seen in the York museum, but it appears to have 
 been found nowhere else, and came probably from some manu- 
 factory in Yorkshire or Lincolnshire. 
 
 Other potteries prod\iced vessels of a different character, in- 
 tended for other purposes than those of which we have been 
 speaking. Among the most important of these were the 
 amphorm, or wine vessels. They are of large dimensions, and 
 strongly made, usually of a reddish yellow colour. There are 
 two distinct forms of amphorae. Some are long and slender, 
 and very elegantly shaped. The two examples on next page, 
 one of which has lost its neck and handles, were dug up at 
 Mount Bures, near Colchester. The other form of amphorae 
 is much more spherical in shape, and is therefore more 
 capacious. These are shorter in the neck than the others. 
 Both sorts were pointed at the bottom, for the purpose, it is 
 said, of fixing them in the earth ; one of our examples, however, 
 has a knob. Numerous fragments of broken amphorae are 
 generally found in the rubbish-pits, mentioned in a former 
 chapter ; and they occur so abundantlv elsewhere, that we can 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. vm. 
 
 •i80 
 
 hardly doubt their being made in the potteries in Britain, 
 
 Roman Amplioia*. 
 
 Another class of domestic earthenware utensils have been termed 
 rnortaria, because it is supposed that they were used for pound- 
 ing vegetables and other soft articles for the kitchen with a 
 
 pestle. They are usually made of yellow, drab, or fawn-coloured 
 clay, and the surface of the interior is often studded with small 
 siliceous stones, broken quartz, 
 and scoria of iron, no doubt to 
 counteract attrition. The one 
 here represented is in the pos- 
 session of Mr Roach Smith, and 
 was found in London. It is 
 made of clay, kneaded with a 
 mixture of about one- third of 
 tile, broken small, and it is 
 studded with small white siliceous stones. Other examples are 
 shallower, but the general form is tlie s.ame. The names of the 
 potters are often mai’ked on tlie amphorae and mortaria, much 
 
 A Mortarium. 
 
CHAP, viii.] RICHTiOEOUGH TERRA-COTTAS. 
 
 281 
 
 in tlie same way as on the Samian ware. It appears from the 
 researches of Mr Artis, that mortaria were made in the Duro- 
 brivian potteries. 
 
 Before we leave the subject of pottery, we must not over- 
 look one class of vessels, which, though of very rare occurrence 
 in this country, are of peculiar interest. They are probably of 
 foreign manufacture. They are urns, or jugs, ornamented at 
 the mouth with heads, usually of females. The two examples 
 
 Heads of Roman Jars from Richboroug-h {Rutupice). 
 
 given in our cut were found at Eichborough. Each is four 
 inches and a half across, so that they have belonged to large 
 vessels. They are of brown clay. It has been observed that 
 they are evidently the prototypes of a class of 
 earthenware vessels which were popular in the 
 middle ages. The rubbish-pits of Eichborough 
 also furnished the museum of Mr Eolfe of Sand- 
 wich with some broken terra-cotta statuettes, 
 a class of Eoman antiquities which are now ex- 
 tremely rare. The Eichborough terra-cottas 
 \ ^ were by no means of a low style of execution, 
 
 V as works of art, but they were unfortunately all 
 
 fragments. A portion of a figure of Venus, 
 represented in our cut, was perhaps the best ; 
 in its present state it is four inches high. 
 These statuettes were probably imported from 
 Gaid. A manufactory of such articles was 
 discovered a few years ago near the village of 
 Heiligenberg, about three miles from Mutzig, 
 on the Ehine. 
 
 Whenever we open Eoman sites, we are as- 
 tonished at the quantities of pottery which lie scattered about, 
 
 Terra-Cotta 
 
 from 
 
 Richborougb. 
 
282 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 and we feel convinced that this article must have formed a large 
 proportion of the furniture of a Roman house, [t was used, 
 indeed, for a much greater variety of purposes than at the pre- 
 sent day, and we find many proofs that earthenware vases were 
 continually employed as the receptacles of money and of a 
 variety of little articles, which we should lay up in chests and 
 boxes, or in baskets, bags, caskets, or work-boxes. 
 
 There was another manufacture in whicli the Romans attained 
 to great excellence, that of glass, and we are struck not only 
 with the extraordinary beauty, but with the endless variety of 
 the samples that are continually found on Roman sites. All 
 our readers will be familiar with the old story of the accidental 
 discovery of glass-making by the merchants who lit their fires 
 upon the sands of the river Belus on the coast of Syria. Pliny 
 gives a brief account of the manufacture of glass in his time, 
 from which we gather that the great glass furnaces Avere gener- 
 ally established on the sea-coast, where a fine sand was found 
 adapted to the purpose. In these manufactories the glass was 
 made in lumps, in which form it was distributed to the work- 
 shops of the Avorkers in glass, avIio melted the lumps as they 
 Avanted them, and it Avas then coloured and formed into bottles, 
 vessels, and other articles, sometimes by blowing, at other 
 times by grinding on awheel or lathe, and at others by emboss- 
 ing or casting in a mould. ^ Pliny goes on to tell us that the 
 Avorking of glass was carried to such a perfection in Rome that 
 the emperor Tiberius put a stop to it, lest the precious metals 
 should be thrown into discredit. Sidon Avas the site of the 
 great glass-Avorks of antiquity, but the most celebrated estab- 
 lishment of the Romans was that situated on the coast betAveen 
 Cumae and Lucrinum. In the time of Pliny, glass manufac- 
 tories had been established on the coasts of Spain and Gaul.f 
 
 I have always believed, from the quantity of Roman glass 
 that is found in this island, that we should some day trace 
 the existence of Roman glass manufactories in Britain, and 
 it is naturally to the coast that we must look for them. But 
 I was not aAvare that anything of the sort had yet been ob- 
 served, until I was informed by my friend, Augustus Guest, 
 Esq., LL.D., of a very curious discovery he had made on the 
 
 * Continuis fornacibus ut aes liqiiatur, massaaque fiunt colore pingui 
 nigricantes. Ex niassis rursus funditur in officinis, tingiturque, et aliud 
 flatu figuratur, aliud torno teritur, aliud argeuti modo ccelatur. — Flin. 
 Hist. Nat., lib. xxxvi c. 26. 
 
 t J aui vero et per Gallias Hispaniasque simili modo arenas temperantur. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 
 
 2S3 
 
 coast at Brighton, the sand of which T am told is extremely 
 well calcnlated for the manufacture of tliis article. Dr Guest 
 told me that in 1848, as he was searching along the shore for 
 specimens of agates, he picked up, on that portion of it ex- 
 tending from opposite Kemptown towards Hotting or Eotten 
 Dean, several pieces of what, in consequence of the attrition to 
 which it had been subjected, appeared, on placing them before 
 a strong light, to be coloured pebbles ; but on taking them 
 to an intelligent lapidary in the town, he at once recognised 
 them as pieces of glass, of which, after a heavy sea, he occa- 
 sionally found considerable quantities. He produced several 
 large pieces, the colours of which were amethyst, ambei*, 
 emerald green, and deep maroon, the latter colour being the 
 rarest. The lapidary was accustomed to cut and polish small 
 sections of the glass, and to apply them to ornamental pur- 
 poses, as brooches, &c. The largest piece shown to Dr Guest 
 was about double the size of a man’s fist; it was of an amber 
 colour, and much encrusted by marine insects. A large portion 
 of the cliff on this spot has evidently given way under the 
 action of the sea, which has here encroached considerably on 
 the land, and it is not improbable that one of the slips common 
 in the chalk formation has at some distant period carried away 
 with it the remains of one of the Eomano-British glass manu- 
 factories. The fragments cast upon the shore are no doubt 
 parts of the lumps {massce) of the material which were sent 
 away hence to the glass-workers in the greater towns through 
 the island. Pliny seems to intimate that the mass of glass thus 
 sent out was colourless, and that it was coloured by the glass- 
 workers, but it seems here to have been made in coloured 
 masses, to be still more ready for use. 
 
 From the brittle character of the material, glass vessels are 
 found in a perfect state much more seldom than pottery ; 
 
 Roman Glass Vessels. 
 
 indeed, peifect specimens are rarely found, except in sepulchral 
 
284 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 interments, where they have been intentionally protected. The 
 shapes and uses of vessels of p:lass were evidently very numer- 
 ous, and one or two only of the forms more worthy of notice 
 are given in the accompanying cut. The two vessels to the 
 left are those usually found, with calcined bones, in Eoman 
 sepulchres. They are generally of green glass. The three 
 smaller ones to the right are also frequently found in sepulchres, 
 and are usually termed lachrymatories, from the somewhat 
 romantic notion that they were filled with the tears of the 
 mourners ; the received opinion among antiquaries at the pre- 
 sent day, is that they contained the unguents and aromatics 
 which it was usual to depose with the dead. The jug in the 
 middle exhibits one of the simpler forms of the embossed orna- 
 ments on the moulded glass. Some of these are elaborate and 
 beautiful, and would present difficulties even to the modern 
 glass-makers. This is said to be especially the case with a 
 class of round cups or bowls, which are by no means uncommon 
 in green, blue, and mixed colours, and which are ornamented 
 with projecting pillars. This pillar-moulding was considered 
 to be one of the great inventions in modern glass-making, and 
 it was not supposed among glass-workers that it was a mere 
 revival of an ornament common among the Eomans. The cups 
 alluded to are nearly all of the same form, and would be 
 described now as sugar-basins, though they were probably 
 
 Part of a Roman Glass Bowl or Cup. 
 
 drinking cups. The annexed cut represents a fragment of one 
 of these cups, given by Mr Eoach Smith from the excavations 
 at Eichborough ; it is here engraved the full size of the original. 
 
 In some instances the embossed ornaments were much more 
 elaborate, and, as on the ornamental pottery, it extended to 
 
CHAP. VIII.] EMBOSSED AND FIGURED GLASS. 
 
 285 
 
 figures and to inscriptions. This figured glass ware is, how- 
 ever, rare, and was no doubt precious. Mr Eoach Smith has 
 published in his ‘ Collectanea ’ a fragment of a very remark- 
 able cup in green glass, found in the Roman villa at Hartlip in 
 
 Roman embossed Glass Cup, from Hartlip, Kent 
 
 Kent. It is here given, from his book, about half the actual 
 size, the thin lines indicating the form of the vessel when 
 entire. The subjects represented upon it are chariot racing 
 and gladiatorial combats, with the names of the charioteers 
 and combatants. The figures are in the original somewhat 
 indistinct, and the letters so faint, that it is questionable if 
 they are all given correctly. Mr Smith possessed, in his 
 museum, two similar fragments, found in London, one of which 
 is identical with the Hartlip fragment in its design, and appears 
 to be from the same mould ; the other is from a vessel of a 
 different shape, 'and has a quadriga in bas-relief. We have 
 before had occasion to observe how popular gladiatorial subjects 
 and the games of the circus were among the Roman inhabitants 
 of this island, and how often we find them represented on the 
 pottery as well as on the glass. In the Hartlip glass the 
 charioteer has just reached the goal, which is marked by three 
 conical columns of wood raised upon a base. This was the 
 usual form of the metcB, and it is said to have been assumed as 
 the imitation of the form of a cypress tree : — 
 
 ‘ Metasque imitata cupressus,* 
 
2S6 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 says Ovid (Metamorpli. lib. x. 1. 106). The names here given 
 to the charioteers and combatants are probably mere conven- 
 tional appellations. A series of gladiatorial subjects are sculp- 
 tured on one of the tombs of Pompeii, with names attached to 
 them in a similar manner, although in this instance they appear 
 to have been the real names of the individuals represented. 
 The charioteer is here driving the biga ; in the other example 
 of embossed glass in the possession of Mr Roach Smith, he 
 rides, as we have stated, the quadriga. It no doubt formed 
 part of a scene from the circus. Embossed glass vessels of this 
 description are of the utmost rarity, and I am not aware of the 
 existence of any other examples in this country. 
 
 Drinking-cups, with inscriptions, are found not unfrequently. 
 It was a trait of Roman sentiment, both on the continent and 
 in Britain, to accompany familiar or domestic occupations with 
 invocations of happiness or good fortune upon those who took 
 part in them, and this seems to have been especially the case in 
 their convivial entertainments. Cups have been found with 
 such inscriptions as bibe feliciteb (drink with good luck !), 
 or BIBE VT VIVAS (drink that you may live I), or again, vivas 
 B iBERE (may you live to drink!). An analogous drinking 
 formula was preserved in the middle ages, in the Anglo-Saxon 
 wees heel (be thou in health !). Mr Roach Smith, in his 
 ‘ Collectanea,’ has given samples of cups in red pottery with 
 inscriptions in white letters, such as ave (hail !), vivas (may 
 you live!), bibe (drink), imple (fill). In excavations on the 
 site of the Roman villa at Ickleton, in Essex, Lord Braybrooke 
 found a fragment of a drinking-cup of fine earthenware, with 
 an inscription, inscribed with a stilus, or some sharp instru- 
 ment, of which there remained the letters camicibibvn, no 
 doubt part of the words ex hoc amici bibunt (out of this cup 
 friends drink). Among fragments picked up in a Roman, and 
 subsequent Saxon, cemetery, near Holme Pierrepoint, in Not- 
 tinghamshire, was part of a small cup of thin yellow glass, with 
 a portion of a raised inscription (of which the word semper 
 only remained), above the figure of a bird. The figures in this 
 and most similar articles are rather rude, but there are speci- 
 mens in which the execution shows not only a high feeling of 
 art, but also an extraordinary skill in manipulation on the part 
 of the workman. The cut annexed represents the base of a 
 handle to a vase, of fine blue glass, representing the head of a 
 female, in very high relief. It was dug up in Leadenhall- 
 street, in London, and is now in the collection of Lord Lon- 
 
cHiir. vjii.] 
 
 GLASS BEADS. 
 
 287 
 
 desborougli. Mr Roacli Smith possessed a similar fragment 
 in green glass, but of still finer execution, also found in 
 London. 
 
 The skill of the Roman glass-workers, in the manipulation 
 of their art, is shown still more 
 remarkably in the manner in which 
 they fused into each other pieces of 
 glass of different colours, so as to form 
 the most elegant and tasteful patterns. 
 This art was displayed especially in 
 the manufacture of glass beads, which 
 are found in considerable quantities 
 on Roman sites in this country. 
 They present so many varieties in 
 form and colour, that it would be 
 impossible here to give any descrip- 
 tion that could include them all ; 
 yet there are a certain number of 
 types which occur more frequently 
 than others, and I will give a 
 few of these which have sometimes been misappropriated. 
 The large bead to the left in the accompanying group is 
 one of common occurrence, and it and some other Roman 
 beads of different forms have been fancifully and very erro- 
 neously termed druids’ beads. They are sometimes found 
 of a large size, twice or even thrice the size of the one in 
 
 Embossed Glass. 
 
 Roman Glass Beads. 
 
 our cut. The most common forms of Roman glass beads are 
 slight variations of the upper figure to the right, which are 
 
288 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 executed in glass of different colours, though most commonly 
 blue, sometimes very light, at others of a deep shade, and 
 sometimes of a material that has been only imperfectly vitrified. 
 The other bead, in which a serpentine ornament is infused 
 into the glass, was found among the ruins of Cilurnum in 
 Northumberland. In many of these beads of compound colours, 
 the shades are exquisitely blended together. Our second cut 
 represents a bead and a button, both of glass, found at Rich- 
 borough. The bead is of blue glass, with white enamel; the body 
 
 Roman Glass Bead and Button. 
 
 of the button is dark blue, with the central dot red, and the 
 other four light blue. Mr Smith informs us that a considerable 
 number of such buttons, but chiefly in plain white and blue 
 glass, have been found with sepulchral remains on the site of a 
 Roman burial-ground near Boulogne. 
 
 Extensive traces of the manufacture of personal ornaments 
 from another material have been discovered in Britain. This 
 material was what the Romans seem to have designated by the 
 name of gagates, or jet, and which is now popularly called in the 
 different localities where it is found. Kennel coal and Kim- 
 meridge coal. In our own time Kennel coal has been exten- 
 sively used in the manufacture of ornamental vases, turned on the 
 lathe, and other such articles. The articles in jet of the Romans 
 in Britain were also made on the lathe, and consisted chiefly of 
 rings, armlets, beads, buttons, and similar ornaments, and, as 
 I have just said, the traces of the manufactories in one district 
 have been discovered. In the wildest and least frequented 
 part of the isle of Purbeck, on the coast of Dorset, are two 
 small secluded valleys, opening to the sea into what are termed 
 the Kimmeridge and Worthbarrow bays, and divided by an 
 intervening ridge of consideraole elevation. The soil of these 
 valleys, laid out from time immemorial in uninclosed pastures, 
 has never been disturbed by the nloughshare, and when for any 
 accidental purpose it is dug, at a tew inches under the surface 
 are found great numbers of small, round, and flat pieces of 
 a mineral substance, found in extensive beds on this part of the 
 coast, and known by the name of Kimmeridge coal. It is a 
 
CHAP. VIIT.] 
 
 KIMMERIDGE COAL. 
 
 289 
 
 bituminous shale, wliich burns freely, with a Avhite ash and 
 slaty residue, diffusing a disagreeable bituminous odour, in this 
 respeet answering to Pliny’s description of the gagates. The 
 round pieces found in such abundance in these localities are 
 generally from a quarter to half an inch thick, and from an 
 inch and a quarter to two inches and a half in diameter, 
 with bevelled and moulded edges, and having on one side two, 
 three, or four round holes, and on the other side a small pivot 
 hole. In a few instances these round holes are absent, and the 
 pieces are wholly perforated with a single central square hole. 
 
 A single glance at these articles is sufficient to convince any 
 one acquainted with the use of the lathe, that they are simply 
 the refuse pieces of the turner, the nuclei of rings and other 
 articles formed by his art. The round holes were evidently 
 made to attach the piece of material on the point of the chuck ; 
 and the square one was for fixing it on a small square mandril- 
 head ; circumstances, it has been observed, which prove that 
 the people who made these articles were well accustomed to the 
 use of the lathe, not in its primitive rude form, but as an im- 
 proved and, in some degree, perfected instrument. Much 
 irregularity is obsei’vable in the number of the holes. The 
 greater number hitherto found have two holes ; while pieces 
 with four holes are rare, and generally of a small size. Frag- 
 ments of the raw material are frequently found mixed with 
 these round pieces. Some of these show the marks of cutting 
 tools, as if prepared for the lathe, whilst the shale, being fresh 
 from the quarry, was comparatively soft. Others exhibit lines, 
 angles, circles, and other figures, drawn with mathematieal 
 aceuracy, the eentral point, in which one leg of the compasses 
 was inserted, being often visible. Pieces of rings of the same 
 material, and sometimes a perfect ring, are also found scattered 
 about ; so that we cannot have the least doubt that here existed 
 once an extensive manufactory of this material. Fragments of 
 Roman pottery, mixed here and there with these remains, fix 
 the date to which they belong. Yet, with all these facts before 
 them, our antiquaries of the old school have remained blind to 
 their real charaeter, and it was gravely conjeetured, and even 
 asserted, that these refuse pieces from the Roman lathe had 
 been manufactured to serve the purposes of money by Phm- 
 nician traders, who came in the remote ages of the world to 
 trade with tlie primeval Celts. ^ 
 
 * The real character of these remains was, I believe, first pointed out by 
 the late Mi Sydenham, a gentleman known to antiquaries by his contribu* 
 
290 
 
 THE EOMANS. 
 
 [chap. \iri. 
 
 Articles of this material seem to have had a peculiar value 
 from the circumstance that it was supposed, as Ave are told by 
 Pliny, to possess the virtue of driving away serpents. Probably 
 future discoveries will bring to light similar manufactories in 
 other parts of the island, and it is not unlikely that they con- 
 tinued to exist through the earlier Anglo-Saxon period. Bede 
 describes the gagates as being in his time an important produc- 
 tion of Britain, and he speaks of its quality, when burnt, of 
 driving away serpents, and tells us how, when warmed with 
 laibbing, it has the same attractive quality as amber.* IiV 
 interments, chiefly of the Eoman period, and on Eoman sites, 
 rings, and other articles, of the Kimmeridge and Kennel coal 
 have been found. 
 
 The Eomans were more attentive to the utility of the mineral 
 productions of our island than we are accustomed to suppose. 
 There cannot be a doubt that they knew the use of mineral 
 coals, and that they employed them, but they only obtained 
 them where the coal-bed was near the surface, and the coal was 
 probably burnt chiefly in the district where it ^Yas found. 
 Mineral coal has been supposed to be referred to by Solinus, 
 when he tells us that Minerva was the patron of the warm 
 springs in Britain, alluding apparently to Bath, and that the 
 tire that burnt on her altars did not fall into white ashes, but 
 as the fire wasted away it turned into stony globules. f A 
 more unequivocal proof of the use of this fuel is, however, 
 furnished by the faet that the cinders of mineral coal have been 
 not unfrequently found in the fire-places of Eoman houses and 
 villas in diflerent parts of the island. It is found abundantly 
 among the fire-places of the hypocausts of the buildings of 
 Eoman Uriconium, at Wroxeter. Mr Bruce assures us that 
 in nearly all the stations on the line of the Avail of Hadrian, 
 
 ‘ the ashes of mineral fuel have been found ; in some, a store 
 
 tions to the Archseologia on Dorsetshire barrows. The notion of their being 
 made by Phoenician merchants, to represent money, and of t eir being 
 used also in the religious worship of the natives of Britain, was set forth, 
 among others, by Mr Miles, in an appendix to the account of the Deverill 
 barrow. 
 
 * Gignit et lapidem gagatem plurimum optimumque ; est autem nigro- 
 gemmeus et ardens igni admotus ; incensus serpentes fugat, attritu cale- 
 factus applicita detinet aeque ut succinum. — Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. i, c. 1. 
 It must be stated that Bede’s account is taken almost literally from 
 Solinus. 
 
 t Quibus fontibus praesul est Miner vae numen, in cujus aede perpetui 
 ignes nunquam canescunt in favillas, sed ubi ignis tabuit, vertit in globes 
 saxeos . — Solini Folyhist., c. 22. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 MENTALS OF BRITAIN. 
 
 291 
 
 of unconsiimed coal has been met with, which, thou^b intended 
 to give warmth to the primeval occupants of the isthmus, has 
 been burnt in the grates of the modern English. In several 
 places the source whence the mineral was procured can be 
 pointed out ; but the most extensive workings that I have heard 
 of are in the neighbourhood of Grindon Lough, near Sevving- 
 sliields. Not long ago a shaft was sunk, with the view of 
 procuring the coal which was supposed to be below the surface j 
 the projector soon found that, though coal had been there, it 
 was all removed. The ancient workings stretched beneath the 
 bed of the lake.’ 
 
 The metals of Britain formed, we know, the great proportion 
 of its exports, under the Eoman occupation. They consisted 
 chiefly of iron, lead, tin, and copper. Bound pigs of the last- 
 mentioned metal, belonging to the Koman period, have been 
 found in Wales, whence, and from Cornwall, the Bomans derived 
 their chief supply. One of these, still preserved at Mostyn 
 Hall, in the county of Flint, bears the inscription socio komae, 
 which has not been satisfactorily explained. Iron was obtained 
 by the Bomans in vast quantities from various parts of the 
 island, though the principal Boman iron-works were in tlie 
 wooded district of the country of the Silures, novv called the 
 Forest of Bean, and in the extensive forest of Anderida, forming 
 the modern weald of Sussex and Kent. Traces of the Boman 
 occupation are found abundantly in both these districts. In 
 various places in Sussex, as in the parishes of Maresfield, Sedles- 
 combe, and Westfield, immense masses of ancient iron scoriae, 
 or slag, are found. At Oaklands, in Sedlescombe, there is a 
 mass of very considerable extent, which, on being cut into for 
 materials for road-making, was ascertained to be not less than 
 twenty feet deep. The period to which they belong is proved, 
 by the frequent discovery of Boman coins and pottery inter- 
 mixed with the cinders. At Maresfield, especially, the frag- 
 ments of Boman pottery and other articles are so abundant, 
 that, as we are informed by Mr M. A. Lower, of Lewes, who 
 first laid these facts before the public, when one of these cin- 
 der-beds was removed, scarcely a barrow-load of cinders could 
 be examined without exhibiting several fragments. The mate- 
 rial for the Boman furnaces was the clay ironstone, from the 
 beds between the chalk and oolite of this district, which is 
 found in nodular concretions, consisting often of an outer shell 
 of iron ore, with a nucleus of sand. These are found near the 
 surface of the ground, and the Bomans dug small pits from 
 
292 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. vni. 
 
 which they extracted these nodules, and carried them to the 
 furnaces, which stood in the immediate vicinity. These pits 
 are still found in considerable groups, covered almost always 
 with a thick wood, and the discovery of pottery, &c., leaves us 
 no room to doubt that they are Roman works. Large as the 
 Sussex works seem to have been, those in the Forest of Dean, 
 and more especially along the banks of the Wye, appear to 
 have been much more extensive. Here tlie ground for miles 
 rests upon one immense continuous bed of iron cinders, the 
 antiquity of which is proved by the occasional discovery of 
 Roman coins and other remains, with unmistakeable traces of 
 Roman settlements. The ore is here of a much richer descrip- 
 tion, and lies in veins at no great depth under the ground. 
 The Romans sank a large pit until they came to the vein of 
 metal, which they then followed in its course, and thus exca- 
 vated caverns and chambers under-ground, extending often to 
 some hundred feet. In the neighbourhood of Coleford these 
 ancient excavations are called Scowles — a term of which the 
 derivation is not very evident. They are often looked upon 
 with a superstitious feeling, and have received names from it. 
 Thus, in a hill on the banks of the Wye, called the Great 
 Howard, is an extensive Roman iron mine, popularly called 
 ‘ King Arthur’s Hall,’ at the bottom of which tradition says a 
 chest of treasure is concealed. In this district the river Wye 
 formed a convenient medium of transport, and either the pure 
 ore, or the iron in its first rough state, was carried up the 
 Severn as high at least as the present city of Worcestei*, 
 where large beds of iron scoriae with Roman remains have 
 been discovered. We have already quoted a tradition which 
 describes the Roman Alauna (^Alcester, in Warwickshire) 
 as a town of iron-workers. Traces of Roman iron-works are 
 met with in various other parts of Britain. Large beds of 
 cinders, or, as they are technically termed, slag, mixed Avith 
 Roman remains, have been found in Northumberland and, I 
 understand, in Yorkshire. 
 
 The process of smelting among the Romans appears to have 
 been simple and imperfect. The fuel used was charcoal, pieces 
 of which are often found impressed in the cinders. It is sup- 
 posed that layers of iron ore, broken up, and charcoal, mixed 
 with lime-stone as a flux, were piled together, and inclosed in 
 a wall and covering of clay, with holes at the bottom for letting 
 in the draught, and allowing the melted metal to run out. For 
 this purpose they were usually placed on sloping ground. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] PROCESS OF SMELTING IRON. 
 
 293 
 
 ilucle bellows were perhaps used, worked by different con- 
 trivances.^ In Sussex, and in the Forest of Dean, they appear 
 to have been worked by means of water, at least in some of the 
 streams in those districts remains of ancient tanks are found, 
 which are supposed to have been made to collect the water for 
 that purpose. Mr Bruce, in his account of the ‘ Roman Wall,’ 
 has pointed out a very curious contrivance for producing a 
 blast in the furnaces of the extensive Roman iron-works in 
 the neighbourhood of Epiacum {Lanclieder) , A part of the 
 valley, rendered barren by the heaps of slightly covered cinders, 
 had never been cultivated till very recent times. ‘ During the 
 operation of bringing this common into cultivation,’ Mr Bruce 
 says, ‘ the method adopted by the Romans of producing the 
 blast necessary to smelt the metal was made apparent. Two 
 tunnels had been formed in the side of a hill ; they were wide 
 at one extremity, but tapered off to a narrow bore at the other, 
 where they met in a point. The mouths of the channels open- 
 ed towards the west, from which quarter a prevalent wind 
 blows in this valley, and sometimes with great violence. The 
 blast received by them would, when the wind was high, be 
 poured with considerable force and effect upon the smelting 
 furnaces at the extremity of the tunnels.’ 
 
 Any one who takes one of these ancient cinders in his hand, 
 will be at once convinced by its weight how imperfect had been 
 the process of smelting, and how much metal still remains in 
 
 * This primitive mode of smelting is still in use among some peoples 
 unacquainted with the improvements of civilized nations. We are told by 
 the early Spanish writers, that the Peruvians built their furnaces for 
 smelting silver on eminences where the air was freest ; they were perforated 
 on all sides with holes, through which the air was driven when the wind 
 blew, which was the only time when the work could be carried on, and 
 under each hole was made a projection of the stonework, on which was laid 
 burning coals to heat the air before it entered the furnace. 
 
 The smelting furnaces for iron in the Himmaleh mountains of Central 
 Asia are described as follows : — A chimney is built of clay, about four feet 
 and a half high, by fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, upon a stage oft 
 stonework, over a fire-place. In an opening below the stage there is a hole, 
 through which the metal when melted fiows, and this is stopped with clay 
 or earth, easily removed with an iron poker. The fire is blown with two 
 pair of bellows, each made of a goat’s skin, and worked by a woman or 
 boy. The iron ore was mixed with pounded charcoal, and thrown into 
 the chimney. A somewhat similar tower of clay was made for smelting 
 by an African people, visited by Mungo Park, but they trusted partly to 
 the wind for a blast, and placed the iron ore, after it had been broken into 
 pieces of the size of a hen’s egg, in alternate layers with charcoal. See 
 further on this subject. Scrivener’s ‘ Comprehensive History of the Iron 
 Trade.’ 
 
294 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 it. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Eoman 
 iron scoriae in the Eorest of Dean and in Worcestershire, were 
 re-smelted on a very extensive scale ; and it is said that, being 
 gathered with so little trouble, they were actually found more 
 profitable than fresh ore which had to be dug from a consider- 
 able depth in the ground. Besides the marks of charcoal still 
 visible on some of the cinders, examples occur which show the 
 effects of the irregular heat produced by this fuel. One, 
 which I picked up among a vast heap of cinders at Sedlescombe, 
 in Sussex, proved by coins found in it to be Eoman, exhibits a 
 curious appearance of a compact mass with veins and drusy 
 cavities with crystalline iron ; in this instance an imperfect steel 
 or carburet of iron has been the result of the excessive heat 
 produced by the wood fuel. 
 
 Among the other principal metallic productions of our island, 
 worked by the Eomans, were lead and tin, called by the 
 Eomans, plumbum nigrum and plumbum album. The latter we 
 know was, under its Greek name of cassltei'os, the chief and 
 most valuable production of the Brittanic Isles at a very remote 
 period, and procured for them the name of the Cassiterides, or 
 Tin Islands. We are told by ancient writers that lead was 
 found so plentifully, and so near the surface of the ground, that 
 it was found necessary in the earlier period of the Eoman occu- 
 pation to make a law limiting the quantity to be taken each 
 year.^ The tin districts were, as at present, Cornwall and 
 Wales, and I believe that Eoman mines have been traced, and 
 that blocks of Eoman tin have been found, though they are of 
 extreme rarity. This, however, is not the case with lead ; for 
 
 the traces of Eoman lead mines are very numerous, and pigs of 
 lead, with the official stamps of the Eoman miners, are by no 
 means of uncommon occurrence. This stamp usually consisted 
 
 * In Britannia sumino terras corio adeo lar^e, ut lex ultro dicatur, ne 
 plus certo modo fiat. — Flin. Mist. Nat.y lib. xxxv. c. 17. 
 
CHAP. VIII. J 
 
 THE LEAD MANUFACTUEE. 
 
 295 
 
 of an inscription giving tlie name of the emperor under whose 
 reign the lead had been produced from the furnace. The fore- 
 going cut represents one of these pigs of lead, found in 17 S3, 
 on the verge of Broughton brook, near Stockbridge, in Hamp- 
 shire. It will serve to give a general idea of the form and cha- 
 racter of these articles, and it has a certain historical interest from 
 the circumstance that it was made the year before the insurrec- 
 tion of Boadicea. The main inscription is, neronis avg. ex 
 K iAN iiii cos BRIT. On one side are the letters hvl pmcos; 
 on the other, ex argent and capascas, with the numeral 
 XXX.* Other examples found at different times have presented 
 the following inscriptions : — 
 
 1. TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TRIE P VIII IMP XVI DE BRITAX 
 
 2. IMP DOMIT AVG GER DE CEANG 
 
 3. CAESARI VADOM 
 
 4. IMP CAES DOMITIAN AVG COS VII BRIG 
 
 O. IMP VESP VII T IMP V COS DE CEANG 
 
 6. TI CL TR LVT BR EX ARG 
 
 7. IMP CAES HADRIANI AVG MET LVT 
 
 8. IMP HADRIANI AVG 
 
 9. IMP DVOR AVG ANTONINI ET VERI ARMENIACORVM 
 
 10. L ARVCONI VERECVND METAL LVTVD 
 
 11. C IVL PROTI BRIT LVT EX ARG 
 
 The greater number of these inscriptions, it will be seen at once, 
 commemorate the emperor in whose reign each was made. The 
 two last, no doubt, give us the names of private individuals, 
 either governors of the province, or persons appointed to super- 
 intend the mines of Britain. Some of the words of these inscrip- 
 tions have provoked rather long disquisitions, yet they are capable 
 of a simple explanation, lvt is supposed to be an abbreviation 
 of lutum, washed, in reference to the process through which the 
 metal (met) had passed ; and the ex arg, or ex argent, is 
 explained by a passage of Pliny, who informs us that lead was 
 found under two different forms, either in veins by itself, or 
 mixed with silver. f The latter had to go through a more com- 
 
 * Mr Roach Smith observes on this inscription : — ‘ As Nero never 
 assumed the title of Britannicus, and as the numerals precede the cos, I 
 suspect the inscription should be read — 
 
 (Plumbum or Metallum) Neronis Aug. cos. iiii., Ex. Kian. Brit. 
 
 The P.M. Cos may belong to the above, and the rest be the name of some 
 superintendent.’ 
 
 + Plumbi nigri origo duplex est ; aut enim sua provenit vena, nec quic- 
 quam aliud ex se parit ; aut curn argento nascitur, mistisque venis con- 
 flutur.—P/m. Hist. Nat.^ lib. xxxiv. c. 16. 
 
296 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 fOHAP. VIII. 
 
 plicated process of extraction, which is referred to by the words 
 of the inscription, lutum ex argento^ and Avhich it seems the 
 Romano-British metalluro-ist considered it necessary to specify. 
 Tlie examples on which the words brig and de ceang occur, 
 were found cliiefly in Cheshire and Yorkshire, and these words 
 are supposed to signify that they came from the tribe of the 
 Ceangi, or Cangi, and the Brigantes. The words ex kian on 
 the pig of lead represented in our cut, are supposed to refer to 
 the same tribe of the Ceangi, by an earlier mode of spelling the 
 name. It had no doubt been left in Hampshire on its way to 
 the coast for exportation. 
 
 It is indeed difficult in many cases to form any opinion re- 
 lating to these relics from the place where they were found. 
 Three of them were found near Matlock, in Derbyshire, no 
 doubt in the neighbourhood of the mines from which they were 
 taken. They have been found also in Shropshire, near the site 
 of ancient lead mines. The inscriptions are curious, as belonging 
 mostly to the earlier emperors, and showing that the metallic 
 riches of Britain were among its first resources turned to account 
 by the Roman conquerors.^ 
 
 The wording of some of the above inscriptions is sufficient 
 evidence that the Romans obtained silver from the mines in 
 Britain, and the island province appears also to have furnished 
 gold, though probably in very small quantities. Gold has been 
 traced in the quartz formation near Lampeter, in Wales, in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of a Roman settlement, where enor- 
 mous mounds of broken and pounded quartz remain as memo- 
 rials of the Roman gold diggers. A still more curious memorial, 
 perhaps, of the British silver mines was discovered in the latter 
 part of the last century, among remains of very old masonry 
 cleared away in digging the foundations of the then new office 
 for the Board of Ordnance, in the Tower of London. It had 
 apparently been a square ingot of silver, about three-eighths of an 
 inch thick, but it had subsequently been beaten at each end 
 with a hammer, till the whole had assumed the form of a double 
 wedge. Rrom its weight, when found, there could be little 
 doubt of its having been originally a Roman pound of silver. 
 
 * For further information on these pip^s of lead and on the Roman 
 mining operations in this island in general, the reader is referred to very 
 excellent papers by Professor Phillips and Mr Albert Way, in a recent 
 volume of the ‘Archaeological Journal,’ and by Mr James Yates, in the 
 eighth volume of the ‘ Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeoiogic al 
 and Natural History Society.’ 
 
CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 BRONZE. 
 
 297 
 
 In the middle, on one side, within a simple square label, was 
 the inscription : — 
 
 EX OFII 
 
 HONOK] 
 
 in which the last letters of each line had been partly effaced, 
 probably by a blow of the hammer. It seems doubtful if the 
 Honorius here commemorated was an officer of the Homan 
 mint in Britain, or the emperor of that name ; though the pro- 
 bability seems to be turned in favour of the latter by the dis- 
 covery close by it of three gold coins, one of which was of the 
 emperor Honorius, while the two others belonged to his partner 
 in the empire, Arcadius.^ In this case, it would belong to the 
 closing period of the Roman rule in Britain. 
 
 The metal most in favour among the Romans for the manu- 
 facture of useful and ornamental articles, appears to have been 
 bronze. It would extend beyond our limits, and be of no real 
 practical utility, to give a description of the almost endless 
 variety of articles of bronze belonging to the Roman period, 
 which have been found in this country, some of very rude work- 
 manship, and others showing a very high state of art. It is not 
 possible to say how many of the articles were m.ade in Britain, 
 and how many were imported, but there can, I think, be little 
 doubt that such articles were manufactured here in considerable 
 quantities. As the rough, unformed glass was distributed from 
 the manufactoiy to the small glass-workers, so the bronze was 
 probably sold in lumps to small manufacturers, who, either 
 with the hand, or more frequently by melting it into moulds, 
 formed statuettes, vessels of various kinds, ornaments, tools, 
 and toys, under which latter head I suspect we ought to place a 
 large number of the smalb rude figures of animals, &c., in bronze, 
 which are frequently found on Roman sites. I believe that the 
 fragments of old bronze with chisels and other implements of 
 the same metal, already described (p. 98), as found in different 
 parts of England, belonged to the Roman workers in bronze. 
 Smelting pots, with remains of molten bronze, and lumps of the 
 same metal, and even entire foundries, with moulds and the 
 articles cast in them, have been found in different parts of 
 Germany, as at Demmin, in Mecklenburgh ; Gross Jena, in 
 Thuringen ; Braunfels, in Hessen ; and at Zurich, in Switzer- 
 land; and, I believe, in France; and if I am not mistaken, 
 
 * This ingot of silver and the three coins are engraved in the hfth 
 volume of the ‘ Archaeologia ’ of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 T 
 
298 THE HOMANS. [chap. vm. 
 
 they will he foim(J to have been all discovered in localities occu- 
 pied by the Eoinans. 
 
 That Roman art did flourish to a certain deg’ree in Britain, 
 we have proofs in the various traces of ornamental decoration 
 in the houses, in articles of bronze and other material, and in 
 the remains of statuary. Some few fragments of wall-paintings 
 that have been rescued from the general destruction of the 
 frescoes of the Roman houses, are artistically executed ; and, 
 although many of the sepulchral and other sculptures found in 
 our island are of a rude character, others are quite the contrary. 
 It is probable that most of the finer pieces of sculpture in 
 marble, found in the Roman villas and elsewhere, were executed 
 abroad j but other similar remains of great beauty have been 
 found sculptured in materials which were undoubtedly obtained 
 ill the island, and generally near the spot where they seem to 
 have been erected. Such were the statues, which exhibit a 
 very high degree of art, found by Mr Artis in 1844, 1845, and 
 1846, near Sibson, in Bedfordshire, and at a place between 
 Wansford and King’s Cliff, in the same county, known as Bed- 
 ford Purlieus, which were formed of the oolite of the district, 
 popularly known as Barnack rag. They are now preserved in 
 the collection of the Duke of Bedford, and include large portions 
 of figures of Hercules, Apollo, and Minerva Gustos. At Birrens, 
 in Scotland, was found a dedicatory inscription, by Julius 
 Cerealis Censorinus, who is described as the image-maker (siijU- 
 larins), or fabricator of the statues of the gods, to the college 
 of llgniferi ; and the mutilated trunk of a colossal statue of 
 iMercury, found at the same spot, was supposed to be a relic of 
 his works. 
 
 Of the other professions of the Romans in Britain, we find, 
 iVom their very nature, fewer traces among existing remains, 
 though one or two of them are commemorated in inscriptions. 
 Thus, a votive statue to the goddess Brigantia, found at Birrens 
 in Scotland, was dedicated, if not made, by Amandus the archi- 
 tect. A monumental stone, found at Housesteads in North- 
 umberland, commemorates a young medical practitioner, xlnicius 
 Ingenuus, physician in ordinary to the first cohort of the Tun- 
 grians.* 
 
 There is, however, a class of monuments relating to the 
 Roman medical profession and their practice in Britain, which 
 are so curious, that they require a more minute description and 
 
 * D M ANICIO IXGENVO MEDICO OKDI COH PRIMAE TVNGR VIX AN XXV. 
 
CHAP, yiii.] THE MEPICAL EEuFESSIOX. 
 
 299 
 
 explanation. These are the stamps used fur impressing the 
 names of the makers and the purposes of certain medicinal pre- 
 parations. 
 
 Numerous examples of these medicine stamps have been 
 found in Germany, France, and Italy, as well as in Britain ; 
 and in the former countries they have been the subject of several 
 learned treatises.^ They are usually made of a greenish schist, 
 or steatite, and consist of a small thin square block, generally 
 with an inscription on each of the four edges. In a few in- 
 stances the stone is of an oblong form, and has only two in- 
 scribed sides. The inscriptions are inverse and retrograde, and 
 they were evidently intended as stamps ; but when first noticed, 
 they were a great puzzle to the antiquary. The example given 
 in our cut, which was found a few years ago at Kenchester in 
 Herefordshire (Magna), belongs to the former of these two 
 classes. The inscription usually expresses the name of the 
 
 Roman Medicine Stamp from Kenchester (Magna.) 
 
 maker of the medicine, that of the medicine itself, and the 
 disease for which it was intended as a specific. From the 
 places in which they are found, the name appears to be gener- 
 ally that of a medical practitioner in one of the principal towns, 
 who composed the medicines, and, perhaps, sold them in pack- 
 ages to the minor practitioners or dealers in the smaller towns 
 and in the country, in the manner that patent medicines used 
 to be sold in England. It is somewhat remarkable, that in all 
 the examples yet found, amounting in number to at least sixty, 
 the diseases are uniformly those of the eyes, and hence they are 
 
 * Two French writers especially have written at length on this subject : 
 M. Sichel, in a tract entitled Cinq Cachets inedits de MMecins- Oculist es 
 Remains (Paris, 1S45), and M. Duchalais, Observations sur les Cachets 
 des Midecins-Oculistes anciens, d-propos de cinq Rierres sigillaires 
 inedites (Paris, 1846). Still more recently an interesting paper on the 
 Roman medicine stamps found in Britain has been contributed to the 
 ‘Monthly Journal of Medical Science,’ by Professor Simpson, of Edin- 
 burgh, but a part only of which has, as far as I can learn, been yet printed. 
 
300 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. VIII. 
 
 supposed to have been only used by physicians who treated 
 that very numerous class of diseases, and some writers have 
 spoken of them by the name of oculists’ stamps.’^ 
 
 Any one who will turn to the index to an ordinary edition 
 of Pliny’s Natural History, will see at one glance how much 
 attention the Homans gave to diseases of the eyes, which appear 
 to have been extraordinarily prevalent, not only in Italy, but 
 throughout the western provinces. This is probably to be at^ 
 tributed to some circumstance connected with the diet or Avay 
 of living of the ancients. The Greek medical writers enumerate 
 more than two hundred diseases of the eyes, for which an im- 
 mense number of different ointments, or collyTia^ were invented. 
 The reader will remember the lines of Horace — 
 
 ‘ Hie oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus 
 Illinere.’ 
 
 These collyria were composed of a great number of ingredients, 
 and were many of them celebrated among all physicians by 
 their particular names. These were sometimes taken from 
 those of the original inventors, as the collyriiim of Dionysius, 
 and the collyrium of Sergius. A more numerous class received 
 their names from the characteristic of the mixture or from some 
 particidar ingredient. Thus we have the collyrium chlorov^ 
 named from its green colour ; the cirrhon^ from its yellow tint ; 
 the evodes {tviolec), from its pleasant smell; the anicetum 
 {avLKTiTov, invincible), because pretended to be superior to all 
 the others ; the crocodes, made of crocus or saffron ; the nar- 
 dlnuin, containing spikenard ; the diasmyrnes, containing myrrh ; 
 the dlarrJiodon, containing roses ; and so on. The example 
 given above, which was found at Kenchester, had belonged to 
 a physician named apparently Titus Vindacius Ariovistus, who, 
 to judge from his name, appears to have been of German race. 
 On the upper surface is the word senior, the first three letters 
 of which are repeated on the lower surface, and it has been sug- 
 gested that it was probably the name of a subsequent possessor. 
 The four inscriptions of the sides, which are in double Hues, 
 are — 
 
 (1) T. VINDAC. ARIO 
 VISTIANICET 
 
 * Medici ocularii and medici ophthalmict are mentioned by the Roman 
 medical writers in a manner to make us believe that this formed a special 
 branch of the practice. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. 
 
 301 
 
 (2) T. VINDACIAK 
 OVISTI . NARD 
 
 (3) . . VIXDAC . ARI 
 OVISTICHLOROX 
 
 (4) T . VINDACARIO 
 
 VISTI . , . 
 
 The name of the collyrium, indicated in the last, has been lost 
 by a fracture of the stone. The other three were the anicetim, 
 the nardmum, and the cltloron^ well known collyria, all men- 
 tioned above. Another of these stamps, found at Cirencester 
 in 1818, is now in the possession of P. B. Purnell, Esq., of 
 Stanscoinbe Park, Gloucestershire. It is an oblong piece of 
 hone-stone, or whet-slate, with two sides inscribed, which com- 
 memorate a physician named Minervalis. They are — 
 
 (1) MIXERVALISDIALEB 
 ANVMADIMPETLIPEXOV 
 
 (2) MINERVALISMELINV 
 ADOMXEMDOLOREM 
 
 The dialebanum was composed with the plant ledanum or 
 ladanum found in Crete, and it is here directed to be used with 
 egg {ex ovo) on the first attack of lippitndo — ad impetum Uppi- 
 tiidiuis. The second was a well-known collyrium, which is 
 mentioned by the old medical writers under the same name of 
 vielinum-^ but the origin of the name seems very doubtful. 
 Another medicine stamp was found at Bath in 1781. A fourth 
 was dug up at Gloucester (not, as some writers have stated by 
 mistake, at Colchester), at the beginning of the last century, and 
 was published by Chishull. It bore the name of the physician, 
 Quintus Julius Murranius, and had two inscriptions — 
 
 (1) QIYLIMVRRANIMELI 
 NVMADCLARITATEM 
 
 (2) QIVLMVRRAXISTACTV 
 MOPOBALSAMATADCAL 
 
 The first of these was another melinimi^ which was to be effica- 
 cious for producing clearness of vision — ad claritatem. The 
 second was an opobalsamic stactum, or liquid (from fTTai^o)), in- 
 tended as a remedy for dimness of sight — ad caliginem. In 
 1808, a medicine stamp of an unusual form was found at 
 Wroxeter in Shropshire ( Vriconium ) ; it was a round, instead 
 of quadrangular, stone, with the inscription on the face, as in a 
 
302 THE ROMANS. [chap. viii. 
 
 seal. It is now preserved in the Museum of IVroxeter anti- 
 
 Oculist’s Stamp, from Wroxeter (Uriconiurib), 
 
 quities in Shrewsbury, and the inscription is easily read as 
 follows — 
 
 TIBCLM 
 
 niALIEA 
 
 AD-OM 
 
 NE A AUT 
 
 O EX O 
 
 Intimating’ that it was the dtallhanum of Tiberius Claudius the 
 physician [medicus)^ for all diseases of the eyes {ad omnevitinm 
 ocnlorim), and Avas to be applied, like the dialehfxnum oi Miner- 
 valis, ex ovo, Avith egg. 
 
 It is curious that Ave have thus a series of these medicine 
 stamps belonging to the great Homan towns in the Avest, 
 Corinium, Aquae Solis, Glevum, Magna, and Uriconium. None 
 have yet been found, as far as Ave have any distinct information, 
 in the Homan toAvns of the eastern and northern parts of ihe 
 island, but there are two, or at least fragments of tAvo, preserved 
 in the British Museum, Avhich are stated to have been found in 
 this country, although the exact locality is not knoAvn. One of 
 these is a Rat quadrilateral stone, and commemorates a physician 
 named Sextus Julius Sedatus. It is inscribed only on three 
 sides ; Avhich is also the case Avith at least one of the foreign 
 examples. The inscriptions are — • 
 
 (1) SEXIVLSEDATI 
 CltOCODPACClAN 
 
 (2) SEXIYLSEDATICKO 
 COnFSDIALElIDOS 
 
 (3) . . . IYLSEUA'IICKO 
 . . . ESADDIATHES 
 
 These collyria Avere all of the class already mentioned as taking 
 
OHAP. VIII.] 
 
 MEDICINE STAMPS. 
 
 303 
 
 its name crocodes from one of its ino'redients, the erociis or saffron. 
 The first was distino-uished by the name Faccianuni, from its 
 inventor, Paecius, a celebrated ancient oculist, several of Avhose 
 medicines, as well as this identical crocodes Paccianum, are 
 mentioned by Galen. The crocodcs dlalepldos, the second on 
 our stamp, is also mentioned by the ancient medical writers, 
 and derived its name from the circumstance that it contained 
 the scales (XcTr/^ec) of burnt copper, or the black peroxide of 
 that metal. The second stamp in the British Museum, which 
 is evidently a mere fragment, bears the letters — 
 
 COLLYR-P’CLOC 
 
 Tliey are probably to be read collyrium post caUginem ociilorum, 
 a collyrium to be used after an attack of dimness of the eyes. 
 The Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, at 
 Edinburgh, contains one of the oblong medicine stamps, which 
 was found at Tranent in East Lothian, near Inveresk, the site 
 of an extensive Roman town. It had belonged to an oculist 
 named Lucius Vallatinus. The two inscriptions are — • 
 
 (1) LVALLATINIEVODESADCI 
 CATRICESETASPRITVDIN 
 
 (2) LVALLATmiAPALOCRO 
 CODESADDIATHESIS 
 
 The first was the collyrium named ewdes, and was a remedy 
 against cicatrices of the eyes and granulations of the eyelids. 
 The second was some modification of the usual character of the 
 crocodes {apalocrocodes) , which has been interpreted ‘a mild 
 crocodes,’ used as a general remedy against affections of the 
 eyes — ad diatheses.^ The person who cut the inscription has 
 made an error in the termination of tlie last word. 
 
 It has been supposed by writers on the subject of these 
 stamps, tliat the various preparations were hardened with gum 
 or some viscid substance, and kept in a solid state to be liquefied 
 with fluids when required for use; the stamps being impressed 
 just before the medicines attained the last stage of solidification 
 
 An account of this stamp was first communicated by Mr Daniel Wil- 
 son (afterwards Dr Wilson), Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of 
 Scotland, to the ‘Journal of the Archaeological Association,’ vol. v. p 
 351, where an editorial note has been added, to state that ‘ diathesis can 
 only imply a particular state of the body disposing to any disease, and not 
 inean the disease itself.’ I'his is the use of the word in modern medi- 
 cine, but the ancient physicians used it in the sense of an affection or dis- 
 ease. 
 
304 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. virr. 
 
 The Cirencester stamp is said to have been found in a Roman 
 urn, but no further particulars of the discovery have been pre- 
 served. It is a curious circumstance that Caylus (vol. vii. p. 
 261 ) has ^iven the rim of an earthen vessel marked by one of 
 these medicine stamps, which might be supposed to indicate 
 that the mark was intended to be placed on the vessel containing 
 the medicine, and not on the medicine itself. But this may 
 have arisen from some accident which we cannot now explain, 
 and the circumstances under which the stamps are generally 
 found seem to contradict such an inference. 
 
 Of Roman trades, in this island, we have fewer indications 
 even than of professions. What appears to have been the 
 workshop of an enameller, or perhaps of a fabricator of orna- 
 mental objects in metal of various kinds, has already been 
 opened in the excavations at Wroxeter on the site of Uriconium. 
 It is probable that the Roman tradesman was seldom com- 
 memorated in a sepulchral inscription. Mr Roach Smith found 
 in a very ancient rubbish pit, deep under the site of the Royal 
 Exchange, in the city of London, the refuse of the shops of 
 Roman shoemakers, weavers, and workers in other such handi- 
 crafts. I owe to the pencil of the same zealous and skilful 
 antiquary the sketch of a monument of a still more remarkable 
 character — the sign of a Roman goldsmith, found amid the 
 ruins of a town at Old Malton in Yorkshire, which probably 
 represents the Roman Derventio. It is a large stone, which has 
 
 Goldsmith’s Sign, from Old IVIalton [Derventio ? ). 
 
 apparently been let into a wall, and bears on one face, within a 
 label, an inscription which seems to commemorate the shop of 
 
CHAP, viii ] SIGN OF A GOLDSMlTirS SHOP. 
 
 
 a goldsmith named Servuliis. The inscription is as follows — 
 not veiy correct in its Latinity : — 
 
 FELICITERSIT 
 GENIO LOCI 
 SEHVULE-YTERE 
 EELIXTAEERN 
 AM AYREFI 
 CINAM 
 
 I have had occasion more than onre tr. ‘illiide to the practice of 
 the Romans ofinvocating good fortune on every occasion.^ The 
 sign of an artisan here begins with an invocation to the pre- 
 siding genius or spirit of tlie locality, — a propitiation to the 
 divinity of the spot on which he settled, that his undertakings 
 there might prosper, — and next comes the wish that the owner 
 of the shop may have good fortune in his profession. Mr Well- 
 beloved has published the fragment of the commencement of an 
 inscribed stone, found at York, and containing the words — 
 
 GENIO LOCI 
 FELICITER 
 
 which he believed to be part of a votive tablet. But on com- 
 paring it with the complete inscription found at Old Malton, I 
 am inclined to think that this also may have formed part of a 
 tradesman’s sign. 
 
 * These inYOcations were used in priYate houses, as well as in shops, and 
 are sometimes joined with the name of the possessor. Thus, a mutilated 
 Roman tesselated paYement found at Salzburg, in Germany, presented the 
 following fragment of an inscription (the name of the person is lost) : — 
 
 HIC HABITAT 
 
 NIHIL INTRET MALI 
 
 e. ( ) dwells here — may nothing evil enter. This sunports our 
 
 interpretation of the inscription on the Thruxton pavement. 
 
TJIE BOMANS. 
 
 [chap, XX. 
 
 Sou 
 
 OllArTER IX. 
 
 Ethiioiogicai Character of the llonian Population of Britpvin — Countries 
 from which it was derived — The Auxiliary Troops — Names and 
 Birthplaces of Individuals — Traces of Languages ; Inscribed Pottery ; 
 the Roundels found at Colchester — Debased Latinity — Remains of the 
 British Population. 
 
 When we contemplate these numerous towns and cities, so 
 many buildings and public works of all descriptions, manufac- 
 tures, and monuments of art and science, our inquiries naturally 
 return to the people from whom they came, and we ask who 
 were the Romans in Britain ? It is a question much more 
 complicated in its various bearings than it would appear at the 
 first thought to those who have not previously studied the 
 subject. 
 
 ^Vhen Rome first established colonies, they were composed 
 purely of Roman citizens, usually of veteiuns or soldiers, who, 
 having completed tlieir time, were no longer compelled to serve, 
 except in defending the town and territory which was given to 
 them. The land of this territory was distributed among them. 
 Siicli was the foundation of Camulodunum {Colc7ieste7'). as we 
 learn incidentally from the narrative of Tacitus. As their con- 
 u'lesis extended, tlie Roman legions, Avhich still consisted of 
 Italian soldiers, were accompanied with numerous bodies of 
 auxiliaries, or troops raised from the difierent countries which 
 liad been successively subdued. It was a policy henceforth 
 pursued with great steadiness by the Roman conquerors to 
 transplant, under the name of auxiliaries, colonies from one 
 nation to another, and they thus not only made a gradual 
 amalgamation of the difierent peoples who composed the empire, 
 but they established efiective defences without exhausting the 
 central force. ^ Gradually, however, while destroying the 
 nationalities of other peoples, Rome lost its own nationality in 
 
 * Cicero, in more passages than one, speaks of the Roman colonico as the 
 defences of the empire, propugnacula imperii. 
 
ciiAr. IX.] 
 
 TOE PEOPLE OF BPvITAIX. 
 
 307 
 
 the mass. Men from those very nations upon whom ancient 
 Rome had trampled as barbarians, were made commanders in 
 its armies, nobles in its senate, and emperors on its throne. 
 The Roman legions were now recruited indiscriminately, and we 
 shall have to point out officers of the legions in Britain, who 
 were natives of countries tar distant from Italy. 
 
 Even with our present imperfect information, we can trace 
 the parcelling out of Britain among colonies of almost every 
 people who had been subdued by the Roman arms, and it must 
 have presented a strange assemblage of races. ^ The Notitla 
 Imperiiy composed under Theodosius the younger, and therefore 
 at the close of the Roman domination in Britain, gives us a 
 rather long list of the auxiliary nations who held the towns and 
 stations along the south-eastern and eastern coasts and in the 
 north, the parts then exposed to invasion by the Saxons and 
 the Piets. Thus we learn from that valuable record, that 
 Othona (supposed to be the lost town of Ythancester, on the 
 coast of Essex), was occupied by a body of Eortensians, who 
 came from the town of Portia in Asiatic Sarmatia. Dubrae 
 (Dover) was held by Tungricanians, supposed to be only another 
 form or an error of the scribe for Tungrians. At the Portus 
 Lemanis (Lymne) there were Gauls from Tornacum (Tournaij). 
 The Abulci, a Spanish people, held Anderida (Pevensey). At 
 Regulbium (Recidver) was the first cohort of Vetasians, or 
 Betasians, from Belgic Gaul. On the coasts of Suffolk and 
 Norfolk, we find Stablesians, perhaps a tribe from Germany, 
 at Garriannonum (Burgh Castle), and Dalmatians at Brano- 
 dunum (Brancaster). There were Dalmatians, again, at Prae- 
 sidium (Broughton, in Lincolnshire) ; Crispians, from a town 
 named Crispiana in Pannonia, at Danum (Doncaster) ; a people 
 called Barcarii Tigrienses, perhaps from Africa, at Arbeia 
 (Moresby ?) ; and Nervians, from Belgium, at Dictis (Amble- 
 side ?), Returning eastward again, we find Solenses, from Cilicia, 
 at Maglone (supposed by Horsley to be Gretahridge) ; and Pa- 
 censians from Lusitania or Portugal, at Magae (Piercebridge). 
 Along the line of Hadrian’s Wall, the inhabitants of the dif- 
 ferent towns were still more varied in their races. Segednnum 
 ( TP illsend) was occupied by Lingones from Belgium ; Pons 
 Hffii (Newcastle) by a people called Cornovii ; Condercuin 
 
 * I here use the word colony, not in its Roman leg:al sense, hut to signify 
 any town or settlement formed in one country by a body of people from 
 another. 
 
308 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. IX. 
 
 (Benwell) by Asturians from Spain ; Vindobala {Ridcliester) by 
 Frixagi; Hunnum {Halton Chesters) by a tribe whose name 
 has not been preserved ; Cilurnum {Chestei's) by another body 
 of Spanish Asturians; Procolitia (CarrawhurgK) by Batavians; 
 Borcovicus {Housestead^\i^ Tungrians; Yindolana {Chesterhobyi) 
 by Gauls ; iEsica {Great Chester^ by another colony of Astu- 
 rians ; Magna by Dalmatians ; Amboglanna {Bird- 
 
 osivald) by Dacians; Petriana {Cambeck-fort) by Tungrians; 
 Aballaba {Watch-cross?^ by Moors; Congavata {Stanwicks^ 
 by Lingones ; Axelodunum {Burgh-on- the- Sands) by Spaniards ; 
 Gabrosentis {JDrumburgh) by Thracians. There were Morini 
 from Gaul at Glannibanta (a town of uncertain site) ; Nervians 
 at Alionis {Whitley Castle) and at Virosidum {Ellenborough) . 
 
 These are the different races established in Britain mentioned 
 in the Notitia, because, by their position and the circumstances 
 of the time, they were obliged to be on active duty. We must 
 not, however, imagine that they w^ere bodies of troops in tem- 
 porary quarters wdiich could be changed at pleasure, for in- 
 scriptions on altars and tombstones, found on many of these 
 sites, show us that they had remained in the same place from a 
 very early period of the Roman occupation of the island, and 
 some monumental stones are stated to have been set up by the 
 heir or heirs of the deceased {hares, haredes), which seems 
 sufficient to prove that they were possessors of the land. No 
 doubt the colonists of these towns were accompanied or fol- 
 lowed by relations and friends, and as evidently they we^'j 
 recruited from their own countries, they must have gone on 
 increasing and strengthening themselves. They were all, how- 
 ever, obedient to Roman laws and institutions, used the Latin 
 tongue, and had indeed become entirely Romanised, as w^e shall 
 see more and more fully in subsequent chapters. 
 
 Many others of the races, who thus colonised towns in 
 Britain, are now unknown, though a few from time to time 
 are recovered by the discovery of inscribed stones. In different 
 places in Cumberland there appear to have been Gauls, Dacians, 
 and Lingonians. A people called the Carvetii are found at Old 
 Penrith. Spaniards, Dalmatians, and Betasians, were established 
 at, or in the neighbourhood of, Ellenborough. At Brougham, 
 there were Germans. In Scotland, inscriptions mention the 
 Tungrians in several places ; Gauls at Cramond and at Castle- 
 hill on the Wall of Antoninus; Spaniards at Ardoch ; Thracians ; 
 Hamii from the Elbe, at Barhill fort on Antoninus’s Wall ; 
 Nervians, Germans, and Cngerni, a people of Belgic Gaul, 
 
CHAP. IX.] DIFFERENT RACES IN ROMAN BRITAIN. 309 
 
 lietween tlie Ubii and the Batavi. The Roman town at 
 Rising-hain, Habitancum, was held by the Yagiones, a people 
 from the banks of the Rhine. The Yarduli, from the foot of 
 the Pyrenees in Spain, were established at Bremenium {Ro- 
 chester), and they are mentioned also in an inscription found at 
 Epiacum {Lancliester). An inscription found at Bowes, in Tork- 
 shire, proves that that site, the Roman Lavatrse, was held by 
 Thracians. In Lancashire, Coccium {RibcJiester) was a settle- 
 ment of Sarmatians, while Mancunium {Manchester') was a 
 colony of Erisians, called, in the inscriptions, Frisingi, Frisones, 
 and Frisavi. The latter seem to have found some difficulty in 
 expressing the name of their country in the language of their 
 conquerors. If we descend towards the south, Cirencester 
 appears to have been occupied by Thracians. The rarity of in- 
 scriptions in the midland and southern towns renders it at 
 present impossible to identify the races from which they sever- 
 ally drew the nucleus of their population. 
 
 We see still more how people from all parts of the world 
 came to intermingle in our island, when we compare their 
 names as they occur in inscriptions. Thus, in one of the in- 
 scriptions found at Cirencester, Dannicus, who belonged to the 
 cavalry stationed there, was a citizen of Rauricum, in Swit- 
 zerland. Sextus Yalerius Genialis, the subject of another 
 monument at Cirencester, who belonged to the Thracian cavalry, 
 was a Erisian. Titus Domitius Heron, prefect of the second 
 cohort of Gauls at Old Penrith in Cumberland, came from 
 Nicomedia of Bithynia in Asia Minor. iEmilius Crispinus, 
 prefect of the ala Augusta at Old Carlisle, was a native of 
 Tusdrus, in Africa {natus in provincia Jfrica de Tusdro). 
 Publius jElius, also prefect of the ala Augusta at Old Carlisle, 
 was a native of Mursa, in Lower Pannonia {de Mursa ex Fan- 
 nonia wferiore). Marcus Censorius, prefect of the cohort of 
 Spaniards at Ellenborough, was of Nimes, in Gaul {ex provincia 
 Narhonensi domo Nemausensis). Lucius Duccius, an officer 
 buried at York, was of Yienna, in Gaul. Elavius Longus, a 
 tribune of the twentieth legion at Chester, was a native of 
 Samosata, in Syria, the birth-place of Lucian. An individual 
 mentioned in an inscription at Lincoln, named Nominius Sacer, 
 the son of Bruscus, was of the tribe of the Senones, in Gaul 
 {civis Senonii). Caius Yalerius, standard-bearer of the second 
 legion at Caerleon, was a native of Lugdunum, in Gaul {Lyons). 
 Julius Yitalis, fabriclensis the twentieth legion, comme- 
 morated in the celebrated inscription found near Bath, was a 
 
310 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. IX. 
 
 Helg’ian {natlone Belga). Cains Miirrius, of the second legion, 
 also Imried at Bath, was a native of Eosnin Julii in Ganl 
 {Frejus). Cains Cornelius PeregTinns, the tribune of a cohort 
 at Marvport, in Cumberland, was a native of Manritania {ex 
 provincia Mauritanm Ccesariensis dorno Se , , . , the name of 
 the town is broken off). Cornelius Victor, a soldier of the 
 Ganls of Vindolana at Chesterholm, was a citizen of Pannonijr 
 [clvls PaiDiouice). Althongh the barbarians frequently assumed 
 a Homan name, yet in the inscriptions found in Britain wc 
 often meet with names which betray their provincial origin. 
 Such are Blescins Diovicus, probably the name of a Gaul, found 
 in an inscription at Hisinghain ; Titus Oisedio, at Cambeck-fort ; 
 Menins Dada, at Carvoran ; Andagns, at Brougham; Iminius 
 Honius Tertullus, a Gaul, at Cramond, in Scotland ; Marcns 
 Decins Yoconticns, also in Scotland ; and Pabius Bera, in the 
 same country. Hermagora, commemorated in an inscription at 
 Hiechester, and a worshipper of Astarte named Pulcher, at 
 Corbridge, were no doubt Greeks. 
 
 When we contemplate the facility with which the Romans 
 moulded the nations they had conquered to their own govern- 
 ment and manners, we feel inclined to doubt the existence 
 among the ancients of those deeply implanted &entiments of 
 nationality which are observed in modern times. The moment 
 a new country was subdued, its inhabitants seem to have 
 rivalled each other in their eagerness to become Romanised, 
 and to have soon relinquished the manners, the worship, and 
 even the language, which they had received from their forefathers. 
 Yet it was hardly possible that here and there some sentiment 
 of attachment for the land of nativity and its recollections 
 should not outlive the change, some confession of the influence 
 of old superstition, some remains of reverence for the gods 
 of their ancient land, or some remembrance of friends, or 
 places, or language. We have seen how often the original 
 country of the deceased was commemorated on his tombstone. 
 lArhaps, if we examine closely the names of Romano-British 
 towns, and could compare them extensively with those of the 
 countries from which their founders came, we should find, as in 
 British America at the present day, that they also Avere more 
 or less commemorative of the land they had left.^ Instances 
 
 * It has often struck me that we ought to look for the derivation of the 
 names of the lioman towns in Britain rather from the countries from which 
 file settlers came, than from the presumed language of the original Celtic 
 population. Thus we know that Aballaba in the North was a col/ my of 
 
CHAP. IX.] DIFFERENT RACES IX ROMAN BRITAIN. 311 
 
 have also been met with among; the Eoraan remains found in 
 Britain of inscriptions rudely scratched on cups and bowls, 
 and other articles, in languages of which we are now ignorant. 
 Some of these were in the possession of Mr Roach Smith, and 
 have been pronounced by an oriental scholar, I think somewhat 
 hastily, to be Arabic. Perhaps we should look rather for the 
 language in which they are written, to Spain or Africa. I 
 believe these inscriptions have been found chiefly in London 
 and at Exeter. At Colchester, a very curious class of anti- 
 quities has been found, the use of which is not very apparent. 
 These are thin roundels of reddish earthenware, on the surface 
 of which inscriptions — usually names or numerals — and figures 
 of animals, &c., have been scratched. It has been conjectured 
 that these may have been tickets of admission to the theatre or 
 amphitheatre. One of them has a rougdily drawn Egyptian 
 cartouche, with a name in hieroglyphics, a proof that there was 
 at least one Egyptian resident at Cainulodunum. Others appear 
 to be Hebrew. 
 
 It is also to be noticed, as illustrating the variety of race 
 which here passed under the name of Romans, that the inscrip- 
 tions not unfrequently contain errors in spelling and in Latinity, 
 which seem to show that they were composed by persons whose 
 mother tongue was not Latin. In an inscription at Caerleon an 
 adjective in the feminine gender is joined with a masculine 
 name. In an inscription found in Cumberland we have doimi 
 instead of domo. We find still more frequently such errors as 
 numeni for nitmini, aginte for agente, and the like, which show 
 the Latin tongue spoken by a people whose pronunciation was 
 orga'nically different from that of the Romans. Thus we trace, 
 at this early period, one of the causes which led to the forma- 
 tion of the neo-Latin dialects of the middle ages. 
 
 Among this variety of races, we are led naturally to inquire, 
 what had become of the original Britons ? What portion of the 
 population of the island did they form ? Unfortunately we arc 
 entirely wanting in the materials for solving so interesting a 
 question. It appears that British troops served as auxiliaries 
 in the Roman army in Britain during the wars of Agricola ; 
 and we know that they afterwards served thus in various parts 
 of the Roman empire, though it seems contrary to the Roman 
 policy to have employed them thus in their native land. 
 
 Moors, and certainly the name sounds Moorish. Some of the names of 
 Rtmian towns in Britain are identical with towns on the continent, from 
 which the settlers may have been brought. 
 
312 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. rx. 
 
 Horsley gives a fragment of a votive tablet found at Castlecar\ 
 in Scotland, on which was traced the word britton ; and 
 another was found at Ebchester in Durliam, dedicated to tlie 
 goddess Minerva by Julius Gneueius, who is styled actvarivs 
 COHORTIS nil. BR, but the last letter appears to have been 
 doubtful. Inscriptions are said also to have been found in the 
 north conveying the words ciyitas domni, civitas dymnon^ 
 civiTATE CATUVELLAVNORVM, and civiTAT BRicic, signifying 
 that tlie British tribes thus indicated were employed in the 
 erection of Hadiiaii’s Wall. This would show that at that 
 period they were still allowed a certain degree of political exist- 
 ence. But this no doubt was soon taken from them, and the few 
 glimpses we have of the earlier period of their history would 
 seem to show that they were gradually reduced to the lowest 
 degree of dependence. In the towns of the legions or of the 
 auxiliaries they would not be allowed to enjoy any rights, and 
 it is probable that in the latter part of the Roman period the 
 British blood in the south was found chiefly in the peasantry. 
 The name of Britons was then applied almost exclusively to 
 the independent tribes of Caledonia. 
 
CHAP. X.J 
 
 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP, 
 
 ;n3 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Religious Worship of the Romans in Britain — Roman chief Deities : Jupi- 
 ter, Mars, Apollo, Minerva, Ceres, &c. — The eight Deities — Lesser 
 Deities ; Silvanus, JEsculapius — Grecian and Eastern Deities ; the 
 Tyrian Hercules, Mithras, Serapis — The Nymphs and Genii, Fortune, 
 and Deified Personifications — Deities of the Auxiliary Races : the 
 Dese Matres, Viteres or Vitris, Belatucadrus, Cocidius, Mogontis, &c. 
 — Did Christianity prevail or exist in Roman Britain ? 
 
 No characteristics of races are more permanent than their re- 
 ligious belief and superstitions, and we may expect in these, if 
 in anything, to perceive some traces of the original peoples who 
 formed the Roman state of Britain through the outward cover- 
 ing of Roman forms. Our expectations in this respect will not 
 be entirely disappointed, for amid the immense numbers of 
 altars found in tliis island dedicated to the gods of Rome, we 
 find some dedicated to deities whose names are new to us, and 
 Avho, there can be little doubt, belonged to the distant province 
 to which the auxiliary owed his birth. We know how tolerant 
 ill this respect tlie Roman mythology ever showed itself, and 
 tliough, as a matter of course, those who served under its 
 banners were bound to show reverence to Rome’s gods, they 
 were not restricted from offering homage to those who had been 
 worshipped by their own forefathers. 
 
 We have already stated that almost every town, or station, 
 had its temple, or more usually, its temples, dedicated to differ- 
 vnt deities. Of these, as far as discoveries have yet gone, few 
 traces now remain. The materials of which they were built 
 were too valuable in subsequent ages to remain untouched, and 
 the stones were cleared away, and their sculptures and inscrip- 
 tions defaced, by mediaeval builders. Immense quantities of 
 altars shared the same fate, and the great number of these 
 monuments which still exist, shows beyond a doubt how very 
 
314 
 
 THE ROJUAXS. 
 
 [CHAr. X. 
 
 numerous they must have been. In the wild country along 
 the line of Hadrian’s Wall, where they have escaped destruc- 
 tion in greater numbers than elsewhere, it was a practice among 
 the peasantry, even within the memory of man, to chip away 
 the sculptures and inscriptions wherever they found them, be- 
 cause they associated them in their minds with notions of magic 
 and witchcraft. The altars to the different deities — especially 
 to the lesser objects of worship — seem to have been placed 
 within the temples of the superior gods in the same manner 
 that the saints had their chapels and shrines in the Eomish 
 churches ; and they were perhaps also placed in the open air, 
 by the forum, or on the roadside, or in the cemeteries, like the 
 liomish crosses. 
 
 The Eoman altar consisted usually of a rectangular block of 
 stone, with an inscription in front. On each side were carved 
 ornaments, usually representing the instruments of sacrifice, 
 X\\^ prceferlculum, or pitcher, which contained the wine for the 
 offering ; the patera^ a dish with a handle, used for throwing a 
 portion of the wine upon the altar; the secu7is, or axe, with 
 which the animal was slain ; and the culter, or knife, used in 
 cutting it up ; with a figure of the whole or part of the victim, 
 usually the head of an ox. Sometimes other figures were in- 
 troduced, emblematical of the deity to whom the altar was dedi- 
 cated, or relating perhaps in some cases to the dedicator. The 
 back of the altar is usually rough, which shows that it was 
 intended to be placed against a wall. The upper part was the 
 most elaborately ornamented, and in the middle of the upper 
 surface a basin -shaped cavity was sunk in the stone, called the 
 focus (or hearth), which received the portion of the victim that 
 was offered up in sacrifice, and burnt in the fire kindled m the 
 focus. The inscription set forth first the deity to whom the 
 altar was dedicated, next the name and condition of the dedi- 
 cator, and often concluded with stating the cause of dedication. 
 This was usually a vow. 
 
 This description will be best understood by comparison with 
 the annexed cut, which represents a Eoman altar dedicated to 
 Jupiter, found at Tynemouth, in Northumberland, and now 
 preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of 
 London. It was dedicated by the prefect of the fourth cohort 
 of Lingones, which, we are informed by the Notitia, was 
 stationed at Segedunum, usually placed at Wallsend, of which 
 Tynemouth is, probably, the site of an advanced outpost ; or, 
 perhaps, it may have been carried from the ruins of Segedunum, 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 WORSHIP OF JUPITER. 
 
 S16 
 
 as materials for the foundations of the celebrated monastery at 
 the mouth of the Tyne. On one side, which is concealed in 
 the perspective view, but given in the side sketch, are seen tlic 
 
 Altar to Jupiter, found at Tynemouth. 
 
 prrpfaricithm, the securis, or axe, and the cutter^ or knife, witli 
 the usual ox’s head. On the other side is patera, supported 
 by two serpents, which iiad no doubt a symbolical signification. 
 The inscription commences with the ordinary initials of dedica- 
 tion to the chief deity of the mythology of Rome, i. o. M., and 
 must be read as follows : — 
 
 l[OVl] o[PTIMo] m[AXIMO] 
 
 a’el[ivs] RVF^'S 
 pr^f[ectvs] coh[ortis] 
 nil LINGO 
 NVM 
 
 To Jupiter the best and greatest, 
 
 JElius Rufus 
 
 the prefect of cohort the 
 
 fourth of the Lingo- 
 
 nes. 
 
 Numerous inscriptions to Jupiter have been found in Britain, 
 which show that all the various races brought together in this 
 island joined in worshipping the chief deity of Rome. We 
 have just seen that he was reverenced by the J^ingones at 
 Wallsend. An altar found at Birdoswald (^ Amhorjlanm), was 
 
316 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 dedicated to Jupiter by the Dacians; another, found at Cain- 
 beck-fort {Petr land), was dedicated to the same deity by tlie 
 Tungrians ; and a third, found at Maryport, by the Spaniards. 
 Other altars dedicated to Jupiter have been found at Auchin- 
 davy, in Scotland; at Old Carlisle {Olenacum) ; at Chesterholm 
 {Vindoland), dedicated by Gauls; at Housesteads {Borcovicus) , 
 by the Tungrians ; at Ellenborough {Virosidim), by Spaniards ; 
 at Plumpton Wall {uncertain^, by Gauls; at Netherby {Castra 
 exploratorum) ; at Lauercost and Bewcastle {tmcertain), all by 
 Dacians ; at Lanchester {Epiacum) ; at Chester {Deva), by the 
 twentieth legion ; at Caerleon {Isca), by the second legion ; and 
 at York by the sixth legion. Many others might be added to 
 the list. In some of these altars the deity is distinguished by 
 peculiar appellations, or is joined with others. Three altars 
 have been found in Britain dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus. 
 One of these was found in the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury in the neighbourhood of Caerleon, at a place named St 
 Julians, and was read as follows : — 
 
 To Jupiter the best and greatest, 
 the Dolichene, JEmilianus 
 Calpurnius 
 
 Rutilianus [dedicates this) by 
 the emperors’ 
 direction. 
 
 There appears to have been a peculiar aptness in the epithet as 
 used in this locality, which was on the edge of the great iron 
 district. Reinesius has printed an inscription found at Rome 
 Avhich describes this title as bearing reference to a place where 
 iron was produced : — 
 
 lOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO DOLYCHENO 
 VKI FERKVM NASCITVR C SEMPRO 
 NIVS RECTVS CENT VII ERVMENTARIVS 
 D D 
 
 ‘ The Doliche,’ Mr Roach Smith observes,'^ ‘ which gives 
 the name of Dolichenus to Jupiter, was most probably the 
 town of that name in Macedonia, a country which, Strabo 
 says, abounded in iron ; and to this Doliche, the words in the 
 last inscription, ubi ferrum nascitm\ where iron is produced, 
 seem more applicable, than to Dolichenes, a city of Commagene, 
 
 ^ In the first, number of his Collectanea, where he has published some 
 other inscriptions to Jupiter Dolichenus. 
 
 lOVI.O.M. DOLICHV 
 I. ON.“ AEMILIANVS 
 CALPVRNIYS 
 RVFILIANVS . . .EC 
 AVGVSTORYM 
 MONITY 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE ^YORSHIP OF JUPITER. 
 
 317 
 
 in Asia, whence, according to Stephaniis, this name was 
 derived.’ Two other altars dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus 
 are published by Horsley, one found in the neighbourhood of 
 Newcastle, in the midst of the coal district, where remains of 
 ancient coal-mines have been found, the other at Eisin^ham 
 {Habltancum). 
 
 Early in tlie seventeenth century, an altar was found at 
 Chester dedicated to Jupiter under the name or epithet of 
 Tanarus : — 
 
 I. O. M. TANARO 
 T. EL VP I VS GALER 
 PRAESENS GVNTIA 
 1*RI. LEG. XX VV 
 COMMODO ET 
 LATERANO 
 COS 
 
 V. S. L. M. 
 
 To Jupiter, best and greatest, Tanarus, 
 
 Titus Elupius Praesens of the tribe Galeria, 
 
 of Guntia (a town in Vindelicia), 
 
 prefect of the twentieth legion, styled valet is victr'ix, 
 
 Comniodus and 
 
 Lateranus 
 
 being consuls, 
 
 performed his vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 Tlie date of this inscription is fixed, by the names of the con- 
 suls, in the year 154. It is curious for several reasons. Tan- 
 ariis is supposed, and apparently with good reason, to be tlie 
 Teutonic Thunar, the Scandinavian Thor, whose name is pre- 
 served in our Thursday, and who is always identified with tlu‘ 
 classic Jupiter. It thus shows the influence of Teutonic feel- 
 ings in England at a very early period. 
 
 Jupiter is often combined in these inscriptions with other 
 deities or objects of worship. An altar found at Chesterholm 
 in Northumberland {Vindolana), is dedicated by Quintus 
 Petronius, prefect of the Gauls established there, Jovi optima 
 maxim 0 cater isque diis immortalibus et genio pratorii — to 
 Jupiter, best and greatest, and to the rest of the immortal 
 gods, and to the genius of the prsetorium. A centurion of the 
 second legion dedicated an altar, found at Auchindavy in 
 Scotland, to Jupiter and Vietoria vietrix — Victory the van- 
 quisher. An altar found at York bore the following inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 I. o. M. 
 
 DIS. DEABVSCiVE 
 HOSPITALIBVS . PE 
 XATIBVSQ . OBCON 
 8ERVATAM . SALVTEM 
 8VAM . SVORVMQ 
 P . AEL . MARCIAN 
 VS . PRAEF . COH 
 ARAM . SAC . F . NC . D. 
 
 To Jupiter best and greatest, 
 and to the gods and goddesses 
 who preside over the household, 
 and to the penates, for the 
 preservation of the health 
 of himself and his family, 
 
 Publius ^lius Marcianus, 
 
 prefect of a cohort, 
 
 dedicated and consecrated this altar. 
 
318 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 Even the emperor himself was thus associated with the deity. 
 At Housesteads, on the Wall of Hadrian [Borcovicus), an altar 
 has been found with the inscription — 
 
 I. o. M. 
 
 ET NVMINIBVS 
 AVG COH I TV 
 NGRORVM 
 MIL CVI PRAEE 
 ST Q VERIVS 
 SVPERSTIS 
 PRAEEECTVS 
 
 To Jupiter the best and greatest, 
 and the deities 
 of Augustus, the first cohort 
 of the Tungrians, 
 a military one, commanded 
 by Quintus Verius 
 Superstis, 
 its prefect. 
 
 ‘ The emperor himself,’ as Mr Bruce observes, ‘ is probably 
 intended by this phrase, not the gods whom the emperor wor- 
 shipped. The use of the noun in the plural number, numwa^ 
 is not opposed to this view. Horsley remarks that numlna is 
 frequently, in classical writers, applied to a particular deity ; 
 thus we have yiumina Biance in Homce, and mimina Phoebi in 
 Virgil. The emperors, we know, were frequently worshipped 
 as gods. The Mantuan bard, addressing Augustus, has no 
 doubt of his divinity, though he knows not what region to 
 assign to his especial care : — 
 
 . . . . urbesne invisere Caesar, 
 
 Terrarumque veils curam ; . . . . 
 
 An deus immensi venias marls, ac tua nautae 
 Numlna sola colant.’ 
 
 Other altars have been found in Britain dedicated to Jupiter 
 et numinibus Augusti, or Augustorum. 
 
 Perhaps, after Jupiter, the deity most extensively worshipped 
 in Eoman Britain was Mars, which is easily explained by the 
 military character of the mass of the settlers. Mars, like 
 J upiter, is often coupled with other divinities, and distinguished 
 by various epithets. At Benwell {Condercum), an altar was 
 found dedicated to Mars, the conqueror and avenger — deo 
 Marti victori vindici. An altar was dedicated by the Bfetassi 
 at Ellenborough to the military Mars, — Marti militari — which 
 we should imagine to be an unnecessary epithet. One found at 
 Lanchester {Epiacum), was dedicated Marti Angusti, to Mars 
 of Augustus. An altar found at Eibchester {Coccium\ was 
 dedicated deo Marti et Victoria dominorum Augustorum — to 
 the god Mars and Victory of the emperors. Another altar 
 found at the same place was dedicated Marti pacifero — ^to 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 MARS AXD APOLLO. 
 
 319 
 
 'Mars the pe^ice-bearer. Amon^ several altars dedicated by a 
 Homan officer named Cocceius Eirmus, and found at Anchindavy, 
 in Scotland, Avas one Avitli the following inscription : — 
 
 MARTI 
 MINERVAE 
 CAMPESTRI 
 BVS HERO . . . 
 EPONA 
 VICTORIAE 
 M COCCEI 
 FIRMVS 
 C LEG II AVG 
 
 To Mars, 
 to Minerva, 
 
 to the deities of the fields, 
 to Hero, 
 to Epona, 
 to Victory, 
 
 Marcus Cocceius 
 Firmus, 
 
 centurion of the second legion 
 called Augusta. 
 
 A singular epithet is given to Mars on an altar found at 
 Iladdon Hall, in Derbyshire, tvitli the following inscription : — 
 
 DEO 
 
 MARTI 
 
 RRACIACAE 
 
 OSITTIVS 
 
 CAECILIAN 
 
 PRAEFECT 
 
 COH I AQVITAXI 
 
 A' . S 
 
 To the god 
 
 Mars 
 
 Braciaca, 
 
 Osittius 
 
 Caecilianus, 
 
 prefect 
 
 of the first cohort of the Aquitani, 
 in performance of a vow. 
 
 Horsley supposes that Braciaca is the name of a place. Other 
 epithets, or synonyms, applied to Mars, will be mentioned further 
 on. Altars dedicated to this god have also been found at Lan- 
 chester, Castlesteads, Lancaster, and other places. 
 
 Dedications to Apollo, in his simple classical character, are 
 of rarer occurrence. One found on the line of Hadrian’s Wall 
 bears the folloAvdng inscription ; — 
 
 DEO APOL 
 INI ET O. X 
 SIXIS EXPL 
 CVI PR SVLP 
 VOTVM S 
 L. L. M. 
 
 To the god Apollo 
 and all the deities, 
 
 the left wing of exploratores (or guides), 
 under the command of Sulpicius, 
 in discharge of a vow, 
 most willingly and dutifully {dedicates 
 this). 
 
 An altar found at Ribchester {Cocclum), dedicated to this deity, 
 is more curious, though somewhat more obscure. It Avas first 
 described by Camden, and the inscription very incorrectly 
 copied, and it Avas afterwards supposed to be lost, till Dr 
 Whitaker discoA^ered it in 1815 at Salisbury Hall ; it is now 
 
THE ROMAXS. 
 
 320 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 preserved in St John’s College, Cambridge. The inscription 
 runs thus : 
 
 DEO SAN CTO 
 APOLLONI APONC 
 OB SALVTEM DN 
 AL EQ SARM 
 BREMETNN 
 SVB DIANIO 
 ANTONINO 
 C LEG VI V 
 IC DOMV 
 ELIBER 
 
 To the holy god 
 Apollo Aponus, 
 
 for the health of our lord (the emperor), 
 
 the wing of Sarmatian horse 
 
 of Bremetenracum, 
 
 under Dianius 
 
 Antoninus, 
 
 centurion of the sixth legion, called 
 the conquering, his native toAvn 
 was E liber. 
 
 The god is said to have received his appellation of Aponus 
 from the Fontes Aponi, warm springs near Padua, at a place 
 still called Poni, Avhich were celebrated for their medicinal 
 qualities. At Inveresk, in Scotland, an altar had been found 
 (ledicated to Apollo Qrannus; and at Auchindavy there Avas 
 one dedicated conjointly to Apollo and Diana. An altar and 
 tlie dedication of a temple to Diana, have been found at Caer- 
 leon {Isca). 
 
 Altars to the female deities of Rome are not numerous among 
 those hitherto found in Britain. 1 am not aAvare of any instance 
 of a dedication to Yenus, but I believe there is one to Juno. 
 Alinerva occurs on several occasions. Under the title of 
 Suliminerva she had a magnificent temple at Bath {Aquee 
 Solis), the inscription on Avhich was restored by Lysons. There 
 Avas a temple to Minerva at Ribchester (Coccium), the dedi- 
 cation of Avhich Avas commemorated in an inscription found 
 there in 1811.^ Minerva is joined Avith Neptune in the cele- 
 brated inscription relating to the dedication of a temple at 
 (Jiichester {Regnunt). A small altar found at Rochester in 
 Northumberland {Bremen hm), Avas dedicated to Alinerva in 
 the folloAving simple inscription : — 
 
 DEAE MI 
 NERVE lA'L 
 CARANTVS 
 
 S. C. 
 
 To the goddess 
 Minerva, Julius 
 Carantus 
 dedicated this. 
 
 Alinerva is joined Avith Alars in an inscription already men- 
 tioned as found at Auchindavy, in Scotland. At Kirk Haugh, 
 
 * DEAE MINERA'AE PRO SALA'TE IMP ALEXANDRI AA’G ET lA'LI MAM- 
 MEAE MATRIS DN ET CASTR SVOR ET VAL CRESCENTIS FULA'IANI LEG 
 EIVS PP PR PR T FLORID VS NATALIS LEG PRAEP N ET REGINAE TEM- 
 PLVM A SOLO EX RESPONSV RESTITVIT ET DEDICAVIT. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 INSCRIPTIOX TO CERES. 
 
 321 
 
 in Northumberland, an altar was discovered, dedicated 
 Minei'vcd et Herctdi mctori — to the goddess Minerva, and to 
 Hercules the conqueror. But perhaps the most curious in- 
 scription found in this country, is a slab discovered in 1816 at 
 Carvoran {Magna), containing an inscription relating to the 
 goddess Ceres, consisting of a sort of mystical declaration of the 
 CM*eed of a Roman tribune composed in iambic verse. The an- 
 nexed cut, taken from Mr Bruce’s work on tlie Roman Wall. 
 
 represents this slab and its inscription, which, arranged properl v 
 in lines, is as follows : — 
 
 Imminet leoni virgo caBlesti situ 
 Spicifera, justi inventrix, urbiura conditrix. 
 
 Ex quis muneribus nosse contigit deos. 
 
 Ergo eadem mater divum, pax, yirtus, Ceres ; 
 
 Dea Syria ; lanee vitam et jura pensitans. 
 
 In C8elo visum Syria sidus edidit 
 Libyae colendurn, inde cuncti didicimus ; 
 
 Ita intellexit, numine inductus tuo, 
 
 Marcus Ca3cilius Donatinus, militans 
 Tribunus in praefecto dono principis. 
 
322 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CFiAP. X. 
 
 It has been thus translated by Mr Bruce: — 
 
 The Virgin in her celestial seat overhangs the Lion, 
 
 Producer of corn, in ven tress of right, foundress of cities, 
 
 By which functions it has been our good fortune to know the deities. 
 Therefore the same Virgin is the mother of the gods, is peace, is 
 virtue, is C(^res ; 
 
 Is the Syrian Goddess, poising life and laws in a balance. 
 
 The constellation beheld in the sky hath Syria sent forth 
 To Libya to be worshipped, thencie have all of us learnt it ; 
 
 Thus hath understood, overspread by thy protecting influence, 
 
 Mnrcus Csecilius Donatinus, a warfaring 
 
 Tribune in the office 0/ prefect, by the bounty of the emperor. 
 
 ‘ Csecilius,’ as Mr Bruce observes, ‘ probably prepared this 
 exposition of his faith on being- admitted into the mysteries of 
 Ceres.’ An altar dedieated to the goddess under one of the 
 titles here mentioned — deae svriae — was found at Little 
 Chesters, in Northumberland; it was raised by an officer of one 
 of the auxiliary cohorts, named A ulus Licinius Clemens, in the 
 proprmtorship of Calpurnius Agricola, that is, between the years 
 162 and 180. 
 
 Mereury is often figured among Boman remains found in 
 this island, and an altar was found at Birrens, in Scotland, 
 dedicated to this deity by Julius Cerealis Censorinus, image- 
 maker of the college of the ligniferi, which appear to have 
 been a religious order attached to the worship of the gods, and 
 the occupation of Cerealis was to make their statues : — 
 
 DEO MERCV 
 mo IVL CRS 
 CENS SIGILL 
 COL LIGX CVLT 
 EIYS DSD 
 V. S. L. M. 
 
 To the god Mercury, 
 
 Julius Cerealis 
 Censorinus, image-maker 
 of the college of ligniferi, his worshippers, 
 gave it at his own cost, 
 
 in performance of a vow willingly and dutifully 
 
 Mercury appears to have been the favourite deity of this col- 
 lege, for they also dedicated a statue of Merenry to the god and 
 to the emperor — nmnini Augiisti deo Mercurio. 
 
 We have already seen how the principal deities were often 
 combined together, or Avith others. One of these combinations, 
 Avhich was very popular, consisted of the deities who presided 
 over the days of the week — the nlgna or planets — combined 
 Avith another to make up the number eight. They Avere Sol, or 
 Apollo, Avho presided over Sunday (die8 solis) ; the moon, or 
 Diana, for Monday ; Mars, for Tuesday ; Mercury, for Wed- 
 
CHM\ X.] GODS OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. 
 
 323 
 
 nesday ; Jupiter, for Thursday ; Venus, for Friday ; and Saturn, 
 for SatuVday. They are thus enumerated in an ‘eclogue,’ or 
 epigram, of Ausonius — 
 
 Primum supremumque diem radiatus habet Sol ; 
 
 Proxima fraternae succedit Luna coronai ; 
 
 Tertius assequitur Titania lurnina Mavors ; 
 
 Mercurius quarti sibi vindicat astra diei ; 
 
 Inlustrant quintam Jo vis aurea sidera zonam ; 
 
 Sexta salutigerum sequitur Venus alma parentem ; 
 
 Cuncta supergrediens Saturni septima lux est ; 
 
 Octavum instaurat revolubilis orbita Solem. 
 
 In most of the Eoman monuments the week commences with 
 Saturn (Saturday), and not, as in Ausonius, with Sol (Sunday). 
 A fragment of an octagonal monument in stone, sculptured 
 with the eight deities, which long lay neglected in a black- 
 smith’s shop at Chesterford, in Essex, and is now in the British 
 Museum, contains four of these figures, namely Mars, Mercury, 
 Jupiter, and Venus. It is a curious circumstance that at the 
 same station, Chesterford, portions of two of the indented 
 earthenware vessels made in the Durobrivian potteries have been 
 found, which had the eight deities figured in eight indentations. 
 In the volume of the ‘ Magna Britannia ’ of Lysons for Cum- 
 berland, are engravings of sculptures, in rather superior work- 
 manship, of deities found at Plumpton Wall, which appear also 
 to have belonged to the eight deities. They are represented in 
 tlie tesselated pavement of what has been called the Medusa 
 room, in the Eoman villa at Bramdean, in Hampshire, Mr 
 Eoach Smith possesses a very curious bronze forceps, found in 
 the bed of the Thames, the purpose of which is by no means 
 evident ; but representations of these planetary deities in busts 
 are aiTanged on the two parallel shanks. They commence at 
 the bottom of the left shank with Saturn, and conclude at the 
 bottom of the opposite side with the bust of a female divinity, 
 supposed to be Ceres, which completes the number eight. It 
 is from this number that the French still call the week 
 jom^s, and the Germans acht taye. We have ourselves pre- 
 served the reckoning of our Saxon forefathers, and instead of 
 calling the week liuit jours, and the two weeks quinze jours, 
 with the French, we call them smuight (seven nights), and 
 fortnight (fourteen nights). Mr Eoach Smith, who has given 
 some remarks on these deities in the second volume of his 
 ‘ Collectanea,’ informs us that there is, ‘ in the Museum at 
 Mayence, a votive altar, found at Caste], on the opposite side 
 
324 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 of the Rhine, which belons^s to the same class of mythic repre- 
 sentations as those on the Bramdean pavement and on the forceps. 
 This monument is about three feet and a half hig-h, and is 
 divided into two parts, the lower of which is quadrilateral ; the 
 upper, of smaller dimensions, octagonal. On the former are 
 sculptured the full-length figures of Mercury, Hercules, Minerva, 
 and Juno ; the latter contains busts of Saturn, Sol, Luna, Mars, 
 Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus ; the eighth compartment is in- 
 scribed IN HDD, in honor em domns divines. Over the left 
 shoulder of Saturn is a sickle in form of our modern bill-hook ; 
 Sol wears a radiated crown ; Luna, a crescent ; Mars is helmet- 
 ed, and carries a shield; the head of Mercury is winged; the 
 bust of Jupiter has been injured, and his emblems are not clearly 
 to be recognised ; Venus carries a mirror. Other museums in 
 Germany, I am informed, contain sculptures of the planets 
 similarly arranged. Montfaucon has published an engraving of 
 the seven busts, in a boat, or more probably a half-moon, in 
 bronze.’ In the Bramdean pavement, where they are similarly 
 represented in busts, Saturn, as the first, has been destroyed 
 with a portion of the pavement ; Sol is represented with the 
 radiated crown, and with his usual attribute, a whip ; Luna has 
 the crescent ; Mars is distinguished by his helmet and spear ; 
 Alercury has a winged cap, and the caduceus in his hand ; 
 Jupiter, a sceptre in the form of a trident; and Venus, a 
 mirror. The eighth head has been destroyed by the same 
 iVacture which has erased the figure of Saturn. This eighth 
 figure seems to have been chosen almost at pleasure. 
 
 The minor deities and heroes of Roman mythology also have 
 their place among the Roman altars found in Britain. Silvanus, 
 the god of forests and of hunting, was an object of general 
 reverence. We have already (p. 257) given an inscription 
 dedicating an altar to Silvanus, in consequence of the slaughter 
 of an enormous boar. An altar found at Birdoswald {^Amho- 
 cflamia) bears the following inscription : — 
 
 To the holy God 
 Silvanus, 
 
 The hunters of 
 
 Banna have consecrated this. 
 
 DEO SANCTO 
 SILVAXO YE 
 NATOIIES 
 BANNE SS 
 
 At Moresby, in Cumberland, an altar was found dedicated to 
 the God Silvanus (deo silvan o), by the second cohort of 
 Lingones. Another, dedicated to the same deity, was found at 
 Netherby, and another at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. An altar 
 
CHAP. X ] 
 
 THE ORIENTAL DEITIES. 
 
 325 
 
 found in the north of England was dedicated Stlmno Pantheo. 
 In Scotland, a mutilated altar dedicated to Silvanus was found 
 at Castlecary ; and one found at Eidon bore the following in- 
 scription : — 
 
 DEO SILVA 
 NO PRO SA 
 LVTE SVA ET 
 SVORVM CAR 
 RIVS DOMITI 
 ANVS 0 LEG XX 
 YV VS LL M 
 
 To the ^od Silvanus, 
 fur the health (or welfare) 
 of himself and 
 his family, 
 
 Carrius liomitianus, 
 centurion of the twentieth legion 
 the valiant and victorious, performs his 
 vow most willingly and dutifully. 
 
 Altars were dedicated to other gods for health and welfare. 
 An altar to iEsculapius found at Lanchester, in Durham, bears 
 a Greek inscription, stating that it was dedicated to the god by 
 a tribune named Titus Flavius Titianus, for the recovery of his 
 health {virep <Tu)Tr]piag). Altars dedicated to Hercules are not 
 very uncommon. They have been found on the line of Hadrian’s 
 Wall and in Scotland. An altar was dedicated by the Yangiones 
 at Habitancum {Rismglimy}) to Hercules, as the unconquered 
 god — deo inmcto HercalL Another altar found in the north 
 was dedicated to Hercules and the deity of Augustus — Kt^rcnli 
 id niimini Aug, An altar found at Polmont in Scotland, was 
 dedicated by a soldier in a troop of Timgrian cavalry to Hei-- 
 cules Magusanus, an epithet which the deity derived from 
 Alagusa, a town of Ethiopia, from whence, perhaps, the dedi- 
 cator came. At Corbridge an altar was dedicated by a Grecian 
 pi'iestess to the Tyrian Hercules, with the brief inscription : — 
 
 HPAKAEI 
 
 TIPPIQ 
 
 AIOAQPA 
 
 APXIEPEIA 
 
 To Hercules 
 the Tyrian, 
 Diodora 
 
 the high-priestess. 
 
 Several of the Syrian and Oriental deities shared with those 
 of Rome the devotion of the inhabitants of Britain. At Cor- 
 bridge ( Corstopitum), where there appears to have been a Graeco- 
 Syriac population, an altar has been found dedicated to the 
 Phoenician Astarte, the Ashtaroth of Scripture, with an inscrip- 
 tion which forms a line in Greek hexameter verse. 
 
 ACTAPTHC 
 BQMON M 
 ECOPAC 
 HOTAXEP M 
 ANE0HKEN 
 
 Of Astarte 
 the altar me 
 you see, 
 Pulcher me 
 dedicated. 
 
326 
 
 THE no MANS. 
 
 [CIIAl'. X. 
 
 Tlie curious figured plate of silver found at Corbridge in 1734, 
 and known as the Corbridge lanx, had no doubt some connection 
 with the mysterious worship which these inscriptions show to 
 have existed there under the Homans. It contained tigures of 
 Diana, Minerva, Juno, Vesta, and Apollo, with other objects, 
 the meaning of which is obscure 
 
 Another eastern superstition, the Mithraism of Persia, had 
 planted itself deeply in this island. The worship of Mithras 
 was established at Home under Trajan, and it afterwards spread 
 through the western provinces of the empire. An altar found 
 at Housesteads in Northumberland {Bo7'covicus) was erected in 
 the year 252, when Gallus and Volusianus were consuls. It 
 bears the following inscription, in which the title of Jupiter 
 (i. o. M., or Jovi ojotimo maxiino)^ is usurped : — 
 
 n. o. M. 
 
 INVICTO MIT 
 KAE SAECVLAKI 
 PVBL PKOCVLI 
 NVS 0 PRO SE 
 ET PROCVLO FIL 
 SVO V S L M 
 DD NN GALLO ET 
 TOLVSINO COS 
 
 To the god best and greatest, 
 the invincible Mith- 
 ras, lord of ages, 
 
 Publius Proculi- 
 
 nus, centurion, for himself 
 
 and his son Proculus, 
 
 performs his vow willingly and dutifully, 
 
 our lords Gallus and 
 
 Volusianus being consuls. 
 
 This altar was found in a Mithraic cave. We know that a cave, 
 or, at least, a dark and generally subterranean room repre- 
 senting a cave, was properly the scene of the worship of this 
 deity, which continued long established in the western empire. 
 We are told that as late as the year 378, Gracchus, prefect ot‘ 
 Home, destroyed the cave of Mithras in that imperial capital. 
 Porphyry tells us that Mithras was worshipped in a cave, 
 because this was the image and symbol of the world, and that 
 it was dark, because the essence of the virtues is obscure. 
 The mysticism of the Mithraic worship entered deeply into the 
 doctrines of the Neo-Platonists, to whose school Porphyry 
 belonged. ‘ The cave at Housesteads,’ says Mr Bruce, ‘ was 
 situated in the valley to the south of the station. It was dis- 
 covered in 1822 by the tenant of the farm in which it stood, 
 who fixed upon the spot as one likely to yield him the material 
 which he required for building a stone fence hard by. The 
 building was square ; its sides faced the cardinal points ; it had 
 been originally, as was u'^ually the case in a Mithraic temple, 
 permeated by a small stream. Hodgson, who saw it as soon 
 as it was laid bare, says, “ The cave itself seems to have been a 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 WOllSrilP OF MITIIRAS. 
 
 327 
 
 low contemptible hovel, dug out of a hill-side, lined with dry 
 wads, and covered with earth or straw.” Thouo’h the buildin<>- 
 has been entirely removed, a small hollow is left Avhich marks 
 tlie spot where it stood. All the sculptured stones have happily 
 ])een placed in the custody of the Society of Antiquaries of 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne.’ 
 
 The largest of these sculptures appeared to have been broken 
 to pieces, and part of it carried away ; it has been one of those 
 remarkable bas-reliefs of which so many examples have been 
 found on the sites of the Mithraic worship in the Roman pro- 
 vinces. The god was usually represented as a youth wearing 
 the Phrygian bonnet and costume, and kneeling on a prostrate 
 bull, which he is sacrificing. Among the numerous figures and 
 emblems attendant on this group, the most conspicuous are a 
 ])ersonage carrying an uplifted torch, representing the sun in 
 the vernal equinox, and another witli an extinguished and 
 reserved torch, representing the sun on its approach to the 
 winter solstice. These two figures are otherwise explained as 
 the guides and guardians of souls into and out of life ; the one 
 with the inverted torch denoting the descent of the souls to 
 earth ; the other, with the torch erect, their return to heaven. 
 One of these figures, nearly entire, was found among the frag- 
 ments in the cave at Housesteads. The remaining portions of 
 this monument had, no doubt, been carried away and broken 
 up at a remote period — perhaps for the sake of the material — 
 by the ignorant peasantry of the neighbourhood. Another 
 sculptured stone, found in the same place, represented a figure; 
 of Mithras, holding a sword in his right hand, and a rather 
 indefined spiral object in his left, in the centre of an egg-shaped 
 tablet, on which were sculptured the signs of the zodiac. 
 Other altars, besides the one of which the inscription is given 
 above, were found in this cave. One bore an equally interest- 
 ing inscription, which was easily read as follows : — 
 
 DEO 
 
 SOLI INVI 
 CTO MITR^ 
 SAECVLARI 
 LITORIVS 
 PACATIANVS 
 B F. COS. PRO 
 8E ET SVIS. V. S 
 
 L. M. 
 
 To the god 
 the sun, the in- 
 vincible Mithras, 
 the lord of ages, 
 
 Litorius 
 
 Pacatianus, 
 
 a consular beneficiary, for 
 himself and family, fulfils his vow 
 willingly and dutifully. 
 
 An inscription found at Riechester in Northumberland com- 
 
328 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 ineinorates the (iedication of a temple, deo invicio soil socio 
 sacrum, by Lucius Caecilius Optatus, a tribune of the first 
 cohort of the Varduli. Another smaller altar found in this 
 cave, from that circumstance, identifies Mithras with the sun , 
 it bears the simple inscription, — 
 
 To the Sun, 
 
 Hieronymus, 
 
 performs his vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 SOLI 
 HIEKON 
 V. L. M. 
 
 It is to be regretted that even bare walls, Avhich marked the 
 site in this island of those dark and fearful mysteries, which 
 were said to have been stained with human blood, and which are 
 represented as having been a principal cause of the murder of 
 Ihe imperial tyrant, Heliogabalus, should have been wantonly 
 destroyed. It was a national monument of no little value. 
 The important town of Borcovicus, where these remains were 
 found, was held by a cohort of Tungrians. At Chesters 
 {(Murrium), another town on the line of the wall, held by 
 Asturians from Spain, a sculptured slab of stone was found, 
 which is supposed also to refer to the worship of Mithras.^ 
 Hodgson has hazarded the following description and explanation 
 of it : — ‘The sculpture is in two compartments: that on the 
 left seems to contain a lion, statant, raising the head of a naked 
 and dead man; that on the right, a figure of Mithras seated on 
 a bench, and having a flag in one hand, a wand [or sceptre] in 
 the other, and on its head the Persian tiara (?). I would hazard 
 a conjecture that the whole relates to the Mithraic rites, called 
 Leontica ; for the lion, in the zodiac of the ancient heathens, 
 stood for Mithras, or the sun, which threw its greatest heat 
 upon the earth during its course through the constellation Leo.’ 
 
 Monuments of the Mithraic worship are said to have been 
 Ibund in Cambeck-fort in Cumberland ; and a portion of a 
 sculptured entablature of Mithras and the bull was found early 
 in the last century at Chester. But the most perfect of these 
 monuments yet seen in Britain was one found at York, and still 
 preserved in the vestibule of the museum of that city. An 
 engraving of it is given in Mr Wellbeloved’s ‘ Eburacum.’ It 
 represents Mithras stabbing the bull, with all the usual attend- 
 
 * Engravings of these altars and sculptures will be found in Bruce’s 
 ‘ Roman Wall.’ On the monuments of the worship of Mithras, see Von 
 H:immer’s ‘ Mithriaca,’ and especially the French work of M. Lajard on 
 tliis subject. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 SERAPIS ; THE NYMPHS. 
 
 329 
 
 ant figures. It is supposed that the spot where this very 
 interesting monument was discovered was the site also of a 
 Mithraic cave, where the rites of the Persian deity were per- 
 formed by the ancient citizens of Eburacum. 
 
 At York also has been found a monument commemorative 
 of one of the deities of ancient Egypt. It is a large slab, 
 with an inscription dedicating a temple to Serapis, in the fol- 
 lowing words : — 
 
 DEO . SANCTO 
 SERAPI 
 
 TEMPLVM . ASO 
 LO . FECIT 
 CL . HIERONY 
 MIANYS . LEG 
 LEG . VI . VIC 
 
 To the holy God 
 Serapis, 
 
 this temple from the 
 ground made 
 Claudius Hierony- 
 mianus, legate 
 
 of the sixth legion, called the victorious. 
 
 It is not necessary here to speak of the prominent place held 
 by the god Serapis among the objects of worship in imperial 
 Rome, and we are not surprised to find that a temple was 
 dedicated to him in almost the first city in Roman Britain. If 
 we had a few more of the altars and other religious monuments 
 which have been destroyed, or are yet buried under the sod, 
 we should, no doubt, trace his worship in other parts of Britain. 
 An altar dedicated lovi serapi (to Jupiter Serapis) has been 
 found at Appleby, in Cumberland. 
 
 There was another class of Roman deities ^vhich were, no 
 doubt, better understood by the Teutonic, and probably by tlie 
 Gallic races, because they bore a closer affinity to that popular 
 class of mythic beings which are represented by our elves and 
 fairies — the nymphs and genii. These are commemorated in 
 numerous altars found in this island. The nymphs presided 
 over groves and meadows, and especially over fountains. Close 
 by a spring of clear water overlooking the ancient station of 
 Habitaneura {Rlslngham), tvas found an altar dedicated to the 
 nymphs of the spot in the following hexameter couplet : — 
 
 Somnio prmmonitus miles hanc ponere jussit 
 
 Aram qum Fabio nupta est uymphis venerandis. 
 
 The writer was evidently more anxious to preserve the measure 
 of his verse than to make himself intelligible, and the sense 
 intended to be conveyed is far from clear Mr Bruce has 
 ottered two explanations. ‘ Taking nupta est to signify dedi- 
 cated, a peculiar use of the word, suggested perhaps by its 
 
 X 
 
330 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 etvmolog*ical relationship with the one which it g-overns, 
 7ii/uipJds, \\\Q inscription will read — “A soldier, warned in a 
 dream, directed the erection of this altar which is dedicated 
 by Fabius to the nymphs to whom worship is dne.” The other 
 method of rendering it is the following : — “ A soldier, warned 
 in a dream, directed her (earn supplied) who is married to 
 Fabiiis, to erect this altar to the nymphs to whom worship is 
 due.’’ According to either interpretation tlie altar was erected 
 to the sylphs of the fountain in consequence of a dream.’ An 
 altar found near Chester {Deva)^ to the east of the town, on a 
 spot abounding in springs, bore the inscription : — 
 
 XYMPHIS 
 
 ET 
 
 FONTIBYS 
 LEG XX 
 Y V 
 
 To the nymphs 
 and 
 
 fountains, 
 
 the twentieth legion, 
 the valiant and victorious. 
 
 It reminds us of the poet’s description of iEneas, who, wlien lie 
 had reached an unknown land, 
 
 Nymphasque et adhuc ignota precatur 
 Fluiiiina. 
 
 The nymphs and kindred deities were, in fact, regarded by th(i 
 Homans with extreme reverence, not less than that shown by 
 the Grermans to their popular deities, which has not been 
 entirely eradicated from the minds of the peasantry even at the 
 ])resent day. Another altar dedicated to the nymphs was found 
 at Nether Croy, in Scotland; and at {Findoh ala), 
 
 one was dedicated to a kindred class of deities, the gods of the 
 mountains. The gods of the fields have also their altars, and 
 in one, found at Castle Hill, on the wall of Antoninus, they are 
 identified with Britain. — 
 
 CAMPES 
 TRIBVS ET 
 BKITANNl 
 Q PISENTIVS 
 I VST VS P REF 
 COH mi GAL 
 V S LL M 
 
 To the field deities 
 and the deities 
 of Britain, 
 
 Quintus Pi sen tins 
 Justus, prefect 
 of the fourth cohort of Gauls, 
 performs his vow most willingly 
 and dutifully. 
 
 Even the roads had their deities ; an altar preserved in a muti- 
 lated state at Tretire, in Herefordshire, on the borders of the 
 great Homan iron district, was dedicated, apparently, to the 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE GENII. 
 
 331 
 
 o;o(l who presided over cross roads, deo trivii ; and a more 
 perfect altar, found at Gretabridge, in Yorkshire, liad the 
 following inscription : — 
 
 DEO QUI YIAS 
 ET SEMITAS COM 
 MENTVS EST T IR 
 DAS S C E V LL M 
 
 Q YARIVS YITA 
 LIS ET E COS ARAM 
 SACRAM RESTI 
 TYIT 
 
 APRONIANO ET BRA 
 DYA COS 
 
 To the god who ways 
 and paths has de- 
 Yised, Titus Ir- 
 
 das performed a holy vow most 
 willingly and dutifully. 
 Quintus Varius Vi ta- 
 bs, heneticiary of the consul, 
 the holy 
 altar restored, 
 
 Apronianus and Bra- 
 dua being consuls. 
 
 The altar erected by Titus Irdas having become dilapidated, 
 Quintus Yarius Yitalis appears to have caused anotlier to be 
 made in its place -; he may have been a relative of the first 
 dedicator. Apronianus and Bradua were consuls in the year 
 191. An altar has been found in the neighbourhood of 
 Hadrian’s Wall dedicated to the gods who preside over cultiva- 
 tion, dis cultoribus. 
 
 The genii were a somewhat different description of divinities, 
 having each a peculiar object entrusted to his care. We have 
 seen how, even when a man opened a shop or established a 
 trade, he began by propitiating the genius of the place on 
 which he settled. When ^neas arrived at the mouth of the 
 Tiber, he invocated genium loci. An altar found at Chester 
 was dedicated to the genius of the place for the health of the 
 two emperors (probably Diocletian and Maximian) ; and the 
 same genius occurs in more than one other instance on Roman 
 altars found in Britain. One of these, found in the camp at 
 Maryport, in Cumberland, and remarkable for its elaborate 
 ornamentation, is represented in the annexed cut. The inscrip- 
 tion must be read as follows : — 
 
 CENTO LOCI 
 EORTVNAE REDYCI 
 ROMAE AETERNAE 
 ET FATO BONO 
 G CORNELIYS 
 PEREGRINYS 
 TRIB COHOR 
 EX PROVINCIA 
 MAVR CAESA 
 DOMO SE 
 
 To the genius of the place, 
 to fortune, who had brought him back 
 to eternal Rome, 
 and to propitious fate, 
 
 Gaius Cornelius 
 Peregrinus, 
 tribune of a cohort, 
 from the province of 
 Mauritania Caesariensifv 
 native of Se . . . . 
 
132 
 
 THE ROMANS 
 
 [chap. X, 
 
 The last line of the inscription, probably containing the 
 usual formula, V s L L M {votum soLvena Ubentlasitue merito), has 
 
 vjttim(;.s' 
 
 Roman Altar found at Marj’port. 
 
 been entirely erased, and we have only two letters left of the 
 name of the town from Avbicb Peregrinus came ; perhaps it was 
 on the river Serbes.’^ ‘ Peregrinus,’ observes Mr Bruce, ‘ ad- 
 dresses first the deity of the place over which his arms had 
 triumphed; lest the local god should not smile benignantly, he 
 
 * The last remaining letters of the inseription have usually been ex- 
 plained domos e\versos\ and supposed to refer to some buildings which the 
 tribune Peregrinus had restored, but the interpretation give i above is the 
 only one authorised by a comparison of otliev similar inscriptions. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE GEXII. 
 
 3:]3 
 
 resorts to Fortune, who had conducted him safely to tlie liind 
 of his adoption. If this deity should fail him, he thinks to 
 find, a refuge in the genius of the eternal city; but, driven 
 from this resource, there is nothing for it but to trust to fate or 
 chance.’ 
 
 Besides the genii which presided over each particular locality, 
 there was a genius of each province of the empire, and a genius 
 of imperial Rome itself. At Auchindavy, in Scotland, were 
 found several altars, dedicated to different deities by a centurion 
 of the second legion, named Marcus Cocceius Firmus. On one 
 of these was the inscription : — 
 
 GEN 10 
 
 TEllRAE 
 
 BRITA 
 
 NNICAE 
 
 M COCCEI 
 
 EiRMVS 
 
 0 LEG II AVG 
 
 To the g^enius 
 of the land 
 of 
 
 Britain, 
 
 Marcus Cocceius 
 Firrnus, 
 
 centurion of the second legion, 
 the Augustan 
 
 I'he pedestal of a statue, which probably represented a figure' of 
 Britannia, was dug up at York in the middle of the last century, 
 with the inscription : — 
 
 RRITANNIAE 
 
 SANCTAE, 
 
 P . NICOMEDES 
 AVGG . N . N 
 LIBERTVS 
 
 To sacred 
 Britain, 
 
 Publius Nicomedes, 
 of our two emperors 
 the freedman. 
 
 The two emperors were no doubt Severus and Caracalla. 
 
 At Whitby Castle, in Northumberland, an altar was dedi- 
 cated by the Nervii to the genius of Rome, genio Roma. At 
 Maryport, in Cumberland, was found another inscription, 
 KOMAE AETERNAE ET FORTUNAE REBVCI. One at Riecliester 
 was dedicated, dea Roma, to the goddess Roma. A tablet was 
 found at Stanwicks, in the same county, with an inscription 
 which has been interpreted as follows : — 
 
 LEG. VI. The sixth legion, 
 
 VIC. P.F. the victorious, pious, and faithful, 
 
 G. P. R.P. to the genius of the Roman people 
 
 made (or erected) this 
 
 There were genii who presided even over palaces and pnlilic* 
 
THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [CHAT. X. 
 
 Sc 4 
 
 offices. The fine altar represented in oiir cut, was found at 
 Cliesterholm {Fbidolana) \ it is ornamented with figures of the 
 
 usual instruments of sacrifice, and with another object, which is 
 not so easily explained, and it may be observed that the foeus, 
 or hollow at the top, was reddened by the action of the sacri- 
 ficial fire. The inscription is : — 
 
 GENIO 
 PRAETOllI 
 SACKVM PI 
 TVAXIVS SE 
 
 CVNDVS PllAE 
 
 PECTVS CHO nil 
 GALLOR 
 
 To the genius 
 
 of the praetorium 
 
 sacred, Pi- 
 
 tuanius Se- 
 
 cundus prae- 
 
 fect of the fourth cohort 
 
 of Gauls. 
 
 An altar was found at Lanchester {Epiacmn), dedicated to the 
 same genius by a tribune of the Lingones : — 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE GESU. 
 
 GENio PRAETORI To tlie genius of tlie preetonum^ 
 
 CL EPAPHRODITVS Claudius Epaphroditus 
 CLAVDIAXVS Claudianus, 
 
 TiiiBVNVS CHO tribune of the second cohort 
 
 . . I LING V L P M of Lingones, placed his vow 
 willingly and dutifully. 
 
 An altar was found at Caerleon (Isca Sllurim), dedicated to 
 tlie genius of tlie second legion ; and one found in North 
 Britain was dedicated to the genius of the first wing of 
 Spaniards, ^enio aim i. Hispanorum. Thus each praBtorium, 
 or quarters, and each troop, had its presiding genius. An 
 altar recently discovered at Chester has the still more curious 
 inscription : — • 
 
 GENIO To the genius 
 
 AVERNi of Avernus, 
 
 IVL QVIN Julius Quin- 
 
 TiLiANYS tilianus. 
 
 which shows that even the presiding genius of the infernal 
 regions had his worshippers in Boinan Britain. 
 
 The numen, or divinity, of the emperors, was also an object 
 of worship, and occurs rather frequently on altars. We have 
 already referred to examples in which the imperial numiria were 
 combined with other deities. At Chester, an altar was found 
 dedicated nimiini Aiicjimti, to the deity of Augustus. The 
 dedication, numinibns Avgiisti^ is common on altars found in 
 different places in Northumberland. One found at Bisingham 
 was dedicated by the fourth cohort of Gauls, iinminibus Augm- 
 torum, which is supposed by Horsley to refer to Severus and 
 Caracalla, and by others to Caracalla and Geta. An altar, 
 found also at Bisingham, which will be given further on, is 
 dedicated, nmninl domini nostri Avgmti, to the divinity of 
 our lord the Augustus. Another, found in Cumberland, has, 
 numini Imperatoris Alexandri Angusti, to the divinity of the 
 emperor Alexander the Augustus, referring to Alexander Severus, 
 who held the empire from 222 to 235. In an inscription found 
 at Hexham, in 1726, the emperor, supposed to be Commodus, 
 is spoken of as, prmsentlssimmn niimen del. 
 
 Numerous altars have been found dedicated to Eortune, who 
 seems to have been a popular deity among the towns of Boman 
 Britain. We have one on the line of the wall of Antoninus, 
 in Scotland, dedicated conjointly by detachments of the second 
 and sixth legions. An altar, dedicated to the same goddess by 
 a centurion of the sixth legion, occurs at Chesterholm {Vhido- 
 lojia), in Northumberland. A lady, whose father belonged tc 
 
o36 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 tlie second legion, dedicated an altar to Fortune, at the head- 
 quarters of the sixth legion at Eburacnin ( Yo7*k). This monu- 
 ment, Avhich may still be seen in the York museum, has the 
 inscription : — 
 
 DEAE 
 
 FORTVNAE 
 
 SOSIA 
 
 IVNCINA 
 
 F ANTONI 
 
 ISAVRICI 
 
 LEG AVG 
 
 To the goddess 
 Fortune, 
 
 Sosia 
 
 Juncina, 
 
 daughter of Antonius 
 leauricus, 
 
 of the Augustan legion. 
 
 An altar at Netherby was dedicated by the Spaniards, decB 
 mnctfB Forturifs, to the sacred goddess Fortune. On an altar 
 at Whelp Castle, in Westmoreland, she is reverenced as For- 
 tuna servatrix. One at Manchester was dedicated, Fortuna 
 conservatrici ; and on several altars the goddess is worshipped 
 as Fortuna redux. An altar at Chester was dedicated con- 
 jointly to Fortuna redux, ^sculapius, and Salus. One found 
 at Chesterholm {Vindolana), was dedicated, fortunce popuU 
 Ro^nani, to the fortune of the Roman people. But the most 
 interesting of all the inscriptions to this goddess is one found 
 at Bowes in Yorkshire {Lavatrre), which was raised by the 
 celebrated pro-praetor, or governor of Britain, Yirius Lupus : — 
 
 DEAE FORTVNAE 
 VIRIVS LVPVS 
 LEG AVG PR PR 
 BALINEVM VI 
 IGNIS EXVST 
 VM COH I THR 
 ACVM REST 
 ITVIT CVRAN 
 TE VAL FRON 
 TONE PRAEF 
 EQ ALAE VETTO 
 
 To the goddess Fortune, 
 
 Virius Lupus, 
 
 legate of Augustus, proprietor, 
 
 the bath, by force 
 
 of fire burnt, 
 
 of the first cohort of the 
 
 Thracians, restored, 
 
 under the care 
 
 of Valerius Fronto, 
 
 praBfect 
 
 of the wing of horse of V ettones . 
 
 Victory was no less favourite a deity with the Romans in 
 Britain than Fortune. A large sculptured figure of this goddess 
 has been found at Housesteads in Northumberland {Boixovicus) . 
 An altar at Rough Castle in Scotland was dedicated to Victory 
 by the Nervii. Another, at Ribchester in Lancashire ( Coccium), 
 was dedicated to Mars and Victory. A sculptured figure of 
 Victory at Cambeck-fort in Cumberland bore the inscription 
 VICTORIAS AVG, to victory of Augustus ; and the same words 
 occur in the dedicatory inscription of an altar found at Hex- 
 ham. At Benwell {Conderciim), an inscribed slab, probably 
 
PHAP. X.] 
 
 MORAL DEDICATIONS. 
 
 belong^mg to a temple, was found with the following dedicatory 
 inscription, in a label supported on each side by a winged 
 tig lire : — 
 
 VICTOKIAE 
 . . . GG NN FE 
 N S SENECIO 
 N COS FELIX 
 ALAE I ASTO 
 . . . M PRAE 
 
 To Victory 
 
 of our two August! (this) made 
 the nephew of Socius Senecio 
 the consul, Felix, 
 of the first wing of the Asturians 
 praefect. 
 
 At Castlesteads, in Cumberland, w^as found an altar dedicated 
 DisciPVLiNAE AVG, to the discipline of the Augustus. This is 
 an inscription which is found on several of the Roman imperial 
 coins. Virtues or moral principles were deified in the same 
 manner. We have seen before (p. 233) the god Bonus Eventus 
 commemorated in the tesselated pavement of a Roman villa ; 
 at Binchester in Durham a mutilated altar was found with an 
 imperfect inscription, to Mars and Bonus Eventus, by a tribune 
 of the first cohort of Cartovians (?) : — 
 
 TRIB COHOR I 
 CARTOV .... 
 MARTI VICTORI 
 GEXIO LOCI 
 ET EOXO 
 EVENT VI 
 
 tribune of the first cohort 
 
 of Cartov 
 
 to Mars the victor, 
 
 to the genius of the place, 
 
 and to good 
 
 event. 
 
 An altar at Caerleon was dedicated to Fortune and Bonus 
 Eventus. An inscription was found at Elsdon in Northum- 
 berland, near the Watling Street, which Horsley reads as 
 follows : — 
 
 BONO GENERIS 
 HVMAN IMPE 
 RANTE CALPVR 
 NIO AGRICOLA 
 AVG PR PR POSVIT 
 AC DEDICAVIT 
 C A ACILIVS 
 
 To the good of the 
 human race, 
 by order of Calpur- 
 nius Agricola, 
 
 the propraetor of Augustus (this) placed 
 and dedicated. 
 
 Cams Aulus Acilius. 
 
 Calpurnius Agricola was proprietor of Britain under Antoninus , 
 and the inscription was probably the dedication of the temple, 
 but I am not aware of any other instance in which the good of 
 the human race was deified. Not less singular is an inscribed 
 altar found at Risingham {Habitancum) to a goddess who is 
 supposed to be the personification of the tertian ague : — 
 
THE RO:\rAXS. 
 
 [CHAl. X. 
 
 3^3 
 
 To tlie goddess 
 Tertian 
 sacred, ^lius 
 Timothea placed it, 
 performing a vow most 
 
 willingly and dutifally. 
 
 At Carvoran a small altar was found, dedicated deae 
 EPONAE — to the goddess Epoiia, who presided over imdes and 
 stables; the favourite deity of the gay iockey in Juvenal 
 {Sat. viii. 155), — 
 
 Interea dum lanatas torvumque juvencnm 
 More Numae cmdit Jovis ante altaria, jurat 
 Solam Eponam et facies olida ad praesepia pictas. 
 
 Some of the dedicators, not content with invoking one deity, 
 endeavoured to include them all under one invocation. Thus 
 a prmfect of the Dalmatian coliort at Ellenhorough, dedicated 
 an altar collectively to the gods and goddesses, dlls deahiisque. 
 Another altar found at Chesters {Cllarnnm) ^ was dedicated to 
 Apollo ‘ and all the deities,’ deo Jpolllni et oimdbns 7iuml- 
 vlbu.H. There has been found also in the neighbourhood ot 
 Hadrian’s wall an altar inscribed, deabus omnibus, to all the 
 goddesses. 
 
 We now come to a class of divinities which have a peculiar 
 interest in connection with the early history of onr island, the 
 deities of the auxiliary races who formed so important an 
 element of its population. Among these we must place, first, 
 a class of deities commonly known by the title of the dere 
 mat res. Altars and inscriptions to these deities are very ninnei- 
 ous in Belgic Gaul and Germany, and more especially along 
 the banks of the Rhine, where they are often called matronre 
 instead of matres, and they seem to have belonged to the 
 Teutonic race. Not more than one altar to these deities has, I 
 believe, been found in Italy, and we do not trace them in the 
 classic writers. When the dece matres are figured on the altars 
 or other monuments, they are always represented as three 
 lemales, seated, with baskets or bowls of fruit on their knees, 
 which were probably emblematical of the plenty which they 
 were believed to distribute to mankind. In the accompanying 
 representation of the upper part of an altar preserved in the 
 innsenm at Cologne, the group of the three goddesses has 
 suffered less injury than is usually the case with such inonn- 
 inents. 
 
 We are fortunately enabled in this instance to identify the 
 
 DEAE TEll 
 TIAXAE SA 
 CKVM AEL 
 TIMOTHEA P 
 / S LL M 
 
CHAT. X.] 
 
 THE DE.E MATKES. 
 
 339 
 
 people to wlioin these deities heloii^’ed, for it is an iiiterestinii^ 
 fact that the reverence for the three goddesses who presided 
 over the woods and fields, pre-arranged the fates of individuals, 
 
 The Deae Matres, from the altar at Cologne. 
 
 and dispensed the blessings of Providence to ipankind, may be 
 traced down to a comparatively late period both in Germany 
 and England. Among the slight and contemptuous notices of 
 Germanic paganism by the Christian writers of the earlier ages 
 after the conversion of the Teutonic tribes, we find allusions to 
 the conjoined images of three deities, but not sufficiently 
 explicit to allow us to identify them completely with those 
 which remain on the Eoman altars. When, in the sixth 
 century, Columbanus and St Gall arrived at Bregenz {Brigan- 
 tiiim), in Switzerland, they found that the people there paid 
 adoration to three images placed together against the wall of 
 their temple.'^ Probably this was a monument of the dece 
 matres in their original country. But it is among the popular 
 
 * Ties ergo imarjines sereas et deanratas superstitiosa gentilitas ibi 
 colebat. — Anon. YU. iS. Gal . — Kepercrunt autem in templo tres imagines 
 a^reas deaurafas parieli alBxas, quas populus .... adorabat. — Waiafrid 
 Strabo., Vit. S. Gal. 
 
ZAO 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X 
 
 superstitions that we shall find the most distinct allusion to the 
 three personages, who are looked upon often as three wood- 
 nymphs, and who are characterized by the same appellations, of 
 domina^ matronce, dames, bonnes dames, &c., which we find on 
 the Roman monuments.^ 
 
 They are sometimes regarded as the three Fates — the No7id 
 of the north, tlie wcelcyrian of the Anglo-Saxons (the weird 
 sisters, transformed in Shakf^speare into three witches), disposing 
 of the fates of individuals, and dealing out life and death. But 
 they are also found distributing rewards and punishments, 
 giving wealth and prosperity, and conferring fruitfulness. They 
 are the three fairies, who are often introduced in the fairy 
 legends of a later period, with these same characteristics. In a 
 story of the Italian Pentamerone, tre fate (three fairies) are 
 described as residing at the bottom of a rocky dell, and as con- 
 ferring gifts upon children who went down into it. In the 
 collection of superstitions condemned by Burchard, bishop of 
 Worms, who died in 1024, we are told that the German women 
 of his time had the custom, at certain times of the year, of 
 spreading tables in their houses with meat and drink, and 
 laying three knives, that if the three sisters should come (whom 
 Burchard interprets as being equivalent to the Roman Parcae), 
 they might partake of their hospitality. f These were the later 
 fairy Avomen who visited people’s houses by night, and whose 
 benevolence was thus conciliated. In the older legends, the 
 fairies are most commonly three in number. Iti later German 
 tales, we have sometimes three females occupied in spinning, 
 described as hateful old women ; sometimes they are old women, 
 but not engaged in this occupation ; in another story, they are 
 two young women sitting spinning, and a third, the Avicked one, 
 bound beloAV. In one instance, on a Roman altar, the middle 
 figure seems to be bound. Instances of most of these Avill be 
 found in the Kinder -Mar chen, and in the Beidsche Sagen, of the 
 Grimms. It may be observed that the Norni and the Avselcyrian 
 Avere represented sitting and spinning. When Fridlaf Avent to 
 
 * It was a feeling of dread in the popular superstition of the middle 
 ages not to call such beings by their particular names ; and the same senti- 
 ment exists still in Ireland, and even in some remote parts of England, 
 where the peasantry dare not call the elves and fairies by any other name 
 than the respectful title of the good people^ the ladies, &c. 
 
 t Fecisti ut quaedam mulieres in quibusdain temporibus anni facere 
 solent, ut in domo sua mensam praeparares et tuos cibos et potum cum 
 tribus cultellis supra mensam poneres, ut si venissent tres ilhe soron s qnas 
 antiqua posteritas et anliqua stultitia Parcas nominavit, ibi reficerentur. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE FATES AND NYMPHS. 
 
 341 
 
 consult the oracle of the fates, he saw, within tlie temple, three 
 seats, occupied by three nymphs,^ eacli of whom conferred a o-ift 
 upon Ids sou Olaf, two of them giving good gifts and the tliird 
 an evil one. 
 
 At tlie beginning of the eighth century, according to a pious 
 legend, a Worcestershire swine-herd, forcing his way througli the 
 dense thickets of the forests whicli then covered that part of the 
 island, in search of a stray swine, came suddenly to a fair open 
 lawn, in the midst of which he saw three beautiful maidens, clad 
 in heavenly garments, and singing sweetly, one being superior 
 to the others ; (we have here the distinction constantly observed 
 in the traditionary legends between two of the goddesses and 
 the third ;) he told his story to the bishop, Egwin, who accom- 
 panied him to the spot, and was also favoured with the vision. 
 Egwin decided at once that it was the Yirgin Mary, accompanied 
 by two angels ; and he built on the spot a monastery, which 
 w as afterw^ards famous by the name of Evesham. f The vision is 
 represented on the old abbey seal. In all probability the site 
 of Evesham had been a spot dedicated by the unconverted 
 Saxons to the w^orship of the three goddesses, and Egwdn had 
 seized the popular legend to consecrate it for a Christian estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 A Latin poet of Winchester, the monk Wolstan, who lived in 
 the middle of the tenth century, has left us a singular story 
 relating to the three nymphs w ho presided over that district, and 
 wdiom, differing in this from Egwin, but agreeing wdth the gen- 
 erality of ecclesiastical wu’iters when they handled the popular 
 superstitions, he has blackened both in person and character. A 
 citizen of VVinchester one day went out to visit his farm, and 
 returning somewhat late towards his home, near the little stream 
 which passes by the city, he was stopped by two dark women 
 in a state of nudity — 
 
 * Mos erat antiquis super futuris liberorum eventibus Parcaruui oracula 
 consultare. Quo ritu Fridlevus Olavi filii fortunam oxploraturus, iiuiicu- 
 patis solenniter votis, deorum aedes precabundus accedit, ubi introspeoto 
 sacello ternas sedes totidem nymphis occupari eognoscit. Quaruiii prima 
 indulgentioris animi liberaleiii puero forinani, uberemque humani favoris 
 copiain erogabat. Eidein secunda beneficii loco liberalitatis excellentiain 
 condonavit. Tertia vero protervioris ingenii invidentiorisque studii foernina 
 sororuni indulgentiorem aspernata c(»nsensuin, ideoque earuin donis ofticere 
 cupiens, futuris pueri inoribus parsinionia? crimen affixit . — Saxo Gram- 
 maticus, lib. vi. p. 102. 
 
 t MS. Cotton, Nero E. I. fol. 2G, v'’, where the story is told by bishop 
 Egwin himself. 
 
342 
 
 THE ROMAiS^S. 
 
 [CHAP. X. 
 
 Nam i^rope prsefatum solus dum pergeret amnom, 
 
 Hand procul aspiciens furias videt ecce geniellas 
 Ante suam faciem, nullo velamioe tectas, 
 
 Sed piceas totas obsceno et corpore nudas, 
 
 Crinibus horrendas furvis et vultibus atras, 
 
 Armatas gelido serpentinoque veneno. 
 
 Quae super extremam praedicti fluminis undam 
 Ceu geminae externis furium sedere sorores. 
 
 Quae mox ut coram sese properantor euntem 
 Conspexere virum, surgunt, et cominus illi 
 Occurrunt, et eum pariter hac voce salutant : 
 
 ‘Frater amande, veni ; nostras adtende loquelas ; 
 
 Hue celer appropia, volumus quia pauca loquendo 
 Verba referre tibi : tu stans ea protinus audi.’ 
 
 Wolstani Mirac. S. (Swithwii^ MS. Reg. 
 
 15 C. vii. fol. 74, v°. 
 
 The man, instead of paying due respect to the ladies by 
 listening to them, ran away in a fright, and they pursued him, 
 threatening vengeance for the disregard which he had shown to 
 their commands — 
 
 Cur, insane, fugis ? quo, jam rnoriture, recurris ? 
 
 Non nos incolumis, miser, evasisse valebis, 
 
 Sed nobis spretis liorrenda pericla subibis. 
 
 He now gave himself up for lost, and his terror was increased 
 when a third female, who had lain concealed on the hill, stopped 
 his way. — It is not improbable that these nymphs haunted 
 the deserted fortress of the pagans of old, and the barrow - 
 covered downs which still overlook this ancient city, from which 
 their worship had then been banished by the influence of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Tertia progreditur veniens a vertice collis^ 
 
 Terribiiis vultu proceraque corpore vasto, 
 
 Usa tamen niveo pictoque decenter amictu, 
 
 Dissimilisque habitu vultuque prioribus extans. 
 
 Hsec etenini latuit post collem fraude reperta. 
 
 Propter iter per quod cupiit transire viator 
 Quatinus hunc caperet, furvis si intactus abiret. 
 
 Ill her angry mood, the third nymph struck the inoliedient 
 mortal senseless to the ground, and then they di.sappeared in 
 the waters of the river — 
 
 Nec mora, cum furiis linquens abscessit in amnis 
 Gurgite, prsecipiti saliens ac pra3pete saltu. 
 
 The man gradually recovered his senses, but he found himselr 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE DEtE MATRES. 
 
 343 
 
 a cripple, and with dithculty crawled to the eastern gate of the 
 city, which was not far distant. 
 
 Another Anglo-Latin poet, but who lived in the latter half 
 of the twelfth century, Nigellus Wireker, has preserved in his 
 Speculum StuUorum, a tale which furnishes a still more remark- 
 able illustration of the character of the three goddesses when 
 they had become mere personages of mediaeval popular fable. 
 Nigellus still compares them with the Latin FarccB, The three 
 sisters, he says, went out into tlie world to relieve men from 
 their troubles and misfortunes — 
 
 Ibant tres hominum curas relevare soroves^ 
 
 Quas fatales dicirnus esse deas. 
 
 Unus erat cultus tribus his eadeiuque voluntas, 
 
 Naturae vitiis ferre salutis opem ; 
 
 Et quod avara minus dederat, vel prodiga multum, 
 
 . His emendandis plurima cura fuit. 
 
 As they went along, they found, under a shady bank, a 
 beautiful maiden, of a noble family, and rich in the goods of 
 the world, yet, in spite of all these advantages, she was weeping 
 and lamenting. Two of the sisters proposed to relieve her of 
 her grief, but the third opposed their desires, and gave them a 
 short lecture on the ill uses some people make of prosperity. 
 
 ‘ Venimus, utnostis, nos tres invisere munduni, 
 Ut ferremus opem, sed quibus esset opus. 
 Non opus est isti, quia quam natura beavit 
 In quantum potuit, et quibus ausa fuit, 
 
 Cui genus et speciem formae tribuit specialem, 
 Debet id et nobis et satis esse sibi. 
 
 Forsitan auxilium si preestaremus eideni. 
 Posset de facili deteriora pati.' 
 
 They left the weeping damsel, and proceeded to a shady wood, 
 where lay another maiden on a couch : she, like the former, was 
 beautiful and intellectual, and, as it appears, like her, also rich ; 
 but she was lame of her lower extremities, and, unable to walk, 
 slie had been brought thither to enjoy the green shade. She 
 courteously addressed the three nymphs, and showed them the 
 way to the most beautiful part of the wood, where a pleasant 
 fountain gave rise to a clear stream. The two sisters now pro- 
 posed to relieve the damsel of her infirmity, but the third again 
 
 * The extracts from this pocn., tui^en fnMii an old printed eaitiOn, are 
 compared with a copy in MS. Hurl., No. 2422. 
 
344 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAl*. X. 
 
 interposed, on tlie ground that the lady enjoyed advantages 
 sufficient to overbalance this one inconvenience under which she 
 iaboured, and which were granted to few of those who are made 
 perfect in their limbs. The nymphs again passed on, and, 
 towards evening, were proceeding towards a town, where, not far 
 outside the gates, they saw a rustic girl, who, unacquainted with 
 the delicacies of more cultivated life, performed an act in public 
 which shocked the two nymphs who had shown so much com- 
 passion on the former occasions. The third nympli drew the 
 others back. 
 
 Erubuere duae, visum vultumque tegentes, 
 
 Vestibus objectis, arripuere fugam. 
 
 Tertia subsistens, revocansque duas fugientes, 
 
 ‘Ut quid,’ ait, ‘ fugitis siste, quaeso, graJum.’ 
 
 She shows them that they have here really an occasion of 
 ])ettering the condition of one who enjoyed none of the advan- 
 tages of fortune, and they determine to give her all sorts of 
 riches, and to make her the lady of the town. 
 
 ‘ Quodque nequit fieri, naturam degenerare 
 Nolumus, injustas non decet esse deas. 
 
 Res et opes adjici possunt, extraque liniri 
 Naturae salva proprietate sua. 
 
 Nos igitur quihus est super his collata potestas^ 
 
 Denius abundanti munera magna manu, 
 
 Divitias et opes, census, fundos, et honores, 
 
 Praedia, montana, pascua, prata, greges ; * 
 
 ITrbis et istius dominam statuanius eandem, 
 
 Ut nihil in nostro niunere desit ei.’ 
 
 It may be observed that, from the Poenitentiale of Baldwin 
 bishop of Exeter, the contemporary of Nigellus Wireker, who 
 composed this work for the use of his own diocese, it would 
 appear then to have been the common practice in England, 
 to lay the table with three knives (at night, of course) to con- 
 ciliate these three personages, that they might confer good gifts 
 on children born in the house.* 
 
 In a fabliau of the thirteenth century, of so indelicate a 
 character that we cannot even mention its title, the three god- 
 desses appear in the character of three beautiful fairies bathing 
 
 * Qui mensam praBparavit, cum tribus cultellis in famulatum per- 
 sonaruni, ut ibi nascentibus bona praedestinent. — Liber Pccniient. Baidw 
 Jsmui Episc. MS. Cotton. Faustina A. viii. fid. 3^, r°. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE DE^ MATRES. 
 
 345 
 
 in a fountain, and are still endowed with the same quality of 
 conferring benefits. There was a beautiful shady fountain in 
 the midst of a fair meadow. 
 
 En la fontaine se baig-noient 
 Trois puceles preuz et senees, 
 
 Qui de biaute sembloient fees ; 
 
 Lor robes a tout lor chemises 
 Orent desor uu arbre mises. 
 
 A knight passing that way, very ungallantly seizes upon their 
 dresses ; but softened by their urgent entreaties, he restores 
 them. In return for this courtesy, each of them confer a gift 
 upon him : the gift of the first was that he should be received 
 into favour wherever he went ; that of the second was, that he 
 should abvays be successful in his suits to the ladies; and tlie 
 third, who here again appears as giving something totally con- 
 trary in character to that of her two companions, conferred a 
 gift which cannot easily be named. In a manuscript in the 
 British Museum (MS. Harl. No. 2253), there is a different 
 version of this fabliau, which seems to be the one current in 
 England at the beginning of the fourteenth century ; in it the 
 scene of the nymphs bathing is thus described : — 
 
 Ce fust en este quant la flour 
 Yerdist e dount bon odour, 
 
 E les oylsels sunt chauntanz, 
 
 E demenent solas graunz. 
 
 Come il ererent en une pleyne, 
 
 Qe ert delees une fonteyne, 
 
 Si virent un petit russhel, 
 
 Auke petit, nies molt bele ; 
 
 Yleque virent treis damoiseles^ 
 
 Sages, cortoises, e tresbeles, 
 
 Qu’en la russhele se bagnerent, 
 
 Se desdurent e solacerent. 
 
 Roman monuments commemorative of tlie decs matres are by 
 no means uncommon in Britain. The lower portion, much 
 damaged, of a large sculpture of the dese matres was found in 
 digging to the Roman level in Hart-street, in the City of 
 London, and a good and correct engraving of it is given in Mr 
 Roach Smith’s ‘ ('ollectanea Antiqua.’ It is now in the Guild- 
 hall. Monuments of the three goddesses have been met with 
 at Ancaster and at Lincoln. An altar dedicated to them has 
 been found at York ; and more northwardly, especially in the 
 ’'Vail districts, where the Teutonic race predominated, they are 
 
 Y 
 
346 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 vt!ry common. At Bincliester, in Durham {Vinovlum) , an altar 
 was found dedicated deab matkib q l o, which has been inter- 
 preted deabus matrihm quce locum occupant^ to the dese matres 
 who occupy the place. This was in accordance with the popular 
 belief of the Germans, that every place had its presiding; 
 
 Altar found at Risingham {IlahitancwYi'), 
 
 mothers. An altar found at Eisingham, and represented in 
 the annexed cut, is dedicated to the transmarine mothers, by 
 one who preferred the presiding deities of his native land : — 
 
 MATHIBV To the mothers 
 
 s TRAMA transmarine, 
 
 RiNis IVL Julius Victor 
 
 VICTOR . V . s . L . M performs a vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 The cone, which is introduced on this altar, is generally con- 
 sidered to have been an aphrodisiac emblem, and the ornaments 
 round it seem to indicate rather a late date — they resemble 
 those on some of the late Eoraan pottery. 
 
 An altar found at Brougham, in Westmoreland, was dedicated 
 to the transmarine mothers by a vexillation of Germans, which 
 is a further indication of the country to which these deities 
 belong : — 
 
 DEABVS MATRIBVS To the goddess mothers 
 
 TRAMAR VEX GERMA transmarine, the vexillation of 
 
 XORVM PRO SALVTE Germans, for the safety 
 
 UP V s L M of the state, perform a vow willingly 
 
 and dutifully. 
 
CIIA?. X.J 
 
 THE DE.E MATRES. 
 
 347 
 
 A broken tablet found near Old Penrith, in Cumberland, was 
 inscribed by a vexillation, of which the name of the country is 
 lost, to the transmarine mothers, in conjunction with the em- 
 peror, Alexander Severus, and his mother, Mammaea : — 
 
 DEABYS MATRIBV8 TRAMARINIS 
 ET N IMP ALEXANDRI AVG ET IVL MAM 
 MEAE MATR AYG N ET CASTRORYM TO 
 TI . . . . DOMVI DIYINAE AE 
 .... RATIO .... 
 
 An altar found at York, witli a somewhat difficult inscription, 
 has been interpreted as dedicated, matribiis Jfricis, Italicls, 
 GalUcis, to the mothers of Africa, Italy, and Gaul ; but this 
 interpretation is rather doubtful. Anotlier inscription found in 
 England goes still further; it is a dedication, 'inatribiis oinninm. 
 (jentium, to the mothers of all nations. An altar found at 
 Stanwicks, in Cumberland, was dedicated to the domestic 
 mothers, matribus domesticis. Another, found at Cramond, in 
 Scotland, was dedicated by the first cohort of Tungrians to the 
 mothers of Alaterva and of the fields, matribus Alatervls et 
 matribus campestribus, A slab found at Benwell {Condercum) 
 commemorates the erection of a temple to the mothers of the 
 fields — matribus campestribus — by the prefect of the first wing of 
 Asturians from Spain. Curiously enough, an altar found at the 
 same place, and which had, perhaps, been placed in the temple, 
 was dedicated to the three deities under the title of lamire, 
 denoting their noxious qualities, lamiis trie vs. Other altars, 
 dedicated diis Matribus, have been found at Pibchester, South 
 Shields, &c. ; and one at Binchester, with the inscription 
 MATRiBVS SACRVM. Broken sculptures of the dem matres have 
 been found at Netherby, and at other places in the north. 
 
 Mr lloach Smith has given examples from Germany, of 
 dedications matronis Afiiabus (the one engraved in our cut 
 on p. 339), Malilhieliis, Hamavehis, RumancJiabus, matribus 
 Treveris, and a great many others, wdiich are evidently named 
 from places ; and he remarks that ‘ it will be observed, that 
 while in Germany the adjective always represents the locality, 
 in those found in England it is merely a general epithet, as 
 though the divinities addressed were those of straugc'rs to the 
 country.’ 
 
 The worship of the German or other colonists, as far as it 
 was derived from their native countries, seems to have been 
 
348 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 o-enerally directed to those popular deities wliieli were not known 
 to them by distinctive names. Tlie names of the gods appear 
 to have been regarded as too sacred to be entrusted to every 
 tongue. Hence, in almost all cases where we can trace the 
 origin of the names of such deities on altars in Eoman Britain, 
 they are found to be derived from the names of places, from 
 whence probably the dedicators derived their origin. There are, 
 however, one or two exceptions of names of foreign deities, 
 which, from their frequent recurrence, must have belonged to a 
 national mythology. Thus, in the north of England, several 
 altars have been found dedicated to a god whose name appears 
 to have been Veteres, Yetires, or Yetiris. At Netherby, in 
 Cumberland, which appears to have been occupied by Dacians, 
 two altars have been found, one dedicated deo vetiri sancto, 
 the other deo mogonti vitires. At Lanchester, in the county 
 of Durham, a small altar bore the simple inscription deo vit. 
 Another found at Ebchester, in the same county, on one side of 
 which was the figure of a boar, and on the other that of a toad, 
 had the following insci*iption ; — 
 
 To the g-od 
 Yitires 
 Maximus 
 performs a vow. 
 
 DEO 
 
 VITIRI 
 
 MAXIMV 
 
 S V s 
 
 Two altars of the same deity had been found at Benwell 
 [Condercuni)^ in both of which he is distinguished by the 
 
 Roman Altar found at Benwell {Cmdercmi), 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 THE GOD VITIRES. 
 
 349 
 
 epithet sanctus, or holy ; on the first, which is represented in 
 the accompanying- cut, the inscription is merely deo vetri 
 SANCT, to the holy god Yetris. This altar has the usual figures 
 of the implements of sacrifice. The other has the figure of a 
 hog, with the inscription vitirb v s, which is either vitirbiis, or 
 vitirb votim soloit. The station at Eenwell was occupied by 
 Asturians. An altar at Thirlvvall Castle, also on Hadrian's 
 wall, was dedicated deo sancto veteri. Three altars to this 
 god have been found at Carvoran {Magna)^ which was occupied 
 by Dalmatians. The inscription on one was : — 
 
 DEO To the god 
 
 viTiRi Vitires 
 
 MEXi Menius 
 
 DADA Dada 
 
 V s L M iulfilled a vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 A second had an inscription, of which the commencement was 
 DEO VITIRINE . . . , the two last letters of which may be the 
 commencement of another word, though, I think, there has also 
 been found an altar dedicated deo veterino. The third of the 
 Carvoran altars bore the inscription : — 
 
 DIRUS 
 VITIRIBVS 
 DECCIVS 
 V . S . L . M 
 
 To the rustic gods 
 Vitires, 
 
 Deccius 
 
 performs a vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 I translate it according to a suggestion which has been made 
 that the first line should be read, dlis rasticis. On some other 
 altars the name is in the plural, veteribus^ and veteriibus. As 
 the altars were dedicated apparently by people of widely differ- 
 ent countries, they give us no assistance in appropriating this 
 deity. The word has been supposed to be identical with 
 Yithris, one of the names of the northern Odin, the Woden of 
 the Germans. 
 
 Another deity, whose altars are found chiefly in Cumberland, 
 where they are numerous, was named Belatucadrus ; by which 
 name, without any epithet, a small altar found at Ellenborough 
 was dedicated by Julius Civilis. Several other altars dedicated 
 to this deity have been found at Netherby, Castlesteads, 
 Burgh-on-the-Sands, Bankshead, and other places. In some 
 instances, as in an altar found at Drumburgh, the deity is 
 addressed by the epithet, deo sancto belatvcadro. In some 
 altars he is identified with Mars, as on one found at Plumpton 
 
350 
 
 tup: ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 Wall, dedicated deo maeti belatvcadei et nvminib augg. 
 Several attempts have been made to derive the name from 
 Hebrew, Welsh, or Irish, and it has been hastily taken for 
 o-ranted that this god was identical with the Plioeiiician Baal. 
 Altars to Belatiicadrus have been found at Kirby Thore, at 
 Whelpcastle, and at Brougham, in Westmoreland. The one at 
 Brougham was dedicated by a man named Andagus, whieh 
 sounds like a Teutonic name. 
 
 In Cumberland also are found rather frequently altars dedi- 
 cated to a god named Cocideus or Cocidius. Tour were found 
 at Bankshead and Howgill. One at Netherby — dedicated deo 
 SANCTO cociDio — gives him the same epithet which has been 
 before applied to Vetires and Belatueadrus. He is also identi- 
 fied with Mars in an inscription at Lancaster, deo sancto 
 MARTI COCIDIO, as well as in another found at Old Wall, in 
 Cumberland. The latter was dedicated by a soldier of the first 
 cohort of Dacians. Of the two found at Bankshead, one was 
 dedicated by a soldier of the second legion, the other by one of 
 the sixth. An altar was found at Bew castle dedicated sancto 
 cociDEO TAVRVNC. It is probable that somewhere in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Bankshead or Howgill there has been a temple 
 dedicated to this god, important enough to give its name to a 
 small town. The anonymous geographer of Bavenna mentions 
 a town in this part of the country which in the ordinary 
 printed text is called Banoeedi, but one of the manuscripts 
 gives Fanococidi, which is no doubt the correct reading. The 
 place was called Barium Cocidi, from the temple of the deity. 
 An altar to Cocidius at Netherby was dedicated by a tribune of 
 the first cohort of Nervians. 
 
 Another deity, whose altars are found chiefly in Cumberland, 
 is called, in the dative case, Mogonti ; perhaps the nominative 
 was Mogontis. An altar at Netherby, mentioned above, seems 
 to identify him with Vetires. The inscription at Old Penrith, 
 DEO MOGTi, is perhaps only an abbreviation of the name. The 
 name deo movnti, found on an altar at Plumpton Wall, is pro- 
 bably only another form. At Eisingham, in Northumberland 
 {llabitancum), an altar was found with the inscription; — 
 
 MOGONT CAD 
 ET . N . D . N . AVG 
 M . G . SECVNDINVS 
 EF . COS . HAEITA 
 NCI PRIMA STA 
 PRO SE ET SVIS POS 
 
 To Mongontis Cad . . . 
 
 and the deity of our lord the Augustus, 
 
 Marcus Gaius Secundinus, 
 
 a beneficiary of the consul, at 
 
 the first station of Habitancum, 
 
 ])laced it for himself and his family. 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 GODS OF THE AUXILI.ARTES. 
 
 351 
 
 Another altar in the same place was dedicated deo movxo cai>. 
 Horsley supposes that Cad refers to the Caledonian tribe of the 
 (jadeni, which I think is at least very doubtful. It appears 
 that a cohort of Vangiones from Belgic Gaul was established 
 here. 
 
 A considerable number of names of gods are found on]> 
 once, and were, there can be little doubt, taken from the names 
 of places. Thus an altar discovered recently at York was 
 (h'dicated to a god named Arciaconus, probably from the town 
 of Arciaca, in Gaul : ^ — 
 
 DEO 
 
 ARCIACON 
 ET N . AVG SI 
 MAT VITALIS 
 OKD V . S. M 
 
 To the god 
 Arciaconus, 
 
 and to the divinity of the Augustus, 
 
 Simatius Vitalis 
 
 .... performs a vow dutifully. 
 
 A goddess Ancasta is mentioned on an altar found at Bittern, 
 in Hampshire, {Clausentum) : — 
 
 DEAE 
 ANCA 
 STAE G 
 EMINV 
 S MANTI 
 V S L M 
 
 To the goddess 
 Ancas- 
 ta, 
 
 Geminus 
 
 Mantius 
 
 performs a vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 AtBirrens, in Scotland, is a dedication to a goddess Brigan- 
 tia, with a winged figure of the deity, holding a spear in her 
 right hand, and a globe in the left. It was supposed that this 
 was the deity of the country of the Brigantes, but I am not 
 aware that this country was ever called Brigantia, and it is not 
 probable that the conqueror would worship the deity of a van- 
 quished tribe. I feel more inclined to suppose the name was 
 taken from Brigantium, in Switzerland, a town which occupied 
 the site of the modern Bregentz. An altar found at Chester 
 was dedicated deae nvmphae brig, which in this case would 
 be ‘ to the nymph goddess of Brigantium.’ 
 
 An altar dedicated deo ceaiio, to a deity named Ceajius, 
 was found at Drumburgh, in Cumberland. One found at 
 
 * It has been remarked that in other provinces of the empire we find 
 deities characterised by similar appellations. Thus we have among the 
 inscribed altars found in the country on the Rhine, one dedicated ‘ Deae 
 Bibracte,’ a name perhaps taken from the town of Bibracte, in Roman 
 Britain. 
 
3o2 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 Gretabridge, in Yorkshire, was dedicated deae j^ymphae 
 ELAVNAE, to the nvmpli goddess of Elaiina. An altar found at 
 Plumpton Wall, in Cumberland, gave us the name of a god 
 called Gadunus. One found at Thirlwall, on the wall of 
 Hadrian, was dedicated to a dea Hammia, who is supposed by 
 Hodgson to have been named from Hamah, on tlie Orontes. 
 Perhaps, however, this goddess may have been named from the 
 Hamii, a tribe from the banks of the Elbe, who are found 
 stationed in this part of Britain. A goddess named Harimella 
 — DEAE HARIMELLAE — is mentioned in an inscription found at 
 Birrens, in Scotland. An inscription, deo hercvlenti, occurs 
 at Ribchester; and one to a goddess called Jalona is said to 
 have been found at the same place. An altar at Armthwaite, 
 in Cumberland, presented the following inscription to a god 
 Maponus, dedicated by Germans : — 
 
 DEO 
 
 MAPOXO 
 ET N AVG 
 
 Dvmo 
 ET RAMI 
 ET TRYPO 
 ET LVRIO 
 GERMA 
 NI V S L M 
 
 To the god 
 Maponus, 
 
 and to the divinity of the Augustus, 
 
 Durio 
 
 and Rami 
 
 and Trupo 
 
 and Lurio, 
 
 Germans, 
 
 performed a vow willingly and dutifully. 
 
 Another altar inscribed to this deity was found at Hexham. 
 An altar found at Elsdon, in Northumberland, is dedicated to 
 a god Matunus — deo matvno. A goddess named on an altar 
 found at Birrens, in Scotland, dea Ricagm . . . , is shown by the 
 inscription to have belonged to the Beda pagus, in Germany. 
 Mr Roach Smith, who first pointed out this fact, has also 
 suggested that a title given to Neptune in an inscription on an 
 altar found in the north of England, Neptuno Sarado sino, may 
 be explained as referring to the Saravus, now the Sarr, a 
 tributary of the Moselle, commemorated in the lines of 
 Ausonius : — 
 
 Tuque per obliqui fauces vexate Saravi, 
 
 Qua bis terua fremunt scopulosis ostia pilis. 
 
 A dea Setlocenia is mentioned in an altar found at Ellenborough, 
 in Cumberland. At llkey, in Yorkshire {Olicana)^ was found 
 ail altar dedicated to Verbeia — verbeiae sacrvm. Lastly, a 
 
CHAP. X.] 
 
 GODS OF THE AUXILIAKIES. 
 
 3,i3 
 
 o-o(ldess called Viradestlii appears on the altar at Birrens, dedi- 
 cated l)y a Tungrian soldier : — 
 
 DEAE TIRADES 
 THI PAGVS COX 
 DVSTRIS MILI 
 IX COH II. TUX 
 GR SVB SIVO 
 AVSPICE PR 
 AEPE 
 
 To the p^oddess Viradesthi 
 Pafrus Condustris, 
 a soldier in 
 
 the second cohort of Tungrians, 
 under Sivus 
 Auspex, 
 the praefect. 
 
 Such is a general view of the character of the religious monu- 
 ments of the Eoman period found in Britain. It cannot but 
 excite our astonishment that among such an immense number 
 of altars and inscriptions of temples, and with so many hun- 
 dreds of Eoman sepulchres and graves as have been opened in 
 this country, we find not a single trace of the religion of the 
 Gospel. We must bear in mind, moreover, that a large pro- 
 portion of these monuments belonged to a late period of the 
 Eoman occupation ; in many of the inscriptions relating to 
 temples, the building is said to have been rebuilt, after having 
 fallen into ruin through its antiquity — vetustate collapsum ; and 
 the examination of more than one of the more magnificent 
 villas has proved that they were erected on the site of an older 
 villa, which had probably been taken down for the same reason. 
 We seem driven by these circumstances to the unavoidable 
 conclusion that Christianity was not established in Eoman 
 Britain, although it is a conclusion totally at variance with the 
 preconceived notions into which we have been led by the eccle- 
 siastical historians. 
 
 The accounts of the supposed establishment of Christianity 
 in our island at this early period may be divided into three 
 classes. Pirst, we have a few allusions to Britain in the earlier 
 (diristian writers, which must evidently be taken as little better 
 than flourishes of rhetoric. Britain was the western extremity 
 of the known world, and when the z?alous preacher ivished to 
 impress on his hearers or readers the widely extended success 
 of the gospel, he would tell them that it extended from India 
 to Britain, without considering much whether he was literally 
 correct in saying that there were Christians in either of these 
 two extremes. We must probably consider in this light certain 
 passages in Tertullian, Origen, Jerome, and others. In the 
 second class we must place the statements of certain ecclesiastical 
 writers who lived at no great length of time after the Roman 
 period. In the year 814, the emperor Constantine called the 
 
3o4 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X. 
 
 first ecclesiastical council, at Arles, to settle a dispiite among- 
 the African bishops ; a list of the clergy who attended has been 
 preserved, and is printed in the Collections of Councils, but I 
 am not aware that it reposes upon any good authority ; in it 
 ai-e said to have come from Britain, Eborius, bishop of Ebura- 
 ciiin (York) ; Restitutus, bishop of London ; Adelfius, bishop of 
 Colonia LoncUnensiimi ; Sacerdos the priest ; and Arminius the 
 deacon. I confess that the list looks to me extremely suspi- 
 cious, much like the invention of a later period. In the year 
 360, under the emperor Constantins, a council was called at 
 Ariminum {Rimini), in Italy, on account of the Arian contro- 
 versy, and it is said to have been attended by four hundred 
 bishops. The prelates assembled on this occasion were to be 
 supported at the public expense, but we are told by the eccle- 
 siastical historian, Sulpicius Severus, who wrote about forty 
 years afterwards, ‘ that this seemed unbecoming to the bishops 
 of Aquitaine, Gaul, and Britain, and they chose rather to live 
 at their own charge, than at the public expense. Three only 
 from Britain, on account of their poverty, made use of the 
 public provision ; for, though the other bishops offered to make 
 a subscription for them, they thought it more becoming to be 
 indebted to the public purse, than to be a burthen upon indi- 
 viduals.’ If this account be true, and three bishops really 
 went from Britain, they were perhaps only missionaries, whose 
 converts were too few and too poor to be able to support 
 them.* 
 
 A third class of authorities is much less valuable, and far 
 more extravagant. When the popes began to claim a sovereign 
 ])ower, they were anxious to make it appear that the whole of 
 the western empire had been converted at an early period, and 
 had been dependent on the Roman see. Eor this purpose, 
 legendary stories were invented which will not bear criticism. 
 Such were the stories of Joseph of Arimathea and St Paul, 
 who were each said to have planted Christianity in Britain not 
 long after the death of Christ. It need hardly be stated that 
 there is no authority for either of these legends. According to 
 a legend existing in the time of Bede, Lucius, king of the 
 Britons, in the year 156, wrote to the pope Eleutherius, 
 
 * It seems to me that the three names of British bishops pretended to 
 have been at the council of Arles, had been made to answer to the three 
 bishops mentioned by Sulpicius Severus. I think it has not been yet sati.s- 
 faotorily ascertained when the name Rritanni was first appli^ to the 
 people of the country now called Bretagne. 
 
CHAP. X.] CHRISTIANITY. 3o.5 
 
 ‘ beseeching* him to issue a mandate that he miglit be made a 
 Christian ; and afterwards he obtained the object of his pious 
 petition, and the Britons preserved immaculate and sound, in 
 peace and tranquillity, the faith which they had received, until 
 the reign of the emperor Diocletian.’ There are anachronisms 
 in this story which have furnished matter for much discussion ; 
 but the whole is quite as inconsistent with history, and with 
 what we know of the state of the island, as with chronology. 
 Tlie story of king Lucius can be regarded as nothing more than 
 a Romish fable. The pretended persecution in Britain under 
 Diocjetian is a kind of sequel to the history of king Lucius. 
 A persecution of the Christians is not likely to have taken place 
 under the orders of the tolerant Constantins, who was governor 
 of Britain when the persecution of Diocletian commenced, and 
 who became emperor two years later, and in another year left 
 his title to his son Constantine. The outline of the legend of 
 St Alban was probably an invention of the sixth century, at 
 the latter end of which his name is mentioned by the poet 
 Fortunatus, who enumerates him among the blessed martyrs, — 
 
 Albanum egregium foecunda Britannia profert. 
 
 In the ‘Biographia Britannica Literaria’ (Anglo-Saxon period), 
 I have pointed out, I think, substantial reasons for doubting 
 the authenticity of the work attributed to Gildas, on which 
 chiefly our notions of the establishment of Christianity in 
 Roman Britain are founded ; and the more I examine this book, 
 the more I am convinced of the correctness of the views I there 
 stated. If the authority of such writers be worth anything, 
 we must take it for granted that at least after the age of Con- 
 stantine, Roman Britain was a Christian country ; that it was 
 filled with churches, clergy, and bishops, and, in fact, that 
 paganism had been abolished throughout the land. We should 
 imagine that the invaders, under whom the Roman power fell, 
 found nothing but Christian altars to overthrow, and temples of 
 Christ to demolish. It is hardly necessary to point out how 
 utterly at variance such a statement is with the result of anti- 
 quarian researches. I have stated that not a trace of Chris- 
 tianity is found among the innumerable religious and sepulchral 
 monuments of the Roman period found in Britain.* One 
 
 * In considering questions of this kind we should avoid, as much as 
 possible, conjectures and suppositions, and accept nothing but absolute 
 tacts. AVriters have at times taken for granted that certain modes of 
 interments, or forms of ornament, indicated the sepulchres of followers of 
 
I'llE KOMANS. 
 
 [CHAl’. X 
 
 bob 
 
 solitary memorial of the religion of Christ has, however, been 
 found, and that under very remarkable circumstances. On the 
 principal tesselated pavement in the Eoman villa at Erampton 
 in Dorsetshire, the Christian monogram (the x and p) is found 
 in the midst of figures and emblems, all of which are purely 
 Pagan. Lysons, who published an engraving of this pavement, 
 attempted to explain this singular anomaly, by supposing that 
 the monogram of Christ had been added at a later period by a 
 Christian, who had become possessed of the old Pagan house. 
 But there seems to have been nc* appearance in the work of the 
 pavement that it had been a subsequent insertion, and it must 
 be agreed that a Christian of this period was not likely to be 
 so tolerant of heathenism, as to place a Christian emblem 
 among pictures and even inscriptions relating to that profane 
 mythology on which he was taught to look with horror, and 
 wliich he could not for a moment understand. I am inclined 
 to think it more probable that the beautiful Eoman villa at 
 Prampton had belonged to some wealthy proprietor who pos- 
 sessed a taste for literature and philosophy, and with a tolerant 
 spirit which led him to seek to surround himself with the me- 
 morials of all systems, he had adopted among the rest that 
 which he might learn from some of the imperial coins to be the 
 emblem of Christ. Jesus, in his eyes, might stand on the same 
 footing as Socrates or Pythagoras. 
 
 We can understand, without difficulty, when we consider 
 that this distant province was, from its insular position, far 
 more independent of the central influence of the empire than 
 other parts, why the new faith was slow in penetrating to it, 
 and was not readily adopted. No doubt, among the recruits 
 who were sent to the Eoman troops, and the strangers who 
 visited the island as merchants, or settlers, there must have 
 been individuals avIio had embraced the truths of the Gospel. 
 But we must bear in mind also, that the population of Britain, 
 during the later period of the Eoman power, seems to have 
 been recruited more and more from the Pagan tribes of Ger- 
 many and the North. 
 
 the gospel. Thus some have supposed that burial of the body without 
 cremation was an evidence of Christianity, which certainly is not the case. 
 Others have insisted that the presence of a wreath, or palm-branch, among 
 the ornaments of sepulchral inscription, is a proof that it stood over the 
 body of a Christian. Before, however, we can take this for granted, we 
 must be satisfied that such an ornament could not be employed on a Pagan 
 monument. 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 MODES OF SEPULTUllE. 
 
 367 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Modes of Sepulture in Roman Britain — Cremation and Urn-Burial — Modes 
 of Interment — Burial of the Body entire — Sarcophagi — Coffins of 
 Baked Clay, Lead, and Wood — Barrows — Sepulchral Chambers — 
 Inscriptions, and their Sentiments — Various Articles deposited with 
 the Dead — Fulgor Divom. 
 
 The burial customs of a people are closely allied to its 
 religious belief; but the settlers in Roman Britain appear to 
 liave adopted exclusively the Roman forms of sepulture. We 
 leiirn from the ancient writers that it was the earlier practiee of 
 the Romans to bury the body of their dead entire, and that it 
 was not till the time of the dictator Sylla that the custom of 
 burning the dead was established. From this time either usage 
 continued to be adopted, at the will of the individual, or of the 
 family of the deceased ; but in the second century of the 
 Christian era the older practiee is said to have become again 
 more fashionable than that of cremation, and from this time it 
 gradually superseded it. We find that both modes of burial 
 were used indiscriminately in Roman Britain, and it is probable 
 that the different peoples who composed the Roman population 
 adopted that practice which was most agreeable to their own 
 prejudices. The practice of burning the dead and burying the 
 ashes in urns seems, however, to have predominated. 
 
 The earliest code of the Roman laws, that of the Twelve 
 Tables, prohibited the burial or burning of the dead within the 
 city, and it was only in rare instances that this prohibition was 
 evaded or transgressed. The same law was acted upon in the 
 towns of the provinces. A sepulchral interment, consisting of 
 a skeleton laid in a tomb of Roman tiles, was found a few 
 years ago in Green Street, in the very heart of the city of 
 London ; it formed an exception to the general rule in Roman 
 Britain, where, as in Italy, the cemetery was always placed 
 
358 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 outside tlie town, usually by the side of the roads which led 
 from the principal gates. In the country we generally find the 
 burial-places in the immediate neighbourhood of the villa or 
 of the hamlet. 
 
 When a Roman had breathed his last, his body was laid out 
 and washed, and a small coin was placed in his mouth, which 
 it was supposed he would require to pay his passage in Charon’s 
 boat. If the corpse was to be burnt, it was carried on the day 
 of the funeral in solemn procession to the funeral pile, which 
 was raised in a place set apart for the purpose, called the 
 ustrbium. The pile, called 7'ogus, or pyra^ was built of the 
 most inflammable wood, differing in size according to the rank 
 or wealth of the individual ; and when the body had been 
 placed upon it, the whole was ignited by the relations of the 
 deceased. Perfumes and spirituous liquids were often poured 
 over it ; and objects of different kinds, which had belonged to 
 the individual when alive, were thrown into the flames. When 
 the whole was consumed, and the fire extinguished, wine was 
 scattered over the ashes, after which the nearest relatives 
 gathered what remained of the bones and the cinders of the 
 dead, and placed them in an urn, in which they were committed 
 to the grave. The site of the mtrinwm has been traced, or 
 supposed to be traced, in the neighbourhood of several towns in 
 Roman Britain. A Roman cemetery, found at Litlington, 
 near Royston, is described in the twenty-sixth volume of the 
 ‘ Archaeologia ; ’ it formed a square of nearly four hundred 
 feet, and the wall or boundary was distinctly traced. At two 
 of the corners, where there was no trace of interments, the 
 original level of the ground was covered with a great quantity 
 of ashes, which, no doubt, in each place, marked the site of 
 the ustrinum, or place set apart for burning the dead. I believe 
 the site of the mtrlnum has also been discovered outside the 
 walls of the Roman town of Isurium, at Aldborough, in York- 
 shire. We are told by Herodian that, on the death of Severus 
 at Eburacum, his sons caused his body to be burnt, and placed 
 the ashes with aromatics in an urn of alabaster, which they 
 carried with them to Rome. Persons of rank were burnt with 
 greater ceremonies than were observed on ordinary occasions, 
 and on a spot chosen for the purpose {bustum) instead of the 
 ordinary mtrimun. A large barrow, about twenty feet high, 
 and about two hundred feet in circumference, stands on the 
 side of a hill in the parish of Snodland in Kent. In 1811, a 
 trench was cut through the middle of the mound, and it was 
 
CHAP. XI. J 
 
 CIXERARY URXS. 
 
 359 
 
 discovered that it stood on a level and smooth floor cut in the 
 bide of the hill, and covered with a thin layer of wood-ashes. 
 
 All doubt that these were 
 tlie remains of an immense 
 funeral pile were set at rest 
 by the circumstance, that 
 numbers of very long- nails 
 were scattered about among- 
 the ashes. As far as the 
 excavations were carried, 
 there were no traces of a 
 sepulchral deposit; so that, 
 perhaps, this was the scene 
 of the last ceremonial of 
 a Roman of distinguished 
 family, whose ashes had been 
 gathered into an urn and 
 carried to Italy, to be depo- 
 sited in the tomb of his kin- 
 dred, while the mound was 
 raised as a memorial over 
 the spot where he had been 
 burnt. 
 
 The cinerary urns found in the cemeteries in Britain arc; 
 generally plain, large (often holding as much as two gallons), of a 
 hard dark-coloured pottery, and of the form represented in the 
 two large vessels in the back-ground of the cut on the next page. 
 The other figures in the same cut are some of the varieties of 
 urns which have been found containing bones and ashes. The 
 cut here given in the margin represents a singularly formed 
 sepulchral urn, witli a leaden case in which it was closed ; it 
 was found in the cemetery of Uriconium (JVi'oxeter'). and is now 
 preserved in the Museum at Shrewsbury. In some instances, 
 where the regidar sepulchral urn perhaps could not be obtained, 
 vessels which were made for domestic purposes have been used 
 as sepulchral urns. Sometimes the ashes are deposited in glass 
 jars, which are usually of the forms represented in the first two 
 figures of our group on p. 283. Among the ashes we often find 
 the coin, the ottering to Charon ; and sometimes fragments of 
 different articles which have been burnt with the body. One 
 of the small unguent bottles, usually but erroneously called 
 lachrymatories, is often found within the urn. 
 
 Sometimes the cinerary urn, with its contents, was placed 
 
 Spputohral Urn and Leaden Case from 
 W roxeter. 
 
360 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 merely in a hole in the ground, and covered with a tile or flat 
 stone. We cannot tell in such cases what sort of memorial, 
 
 anv. was placed above-ground, as everything of this kind 
 has been long cleared away. Perhaps each was covered with 
 a small mound of earth. But when we open a regular Roman 
 cemetery, we usually find the cinerary urn surrounded by a 
 group of vessels of difterent descriptions, which perhaps held 
 wine, aromatics, and other such articles. Among these are 
 often elegant cups and paterae of the red Samian ware. In the 
 cemetery of the Kentish Durobrivae {Rochester), the groups 
 consisted generally of three or four vessels ; at Litlington they 
 varied in number from three to five. They have been found 
 similarly grouped in other places. In many cases traces of the 
 decayed material seem to prove that each group of urns had 
 been enclosed in a chest of wood, but they were usually 
 covered above with a large tile or flat stone. The chest, or 
 grave, was itself often formed of tiles or stones, instead of 
 wood ; a tile was laid flat for the floor, one long tile formed 
 each side of the chest, and a shorter one the end, and another 
 large tile formed the cover. Such sepulchral chests are fre- 
 quently found on the site of the Roman cemeteries at Colchester. 
 In one, opened a few years ago, which was fifteen inches long 
 
1 
 
 2 
 
 Pvoman Tombs. 
 
CHAP. XI.] FORxMS OF ROMAN SEPULCHRES. 
 
 381 
 
 and twelve wide, an urn was found in the middle, lying on its 
 side, containing bones, and beside it were three small vessels, 
 which had probably been used for ointments, balsams, and other 
 funeral offerings. Another similar chest of tiles, in the same 
 locality, contained two earthenware ampulla, or bottles, an ui'ii 
 with burnt bones, and a lamp ; the space between the vessels 
 Avas filled with a sandy earth. The largest group of sepidchral 
 vessels found in this cemetery consisted of fifteen, comprising 
 two large and two small earthen bottles, six paterae, three small 
 urn-shaped pots, a terra cotta lamp, a lachrymatory, and the 
 fragments of a large urn, no doubt the one which had contained 
 the bones or ashes. A group of twelve vessels comprised an 
 urn with calcined bones, one large ampulla and three small ones, 
 two paterae of Samian ware, an earthen lamp, three small urn- 
 shaped pots, and a bottle of blue glass Avith a long straight 
 handle. We are told that, from the scorched appearance of 
 some of the vessels, it appeared that both of these last-mentioned 
 deposits had been placed on the live embers of the tire of the 
 funeral piles of the persons at Avhose obsequies they had been 
 used. The practice of enclosing or covering the sepulchral 
 deposits Avith tiles appears to have been so general, that the 
 Avord tegula, a tile, Avas often used to signify a tomb. The reader 
 Aviil at once call to mind the lines of Ovid : — 
 
 Est honor et turnnlis ; animas placate paternas, 
 
 Parvaque in extinctas munera ferte pyras. 
 
 Parva petunt manes ; pietas pro divite grata est 
 Munere ; non avidos Styx liabet ima deos. 
 
 Tegiila projectis satis est velata coronis, 
 
 Et sparste fruges, paroaque mica salis. 
 
 Tt appears from these lines that it Avas the custom for the 
 relatives to place on the tile, Avhich covered the sepulchral 
 deposit, garlands, fruits, and salt. 
 
 iVt York, graves have been found made of tiles, in a very 
 peculiar arrangement, which is represented in the upper figure 
 ill the accompanying plate, taken from one Avhich is still pre- 
 served in its original form in the museum of that city. It Avas 
 found in the February of 1833, at the distance of about a mile 
 from York, on the north -Avest side of the Roman road from 
 York {Eburacmn) to Tadcaster {Calcaria), It Avas formed of 
 ten roof-tiles, each one foot seven inches long, one foot three 
 inches and a half broad, and an inch and a quarter in thickness. 
 Four of these tiles Avere placed on each side, and one at each 
 end. Avith a roAV of ridge-tiles on the top. Each tile bore the 
 
 z 
 
64 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. XI. 
 
 impress, leg vr vi (lefjlo sexta victrix, the s’.xtli legion vic- 
 torious). No urn or vessel of any kind was found under these 
 tiles ; but there was a layer of the remains of a funeral pile, 
 consisting of charcoal and bones, about six inches thick, mixed 
 with iron nails. Such was not the case with another similar 
 tomb, dug up at a short distance without the city walls, in 
 1768. It Avas formed in the same manner, of three tiles on 
 each side, covered where they joined each other by ridge-tiles, 
 and Avitli ridge-tiles on the top. Within had been deposited 
 several urns, containing ashes and earth, standing on a flat- 
 tiled pavement. One of them was nearly entire, but the others 
 Avere more or less broken. A coin of Vespasian and another of 
 Domitian Avere picked up near the tomb. On each tile Avas the 
 inscription leg ix hisp {ler/io nona Hlspanica, the ninth legion, 
 the Spanish). Tombs exaetly similar to these ha\^e been found 
 it Strasbourg on the Rhine {ArgentoratuiTi), erected over 
 soldiers of the eighth legion, Avhich was stationed there. One 
 of them is represented in an engraving in the tenth volume of 
 the ‘ Histoire de TAcademie des Inscriptions.’ Each tile in 
 the Strasbourg tomb AA^as stamped Avith the Avords leg viii avg 
 [legio octaxa Augusta, the eighth legion, the Augustan). 
 
 Sepulchral chests made of stone are much more rare in 
 Roman burial-places than those formed of tiles. One of the 
 most remarkable Avas that found at iVvisford in Sussex, in 1817, 
 Avhich is represented in the middle figure (No. 2) in our plate. 
 Avisford is in the immediate neighbourliood of the Roman 
 road leading from Regnum to the station called in the Itinerary, 
 Ad Decimum. It appears to haA^e been a chest formed out of a 
 solid stone, and covered Avith a flat slab or lid. ^n the middle 
 Avas a large square vase of fine green glass, like those already 
 alluded to, containing calcined bones. Around it Avere arranged 
 on the floor of the chest, three elegantly-shaped earthen vases 
 Avith handles, several paterae, a pair of sandals studded Avith 
 numerous little hexagonal brass nails fancifully arranged, three 
 lamps placed on supporting projections of the stone, an oval 
 dish and handle escalloped round the edge, containing a trans- 
 parent agate of the form and size of a pigeon’s egg, and a 
 small double-handled glass bottle placed in one of the paterae. 
 Lamps are frequently found in Roman sepulchres, and popular 
 superstition has given rise to stories Avhich represent them as 
 being discovered still burning in ancient sepulchral vaults. 
 This notion is so absurd, that Ave cannot but Avonder how it 
 ever gained credit : but they Avere probably burning when placed 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 SEPULCHRAL CHESTS. 
 
 36o 
 
 in the grave. Among other inscriptions relating to this custom, 
 Gruter has published the following, which, it will be seen, was 
 intended to form three lines in verse : — 
 
 HAVE • SEPTiMiA Adieu, Septimia ; 
 
 SIT • TIBI • TERRA * LEVIS May the earth lie light upon you ! 
 
 Q,viSQ,VE • HVic * TVMVLO Whoever on this tomb 
 
 posviT • ARDENTE * LVCERNAM has placed a lamp burning, 
 iLLivs * ciNERES may his ashes 
 
 AVREA • TERRA ‘ TEGAT a golden soil cover ! 
 
 Instances occur of more singular contrivances for producing 
 the sepulchral chest, or tomb. In a Roman cemetery at Ciren- 
 cester was found a stone which had been cut into the shape of 
 a short cylindrical column ; this had been sawn through the 
 middle, and in the centre of the lower half a cell was cut to 
 contain the urn, which was enclosed by joining the two parts 
 of the column together. Tliis probably had stood above- 
 ground. Several instances have been met with in which an 
 amphora has been used for a tomb ; the upper part, or neck, 
 having been sawn or broken off, the cinerary urn, with the 
 other vessels and articles usually deposited with the urns, were 
 placed inside^ and the neck was then rejoined to the body of 
 the amphora, and the whole buried in the ground. An instance 
 of this mode of interment was found at Colchester in 1844. 
 The upper part of a large globular amphora, of a pale red 
 colour, had been sawn off, and replaced after the different 
 articles were deposited inside. These articles were a cinerary 
 urn, with a lid, represented in front of our group of sepulchral 
 urns on p. 360, filled with calcined bones, a lachrymatory of 
 pale green glass, a small earthen lamp, and another lamp of a 
 finer clay, a number of iron nails, and a coin of second brass 
 with the head of Faustina Junior. One or two instances have 
 occurred in which, instead of the calcined bones or ashes being- 
 placed in an urn, the sepulchral chest was partly filled with a 
 loose heap of ashes. One of the tombs at York described 
 above furnishes an example of this practice. An instance of 
 one of the small rectangular cists of tiles, thus filled with ashes, 
 has occurred, I think, at Colchester. We may perhaps explain 
 this, by supposing that, in consequence of some accident, the 
 ashes of the deceased had been so mixed with those of the 
 funeral pile, that it was not possible to separate them, and that 
 therefore the relations had gathered all the ashes near where 
 the body must have lain, and thrown them into the tomb. 
 When the body was buried entire, it was interred in several 
 
366 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 CHAP. XI ] 
 
 different manners. The skeleton, as now found, appears often 
 as thong’ll it had been merely committed to the eartli ; but as 
 it is in most instances accompanied with a quantity of large 
 iron nails, it is probable that in all these cases the body was 
 placed in a chest or coffin of wood. In some places, and 
 especially at York, massive chests, or sarcophagi, of stone, have 
 been found, which appear from their forms and inscriptions to 
 have stood above-ground. The accompanying cut represents 
 a sarcophagus found at London, and somewhat remarkable 
 
 for its ornaments. In the centre of the front side is a sunken 
 medallion containing a youthful bust, no doubt intended as 
 a portrait of the person interred in it. The back was quite 
 plain, as though it had stood against a wall or other building. 
 It contained a skeleton. Several fine examples of these sarco- 
 phagi may be seen in the museum of the Philosophical Society 
 at York ; and examples are given, from the plates to Mr Well- 
 beloved’s ‘ Eburacum,’ in the third or lower group in our plate 
 at p. 362. Such sarcophagi have been frequently found at 
 York, and they present a very peculiar mode of sepulture. 
 After the body had been laid, apparently in full dress (those 
 hitherto discovered have generally contained the remains of 
 ladies), on its back at the bottom of the sarcophagus, liquid 
 lime was poured in until the body was covered. This, be- 
 coming hard, has preserved, to a certain degree, an impression 
 of the form of the body, of which the skeleton is often found 
 entire. Of one of these sarcophngi, which was found by the 
 side of the road from Heslington to Grimston, and is now in 
 the York museum, Mr Wellbeloved gives the following de- 
 scription : — ‘ On removing the lid, the coffin appeared to be 
 about half filled with lime, excepting the place in which the 
 head had lain. The lime ha^dng been very carefully taken out, 
 
CHAP, xr.] 
 
 STONE COFFINS. 
 
 367 
 
 the lower surface presented a distinct impression of a human 
 body, over which, with the exception of tlie 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 ; 
 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 re- 
 mained ; sufficient, however, to indicate that they were those of 
 a female, and, according to the opinion of a very eminent sur- 
 geon, 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 surrounding it having been carefully 
 scraped away, the remnants of a lady’s ornaments were brought 
 to light, consisting of fragments of large jet rings, two earrings 
 of fine gold, two bracelets, several brass or copper rings, one 
 of which resembled a cog-wheel, about two inches in diameter, 
 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, in- 
 termixed with smaller beads of blue glass, strung, in both 
 cases, on very slender twisted silver wire.’ In a coffin of this 
 description more recently found at York, and also deposited iu 
 the museum, the lime bears the impression of a female with « 
 small child laid in her lap, and the colour, a rich purple, a^ 
 well as the texture of the cloth which covered her, is distinctly 
 visible in the impression. One of these coffins, found at York, 
 had contained the body of a large man, whose skull was cloven 
 as though by the blow of an axe or sword. The lids of these 
 stone sarcophagi were often fastened to the lower part, or chest, 
 with iron cramps. 
 
 Clay Coffin found at Aldborough [Isurium). 
 
 Sarcophagi, for the reception of the body when not burnt, 
 
368 
 
 THE EOMAiS’S. 
 
 [CHAl\ XI. 
 
 were sometimes made of baked elay, either in one piece with a 
 lid, or in several pieces, so formed as to tit together. Several 
 examples of such clay coffins have been found at York, and at the 
 neighbouring town of Aldborough ; in the latter place they are 
 found somewhat resembling violin-cases in form. The accom- 
 panying example of these clay coffins from Aldborough is shaped 
 like the sole of a shoe. 
 
 A description of coffin found more frequently in this country 
 was formed of lead. Many examples of these leaden coffins 
 have been met with in the Eoman cemeteries at Colchester, 
 York, London, and elsewhere. When these coffins are orna- 
 mented, the ornaments consist almost always of scallop shells 
 and bead-mouldings, sometimes interspersed with small circles. 
 The annexed cut represents one of these coffins dug up, a few 
 
 Leaden Coffin from Colchester {Camulodunum) . 
 
 years ago, in a Eoman cemetery near Colchester. It was four 
 feet three inches in length, fifteen inches wide at the head, and 
 eleven at the feet, and nine and a half inches deep exclusive of 
 the lid. It was formed of a sheet of lead cast in a mould, and 
 bent upwards on each side, with square pieces, soldered at the 
 top and bottom, to form the ends. Tlie lid was formed by 
 being notched at the head and feet, and then bent down at the 
 edges and soldered, to lap over the coffin. The entire exterior 
 was tastefully ornamented with scallop shells, rings, or circles, 
 and a beaded pattern. All that is known of its contents is that, 
 like the stone coffins found at York, it was partly filled with 
 lime. The coffin itself is now in the private museum of Mr 
 Bateman, of Yolgrave, in Derbyshire ; another leaden coffin, 
 found at Colchester about the same time, was sold for old lead, 
 and melted down; but from a sketch which was taken of it 
 before it was destroyed, it appears to have been still more 
 elaborately ornamented, chiefly with the same scallop shells, 
 rings, and bead moulding. Morant records the discovery of a 
 similar leaden coffin at Colchester, in the March of the year 
 
3HAP. XI.] 
 
 LEADEN COFFINS. 
 
 369 
 
 1750. It contained wliat was called a quantity of dust, per- 
 haps lime, but very little of the bones remained. ‘ There lay 
 near the head two bracelets of jet, one plain, the other scalloped, 
 and a very small and slender one of brass wrought, and four 
 bodkins (? liair-pins) of jet. The coffin was cast, or wrought, 
 all over with lozenges, in each of which was an escallop shell. 
 Near it Avas found an urn, holding about a pint, in which were 
 two coins of large brass, one of Antoninus Pius, and the other 
 of Alexander SeA^erus.’ 
 
 Several Eoman leaden coffins have been found at different 
 times on the sites of the cemeteries of Eoman London. One, 
 dug up in Mansell-street, Whiteehapel, in 1843, had contained 
 the body of a child, and resembled in constriction and orna- 
 ment the one engraAxd above. In the immediate vicinity, and on 
 the same level, Avere found skeletons, urns Avith hurnt bones, 
 and various articles, such as are usually found in Eoman ceme- 
 teries. In a leaden coffin dug up at Stratford-le-Bow, in 1844, 
 the remains of a skeleton Avere found embedded in lime. In 
 Weever’s ‘Funeral Monuments,’ published in 1631, Ave are 
 informed that, ‘ Avithin the parish of Stepney in Middlesex, in 
 Eatcliffe-field, Avhere they take ballast for ships, about some 
 fourteen or fifteen years ago, there Avas found two monuments, 
 the one of stone, Avherein Avas the bones of a man, the other a 
 chest of lead, the upper part being garnished Avith scallop 
 shells, and a crolister border. At the head of the coffin and 
 the foot, there Avere two jars, of a three-feet length, standing, 
 and on the sides a number of bottles of glistening red earth, 
 some painted, and many great vials of glass, some six, some 
 eight square, having a Avhitish liquor Avithin them. Within the 
 chest was the body of a Avoman, as the chirurgeons judged by 
 the skull. On either side of her there Avere two sceptres of 
 ivory, eighteen inches long, and on her breast a little figure of 
 Cupid, neatly cut in Avhite stone. And amongst the bones two 
 painted pieces of jet, Avith round heads in form of nails, three 
 inches long. It seemeth (saitli Sir Eobert Cotton, from Avhom 
 I had this relation) these bodies Avere buried about the years 
 of our Lord 239 ; besides there Avere found divers coins of 
 Pupienus, Gordian, and the emperors of that time ; and thus 
 one may conjecture by her ornaments, that this last body should 
 be some prince’s or proprietor’s Avife herein Britaine in the time 
 of the Eoman government.’ It need hardly be remarked that, 
 to the modern antiquary. Sir Eobert Cotton's conjectures seem 
 ATry ridiculous. Stepney is knoAvn to be the site of one of the 
 
THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 6'0 
 
 cemeteries of Roman London. A similar coffin was found 
 towards tlie close of the last century in a Roman burial-place 
 in Battersea-held s ; it was ornamentexl with seallop shells and 
 cord moulding, and contained a skeleton embedded in lime. 
 Another, found in 1811, in the Keiit-road, near the Asylum 
 for the Deaf and Dumb, is engraved in the " Archseologia.’ It 
 was bordered and divided into hve compartments by the band 
 and hllet ornament. In the uppermost compartment were two 
 hgures of Minerva, counterparts of eaeli other ; the three 
 intermediate eompartments were diagonally crossed by the same 
 ornament, and the lowest eompartment contained two scallop 
 shells. The remains of a skeleton were found also in this coffin. 
 
 The leaden eoffins found at York are supposed, by Mr IVell- 
 beloved, to have been encased in wood. Wooden coffins appear 
 to have been extensively used in Roman cemeteries in this 
 country. They are traced by the marks of deeayed wood, and 
 more espeeially by the presence of large long nails which had 
 been used to attaeh the planks of the coffin together. These 
 nails are found in great quantities in the Roman cemeteries at 
 Colehester, and elsewhere on similar sites. In a eemetery in 
 Bourne Park, near Canterbury, several skeletons were found, 
 lying near eaeh other, and aecompanied with sueh nails, from 
 six to nine inehes long. Pour or six nails are said to have 
 been found with eaeh skeleton, near the shoulders, hands, and 
 feet, whieh are the positions into whieh they would naturally 
 have fallen from the coffin as it decayed. Prom the nature of 
 the ground, here, as in many other plaees under similar circum- 
 stances, after sueh a great length of time, the deeay of the wood 
 had been so complete, that no further traee of it was perceived ; 
 and it was rather hastily supposed that the presenee of these nails 
 proved that the skeletons were the remains of crueified martyrs. 
 
 Wooden coffins of another fashion are found in this countiy, 
 chiefly towards the north, and they seem to have been peeuliar 
 to the part of our island represented in modern times by East 
 Yorkshire. These are rudely construeted out of the trunks of 
 large trees. In the year 1834 a large tumulus on the cliffs 
 near the village of Gristhorpe, some six miles from Scarborough, 
 was opened, and was found to contain what was at first taken 
 for a mere rough log of wood ; but, on further examination, it 
 proved to be a wooden coffin formed of the rough trunk of an 
 old oak tree, the external bark of whieh was still in good pre- 
 servation. It had been roughly hewn at the extremities, split, 
 and then hollowed internally to reeeive the body. My cut will 
 
CHAP, xr.] 
 
 WOODEN COFFINS. 
 
 371 
 
 give the best idea of the appearance of this primitive cofhn, 
 which was much damaged in its removal from the tnmulus. 
 The trunk of the tree l)ad been split tolerably equally for the 
 
 Wooden Coffin found at Gristhorpc. 
 
 coffin and its cover were of nearly the same dimensions. The 
 only attempt at ornament was what was taken for a rude figure 
 of the human face cut in the bark at one end of the lid, wliich 
 appeared to have been held to the coffin only by the uneven 
 fracture of the wood corresponding on each part. At the bot- 
 tom of the coffin, near the centre, a hole, three inches long and 
 one wide, had been cut through the wood, apparently for the 
 purpose of carrying off the aqueous matter arising from the 
 decomposition of the body. This coffin was about seven feet 
 long by three broad. When first opened it was nearly full of 
 water; but on this being cleared away, a perfect and well- 
 preserved skeleton presented itself, which was laid on its right 
 side, with its head to the south. The body, the skeleton of 
 which measured six feet two inches, having been too long for 
 the hollow of the coffin, which was only five feet four inches 
 long, the legs had been necessarily doubled up. Several small 
 articles were found in this coffin with the skeleton, which are 
 represented in the following cut. These were three pieces 
 
372 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 of chipped flint (figs 1, 2, and 6) ; a well-executed ornament, 
 resembling a large stud or button, apparently of horn, Avhich 
 
 Articles found in the GristJiorpe Coffin. 
 
 had every appearance of having been formed by the lathe (fig. 
 4) ; a pin of the same material, which lay on the breast, and 
 had apparently been employed to secure a skin, in which the 
 body had evidently been enveloped (fig. 7) ; an article of wood, 
 also formed like a pin, but having what would be its point 
 rounded and flattened on one side to about half its length (tig. 
 8) ; fragments of an ornamental ring of similar material to the 
 stud, and supposed, from its large size, to have been uscd for 
 fastening some part of the dress (tig. 3) ; the remains of a small 
 basket of wicker-work, the bottom of which had been formed of 
 bark, and a flat bronze dagger or knife (fig. 5). None of these 
 articles give us much assistance in fixing the age of this curious 
 interment, except the dagger, and that is not very certain. 
 Chipped flints are found very frequently in Eoman interments, 
 both in this country and on the continent ; and I have also 
 found them in Saxon graves ; but the dagger belongs to a type 
 of which several examples have been found in the Wiltshire 
 barrows, as well as in similar interments in other parts of 
 England, which, from all the circumstances connected with 
 them, we shoidd be led to ascribe to a remote date, probably to 
 the earlier period of the Roman occupation of our island. A 
 quantity of vegetable substance was also found in the coffin, 
 which was rather hastily conjectured to be the remains of 
 mistletoe. The coffin, .after being deposited in its grave, had 
 been covered over with large oaken branches. It may be added 
 that, above this, the tumulus was formed first of a layer of 
 
:hap. XI.] 
 
 WOODEN COFFINS. 
 
 373 
 
 clay, followed by a layer of loose stones, another layer of clay, 
 and a second layer of loose stones, and the whole was finally 
 covered with soil, wliich had doubtless collected upon this 
 tumulus diirino; tlie lonp: period since it was raised. This 
 coifin was placed in the Museum at Scarborough. I was sul)- 
 seque Fitly informed that a somewhat similar coffin had been 
 found at Beverley Parks, near Beverley, in digging a drain 
 there in 1848. It is represented in the accompanying cut. A 
 slab, which had been cut or split from the rest, formed a lid ; 
 but it had been fastened to the chest by means of four oaken 
 tlirindles, or pegs, about the size of the spokes of a common 
 
 Wooden Coffin found at Beverley. 
 
 ladder, and the ends of the coffin had been bevelled ofi*, so as 
 to leave less of the substance of the wood where the holes for 
 the pegs were drilled through. This coffin was nearly eight 
 feet and a half long externally, and seven feet and a half in- 
 ternally ; and it was four feet two inches in width. Some 
 fragments of human bones were found in it, but not calcined. 
 The next coffin of this description, which is represented in our 
 cut, was found in a barrow on an elevated spot on the bank of 
 
 Wooden Coffin found near Great Driffield. 
 
374 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 a stream in the neighbourliood of Great Driffield, near a place 
 called Sunderlandvvick. Two large and thick branches of trees 
 had here, as at Gristhorpe, been placed over the coffin before 
 the mound was filled in. The coffin, in this instance, was, like 
 t he others, hollowed from the solid trunk of an oak tree, but it 
 diftered from them in having no ends ; and, though it came in 
 two pieces when taken out of the earth (or rather in three, for 
 the lid broke in two), it was supposed by those who found it 
 that it had been originally one entire piece, a sort of large 
 wooden tube, or pipe, formed by hollowing through the heart 
 of the timber. This coffin was about six feet in length and 
 four in breadth, the disproportion in breadth being accounted 
 for by the circumstance that it was intended to contain three 
 bodies, two of which were laid with their heads turned one 
 way, and the other turned in the contrary direction. The 
 coffin, in consequence of the ends being unprotected, was filled 
 with clay and sand, which had become mixed with the human 
 remains, and the bones were in so fragile a condition through 
 decay that they fell to pieces when disturbed, and ad- 
 mitted of no careful examination. A quantity of ashes lay 
 mixed with the surrounding soil, which are described as still 
 retaining a smell of burning. The coffin in this instance lay 
 east an(l west. From the remains that were found, it would 
 seem that these coffins belonged to a date not later than the 
 close of the Roman period. 
 
 I repeat these observations on the wooden coffins found in 
 East Yorkshire from my Essays on Archaeological Subjects, 
 published in the year 1861.^ At that time the local board 
 of health at Selby was carrying on excavations for sewerage, 
 &c. in that town, which brought to light numerous ancient 
 remains. While cutting through a piece of ground called 
 the Church Hill, which was understood to be the site of the 
 ancient parish church, destroyed when the old abbey church 
 was made parochial, the workmen met Avith no less than four- 
 teen of these Avooclen coffins, all made, like those I have been 
 describing, out of the solid trunks of oak trees, which had been 
 separated into two pieces in order to form a chest and lid, and 
 had been scooped out to form a receptacle for the corpse. I 
 was informed that these coffins were found near the surface of 
 the ground, some of them at a depth of not more than eighteen 
 inches, lying parallel to each other, in a direction nearly east 
 
 * See my Essays on Archaeological Subjects, London, 1861, vol. i. p. 36 
 to p. 47. 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 AVOODEN COFFINS. 
 
 375 
 
 and west. The annexed cut represents one of tliese coffins, tlie 
 only one which had been examined with raucli care. It con- 
 tained what was pronounced to be the liody of a full-groAvn 
 
 Wooden Coffin found at Selby. 
 
 female. This coffin was six feet ten inches long- ; anotlier, 
 which lay near it, measured nearly eight feet. All the otlier 
 similar coffins were found to contain the remains of human 
 skeletons. It may be remarked that in this Selby coffin the 
 upper part, or lid, was hollowed out in a corresponding man- 
 ner to the lower part. The two parts of the same coffin were, 
 in all the Avooden coffins found at Selby, fastened together by 
 oval Avooden p(igs driven down into the side, as in the Beverley 
 coffin. When first discovered, the Avood of the upper part Avas 
 decayed and broken aAvay, so as to expose the face of the 
 skeleton, as here shown. 
 
 Although the Avooden coffins found at Selby contained no 
 articles by Avhich their age Avas determined, Ave can have 
 no doubt that they belonged to Christian interments, and 
 that they Avere laid in regular juxtaposition in a churchyard. 
 There are, however, circumstances connected Avith the barroAvs 
 in the maritime district of Yorkshire to the south of Scarborough 
 Avhich would lead us to believe that most of them belong to the 
 later Roman period, in Avhich case we may more easily under- 
 stand how a particular form of coffin then in use may have 
 continued in use during the subsequent Anglo-Saxon period. 
 I am not aAvare of the discovery of coffins of the same de- 
 scription in other parts of the island ; and they seem to show, 
 Avhich Avouid indeed be a curious fact, that a peculiar burial 
 practice had continued to exist in the district of Eastern York- 
 sliire from a period dating as far back as the commencement of 
 the Roman occupation of our island to probably a late Anglo- 
 Saxon period. 
 
 [n some cases, the sepulchral chest Avas expanded into a 
 
376 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. xr. 
 
 spacious cliainber. One found at York, in the time of Thoresby, 
 is described by that antiquary as large enough to contain two 
 or three corpses ; it was carefully paved with brieks eight inches 
 square and two inches thick, and covered with bricks two feet 
 square. When discovered, it was found to be empty. Another 
 sepulchral chamber, larger than this, was found, as Mr Well- 
 beloved informs us, ‘by some workmen in the year 1807, Avheii 
 digging for the foundation of a house, near the Mount, without 
 Micklegate-bar. It is a small room or vault, about four feet 
 below the present surface, eight feet in length, five feet in 
 breadth, and six feet in height ; the roof being arched and 
 formed of Roman tiles, each of about one foot square, and two 
 and a half inehes in thickness. In this vault was found a 
 sarcophagus, 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 
 ])laced on a step. At the north end of the vault there was an 
 aperture, too small to have admitted the sarcophagus, and 
 carelessly closed by large stones. On each side of the skull a 
 small glass vessel, usually ealled a lachrymatory, was found, 
 one of them perfect, the other broken. The sarcophagus was 
 without an inscription. The other sides of’ the vault were not 
 seen, except that through which the workmen broke, and by 
 wlrich visitors are now admitted to view this interesting sepul- 
 chral antiquity.’ Perhaps, if the whole were* uncovered, an 
 inscription would be found on the outside of the building. A 
 large sepulchral chamber of rather a different description, and 
 containing a variety of amphorae, paterae, and other articles, 
 was found in 1849, at Mount Bures, near Colchester. 
 
 Sepulchral chambers, like that found at York, no doubt 
 stood above-ground, forming conspicuous objects by the side of 
 the highway. We find in Britain very few traces of sepulchral 
 buildings of this kind, because where they existed they were 
 no doubt cleared away during the middle ages for their 
 materials. 
 
 In some cases, particularly at a distance from large towns, 
 the sepulchral chamber was inclosed in a mound of earth, or 
 barrow. The mound of earth was a form of monument which 
 belonged to an early age, and was perhaps adopted in the case 
 of Romans who died in the provinces, as more durable than 
 the sepulchre of stone — 
 
 Ergo instauramus Polydoro funus, et ingens 
 
 Aggeritur tuniulo tellus. — Virg. iii. 62. 
 
CHAP. XT.] 
 
 ROMAN BARROWS. 
 
 377 
 
 Tlie most remarkable Roman tnmnli, or barrows, in Britain, 
 are the group called the Bartlow hills, in the parish of Ashdon, 
 on the northern border of Essex. They were opened a few 
 years ago, and the different modes in which the internal tombs 
 were constructed seemed to show that they were not all 
 erected at the same time. In form they are all conical. Tlie 
 height of the largest is forty-five feet, and its diameter a 
 hundred and forty-seven. Six others, which complete the 
 group, are of somewhat smaller dimensions. When the largest 
 barrow was opened, it was found that the sepulchral chamber 
 in the centre had been constructed of wood ; it contained a 
 large glass vessel resembling the second figure in our group on 
 p. 283 ; a bronze patera, with a reeded handle terminating in a 
 I’am’s head ; a bronze dish ; a lamp, also of bronze ; a beauti- 
 ful bronze enamelled urn with handle ; a folding stool or seat ; 
 and a pair of strigils. A large amphora, filled with earth, ashes, 
 and fragments of bones, was placed outside this wooden chest. 
 In the centre of one of the smaller Bartlow barrows was found 
 a closed vault, built of brick, six feet three inches long, two 
 feet three inches and a half wide, and about three feet high, 
 standing north and south on a bed of chalk, about a foot below 
 the natural surface. The covering was formed of flat tiles 
 overlapping each other. When these were removed, the tomb 
 was found to contain a large glass vessel, which is the first 
 figure in our group just alluded to, and which contained bones 
 and ashes ; a small glass ves-sel of the same form, containing a 
 dark-coloured fluid ; and a vessel of wood, formed like a pail, 
 with a handle at the side. 
 
 In these barrows the body had undergone the process of 
 cremation, but in a very remarkable one, called Eastlow hill, 
 at Roughain in Suffolk, opened by Professor Henslow, in the 
 year 1844, the body of the deceased had been buried entire. 
 The tomb in this case was a miniature Roman house, of strong 
 masonry, with a roof peaked and tiled on the outside. It was 
 built upon a platform, fifteen feet square, formed of a concrete 
 of large flints and very hard mortar mixed with sand. The 
 length of the tomb, or house, on the exterior, was twelve feet, 
 and its width six feet and a half. The thickness of the walls 
 was two feet, and their height at the sides the same ; the height 
 of the roof, from the ground to the ridge, was five feet. The 
 interior was found to be a cylindrical vault. In the middle of 
 the floor stood a leaden chest or coffin, six feet nine inches long, 
 one foot five inches broad, and one foot four inclu's deep. It 
 haci ueen formed of a sheet or sheets of lead, by turning up the 
 
THE HOMANS. 
 
 [CHAP. XI. 
 
 ’.78 
 
 sides and ends, after cutting out the piece at the corners. The 
 edges were soldered on the inside. The lid was a loose sheet of 
 lead, turned in at the edges in the same way. Within this 
 chest lav the skeleton, which was in a tolerably good state of 
 preservation. The leaden chest appeared to have been enclosed 
 in wood-work, for a great many nails, from two to twelve inches 
 long, were found lying by its side, among a mass of decayed 
 wood. A Koman coin was found within the leaden tomb — 
 Professor Henslow seems to say in the mouth of the skeleton — 
 the obolus to propitiate Charon. A little chamber at one end, 
 outside the vault, appeared to have contained glass and other 
 vessels, wliich were broken to pieces. This large tumulus was 
 one of a group of four ; the others had been opened in the 
 previous year, and had presented the usual appearance of urns, 
 &c., -whicli characterise Homan sepulture. 
 
 The tomb at Eastlow lay north-east and south-west. That in 
 the Bartlovv hill stood north and south. The most common posi- 
 tion of the skeletons in Eoman cemeteries is east and west, the feet 
 usually towards the east, but this is by no means always the case. 
 
 The Eoman sepulchral inscriptions, found in this country, 
 possess much interest. They are generally met with in the 
 cemeteries near towns, and consist usually of a slab of stone, 
 which appears to have been fixed in the ground like our 
 common churchyard gravestones. At York, the inscriptions 
 are found on the sides of some of the large stone sarcophagi. 
 Some of the slabs appear by their form to have been placed 
 against a larger sepulchre of masonry. The inscription is often 
 surmounted by a sculptured figure, intended sometimes to 
 represent the individual commemorated by it. The usual in- 
 scriptions are dedicated at the beginning to the gods of the 
 shades, perhaps meaning to the shades of the departed, dlls 
 manid?is, which is most frequently expressed merely by the two 
 letters d.m.^ The name of the deceased is then stated, with 
 his age, and, if a soldier, the number of years he had served. 
 This is usually followed by the name of the person who has 
 raised the tomb. The age is often stated with great precision, 
 as in the following simple memorial found on a sepulchral slab 
 at Ellenborough in Cumberland : — 
 
 DM To the gods of the shades. 
 
 IVL MAHiTiM Julia Maritiiua 
 
 A vix AN lived twelve years, 
 
 XII. M. Ill D. XXII three mo-nths, twenty-two days. 
 
 At Carrawburgh, in Northumberland [Procolitia)^ was found an altar 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 SEPULCHRAL IHSCRIPTIOXS. 
 
 S79 
 
 Another common form of inscription, omitting sometimes the 
 D. M. at the beginning, closed with the words, hie situs est, is 
 placed, or laid, here. We may quote as an instance of this 
 formula a rather well-known tombstone found, a few years ago, 
 at Cirencester, and represented in the annexed cut. The 
 
 figure above is one often met with on the rnonume.nis of 
 soldiers in the Roman cavalry. The inscription must be 
 read, — 
 
 RVFVS • SITA • EQVES ’ CHO VI 
 TRACVM * ANN * XL STIP XXII 
 HEREDES • EXS * TEST * F. CVRAVE 
 H S E 
 
 It may be translated, ' Rufus Sita, a horseman of the sixth 
 
 dedicated to the dei manes^ with the inscription D. M. D. tranqyila 
 SEVERA PRO SE ET SYIS V. S. L. M. 
 
380 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 cohort of Thracians, aged forty years, served twenty-two years. 
 His heirs, in aceordance with his will, liave caused this monu- 
 ment to be ereeted. He is laid here.’ In a monument found 
 at Caerleon, the formula is varied as follows : — 
 
 D M IVL IVLIANVS 
 
 MIL LEG II AVG STIP 
 
 XVIII ANNOR XL 
 HIC SITVS EST 
 CVRA AGENTE 
 AMANDA 
 CONIVGE 
 
 To the g-ods of the shades, Julius 
 Julianus, 
 
 a soldier of the second legion, the 
 Augustan, served 
 eighteen years, aged forty, 
 is laid here, 
 by the care 
 of Amanda 
 his wife. 
 
 A sepulchral monument, found at Ellenborough in Cumberland, 
 begins with the words hic exsegere fata, here have undergone 
 their fates. We see in these inscriptions how cautiously a 
 direct allusion to death is avoided. We have an exception to 
 this remark in an inscription found of late years at Caerleon, in 
 which one of the persons commemorated is said to have died in 
 a war in Germany. 
 
 D M 
 
 a'ADA • VALLAVNIVS VIXIT 
 
 ANN • LXV • ET TADIVS * EXVPERTVS 
 
 FILIVS • VIXIT • ANN * XXXVII * DEFVN 
 
 TVS • EXPEDITIONE GERMANICA 
 TADIA • EXVPERATA * FILIA 
 MATRI • ET • FRATRI * PIISSIMA 
 
 SECTS TVMVLVM 
 PATRIS POSVIT 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 Tadia Vallaunius, who lived 
 sixty-five years, and Tadius 
 Exupertus, 
 
 her son, who lived thirty-seven 
 years, and 
 
 died in the German expedition. 
 Tadia Exuperata, a daughter 
 to her mother and brother most 
 attached, 
 near the tomb 
 of her father placed this. 
 
 In another inscribed slab, found at Caerleon, the tomb is 
 called a monumentum, and another phrase is used, — 
 
 D * M 
 
 IVLIA • VENERI 
 A • AN • XXXIII 
 I • ALESAN • CON 
 PIENTISSIMA 
 ET • I • RELICIANVS 
 F • MONIME 
 F • C 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 Julia Veneria, 
 aged thirty-three years. 
 Alexander, her husband 
 most attached, 
 and Julius Belicianus, 
 her son, this monument 
 caused to be made. 
 
 In a sepulchral inscription, given by Camden as found at 
 Silchester, the tomb is dedicated to the memory of the de- 
 ceased, — 
 
 MEMORIAE 
 FL • VICTORI 
 
 To the memory 
 of Fla via Victorina, 
 
CHAP. XI.] 
 
 SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 381 
 
 NAE • T • TAM 
 VICTOR 
 CONIVXX 
 POSVIT 
 
 Titus Tamphilus 
 Victor, 
 her husband, 
 placed this. 
 
 In some instances, as in an inscription at York, and another 
 found at London, meinoria is used for monumentum, and tlie 
 phrase memoriam posult is adopted in the sense of ‘ raised a 
 monument.’ An inscription found at Eibchester, in Lan- 
 cashire, which has been often quoted, commenced with the 
 words his terrls tegitur Aelia Matrona, with this earth is covered 
 ^Llia Matrona. It was the custom among the Romans for 
 men of family or wealth to build up their own sepulchres before 
 they died, which was usually expressed in the inscription by 
 the letters V. r. {vivus fecif), v. r. c. {vivus faciendum curavit), 
 or V. s. p. {vivus sihi posuit). Inscriptions of this kind were 
 placed on monuments of a more ostentatious character, which 
 were raised by the road-side, near large towns. An inscription 
 was found at York, commemorating one of the magistrates of 
 the city, which, from the form of the stone, must have been 
 built in the wall of a large sepulchre. The inscription has 
 been given as follows : — 
 
 M VEREC DIOGENES IIIIIIVIK COL 
 EBOR IBIDEMQ MORT GIVES BITVRIX 
 CVBVS HAEC SIBI VIVVS FECIT 
 
 which may be translated, ‘ Marcus Verecundus Diogenes, sevir 
 of the colonia of Eburacum, and who died there, a citizen of 
 Biturix Cubus, caused these to be made for him during his life- 
 time.’ Biturix Cubus, it appears, referred to the district of 
 Avaiicum in Gaul {Bourges), as the native country of Marcus 
 Verecundus Diogenes. 
 
 Many of the Roman sepulchral inscriptions found in this 
 country display feelings of the tenderest and most affectionate 
 description. They are addressed to the deceased by near 
 relatives, who apply to them loving epithets. Sometimes 
 they are addressed from parents to a child. Thus a large 
 sarcophagus found at York was made to receive the body of 
 an infant, whose father was a soldier in the sixth legion. The 
 inscription is — 
 
 D • M • SIMPLICIAE * FLORENTINE 
 ANIME INNOCENTISSIME 
 OVE • VIXIT • MENSES * DECEM 
 FELICIVS • SIMPLEX * PATER ’ FECIT 
 
 LEG • VI • V 
 
382 
 
 THE EOMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 ' To the gods of the shades. To Simplicia Florentina, a most 
 innocent thing, who lived ten months, her father, of the sixth 
 legion, the victorious, made this.’ A monument in the form 
 of an altar was found at Chesters, in Northumberland iCllnr- 
 
 7ium), with the inscription,- 
 
 D M s 
 
 FABIE HONOR 
 ATE FABIVS HON 
 O RATI VS TRIBVN 
 COH I VANGIOX 
 ET AVRELIA EGLI 
 lANE FECER 
 VNT FILIE D 
 VLCISSIME 
 
 Sacred to the gods of the shades. 
 To Fabia Honorata, 
 
 Fabius Honorati us, 
 tribune 
 
 of the first cohort of Vangiones, 
 and Aurelia Egliciane, 
 made this 
 to their daughter 
 most sweet. 
 
 A stone slab found at Bath, and wliich seems also to have been 
 placed on a building, bore the following inscription : — 
 
 ]) M To the gods of the shades, 
 
 svcc • PETRONIAE vix To Succia Petronia, who lived 
 
 ANN * III • M • nil • D • IX • V PETRO three years, four months, nine days, 
 
 V alerius 
 
 MVLVS • ET TViCTiA SABINA Petroniulus and Tuictia Sabina, 
 
 FiL • KAR • FEC to their dearest daughter, made this. 
 
 Several other such inscriptions to children, chiefly to little girls, 
 have been met with in this country, as well as others from 
 children to their parents. A stone found at Great Chesters, in 
 Northumberland, presented, under the rude sculpture of a 
 female figure, the short and simple inscription, — 
 
 DIS M 
 
 PERVICAE FILIA F 
 
 On another, found at the same 
 a sister to her brother, — 
 
 H M 
 
 A EL • MERCV 
 RIALI CORNICVL 
 VACIA • SORGR 
 FECIT 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 
 To Pervica, her daughter made this. 
 
 place, was an inscription from 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 To ^lius Mercurialis, 
 a trumpeter, 
 his sister Vacia 
 made this. 
 
 A wife is often found raising the monument to her husband. 
 The following inscription was found on a sepulchral slab at 
 Stanwicks, in Cumberland : — 
 
 DIS MANIBV 
 S MARCI TROIANI 
 AVGVSTINIl TVM FA 
 CIENDVM CVRAVI 
 T • AEL • AMMIL LVSIMA 
 CONIVX KARISS 
 
 To the gods of the shades 
 Of Marcus Trojanus 
 Augustinius the tomb 
 erected 
 
 ^lia Ammilla Lusima, 
 his most dear wife. 
 
CHAP. XI.] SEPULCIIEAL IXSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 383 
 
 An inscription found on the line of the wall in Northumber- 
 land, also addressed by a wife to her deceased husband, a native 
 of Pannonia, furnishes us with an undoubtedly Teutonic name ; 
 the inseription is imperfect : — 
 
 D • :m 
 
 DAGVALD -MI ... . 
 PAN • VIXIT * A . . . 
 
 . . . PVSINNA . . . . 
 XTITVL 
 
 To the ^ods of the shades. 
 
 Dag vald, a soldier 
 of Pannonia, lived years . . . . 
 . . . Pusinna, his wife, 
 placed this monument. 
 
 This last line is not very distinet in the original, but it appears 
 to be part of conjux titulim posuit. Several examples have 
 been found of affectionate addresses from a father to a wife and 
 several children. A sepulchral monument at Old Penrith, 
 given by Camden, bore the inscription ; — 
 
 D M 
 
 AICETVOS MATER 
 VIXIT A XX XXV 
 ET LATTIO FIL * VIX 
 A XII • LIMISIVS 
 CONIV ET FILIAE 
 PIENTISSIMIS 
 POSVIT 
 
 To the ^ods of the shades. 
 Aicetuos, the mother, 
 lived forty-five years, 
 and Lattio, the daughter, lived 
 twelve years. Limisius, 
 to a wife and daughter 
 most affectionate, 
 placed this. 
 
 In an inscription on a broken stone, found in the Eoman ceme- 
 tery at Bulmore, near Caerleon, a deceased lady is apostrophised 
 by her husband and three sons : — 
 
 D M 
 
 CAESORIA CORO 
 CA V A XLVIII REM * * 
 S CONIVX • • • • S ET 
 MVNAT • • • LEST 
 NVS E • • • • EO^^TI 
 VS FECERVNT 
 FILI EIVS 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 
 Csesoria Coroca, 
 
 who lived forty-eight years. 
 
 Remus, her loving husband, and 
 
 Munatius, and Lestinus, 
 
 and Leontius, 
 
 her sons, 
 
 made this. 
 
 A slab found at Carvoran in Northumberland {Magna), bears 
 the following affectionate inscription : — 
 
 D M 
 
 AVRE FAIAE 
 D SALONAS 
 AVR MARCVS 
 0 OBSEQ CON 
 IVG • SANCTIS 
 SIMAE aVAE VI 
 XIT ANNIS XXXIIT 
 SINE VLLA MACVLA 
 
 To the gods of the shades. 
 To Aurelia Faia, 
 a native of Salona, 
 
 Aurelius Marcus, 
 a centurion, out of affectioa 
 for his most holy wife, 
 who lived 
 thirty-three years 
 without any stain. 
 
 Gruter has recorded a Eoman sepulchral inscription, by one 
 Alarcus Aurelius Paullus, conjugi incomparabUi, cum qua vixlt 
 
384 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 annis xxml, sine ulla querela — to his incomparable wife, with 
 whom he had lived twenty-seven years, without any dispute. 
 
 AVhen there was no near relation left, the tomb was erected 
 by tlie heirs to the property of the deceased, generally, it would 
 appear, by direction of the will. Many of the sepulchral 
 monuments in Britain were thus raised by the heirs. The fol- 
 lowing inscription, found at Ardoch, in Scotland, will serve for 
 an example of the ordinary formula used under sucli circum- 
 stances : — 
 
 Dis MAN IB vs 
 
 AMMONIVS DA 
 MIONIS 0 COH 
 I HISPANORVM 
 STIPEXDIORVM 
 XXVII HEREDES 
 F C 
 
 To the gods of the shades, 
 Ainmonius Damionis, 
 centurion of cohort 
 the first of the Spaniards, 
 having served 
 
 twenty-seven years. His heirs 
 caused this to be made. 
 
 Ill an inscription found at Ellenborough, in Cumberland, the 
 sons of the deceased acted under the name of his heirs, ^ — 
 
 D M 
 
 »IORI REGIS 
 FILII HEREDES 
 EIVS SVBSTITVE 
 RVNT VIX A LXX 
 
 To the gods of the shades 
 Of Morus Rex 
 the sons, his heirs, 
 substituted this. 
 
 He lived seventy years. 
 
 We have several instances of the desire among members of the 
 same family to be buried beside each other. A soldier slain in 
 Grermany was brought to Isca (Caerleon) to be interred beside 
 his father. A broken inscription in one of the stations along 
 the wall of Hadrian commemorates a native of Galatia, whose 
 father having, as it appears, died in Britain, the son, who died 
 in his native country, wished on his death-bed to be carried 
 into Britain to be laid in his father’s grave. 
 
 . . . . IL SER .... son of Servius, 
 
 Q,vi NANAT who, born 
 
 GALATIA DEC in Galatia, 
 
 * Horsley observes on this inscription, ‘ It was customary with the 
 ancients to erect sepulchral monuments for themselves and families, while 
 they were living ; which might ossibly be the case here, with respect to 
 this Morus Rex. But the monument he built might have fallen to decay, 
 or by some accident have been demolished, before his death, and his sons, 
 upon his decease, have rebuilt it. The word substitueriint seems to intimate 
 something like this, which signifies the putting of some person or thing in 
 the room of another which was there before. So we say substitiiere judi- 
 cem ; and by the Roman law the usufructuary was obliged siibstituere 
 pecora, or arbores^ in the room of such as died. It would be very difficult 
 to put any other meaning upon substituenmt in this inscription ; for, to 
 take it in the sense of constituerunty is perhaps without example.’ 
 
CHAP. XI.] SEPULCHRAL IXSCRTPTIOXS. 
 
 3 So 
 
 p.viT GALA ... died in Galatia ; 
 
 xiT AXN .... he lived .... years ; 
 
 MOPviTV .... on his death-bed 
 
 DESIDE n .... he desired 
 
 uis INT .... in his father’s tomb to be buried.* 
 
 It has been remarked that, to judge from the ages set forth 
 in these sepulchral inscriptions, the Eomans in Britain gener- 
 ally died young. The average age seems to be not much more 
 than thirty. We find, however, one or two instances of 
 longevity. A decurion, or municipal magistrate, of the city of 
 Glevum {Gloucester), was buried at the fashionable watering- 
 place of Aquae Solis {Bath), who died at the age of eighty-six. 
 Length of years had perhaps increased his attachment to life, 
 and he went thither to seek new vigour from the medicinal 
 waters of the place. From the form of the stone we may 
 suppose that it was placed on the wall of a tomb of some mag- 
 nitude. The following is all that remains of the inscription : — • 
 
 DEC COLONIAE GLEV Decuriou of the colonia of Glevum ; 
 
 vixiT AX • Lxxxvi he lived eighty-six years. 
 
 One instance has occurred of an age still more patriarchal. In 
 a cemetery at Bulmore, near Caerleon {Isca), one or two monu- 
 ments connected with the same family were found. On one 
 was the inscription : — 
 
 IVL • VALEXS • VET 
 I.EG • II • AVG • VIXIT 
 
 AXXTS • C • IVL 
 SECVNDIXA • CONIVXX 
 ET IVL MARTINVS * PILIVS 
 F • C 
 
 Julius Valens, a veteran 
 of the second legion, the Augustan, 
 lived 
 
 a hundred years. Julia 
 Secundina, his wife, 
 and Julius Martinus, his son, 
 caused this to be made. 
 
 Close by this stone, another was found with an inscription 
 recording the death of the wife of this aged veteran, and raised 
 by their son. The inscription furnishes us with another 
 formula, dis manibus et memories^ of which we have an example 
 in Gruter, found on the continent. It is interesting to find 
 this identity of expression and sentiment in different parts of 
 the Roman world. The inscription on the Caerleon monument 
 runs as follows : — 
 
 * The translation of this inscription is made after the ingenious restora- 
 tion of Mr Roach Smith, who (Collectanea, ii. p. 202) explains it, I believe 
 correctly, as follows ; — ... fii.ius servu qvi natw,9 galatia dec««bvit 
 GALATIA ^;ixIT ANXOS . . . MORITVrWS DES^DF.R^^^7^Y IN TlCmulo 
 
 sepeliri. In the second line, nanat appears to be an error of the stone- 
 cutter for NAT. 
 
386 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 D M ET 
 MEMORIAE 
 IVLIAE . SECVXDI 
 NAE . MATRI .PI 
 ISSIMAE . VIXIT . AX 
 NIS . LXXV . C . IVL 
 MARTIXVS . FIL 
 F . C 
 
 To the gods of the sliades, and 
 to memory. 
 
 To Julia Secundina, 
 a most affectionate mother, 
 who lived years 
 seventy-five, Caius Julius 
 Martinus, her son, 
 caused this to he made. 
 
 Eew inscriptions liave yet been found referring* to persons of 
 any rank in society, or to officials, except officers in the army 
 though we have seen inscriptions commemorative of a decurion 
 of Glevum and a sevir of Ebaracum. 
 
 A lingering sentiment of attachment to the living caused 
 tlie Romans to select for the sites of their tombs spots by the 
 side of the high-roads. The inscription on the grave of a 
 Roman named Lollius, quoted from Gruter, said that he was 
 ‘ buried by the road-side, that they who pass by may say, 
 Earewell, Lollius.’ It was from this circumstance that the 
 inscription is not nnfrequently addressed to the way-faring 
 traveller, with such phrases as siste, viator (stop, traveller) ; 
 aspice, viator {\ook, traveller) ; or cave, viator (beware, traveller). 
 They were, nevertheless, anxious to protect the last dwellings 
 of the dead from neglect or disrespect, and warnings to those 
 who might be inclined to offer indignities to the tombs are not 
 nnfrequently incorporated in the monumental inscription. It 
 seems to have been considered necessary to tell people that 
 they should not throw dirt or rubbish against the tombs, or 
 treat them otherwise in an unseemly manner.'^ In Italy, it is 
 sometimes expressly forbidden by the inscription to raise a 
 funeral pile against a tomb — ad hoc monumentum itstriuum 
 applicare non licet. Sometimes a notice was given that punish- 
 ment awaited the intruder who should bury any other body in 
 a sepulchre already occupied. Warnings of this kind belonged 
 more properly, perhaps, to family sepulchres. A broken stone 
 found at Watercrook, in Westmoreland, contained an inscription 
 of which a few letters at the end of each line were wanting, and 
 the last line was not distinctly legible — it appears, by the form 
 of the stone, to have been placed against the wall of a large 
 tomb : — 
 
 r . AEL . P . F SEllG . BASS 
 
 Q D LEG . XX VV . VIX .AX 
 
 * Horsley gives an inscription in which a still greater profanation is 
 .spoken of — c . caecilivs . c . et . o. l. florvs . vixit . axxos . xvi . 
 
 ET MEXSIBVS . VII . QVI . HIC . MIXERIT . AVT . CACARIT . IIABEAT . 
 DEOS . SVPEROS . ET . INFEROS . IRATOS. 
 
CHAP. XI.] ARTICLES BURIED WITH THE DEAD. 
 
 387 
 
 KT . P . KIVATVS LIBE . ET .HERO . . . 
 
 M . LEG . VI . VIC . EEC . SI U 
 
 SEPVLC . ALIVM MOllT 
 
 EKIT . INFER .F.D.D.N.N 
 
 As filled up and explained Horsley, it may be translated : 
 ‘ Publius iHlius Bassus, the son of Publius, of the tribe Sergia, 
 qumstor designatus of the twentieth legion, the valiant and 
 
 victorious, who lived .... years, and Publius 
 
 Eivatus, his freedinan, and Hero .... a soldier of the sixth 
 legion, the victorious, caused this to be made. If any one 
 shall intrude another corpse into this sepulchre, he shall pay as 
 a fine into the treasury of our lords.’ 
 
 A superstition, deeply imprinted in the minds of the people, 
 taught that articles of various kinds burnt or interred with the 
 deceased would add to the comfort of the departed spirit in tlie 
 world of shades. The dead were, therefore, clothed in their 
 full dress, with their jewellery and personal ornaments, and 
 they carried with them the coin or coins to pay their passage. 
 They were often furnished with wine or provisions. The occu- 
 ])ant of the tomb at Avisford, in Sussex, carried with him or 
 her a pair of siindals nailed with bronze instead of iron. A 
 mirror was found in a Homan grave at Colchester. In the 
 sepulchral chest, in one of the Bartlow hills, a folding stool and 
 strigils were found. Pictile vases and vessels of glass seem, 
 in many instances, to have been interred as useful for domestic 
 purposes. Amphorae were added probably for a similar reason. 
 Sometimes we meet even with culinary utensils. In one in- 
 stance, an iron tripod, for placing over a fire, was found with 
 a chain and pot-hooks in the middle. Almost the only articles 
 not found in Homan graves are arms, and I am not aware that 
 in any example yet known in Britain, a Homan was buried with 
 his warlike weapons. It must also be remarked that Homan 
 graves, rich in such articles as are mentioned above, are not 
 very common. 
 
 Branches and garlands of box and palm, as well as of othei' 
 trees or shrubs, appear to have been also deposited in the 
 grave. Such objects were also sculptured on the grave-stones, 
 and they were perhaps borrowed as emblems by the Christians 
 from their heathen predecessors. It has been rather hastily 
 supposed by one or two writers that the presence of such sculp- 
 tures — garlands and branches of palm — proves that the tomb- 
 stones on which they occur were raised over converts to the 
 
38S 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XI. 
 
 faith of the o-ospel. Mr Gage (Rokewode), in his account of 
 the opening of one of the Bartlow hills, published in the twenty- 
 eighth volume of the Archaeologia, has made the following 
 remarks on the traces of vegetable substances found there : — 
 ‘ In the observations made in 1832 upon the objects found in 
 the brick he says, ‘ some conjectures were offered on 
 
 a dark incrustation seen upon the cinerary urn. A branch of 
 yew, or other dark vegetable substance, was supposed to have 
 been the origin of it. This receives confirmation from the 
 actual finding, on the present occasion, of vegetable remains 
 scattered in the tomb, and adhering to several of the objects. 
 Leaves were found adhering to the bottom of the cinerary urn, 
 from Avhich it would appear that somo had been thrown in 
 before the urn was deposited ; while round the handle of the 
 lamp a wreath would seem to have been entwined. ‘‘ These 
 vegetable remains,” remarks Mr Brown, Y. R. S., who has had 
 the kindness to examine them, appear to consist of the epider- 
 mis of leaves and ultimate branches of box, the vascular part 
 and parenchyma being in most cases entirely removed ; I judge 
 the leaves to belong to box {buxus sempervireris), from their 
 insertion as indicated in the ramuli, from their outline, size, 
 thickened margin, and arrangement and form of stomata, which 
 in most cases, however, are removed, leaving round apertures 
 of the form and size of the whole stoma.” Professor Henslow 
 informs the writer of this memoir, that a skeleton was lately 
 found in or near Chesterford churchyard, together with a 
 Roman vase, and that box-leaves lay loose in the soil near the 
 skull and vase. Some of the leaves are in my possession, and 
 they are similar to those found at Bartlow.’ Mr Gage cites, 
 in illustration of these discoveries, the beautiful epigram of 
 Martial (i. 89), in which the box and the palm are connected 
 with the last home of mortality. 
 
 Alcinie, queni raptum domino crescentibus annis 
 Labicana levi cespite velat humus, 
 
 Accipe non Phario nutantia pondera saxo, 
 
 Qu8b cineri vanus dat ruitura labor ; 
 
 Sed fragiles buxos et opacas palmitis umbras, 
 
 Quaeque virent lacrymis roscida prata meis. 
 
 Accipe, care puer, nostri rnonumenta laboris ; 
 
 Hie tibi perpetuo tempore vivet honor. 
 
 Cum mihi supremos Lachesis perneverit annos, 
 
 Non aliter cineres mando jacere meos. 
 
 It is, of course, to be supposed that the sepulchres which we 
 have been describing belonged to the better orders of society. 
 
^^\r. XI.] 
 
 FL^LGUR 
 
 8<SQ 
 
 The process of crematioa was an expensive one, and it was 
 probably tliis circumstance which gTadually led to its abolition. 
 People of the lower class of society were regarded contemptu- 
 ously, and were thrown into trenches in the ground with little 
 ceremony or respect. The public burial-grounds for the poor 
 were called in Italy, piiticuli^ from puteus, a pit, on account of 
 the unceremonious manner in which the dead were thrown into 
 the shallow pits or trenches. The ground was not even looked 
 upon as consecrated, and it was without difficulty turned to 
 other purposes. A burrl-grouind cf tffis kind, at the Esquiliue 
 gate of Pome, was given by Augustus to his favourite ministei*, 
 Maecenas, to be turned into a garden, and the change was 
 celebrated by Horace : — 
 
 Nunc licet Esquiliis habitare salubribus, atque 
 Agg-ere in aprico spatiari ; quo modo tristes 
 A Ibis inforinern spectabant ossibus humum. 
 
 Lib. i., ^at. viii., 1. 14. 
 
 We have not sufficient information to enable us to trace the 
 gradual disappearance of the practice of cremation, but we are 
 told by Macrobius,^ who wrote at the beginning of the fiftli 
 century, that the custom of burning had been then so long- 
 discontinued, that it was only from books he could gather any 
 information relating to it. Persons who had committed suicide 
 were never allowed to be burnt, and the same prohibition 
 extended to those who died in their infancy. Those who were 
 struck dead by lightning were believed to have suffered under 
 the special visitation of the gods, and they were interred as 
 they died, and on the same spot, if it were not a place where it 
 was unlawful to bury. On the continent, several Poman 
 inscriptions have been found, commemorative of the effects of 
 the ‘ lightning of the gods,’ and perhaps marking the place 
 where some unfortunate mortal has been thus launched into 
 eternity. One at Florence bears the inscription fvlgvr divm ; 
 a similar inscription found at Nimes {Nemausus) has fvlgvr 
 D ivoM ; another at Palermo {Pauormus), fvlgvr conditvm ; 
 and another at Oderzo on the Adriatic {Opitergiimi), de caelo 
 TACTVM ET CONDITVM. We have here another interesting link 
 between the manners of the Pomans in Britain and in their 
 native Italy. A little to the west of the ancient town of Hun- 
 iium {Halton-Chesters) on the wall of Hadrian, has been found 
 
 * ‘ Deinde, licet urendi corpora defunctoruni usus nostro sseculo nullu.s 
 sit, lectio tanien docet eo tempore quo igni dari honor mortuis habebatur,’ 
 &c'. — Macrob. Saturnal.^ lib. vii. c. 7. 
 
3^0 
 
 IHE EOMANS. 
 
 [chap. XT. 
 
 a stone, represented in tlie annexed cut, with the identical in- 
 scription mentioned above, fvlgvr divom. Perhaps one of the 
 soldiers of the station here met his death from heaven. 
 
 Inscribed stone at Halton-Chesters (Jlunnum'). 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 KOMAN FIBULA. 
 
 6di 
 
 CHAPTER XU. 
 
 J>oiiiestic Life amon^ the Romans in Britain as Illustrated by their Re- 
 mains — Dress and Personal Ornaments — the Toilette — the Household ; 
 Furniture and Utensils — Female Occupations — Cutlery — Styli— 
 Scales— Ornamental Articles — Weapons, &;c. 
 
 If the numerous articles belongino; to tlie ordinary usages of 
 life, which have been found on Roman sites in different parts of 
 the country, were collected together and arranged, they would, 
 no doubt, go far towards giving us a perfect picture of tin.' 
 manners of the population of Britain under the Romans. Un- 
 fortunately, in times back, great quantities have been lost, or 
 destroyed after their discovery, and tliose which remain ai’c 
 scattered about, mostly in private bands, from the want of any 
 really national museum in which to depose them. They uni- 
 formly give evidence to the fact that the civilization of Britain, 
 during the whole of this period, was purely Roman, and that 
 whatever races settled here under the banner of Rome, they 
 accepted unreservedly its dress and manners as well as its lan- 
 guage and laws. 
 
 The dress of the Romans appears not to have varied much in 
 its general character until the later period of the empire. It 
 was simple in its forms, and the principal distinction between 
 the garments of classes and individuals consisted in the richness 
 of the material and in the brilliance of the colours. The dress 
 of the male sex continued to be composed of the tunic, worn 
 next to the skin, and the toga, over it ; though in later times 
 it was not unusual to wear more than one tunic, and the 
 pallium or mantle, a garment borrowed from the Greeks, was 
 thrown over the toga, or rather substituted in its place. The 
 tunic worn by men reached generally to the middle of the thighs, 
 or not, at all events, below the knees. Females had a longer 
 tunic reaching to the feet, and over it they wore the stola, 
 Teaching a little below the knees, instead of the toga, and over 
 
392 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [ciiAr. xTi. 
 
 it the pallium, or mantle.^ In the formation of these dresses 
 there was not much ‘ tailoring ; ’ they consisted of little more 
 than pieces of cloth, linen, or silk, with fringes and borders, 
 wrapped loosely round the body. Almost the only fastenings 
 appear to have been fibulae, or brooches, which, from the num- 
 bers that are continually found on all Roman sites, must have 
 been used in great profusion. We scarcely ever meet with even 
 the smallest collection of Roman antiquities, but a considerable 
 proportion of it consists of fragments of fibulae. The annexed 
 cut represents the more usual forms of these articles, which 
 
 Roman fibulm. 
 
 are sometimes more ornamental, but they always, with the 
 exception of the circular brooches, follow these designs. The 
 first on the left was found at Caerleon ; the second, which is in 
 my own possession, came from Boulogne ; the third was found 
 near Maidstone ; the fourth, at Caerleon ; the fifth, at Stroud 
 in Kent ; and the one to the extreme right, at Cirencester. The 
 material is usually bronze, though Roman fibulae in silver and 
 gold have been found. A fibula of the form of the last to the 
 right in our group, of a large size, and made of solid gold, was 
 found at Odiham in Hampshire, in 1844. The round fibulae 
 appear, from figures in coins and pictures, to have been used 
 for fastening the pallium over the shoulder. They are often 
 more ornamental than the bow-shaped fibulae, and are some- 
 times enamelled. Lysons has published an engraving of a 
 beautiful circular fibula, in gold, wnth figures of griftbns on one 
 side, and bears on the other ; it was found at Old Penrith, in 
 Cumberland. Buttons are also found, sometimes elegantly 
 
 * For the forms of their articles of dress, the reader may refer to any of 
 the general treatises on the history of costume, such as that by Mr Fair- 
 holt, which I would especially recommend. 
 
CHAP. XIT.] 
 
 HAIR-PIXS. 
 
 393 
 
 ornamented, but the manner in whieli they were employed is not 
 well known. 
 
 Bracelets {armlllce) for the wrists are also articles of common 
 occurrence in bronze, silver, and gold. They consist generally 
 of a simple narrow ring, seldom much ornamented, and often 
 without any ornament at all. .Roman rings, which are more 
 frequently of gold, are so varied in form that it would not be 
 possible to give any general description of them. They some- 
 times contain engraved stones, but these are more frequently 
 found without their mounting. The frequency with which Roman 
 engraved stones, or intaglios, are met with, show that they 
 were very much in use in all parts of the empire. Roman 
 ear-rings are usually in gold, though they sometimes occur in 
 bronze ; it would be as difficult to give a general description of 
 them as of finger-rings. The beads of the Romans, which were 
 mostly of glass, have already been described; they are foimd 
 with various fittings and adjuncts, some of which were no doubt 
 looked upon as amulets. 
 
 Among the articles of female ornament that occur in the 
 greatest abundance are pins (acus), generally of bone or bronze, 
 which were used for fastening the knot of the hair behind the 
 head, and are represented as thus employed in ancient busts 
 and statuettes. Those figured in the annexed cut are all of 
 
 Pins i.nd Xvieedle. 
 
S04 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIT. 
 
 bone, and are represented half tlie size of the originals. They 
 were in the miiseuin of Mr Holfe, of Sandwich, and are hei*e 
 taken from Air Hoach Smitli’s work on Hichborongh. Air 
 Smith’s own museum presents a large and varied collection of 
 such pins. They have sometimes large heads, and wei’e 
 elaborately ornamented, terminating, in some instances, in a 
 bust, or in a figure. Some very curious Homan hair-pins, 
 made of coloured glass, were found near Dorchester, in Dorset- 
 shire, in 1850. Alartial has left us a short epigram which 
 illustrates the use of the hair-pin, — 
 
 ^CKS aurea. 
 
 Tenuia ne rnadidi violent bonibycina crines ; 
 
 Figat acus tortas sustineatque comas. 
 
 Bpig. lib. xiv. 24. 
 
 An article of personal ornament, worn by men, the torques, 
 torqids, or collar, must not be overlooked in speaking of the 
 subject which now occupies our attention. The torques is said, 
 by ancient writers, to have been originally used by the IV.rsians 
 in the east, and by the nations of northern and western Europe. 
 Virgil describes it as worn by the Trojans, when they came to 
 colonize Italy ; — 
 
 Omnibus in morem tonsa coma pressa corona, 
 
 Cornea bina ferunt prsefixo hastilia ferro ; 
 
 Pars leves humero pharetras ; it pectore summo 
 Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri. 
 
 It is first mentioned in Eoinan history in the year 360 B.c., 
 when Manlius, having torn a torques of gold from the neck of 
 a vanquished Gaul, placed it on his own, and received, from 
 this circumstance, the name of Torquatus. Erom this time, in 
 the wars with the Gauls, the example of Torquatus Alanlius 
 Avas often imitated, and the torques was adopted among the 
 Homans as the reward of military merit. Torques are not 
 unfrequently found in our island, and appear, in some instances, 
 to be of British manufacture, though in others tliey are 
 undoubtedly Homan. The Homan writers speak of them as 
 worn by the Britons, and the queen of the Iceni, Boadicea, is 
 described by Dion Cassius as having a torquis of gold round 
 lier neck. This was the metal of Avhich they were usually 
 made. They consisted of a long piece of gold, twisted or 
 spiral, doubled back in the form of a short hook at each end, 
 and then turned into the form of a circle. The usual form is 
 represented in fig. 1 in the cut on the next page. The gold ivas 
 sometimes worked with more elaborate ornament into twisted 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 TORQUES AND ARMILL5i:, 
 
 895 
 
 cords, &c., and ended in serpents’ heads, instead of plain 
 hooks An inscription found in France, and published by 
 Alontfaucon, mentions a torques dedicated to iEsculapins, 
 which was made by twistim>; together two golden snakes. A 
 very remarkable torques of tine gold was found in Needwood 
 Forest, in Staffordshire, in 1848, where it had been turned up 
 out of the earth by a fox. It was formed of eight plaited 
 cords of gold, weighing together 1 lb. 1 oz. 7 dwts. and 10 grains. 
 At Pattingham, also in Staffordshire, a golden torques was found 
 in the year 1700, which weighed no less than 3 lbs. 2 oz. It 
 is described as being ' curiously twisted and wreathed, with 
 two hooks at each end, cut even, but not twisted.’ Its 
 value, probably, hindered it from being preserved. The torques 
 found in Needwood Forest is now in the possession of her 
 IMajesty; and an engraving of it was given in the thirty-third 
 
 Torques and Armilla?. 
 
 volume of the ‘ Archaeologia,’ from Avhich the one in our cut 
 (2) is taken. The torques was sometimes bent into a spiral, 
 instead of a circular, form, in which case it was intended for 
 the arm, not the neck ; it was in this case denominated torquh 
 hrachlalis, and was usually of bronze. In some instances if is 
 merely a piece of metal like that in tig. 1, twisted into a spiral 
 form for the arm ; but it is often much more massive. The 
 elegant bronze armlet (fig. 3 in our cut), found on the coast of 
 Afurray shire, in Scotland, weighed nearly two pounds and a 
 half. Another description of bronze armlet, or bracelet, in- 
 tended, like the one last mentioned, for the military, probably 
 as a mark of honour, was formed of a triangular, bar of bronze, 
 
 2 IS 
 
3^6 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [ciiAr. XII. 
 
 first doubled, with a lobe, and then twisted round into the form 
 represented in fig. 4 in our cut. The example here given was 
 found in Northumberland, on the line of Hadrian’s Wall, and 
 weighs about three-quarters of a pound. 
 
 The only part of the dress of the Eoinans in Britain Avhich 
 has come down to us entire, is the sandal or shoe {callga). 
 Alany of these sandals, taken chiefly from the bed of the 
 Thames opposite London, were in the possession of Mr 
 Iloach Smith. They are of leather, of various sizes, and the 
 soles, formed usually of four layers of leather held together by 
 nails clenched on the inside, are cut as in our modern right- 
 and-left shoes. The layer of leather next to the sole of the 
 foot is close sewn to the lower portions, and then forms an 
 exterior ridge, from which, at the sides, rise strong loops lor 
 fastening the sandals over the instep with straps or fillets. In 
 nearly all instances this ridge folds a little way over, and 
 protects the extremities of the toes. Other examples, appar- 
 ently intended for women and children, have reticulated work, 
 also in leather, round the heels and sides, of various degrees of 
 fineness, and more or less elegant in design. Three of these 
 shoes, or sandals, are here given, from the collection of Mr. 
 lioacli Smith. The first of these has its upper-leather made in 
 two pieces, and sewed at the toes and at the heel. In the 
 
 Sandal, seven inches long by three wide. 
 
 second, the upper-leather, which covered the foot up to the 
 ankle, was sewed at the heel only, and appears to have been 
 ti(^d or laced up the front with a thong. The third example is 
 eonstructed somewhat differently from the others in the upper 
 part, as the latchets were intended to tie over the instep, and 
 liot fasten with a thong. In this case, the layers of the sole 
 are pi'eserved quite perfect, with the nails which held them 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 ROMAN SANDALS. 
 
 3)7 
 
 together. In other examples, the heads of the nails are flat 
 instead of pointed. The Roman sandals found in Britain have 
 
 the soles almost always covered with nails, which are often very 
 large and clumsy, though sometimes, as in those found in the 
 tombs at York and Avisford, smaller and finer. In these nails 
 
 we have another link between the manners of Roman Britain 
 and those of Italy. Pliny, describing the scales of a peculiar 
 fish, tells ns that they resemble the nails of sandals;^ and 
 Juvenal, alluding to the profusion of nails with which the sole 
 of the caliga was covered, says : — 
 
 Dio:num erit ergo 
 
 Declaraatoris mulino corde Vagelli, 
 
 Quum duo crura habeas, olfendere tot caligas, tot 
 Millia clavoruin. — Sat. xvi., 1. 22. 
 
 The sandals are here used to represent the soldiers who wore 
 
 * ‘ Squamis eonspicui crebris atque pcracutis, clavorum caligarum 
 effigie.’ — Flin. Hist. Nat. lib. ix. c. 18. 
 
398 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. xir. 
 
 them, and we know that the calig*a Avas the proper shoe of the 
 military. The nailed soles from the tombs just alluded to 
 belonged no doubt to the shoes of ladies ; but the upper cover- 
 ing, whether of leather or other still more perishable material, 
 is no longer remaining, and Ave cannot even guess at its form. 
 The shoe {calceus or calceainentmn) , Avorn by the better classes 
 of society, appears to have differed little in form from these 
 made in modern times ; they Avere of different colours, and of 
 various materials. The ladies, and even men of fashion, appear 
 to have worn them of linen, or silk, and sometimes ornamented 
 with jewellery : the shoes of a female in a picture at Jlor'^ida- 
 neiiin are painted yelloAv. 
 
 Among the Roman antiquities found in this island, instjMi- 
 inents of the toilette are by no means nnfrequent. Among 
 these Avas the mirror, or speculum^ Avhicli consisted usually of n 
 round plate of polished metal, set in a frame of the same shape, 
 with a handle. Tor, Avhen used, it Avas held up to the person, 
 using it by a servant. Several such mirrors of polished metal 
 have been found in the cemeteries at Colchester ; and one, 
 found in an extensive Roman burial-place near Deverill-street, 
 SoutliAvark, is engraved in the tAventy- sixth volume of the 
 ‘ Archseologia.’ They are usually small ; those found at Col- 
 chester Avere betAveen three and four inches in diameter. I am 
 not aware that any other description of Roman mirror has been 
 met Avith in this country ; rare examples of square ones have 
 been found in Italy, and Ave knoAv that the Romans used 
 mirrors of glass, and that they even placed large mirrors on 
 their Avails and ceilings. 
 
 The Roman comb (pecten) Avas usually toothed on both sides, 
 and the common material in Italy Avas box-Avood. This Avas 
 so generally the case, that Martial, speaking ironically of tlie 
 uselessness of such an instrument in the hands of a Avoman who 
 Avas bald, adopts the name of the wood for the comb : — ■ 
 
 Quid faciet nullos hie inventura capillos, 
 
 Multifido huxus qu8e tibi dente datur ? 
 
 Ip., lib. xiv. 'lo. 
 
 Bone and metal were also used. The museum of jMr Roach 
 Smith contains fragments of Roman combs in Avood and bone 
 found in London. In one of the Roman rubbish pits at 
 Chesterford in Essex, a comb of bronze, Avith a double roAv of 
 teeth, Avas found. It is now in the museum of Lord Bray- 
 brooke, at Aiidley End, Avho also possesses a similarly shaped 
 
XU.1 THE TOILETTE; LOCKS AND KEYS. 
 
 399 
 
 comb of iron, found on the site of the railway station 
 at Cliesterford. Small tweezers {volsellce) are also frequently 
 met with among- the Homan remains in this country, and 
 evidently formed a neeessary part of the toilette of the ladies ; 
 their use, no doubt, was to pluck superfluous hairs from the 
 body. Small articles in bronze have been dug up at Cirencester 
 and elsewhere, which, from their form, appear to have been 
 used for cleansing and dressing the nails. 
 
 We have very few remains that throw any light on the man- 
 ner in which the houses of the Eomans in Britain were furnish- 
 ed, and we can only assume, tVom the resemblance in other 
 things, that the fltshions of Italy, in this respeet, also prevailed 
 here. It has been already stated that the not nnfrequent 
 occurrence, in the remains of Homan houses, of walls which 
 seem to run into apartments, and of projections at the lower 
 parts of the walls internally, would indiiee us to suppose that 
 these were intended to serve permanently as seats. Move- 
 able furniture was generally made of perishable materials, and 
 consisted of articles least likely to be left among the ruins of 
 the houses when abandoned. The only article of this descrip- 
 tion that I can call to mind as having been fourid in Britain, 
 was the metal frame of a folding seat found in one of the 
 Bartlow hills. Brom the great number of keys of all. sizes, 
 which are found scattered about the floors of Homan houses 
 when they are excavated, there must have been many chests, 
 colters, and caskets with locks, independently of the locks of 
 the doors. Three rather common forms of keys are given in 
 the annexed cut, taken from examples found in London. The 
 
 Komun Keys, 
 
400 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 [chat. xir. 
 
 interment of small caskets of this kind in graves has been, 
 in some instances, traced by the existence of decayed wood, 
 and the presence among it of ornamental nails and fragments 
 of metal. Several Eoman locks, mostly of bronze, have been 
 found in the cemeteries at Colchester, of which one of the most 
 perfect is represented in the cut below. The plate of this lock 
 was four inches broad by two and three-quarters deep, and it 
 has evidently belonged to a chest. The key-hole was covered 
 by a guard, as in modern locks of the same description. The 
 forms of Eoman keys are so extremely varied that it would be 
 difficult to give any notion of them in a general description. 
 They are most commonly, especially the smaller ones, of bronze. 
 Many resemble closely the keys of the present day. Others 
 present fanciful shapes, with a good deal of ornament. One 
 form of key, of very frequent occurrence, evidently intended to 
 be placed on the linger like a ring, is represented in our eut. 
 The ring is at right-angles to the axle of the key, which is 
 always very short. These keys are generally so small and 
 delicate, that they can only have been used for locks of small 
 caskets, which required the least possible force to turn them. 
 The larger keys are often of iron, and they are sometimes found 
 of a form resembling our modern latch-keys, and were no doubt 
 used in the same manner. Two of these Eoman latch-keys, 
 found at Colchester, are represented in our cut ; they are both 
 
 of iron, the upper example eight inches long, and the other five 
 inches and a half, so that they probably belonged to doors. 
 Similar latch-keys were found in the Eoman villa at Hartlip in 
 Kent ; and they have been met with elsewhere on Eoman sites 
 
CH\r. xii.] 
 
 COOKING UTEXSTT.S. 
 
 ■KU 
 
 in this country. The padlock was also in use amono’ tin 
 Eomans, who termed it m'a pensllls, a hanging' lock ; it was 
 formed not like those at present in use, but somewhat like the 
 cylindrical locks, which were in more general use some years 
 ago, but are now becoming obsolete. 
 
 It has already been shown how the Roman houses were 
 warmed by means of hypocausts, and no traces have yet been 
 found of fire-places in the interior of the rooms. We know, 
 however, that in the south, the Romans had portable fire-places, 
 or braziers, of metal, which they could bring into the room 
 when wanted, and which might be used equally for warming 
 the guests, or for keeping warm the plates or viands ; and we 
 would fain believe that the exhortation of Horace, — 
 
 Dissolve frigiis, ling-a super foco 
 
 Large reponens, — 
 
 was as applicable in Britain, as in the land of the snow-clad 
 Soracte. The appeals so frequently repeated in the Roman 
 writers, that people should amare focos, love their fire-sides, and 
 that they should piignare pro fools et arts, fight for their heartlis 
 and altars, had doubtless some substantial foundation in the 
 manners of the people. Mr Roach Smith has given an engrav- 
 ing in the second volume of his ‘ Collectanea ’ of a pair of 
 andirons, or fire-dogs, of iron, discovered in 1839, in a sepul- 
 chral vault at Mount Bures, near Colchester. Each consisted of 
 a frame, the two upright sides of which were crowned with 
 heads of oxen, with a brass knob on the tip of each horn. Two 
 very similar implements, also of iron, had been found near 
 Shefford, in Bedfordshire, in 1832, and an engraving of them 
 has also been given by Mr Roach Smith. Articles of the same 
 cliaracter, but smaller, have been found at Pompeii, and in a 
 tomb at Ppestum. The Italian antiquaries seem to consider 
 that they Were used, not like the mediaeval fire-dogs, to support 
 the fuel, but that they were cooking utensils, intended to 
 support iron bars to serve as a gridiron over the fire for cooking 
 meat. The two fire-dogs found near Shefford terminated in 
 stags’ heads. The gentleman who found them, Mr Inskip of 
 Shefford, has given the following account of the discovery, 
 which seems to confirm the opinion of the antiquaries of Italy : — 
 ‘ I employed two men,’ he says, ‘ to dig on the spot, and we 
 quickly found an iron fire-dog of simple construction, and 
 doubtless used by the Romans for cooking. After this we met 
 with a stout iron-bar, one end of which was curved somewhat 
 
402 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. xn. 
 
 like a pump-sweep or handle, having’ a hole throuu’h it at the 
 ends : for this I could at first assign no apparent us(u T dug- 
 further, and found a second fire-dog, a duplicate of the former ; 
 they were both in a small degree mutilated, yet 1 was led to 
 admire the grace and spirit Avith Avhich all articles of Roman 
 manufacture were executed. Their designs are still more 
 striking; and, even in these homely utensils, the imitations of 
 nature are of the boldest order ; the graceful turn of the stag’s 
 neck, and the outline of the head, Avhich form the ornamental 
 part of each end, are singularly eftective ; and it is a matter of 
 admiration, the simplicity of contrivance in these fire-dogs for 
 cooking the greatest quantity of victuals at one and the same 
 fire. To effect this, the bar before alluded to was laid longitudi- 
 nally on one side of the stag’s head ; behvixt that and one of his 
 horns, another bar lay parallel, on the opposite side ; from both 
 of which descenaed two rows of hooks, to supply the means of 
 boiling or roasting, the curved ends of the bars having holes 
 through each of them, into which might be thrust piA^ots of 
 iron so contrived, that upon necessitous occasions, they Avould 
 form four bars, and thus multiply the means of making the 
 most of one fire. The end of each bar also turned up grace- 
 fully as a hook, from which might depend additional pots and 
 kettles.’ Mr Inskip’s explanation may perhaps be altogether 
 fanciful ; but it is remarkable that an utensil undoubted ly 
 intended for cooking was found at the same place. This was an 
 iron tripod, consisting of three curved legs turning on a swivel 
 at the top, under AAdiich Avas fixed a massive iron ring. Near 
 it Avas found a chain and pot-hooks, Avhich evidently belonged 
 to the ring at the top of the tripod. 
 
 We liaA-e other examples of such tripods use<l by the Romans 
 to support culinary vessels over the fire ; but a great portion 
 of their cooking appears to have been performed on stoves, and 
 the fcAV supposed culinary A^essels that have been found in this 
 country partake rather of the character of saucepans and frying- 
 pans than of kettles. The vessels found in Britain most de- 
 cidedly belonging to the Roman kitchen are the eartheriAvare 
 mortaria already described, and metal as aatII as earthenware 
 strainers or colanders. The former Avere used for pounding or 
 mincing meats and vegetables, and, from the profusion in Avhicli 
 they are found, seem to show that the Romans in Britain were 
 very partial to made dishes. The strainer (colimi) Avas used in 
 Italy formally purposes, the chief of Avhich Avas that of cooling 
 Avine. This sort of strainers Avere called cola nivaria ; they 
 
KITCHEN UTENSILS. 
 
 4C3 
 
 CHAP. XII.] 
 
 were formed like basins, and filled with snow or ice, and the 
 wine was passed through them. Those found in this country 
 consist generally of a rather deep i)owl, perforated with small 
 holes, and a long handle, and were evidently intended for taking 
 cooked meats, &c., out of the boiler, without carrying the water 
 with them — in fact, a ladle and strainer combined. Utensils of 
 this kind were termed triia or trnlla. They are found not 
 unfrequently in this island. One was found at Chesterford, in 
 Essex, in 1847, with the bowl partly filled with brass coins. 
 One, exactly similar, even in pattern, and of the same material 
 (bronze), was found some years ago at Whitfield, in Northmn- 
 berland, along with three kettles or boilers, resembling camp- 
 kettles, which were evidently intended to be placed over a fire. 
 They are all now preserved in the museum at Newcastle-upon- 
 Tyne. The kettles are also of bronze, but of extremely thin 
 metal, so that they would readily feel the fire. They have been 
 patched in several places. One of them has three feet to stand 
 upon, which was a form of boiler invented to supersede the use 
 of a simple pot placed over the fire upon a tripod. 
 
 A general description has already been given of the earthen- 
 ware used for culinary and other domestic purposes ; but it 
 would be extremely difficult to point out the purposes for which 
 each particular form of vessel was designed, though it is pro- 
 bable that most of them were intended for the table. The 
 mortariimi, as I have just stated, belonged peculiarly to the 
 kitchen. The amphora was used to contain wine, and also 
 olives, oil, or honey. The amphora contained these articles in 
 large bulk, and occupied the place of our modern barrels ; the 
 liquids were served at table in the ampulla, or bottle, which 
 was made of earthenware or glass, and was always distinguished 
 by its narrow neck and swollen body. Hence the term ampulla 
 w^as applied metaphorically to anything swollen, even to turgid 
 language ; for Horace talks of — 
 
 ampullas et sesquipedalia verba. 
 
 The other description of earthen vessel, which had the mouth 
 not much less wide, or even wider, than the body, w^as desig- 
 nated by the general term of olla, pot or jar. The olla had 
 sometimes a lid; it was used to hold solids rather than liquids, 
 ])ut it was often made large, to be placed on the fire for culinarv 
 purposes. Great quantities of vessels, answering all these 
 descriptions, are found among the lioman remains in Britain, 
 ddiey are sometimes made of bronze, with very elegantly orna- 
 
404 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. xit. 
 
 meiited handles. Another article belonging’ to the Roman 
 kitchen was the quern, or liandmill, for gTinding corn. it 
 consisted of a couple of round stones, one forming a sort o\ 
 socket to the other, and by turning* the upper one round, the 
 corn was pounded — a rude method of manufacturing meal. 
 Corn appears to have been kept in the house in grain, and to 
 have been thus ground by the hand whenever it was necessary 
 to bake. These stone querns are found frequently on Roman 
 sites in this country. In the back-yard of one of the houses of 
 ancient Tsurium {AldborougJi, in Yoi'ksJiire) , represented in onr 
 plate at p. 193, the querns were found in the situation in 
 which they had been used. 
 
 Among other articles Avhich belonged to the culinary depai*t- 
 ment of the Roman house was the water-cock (epistomimn) . 
 It is an article, as might be expected, of not very frequent 
 occurrence ; but Mr Roach Smith possesses, among his numer- 
 ous relics of Roman London, an ornamental bronze water-cock, 
 which issues from the mouth of a dog’s head. It is rather a 
 singular combination of names, that it was found in excavations 
 in Philpot Lane, Penchurch Street. 
 
 Before we leave the kitchen, Ave must speak of a class of 
 remains intimately connected with its purposes. Attached to 
 Roman villas and towns, we invariably find large heaps of the 
 remains of provisions, consisting especially of the shells of fish 
 and of the bones of animals. These organic remains areAvorthy 
 of study in many points of vieAv ; they make us acquainted 
 with the various classes of animal food consumed by the Romano- 
 British population of onr island : and they ai’e particularly 
 interesting to the naturalist, from the circumstance that they 
 show the existence of some animals — such as the has longifron-i 
 — Avhich have now long been extinct. The proximity of Roman 
 sites is almost always shown by the presence of immense quan- 
 tities of oyster- shells, Avhich sIioav that there Avas a great con- 
 sumption of oysters in Roman Britain ; and the shells of cockles 
 and mussels are also abundant. It has been supposed that the 
 Romans fed snails as delieacies for the table, and it is a curious 
 circumstance, that a large species of snail is often found still 
 existing about Poman stations. In excavating on Roman sites, 
 large quantities of shells of snails are not unfrequently found; 
 at Lymne, in Kent, (Foidus Levianns), I have seen them dug 
 up at the foundations of the Avails, in masses almost as large as 
 ordinary buckets, and completely embedded together. Th(' 
 snails may, hoAvcATr, have thus collected together in such places 
 
CHAP. Xll.] 
 
 AXniAL REMATXS. 
 
 405 
 
 at a much more recent period than that with which their coji- 
 nexion with the ruins around would seem to identify them. 
 
 Among the animal remains found among relics of the Koman 
 period in Colchester are horns of a short-horned ox, of the stag, 
 and of a very large goat, as well as of the bos longifrons, just 
 mentioned, a species of ox named from the length of its frontal 
 l)one, which is found by geologists among fossil remains, but 
 which does not exist at present ; bones of the ox. sheep, and 
 goat ; jaws, teeth, and tusks of wild hogs ; and teeth and jaws 
 of dogs, and apparently of wolves. The different forms of the 
 horns discovered in different localities show that there must 
 liave been many varieties of oxen in Britain. The bones and 
 horns of animals found with Eoman remains in London include 
 the bos longifrons, sheep, goats, deer, and swine. A deep pit 
 attached to the Eoman villa at Hartlip, in Kent, contained a 
 large quantity of the bones of the sheep, hog, horse, and also 
 of the bos longifrons. In a Eoman villa at Dursley, near Glou- 
 cester, were found remains of the horse, stag, fox, wild boar, 
 hares, rabbits, mice, wild ducks, chickens, goats, pigs, sheep, 
 kids, lambs, rooks, and small birds, cats, polecats, and of a 
 small kind of ox. The Eev. Mr Layton, of Sandwich, Avho 
 Avatched the opening of the rubbish pits at Eichborough, furn- 
 ished Mr Eoach Smith AAuth the following account of the 
 animal remains found there : — ‘ The major part consists of the 
 common bones of the ox, sheep, and roebuck- -especially the 
 first. . I have seen one head also of* the ox, Avith the frontal 
 bone broken through, as if Avith a pole-axe, just as by a butcher 
 of the present day. It may be noticed, too, that the oxen and 
 sheep Avere small Avhen compared Avith ours ; and one is pleaseal 
 Avith finding the account of Tacitus, in his ‘"Germany,” (pecoruni 
 fecunda, sed plenmgne miprocera^ so Avell illustrated by the 
 dirt-pits of Eichborough.’ A great variety of animal bones 
 are found at Wroxeter {IJriconiiim). Pieces of the horns of 
 deer and other animals are found saAved off, no doubt for the 
 purpose of manufacturing the different articles Avhich Avere 
 abundantly made of such materials. Boars’ tusks are often 
 found fitted up for ornaments, and sometimes apparently 
 designed to be suspended on the person, or to the horse — pei’- 
 haps tropies of the chase. 
 
 An article found very frecpiently on the sites of Eoman 
 buildings is the small bell {tintlnnabulKw), Avhich Avas probably 
 used to summon the slaves and attendants Avhen their services 
 were wanted. These bells are as frequently square as round, 
 
436 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [ciiAr. xir. 
 
 jiiid are usually made of bronze. One, in the cabinet of ^Iv 
 Roach Smith, is so well preserved, that it still produces a clear 
 and sliarp sound ; it was found in the ruins of one of tlie houses 
 of Eoman London. 
 
 Another article of very frequent occurrence is the lamp 
 {hicernd), made usually of terra-cotta. It has been .already 
 stated that lamps are frequently found in sepulcln-es. They 
 were also used in liahtino- houses, apparently in considerable 
 profusion, and it is evident that it would require a considerable 
 number to illuminate a room effectively. In one corridor of 
 the public baths of Pompeii, upwards of five hundred lam])s 
 were found ; and in the course of excavating the different parts 
 of the same building, more than a thousand were collected 
 The terra-cotta lamp is usually circular, from two inches and a 
 half to three inches in diameter, with a projecting spout for the 
 wick. A hole, or two holes, in the circular body, allowed the 
 air to pass, and the spout was sometimes double or treble, to 
 admit of two or three separate wicks. The annexed cut repre- 
 sents two (‘xainples of terra-cotta lamps, selected from several 
 
 Koiiijin Lumps, from Cu'cliester 
 
 loiind at Colchester. The field, often plain, is, however, fre- 
 ((iiently ornamented with figures, Avhich are no less varied and 
 interesting than those on the red Samian pottery. Our two 
 (‘xamples represent a centaur carrying an amphora of wine, and 
 what appears to be a fuller at work. Others have theatrical 
 masks, busts, mythological figures, gladiatorial subjects, domestic 
 and sometimes licetitious scenes, &c. Mr Eoach Smith has 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 LAMPS; HOUSEHOLD GODS. 
 
 407 
 
 several examples of a terra-cotta lamp, on which is the repre- 
 sentation of a mill for o-rinding corn, turned by an ass, one of 
 which is here given in a cut. Lamps made of metal, usually 
 
 Homan Lamp, from London. 
 
 bronze, are of rarer occurrence. One, in Mr Smith’s museum, 
 which was taken from the Thames, has been made from a 
 bronze cup, of a very elegant pattern, by breaking in one side*, 
 and adding a spout. An engraving of this curious relic is 
 given in the Archaeological Album. When used for domestic 
 purposes, the lamp was placed on a little disc, raised on a shaft 
 — a candelahnmi. The York Museum contains two leaden 
 stands with handles, evidently intended for carrying lamps 
 about the house without the risk of dropping the oil. The 
 metal lamps, which have frequently fanciful and grotesque 
 forms, were often suspended by chains, or by a rod. One of 
 these, with the rod which suspended it, was found in one of the 
 Hartlow hills. 
 
 Among the articles of household furniture peculiar to the 
 Homans, there is one class which deserves particular notice. 
 These are the images of the household gods, the fjetiaUn and 
 lares^ which answered in some respect to our mediceval fairies. 
 They were supposed to watch over the prosperity of the house 
 and its occupants, and visitors were in the habit of saluting 
 them, for which purpose tlnur images were placed in the house 
 in conspicuous places. When iEneas had first experienced 
 hospitality on the shores of Italy, he is represented as paying 
 his respects to the household gods : — 
 
 Hesternumque larem, parvosque penates 
 La3tus adit. — Virgil^ JEn. viii. d43. 
 
403 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [CH VP. XII. 
 
 They were called tlie little deities {dil mhiut]), and it was iisua] 
 to propitiate them witli offerino's of the remnants of provisions, 
 or other small articles, a custom to which Juvenil refers in the 
 following lines : — 
 
 O parvi nostrique lares, quos thure minute, 
 
 Aut farre, et tenui seleo exurare corona. — Sat. ix. 137. 
 
 In accepting such offerings they were supposed to exhibit a 
 sort of goodfellowship towards the people of the house, and in 
 this resembled the brownies and cluricaunes of modern times. 
 They were supposed to show themselves at times in various 
 forms, often of a grotesque description, and sometimes as animals, 
 such as dogs, and even as serpents. bronze figure of a lar, 
 or household god, found at Herculaneum, represents him as a 
 little old man sitting on the ground, with his knees np to his 
 chin, a large head, ass’s ears, a long beard, and a droll roguish 
 face. There can be little doubt that many of the numerous 
 bronze images of the Roman period found in this country were 
 intended for such household gods. Others probably owed their 
 existence to the same love of ornament whicli loads our chimney- 
 pieces with figures in plaster or porcelain. Others, again, of 
 the smaller bronze images, were probably mere toys — play- 
 things for children. We must distinguish from all these the 
 bronze statuettes of the Roman deities, which are also not 
 uiifrequent, and which were perhaps placed in some corner of 
 the house set apart for private worship. 
 
 The traces of the domestic occupations of the female part of 
 the household, found among Roman remains in Britain, are 
 not very numerous. Much of their time was probably em- 
 ployed in spinning and weaving. In Mr Roach Smith’s 
 museum may be seen a number of small implements of wood, 
 found in excavations in the city of London, which, from the 
 circumstance that when brought to liglit the remains of wool 
 were still attached to them, were no doubt used in the manu- 
 facture of cloth. Needles for sewing are of frequent occurrence. 
 Several are in the collection of Mr Roach Smith. One, made 
 of bone, and found at Richborough, is represented in our cut 
 in p. 393. The Roman scissors { forfex) was usually of the form 
 still common among clothiers ; an example, found at Rich- 
 borough, is represented in the accompanying cut. A more com- 
 plete example, but differing somewhat in shape, is engraved in Mr 
 Lee’s ‘ Roman Antiquities of Caerleon.’ Scissors of the same 
 construction as those now in common use are also found, but 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 SCISSORS AND KNIVES. 
 
 401 ) 
 
 mucli less frequently. Our cut presents also some of tlie 
 commoner forms of Koman knife-blades found in this country ; 
 they are all represented one-fourth of the real size. The kniie 
 
 Knives and Scissors, from Richboroug-b. 
 
 {cutter') wae generally straight on the cutting edge, and ciirvcd 
 on the back. These probably have had handles of wood ; but 
 they are not unfrequently found with bone handles, well 
 preserved. Several knives, with handles of bone, are in the 
 museum of Mr Eoach Smith ; some of which have the ring at 
 the end, like that in our example to the left in the cut, just 
 escaping from the handle. This ring was no doubt intended 
 for suspending the knife to the girdle. Juvenal, when describ- 
 ing the frugality of his country-house, speaks of bone handh^s 
 to knives as a mark , of poverty : — 
 
 Adeo nuilii uncia nobis 
 lii.-t eboris, nec tessellae, nec calculus ex liac 
 Materia ; quin ipsa manubria cultellorum 
 Ossea. — Sat. xi. 131. 
 
 The handle {capuhis) was often made of bronze, and verv 
 elegantly ornamented. It not unfrequently terminated in the 
 head of an animal ; in an example in the possession of Air 
 Eoach Smith it is the head of a horse, while in two found at 
 Ckierleon and York it is that of a dog. Eoman clasp-knives ai'e 
 by no means uncommon ; and one shape of handle, represe.itiiig 
 
410 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. xit. 
 
 a dog in close pursuit of a hare, seems to have been a great 
 favourite, from the numerous examples which have been found 
 in this country. The one given in the annexed cut was found 
 
 The Handle of a Clasp-knife. 
 
 at Iladstock, in Essex, and is now in the museum of the Lord 
 Bra>d)rooke, at Audley End ; it has the remains of the steel 
 blade shut into the handle. It is here represented the size of 
 the original, Two, exactly similar, were found at lleculver, in 
 Kent [Regidhhim ') ; and another at Kenchester, in Hereford- 
 shire {Magna). Mr Smith possesses what appears to be a 
 Roman fork, and I believe that other examples of that instru- 
 ment have been found. There is, also, in Mr Smith’s collection, 
 a steel for sharpening knives, taken from Roman London, 
 exactly resembling those used by butchers at the present day, 
 and still retaining the ring by which it was suspended to the 
 girdle. 
 
 Spoons, of different shapes and sizes, are also of frecjiient 
 occurrence. The one with the larger bowl {cochlear) has almost 
 always a handle terminating in a point, and illustrates the 
 epigrammatic description in Martial, who speaks of it as being 
 applied to two purposes, for picking periwinkles or snails out 
 of the shell (with the pointed end), or for eating eggs (with the 
 bowl) — 
 
 Sum cochleis liabilis, sed nec minus utilis ovis, 
 
 Numquid suis potius cur cochleare vocer ? 
 
 Martial, Ep. xvi. Tii. 
 
 The bowl of the cochlear is more usually circular than oval. 
 One found at Reculver was made of silver, but they are gener- 
 ally of bronze. The two examples of the diminutive spoon 
 (llgnla^, given from Mr Rolfe’s collection of Richborough 
 antiquities, in the accompanying cut (figs. 1 and 3), are also of 
 bronze. It is not easy to explain the exact purposes of theses 
 last-mentioned ar.icles, but they have been supposed to l.'C 
 
CHAP. XII.] 
 
 SPOONS AND STYLI. 
 
 411 
 
 designed for taking ointments or prepared oils out of long- 
 necked bottles. 
 
 Ligulee and a Stylus. 
 
 The article between the ligulse in the last cut (tig. 2) is an 
 example of the Koman stylus, used for writing on the waxed 
 tablet (tabula). The tablet was composed of two or more thin 
 pieces of wood, fastened at the back with wires, like a book. 
 Wax was spread over the wood internally, and on this the 
 person using it wrote with the pointed end of the stylus. The 
 flat end was used for erasing what had been written, and 
 smoothing the wax for writing again. Hence vertere stylmn, 
 to turn the stylus, for the purpose of erasing and correcting 
 what had been ill or incorrectly written, became a proverbial 
 expression ; — 
 
 Sse-pe stylum vertas, iterum qu8B digna legi sint 
 Scripturus ; neque te ut miratur turba labores, 
 
 Contentus paucis lectoribus — 
 
 says the poet Horace (lib. i., &at. x., 72). It is from the 
 same usage that we derive the modern word style, applied pri- 
 marily to the character of a man’s writing, and thence to other 
 characteristics. A painting, found in Herculaneum, represents 
 a lady with a stylus, closely resembling the one in our cut, in 
 her right hand, and the tablet in her left. The tablet and its 
 styli was a very necessary article in the houses of educated 
 people, for, among other purposes, it served for that of letter- 
 writing. The letter was written upon the wax, the tablet was 
 then closed and tied with a thread and sealed, and so dis- 
 patched to the person to whom it was addressed, who could rub 
 it out, and write the answer on the same tablet, which was 
 then returned to its original owner. Hence, when one of 
 Plautus’s characters wants to write a letter, he calls for a tablet, 
 stylus, wax, and thread : — 
 
 Effer cito stylum, ceram, et tabellas, et linum. 
 
 Bacchid., iv. 4, 64. 
 
 This accounts for the number of styli which are found in all 
 
 2 c 
 
412 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XII. 
 
 Roman sites in Britain. They are usually of bronze. As the 
 tablet was made of more perishable materials, it is seldom 
 found : but Mr Roach Smith possessed two leaves of these 
 tablets, made of wood, found in London, from which however 
 the wax has perished. One of them, which was an outside 
 cover, is represented in the accompanying’ cut ; the leaves had 
 been threaded together by two 
 holes running through one side, 
 and tlie marks of the string or 
 thong which tied it are distinctly 
 visible. Other instruments, bear- 
 ing some analogy to the stylus, are 
 also frequently found on Roman 
 sites, especially in London, which, 
 from a comparison Avith the tools 
 used at the present day by sculp- 
 tors, appear to be modelling tools. 
 
 Among instruments connected 
 with the Roman arts in Britain, we 
 Leaf of a Tablet, from London. ^^ot overlook the compass 
 
 {c'wcinus). Tavo Roman compasses have been found at Ciren- 
 cester, exactly representing those in use at the present day, 
 and an engraving of one of them Avill be found in Buckman 
 and Newmarch’s Avork on ancient Corinium. Similar instru- 
 ments have been found on other Roman sites. 
 
 The steelyard {statera or trut'md) is also frequently met Avith 
 among other Roman antiquities found in this island, and bears a 
 perfect resemblance to those iioav in use. The tAvo examples gwen 
 in our cut on the next page Avere found at Richborough. A 
 Aveight, found in the same place, is attached to one of them. 
 The Aveights are always more or less ornamental ; they often 
 
 Roman Steelyard "Weights. 
 
CHAT. XII.] 
 
 STEELYARD; STRIGILS. 
 
 413 
 
 consist of liiglily-finislied busts of emperors, or distinguished 
 personages, deities, or fabulous heroes, or of figures of birds 
 and animals. Three examples are given in the cut ; the first, 
 representing a dog’s or wolfs head ; the second, a female bust ; 
 and the third, a bust of Diana. On another example of the 
 statera, found at Ilichborougli, the yard is notched into frac- 
 tional divisions, and is furnished with two hooks. In ex- 
 amples found at Pompeii, sometimes a hook, at others a scale, 
 is suspended at the end of the yarcl.'^ Scales {libra, hllauxl) 
 
 were also in use among the Romans from a vei*\ early period, 
 and are often figured on coins and other works of art, i)ut they 
 are rarely met with in antiquarian excavations in this country. 
 
 Among otlier miscellaneous articles in use among the Ro- 
 mans in Britain, strigils are not unfrequently found, an addi- 
 tional proof how extensively the manners of Italy had been 
 translated to our clime. The strigil was a curved instrument, 
 generally of bronze or iron, with which the bather in the hot 
 baths, after having been put into a profuse sweat, was scraped — 
 somewhat in the manner that ostlers scrape a horse when he 
 comes in hot. While this operation was performed, the patient 
 sat upon a seat which was under the water — a seat of this 
 kind is generally discovered in baths in Roman villas in 
 Britain. Sometimes the bather performed the operation him- 
 
 * Vitruvius ^ives us the names for the different constituent parts of the 
 Roman steelyard : — the scale {lancula), hanging from the head {caput), 
 near which was the point of revolution {centrum), and the handle {ansa) ; 
 on the other side of the centre from the scale was the beam {scopus), with 
 the weight or equipoise {cequipondhwi), which was made to move along 
 the points {per puncta) expressing the different weights. 
 
 It should be observed that in the upper tigure in our cut, tho sfoelvard 
 is turned the wrong way up. 
 
4U 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XII 
 
 self, but if lie was rich enough he had a slave for the purpose. 
 Publie baths were provided with strigils for the use of the 
 bathers; but people of respeetability had their own strigils at 
 home, whieh their slaves carried after them when they went to 
 bathe. Hence Persius, — 
 
 I, puer, et strigiles Crispiiii ad balnea defer. — Sat. v. 126. 
 
 This is sufficient to warn us against supposing that the dis- 
 covery of strigils among the remains of buildings, is any proof 
 that those buildings were baths. Two strigils of bronze were 
 found in one of the Bartlow tumuli, which resemble the 
 generality of those found in Italy, in having a hole in the 
 handle through which the hand was passed in using them. One 
 of the same material found at Reculver, in Kent, more than a 
 century ago, and engraved in Mr Roach Smith’s ‘ Antiquities 
 of Richborough,’ had a straight handle to grasp in the hand. 
 This latter discovery furnishes a remarkable instance of the 
 danger of forming hasty opinions on such objects, without the 
 previous knowledge arising from careful comparison. An 
 antiquary of the time, Aubrey, who examined the bronze 
 strigil found at Reculver, immediately judged it to be one of 
 the golden sickles with which the British Druids cut their 
 mistletoe ! ^ The strigil had, indeed, a sharp edge turned 
 inward, which might lead a person ignorant of its real use to 
 suppose that it was a cutting instrument. The operation of 
 being scraped with it could not have been an agreeable one ; 
 and we are told that the emperor Augustus was subjected to 
 considerable suffering by an over-violent application of the 
 strigil. It was on this account customary to soften the edge by 
 the application of oil. 
 
 We find fewer remains of Roman weapons and armour in 
 Britain than almost any other article. As I have observed 
 before, it is more than probable that the bronze swords whieli 
 have been usually described as British, are purely Roman. The 
 same may be said of the bronze spear-heads. A considerable 
 number of spear-heads and arrow-heads of iron were found in 
 the Roman camp on Hod Hill, in Dorsetshire. They are found 
 also from time to time on other Roman sites. A few fragments 
 of Avhat is supposed to be Roman armour, formed both of 
 seal(?s and of rings, have also been found, and some remains of 
 
 * It is remarkable that the Roman bronze, under certain circumstance^, 
 especially when it has lain in the water where it was subjected to friction, 
 bears an extraordinary resemblance to gold. 
 
ilHAP. XII.] 
 
 SPURS. 
 
 41o 
 
 niilitary standards. Very remarkable remains of one of the 
 latter articles were found near Stoney Stratford at the beginnini!: 
 of the present century, and have been engraved and published 
 by Samuel Lysons. Among the extensive Eoman remains 
 found in the camp at Hod Hill, already alluded to, wei'(^ 
 several spurs of iron, which resemble so closely the Norman 
 prick-spurs, that they might be. easily mistaken for them. I 
 suspect that many of the prick-spurs which have been found oi 
 or near Eoman sites, and hastily judged to be Norman, are, 
 especially when made of bronze, Eoman. As far, however, as 
 comparison has yet been made, the Eoman and the Saxon spurs 
 are shorter in the stimulus than those of the Normans. 
 
416 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. X ll. 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 The Roman Province — Its Divisions and Officers — the Military Force — 
 Centurial and other inscriptions — Towns and their Municipal Con- 
 stitution — the Coinage — Roman Coins relating to Britain — Spurious ' 
 Coinage — Different methods of Hoarding Money. 
 
 The importance of Roman Britain is sRovvn by the circumstance 
 that it was constituted a separate province of the empire. Prom 
 tlie first, Britain was governed by a propraetor, who is stated, in 
 inscriptions, to have been a legatus Augusti, or vicegerent of 
 the emperor, from which we are to conclude that it was a 
 province of the Caesar, and not a province of the people. At 
 the close of the Roman occupation, when the ‘ Notitia Imperii ’ 
 was compiled, the governor of Britain was called a vicarius, and 
 was honoured with the title of vir spectabills. It is at this 
 period only that we obtain any distinct information on the 
 political divisions of the province and on its officers, and these 
 had probably undergone considerable modifications. According 
 to the ‘ Notitia,’ the province of Britain was divided into five 
 departments, called Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia 
 Caesariensis, Maxima Caesariensis, and Yalentia. The first of 
 these consisted of the country to the south of the Thames and 
 the Bristol Channel ; Britannia Secunda answered to the 
 modern Principality of Wales ; Plavia comprised the middle 
 portion of the island, from the Thames to the Humber and the 
 Mersey ; the country beyond this, extending twenty-five miles 
 north of Hadrian’s wall, formed the department of Maxima 
 Caesariensis ; while the lowlands of Scotland were comprised 
 under the title of Yalentia. It is stated on the single and 
 dubious authority of Richard of Cirencester, that the country to 
 the north of the Wall of A^ntoninus was formed into a sixth de- 
 partment under the name of Yespasiana. After the time of 
 Constantine, the first three were governed by presidents, while 
 
CHAP, xni.] INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 417 
 
 the two northern departments were placed under the jurisdiction 
 of consulares. These officers were under the vicarius, who 
 probably resided in Londinium, or London. 
 
 The vicarius of Britain was himself subject to the praefectus 
 ])r8etorio Galliarum, who resided first at Treviri {Treim), and 
 afterwards at Arelatum {Arles). His official establishment con- 
 sisted of a princeps, or chief officer ; of two agents {de schola 
 agentum in rehui), chosen out of the ducenarii, or judges; a 
 chief secretary {cornicularius) ; * two accountants or auditors 
 {aumerarios duos) ; a master of the prisons {commentariensis ) ; 
 a notary {ab act is) ; a secretary ^or despatches (curam episto- 
 lai'um) ; an assistant {adjutor) ; under assistants {suhadjuvee) ; 
 clerks for appeal {exceptores) ; serjeants, and other officers 
 {singular es, et rellquos ojficiales) For the revenues of the 
 country, which were under the control of a superior officer in 
 Gaul, entitled the comes sacrarum largitionum, there were a 
 collector for the whole of Britain {rationalis summarum 
 Britanniaru'm) ; an overseer of the Augustentian treasures in 
 Britain {preepositus tliesaurorum Aiigustentium in Britannias) ; 
 procurators of the cynegia, or hunting establishment {procura- 
 tores cyne iorum) ; and another officer, entitled procurator 
 cynegii in Britaymia Biennensis. Under the count of the 
 private affairs of the western division of the empire {comes 
 rerum privatarum) was a collector of private affairs in Britain 
 {rationalis rei privatce per Britannias). The military affairs of 
 the province also came at this time directly under the manage- 
 ment of the government in Gaul, without the intermediation of 
 the vicarius, or governor, of Britain. They were divided 
 between tliree chief officers, the count of the Saxon shore 
 {comes lltoris Saxonici), the count of Britain {comes Britan- 
 niarum), and the duke of Britain {dux Britanniarum). The 
 garrisons of nine fortresses along the coast from Portchester to 
 Brancaster in Norfolk, were placed under the command of the 
 first of these officers, who had an official establishment com- 
 posed of a chief officer from the office, or court; of the general 
 of foot in ordinary attendance {principem ex officio magistri 
 preesentalium a parte peditum) ; two auditors {uumerarii) and a 
 
 * In a sepulchral inscription found near Great Chesters in Northumber- 
 land, a cornicularius is commemorated, but whether he belonged to the 
 departmental court, or not, is uncertain. — The inscription reads : — d . m . 
 AEL . MEBCVllIALI COllNICVL VACIA SOROR FECIT. 
 
 f In the interpretation of these various official titles I have chiefly 
 followed Horsley ; it is not easy to explain the exact duties of them all. 
 
418 
 
 THE HOMANS. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 master of tlie prisons (commmtariensis) from the same office ; a 
 secretary ; an assistant, and iinder-assistant ; a registrar (re^/er- 
 e/idarms) : clerks of appeals, serjeants, and other officers. 
 The count of Britain had an official establishment exactly 
 similar, but apparently without any military command. The 
 dnke of Britain had under his command the sixth legion, which 
 was at Eburacuin (Fo?'k), where, probably, the duke held his 
 court, and all the garrisons in the north of Britain and along 
 the Wall of Hadrian. His official establishment consisted of 
 the same officers as the others. 
 
 This rather complicated system of officials, comoined with 
 the numerous secondary employes who must have been scattered 
 over the island, shows us the regularity of administration which 
 at this late period prevailed still in Roman Britain. We have 
 no means of knowing the details of government, or the cha- 
 l acter or amount of the taxes which were raised from the island. 
 The military force, as we have before stated, was fixed soon 
 after its reduction to a province, at three legions, and it was 
 now reduced to two, the second and the sixth. These were 
 also, at the time of the composition of the ‘ Notitia ’ (the 
 beginning of the fifth century), directly under the command of 
 the imperial government in Gaul. The military force in Britain 
 at this time has been estimated, from the information given in 
 the ‘Notitia,’ at nineteen thousand two hundred infantry, and 
 seventeen hundred cavalry. 
 
 This is the amount of the direct information we can at 
 present obtain relating to the internal administration of the 
 government in Britain and the amount of its military establish- 
 ment. The Roman troops have fortunately left us abundant 
 memorials of their presence in the numerous inscriptions com- 
 memorating their burial, their religious worship, or their labours. 
 Both the legions and the auxiliary troops seem to have been 
 constantly employed in works of public utility, and the share 
 each legion, or cohort, or century took in them, is often indi- 
 cated by their names and titles inscribed on tiles or stones. 
 The latter are usually termed centurial stones, as they bear the 
 name of the centuria, or troop, by which the building or other 
 Avork, to which they Avere attached, Avas executed. This is often 
 expressed in the simplest possible form. Thus, a centurial 
 stone found near Cilurnum {Chesters), in Northumberland, is 
 inscribed ^ — 
 
 * The words centurio and centuria are generally figured on the stones 
 by a mark which is here represented by a c reversed, but in reality it ia 
 
CHAP. XIII.] 
 
 CENTURIAL STONES. 
 
 419 
 
 COH V The fifth cohort, 
 
 0 CAECiLi The century of Cascilius 
 
 PKOCOLi Proculus. 
 
 Similar stones witli such inscriptions as centvria peregrin i 
 
 CENTVRIA ARRII, CENTVRIA IIERENNIANI, COH VI 0 DELI- 
 
 VI AN A, are found frequently along the line of Hadrian’s Wall, 
 and in Cumberland, and sometimes in other parts of the country. 
 Sometimes, especially in the legionary inscriptions, there is 
 more of ornament, the name being placed within a wreath or 
 tablet, surrounded with the emblems of the legion and other 
 
 A Roman Legionary stone. 
 
 figures. One of these, found at Halton Chesters, in Northum- 
 berland {Himnum), is represented in the accompanying cut, and 
 is to be read thus, — 
 
 LECr Legion 
 
 II the second, 
 
 AVG the Augustan, 
 
 F made it. 
 
 An inscription of this kind, found at Whitley Castle, in Nor- 
 thumberland, speaks of the rebuilding, or making again, of some 
 temple or other work : — 
 
 VEX . LEG A vexillation of legion 
 
 XX vv the twentieth, the valiant and 
 
 victorious, 
 
 REF EC remade it. 
 
 more like a > , though it was no doubt intended for a o. A cut is given a 
 little further on which shows how oddly, at least at one period, the cutters 
 of the Roman inscriptions joined letters together. 
 
420 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 Sometimes the name of the officer who directed the work is 
 added, as in the following inscription found at Risingham 
 { Hahltancum ) : — 
 
 COH . I . VANG The first cohort of the Vangiones 
 
 FFCiT cvRANTK made it, under the direction of 
 
 IVL . PAYLLo TKIB Julius Paullus the tribune. 
 
 On a similar stone found at Rochester, in Northumberland 
 {Bremenium), the name of the tribune only is given : — 
 
 P . AEL . ERAS Publius ^lius 
 
 INV.S TRiB Erasmus, the tribune. 
 
 The soldiers frequently dedicated their w^ork to the reigning 
 emperor, or contrived to introduce his name into the inscription. 
 Thus, along the line of the wall in Northumberland, inscriptions 
 to Hadrian are very frequent, which leave no doubt on our 
 mind that the great military works there were executed under 
 that emperor. In the same manner the neighbourhood of the 
 more northern wall presents us Avith numerous inscriptions 
 commemorative of Antoninus. As an example of the inscri])- 
 tions to Hadrian along the Northumberland Avail, Ave may cite 
 the following, found at Milking-gap : — 
 
 IMP CAES TRAIAN Of the euiperor Ca3sar Trajanus 
 
 HADRIANI AVG Hadriauus Augustus, 
 
 LEG II AVG the second legion, the Augustan, 
 
 A PLATORio NEPOTE LEG PR PR Aulus Platolius Nepos being legate 
 
 propraetor. 
 
 Similar inscriptions are found in other places in nearly the 
 same Avords. The inscriptions along the Antonine Avail are 
 more precise, detailing the quantity of Avork performed in each 
 case by those Avho set up the inscription, and are often very 
 elaborately ornamented. They occur, moreover, in greater 
 numbers. The folloAving Avas found at West-Kilpatrick : — 
 
 IMP. c 
 
 T. AE. HADRIA 
 
 NO. ANTONIN O. AYG. PI. P. P. 
 
 VEX 
 LEG XX 
 VV. EE 
 PP im CDXI 
 
 To the emperor Caesar 
 Titus ^lius Hadrianus 
 Antoninus Augustus Pius, father 
 of his country. 
 
 A vexillation 
 of the twentieth legion, 
 the A^aliant and victorious, made 
 four thousand four hundred and 
 eleven paces. 
 
 In this instance the slab of stone is sculptured into the 
 representation of a Corinthian portico; the emperor’s name 
 
CHAP. XIII.] IXSCRIPTIOXS TO THE EMPERORS. 
 
 421 
 
 and titles are inscribed on the tympanum ; the name of the 
 legion is placed within a wreath or garland, held by a winged 
 Victory between the supporting columns; while the number of 
 paces is given at the foot, on each side of a boar, the ensign of 
 that legion. 
 
 Inscriptions of the reigning emperors, or commemorative of 
 them, are found in other places, Avhere they have originally 
 appeared on public buildings or other monuments. As we have 
 before had occasion to observe, the emperors’ names were 
 always placed on the williaria, or milestones. They are his- 
 torically important, as showing us the interest which the people 
 in this distant province took in all the changes and movements 
 of the Homan empire. We find now and then an inscription 
 to an emperor whose reign was so short and insignificant that 
 we could hardly suppose the influence of his name Avould have 
 been felt here. A fragment of an inscription to Numerianus, 
 on which remained the Avoids imp c mar avr nvmeriano, 
 Avas found at Kenchester, in PI ereford shire (^Magna). Nume- 
 rianus Avas the brother of Carinus, and reigned conjointly Avitli 
 him about tAvo years (from 282 to 284). It is the only inscrip- 
 tion yet found in Britain in which his name occurs. At Castor, 
 m Northamptonshire {Durobrivce)^ a cylindrical stone, appar- 
 ently a milliarium, Avas found with an inscription to Florianus, 
 the brotlier of the emperor Tacitus, Avho reigned not more than 
 two or three months, in a. T). 276. It is imperfect, but appears 
 to read as follows : — 
 
 IMP CAES To the emperor Caesar 
 
 M. ANNio Marcus Annius 
 
 Florianus, 
 
 the pious and faithful, unconquered, 
 the Augustus. 
 
 Two miles. 
 
 FLOKIANO 
 P. F. INVICTO 
 
 A\"G. 
 M. P. II 
 
 All inscription found at Ancaster {Caiisennfjp) , commemorates 
 the emperor Constantine the Great (308 — 337) : — 
 
 IMP c 
 PL VAL 
 CONSTANT!.' O 
 P F INV 
 
 avg 
 
 DIYl 
 
 CONSTANTI 
 PII AVG 
 FILIO 
 
 To the emperor Caesar 
 Flavius Valerius 
 Constantinus, 
 
 the pious and faithful, unconquered, 
 the Augustus, 
 of the deified 
 Constantins, 
 
 the pious, the Augustus, 
 the son. 
 
 A milestone found in Cumberland Avas dedicated to Flavius 
 
422 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 Julius Crispus, a son of Constantine tlie Great, and therefore 
 lielouged to the earlier part of tlie fourth century. One found 
 near Old Carlisle was dedicated to the emperor Marcus Julius 
 Philippus, and is fixed by the mention of his consulship to the 
 year 247. Another, found near the Eoman road at Greta- 
 hridge, in Yorkshire, was dedicated to tlie emperors Gallus and 
 Yolusianus, in the year 252. 
 
 At Bittern, in Hampshire [Clausentum)^ no less than six 
 stones have been found with inscriptions to various emperors. 
 Three of these are dedicated to Gordian the Younger, to Gallus 
 and Yolusianus, and to Aurelian. The other three are all 
 dedicated to Tetricus, and are particularly interesting as being 
 the only inscriptions yet found in Britain to any of the local 
 usurpers, with the exception of one to Yictorinus, found near 
 Neath, in South Wales. It is remarkable that we have no such 
 memorial now remaining of Carausius or Allectus, although 
 they reigned during ten years, and their numerous coinage 
 proves that they were not neglectful of commemorating them- 
 selves. The want of inscriptions with their names can only be 
 explained by the great care which was probably taken to destroy 
 or erase them, after the island was restored to its dependence 
 on Eonie. There are several instances among the inscriptions 
 found in Britain of the erasure of the name of an emperor by 
 
 Inscription at Ctesters {Cilurnuni) . 
 
 Ids successor or rival. An interesting inscription found at 
 Hexham had contained the name of Severus and his two sons. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] THE VALUE OF INSCRIPTIOXS. 
 
 423 
 
 but that of Geta had been subsequently and carefully erased, 
 no doubt after that prince had been murdered by his brotlier, 
 (]aracalla. An inscribed slab was discovered some years ago at 
 Chesters, in Northumberland (Ciluryimri) , of which a represent- 
 ation is given in the accompanying cut, and on which also 
 were clearly traced some intentional erasures. The inscription 
 may be given, by comparing and supplying from similar con- 
 temporary inscriptions, as follows : — 
 
 IMP CAES Marc avrei, . . . 
 
 AVG . . ■ pont max 
 
 TRIB P cos . . PP Divi Antonini fil 
 
 DIVI SEVER NEP 
 
 C7i:sAR IMPER duplarcs 
 
 ALAE ii. A8TORVM templvm VETVSTAT coiihipsum rcstitu- 
 ERVNT PER MARIV.M VALERIAnulll leg', avg’. pi* pr 
 IXSTANTE SEPTIMIO NILO PRAE . . . 
 
 DEDICATVM III KAL NOVEM GRATO ET SELEUCO COSS. 
 
 which may be translated : — To the emperor AI arcus Aurelius 
 
 Augustus Pontifex Alaximus, with the tribunitian 
 
 power, fourth time consul, father of his country, son of divine 
 Antoninus, grandson of divine Severus, to Caesar our emperor 
 
 the duplares of the second wing of Asturians restored this 
 
 temple, through age dilapidated, by command of Marius Yaleri- 
 anus, legate of the Augustus and propraetor, under the super- 
 intendence of Septimius Nilus the Praefect. It was dedicated 
 on the third kalends of November (the 30th of October), 
 Gratus and Seleucus being consuls. 
 
 Mr Bruce, from whose work on the Roman wall I take this 
 inscription, makes the following illustrative remarks, which 
 deserve to be impressed on the minds of all students of our 
 early antiquities. ‘ Hutton,’ he observes, ‘who has done such 
 good service to the wall, underrated the value of inscriptions. 
 “ When the antiquary,” says he, “ has laboured through a parcel 
 of miserable letters, what is he the wiser? ” Let this fractured 
 and defaced stone answer the question. 1. This dedication 
 was made by soldiers of the second wing of the Astures ; — 
 we thus learn the name of the people who garrisoned the fort, 
 and by a reference to the Notitia, ascertain with certainty that 
 this was Cilurnum. 2. We acquire the fact that a temple, 
 which through age had become dilapidated, was restoi’ed ; — 
 learning thereby, not only the attention which the Romans 
 paid to what they conceived to be religious duties, but their 
 long occupation of this spot. It has been already observed. 
 
424 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 that some of the pillars of the hypocaust have been portions of 
 a prior building ; — the ruin and inscription thus corroborate 
 each other. 3. The date of the dedication is given ; the third 
 of the kalends of November falls upon the thirtieth of October, 
 and the year which Gratus and Seleucus were consuls corre- 
 sponds to A. D. 221 ; — the data on which antiquaries found their 
 conclusions are not always so vague as some imagine. 4. Even 
 the erasures are instructive. By a reference to the date, we 
 find that Ileliogabalus was reigning at the time of the dedica- 
 tion of the temple ; we find that what remain. of the names and 
 titles on the stone apply to him ; he, consequently, is the 
 emperor referred to. The year following he was slain by his 
 own soldiers, his body dragged through the streets, and cast 
 into the Tiber. The soldiers in Britain seem to have sympa- 
 thised with their companions at Borne, and to have erased the 
 name of the fallen emperor from the dedicatory slab. Human 
 nature is the same in every age. How often have we, in modern 
 times, seen a name cast out with loathing, which yesterday 
 received the incense of a world’s Hatterv ! ’ ^ 
 
 This inscription also furnishes us with a name of a propraetor 
 or governor of Boman Britain, who is not mentioned elsewhere. 
 Other inscriptions have added to our list of propraetors, or 
 confirmed the names of those who are mentioned in history. 
 Thus : — 
 
 Aulus Plautius, the first propraetor, who came over under the 
 emperor Claudius, is mentioned in an inscription found in Italy, 
 and published by Gruter. 
 
 Licinius Priscus, who governed Britain under Hadrian, is 
 commemorated in an inscription found at Bewcastle, in Cum- 
 berland, as well as on a monument found at Borne. 
 
 Lollius Urbicus, the celebrated propraetor of Antoninus Pius, 
 is mentioned in an inscription found in Scotland. 
 
 Platorius Nepos is mentioned as propraetor under Hadrian in 
 inscriptions found at more than one place along the line of the 
 Northumbrian wall. 
 
 C. Valerius Pansa occurs as holding the same office under 
 Trajan, in an inscription found at Novara, in Italy, published 
 by Muratori. 
 
 Virius Lupus, the propraetor of the emperor Severus, occurs 
 
 * It may be observed that this inscription affords a remarkably good 
 example of the combining of letters together, technically called ligature^ 
 80 common in Roman inscriptions, especially of this age. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] 
 
 MUNICIPAL TOWNS. 
 
 425 
 
 ill an inscription found at llkey, in Yorksliire {OUcana), and 
 in another found at Bowes {Lavatra). 
 
 Claudius Xenophon, whose date is doubtful, is mentioned in 
 an inscription found at Little Chesters, in Northumberland. 
 
 Marius Valerianus, under Heliogabalus, is mentioned in the 
 inscription given above. 
 
 Maecilius Puscus, propraetor under Gordian, occurs in an 
 inscription at Lanchester, in Durham. 
 
 G naeus Lucilianus, propraetor under the same emperor, occurs 
 in another inscription found at the same place. 
 
 Claudius Paulinus, propraetor, is mentioned in an inscription 
 found near Caen, in Normandy, of the date of A. D. 240 
 
 Nonnius Philippus, propraetor also under Gordian, is men- 
 tioned in an inscription found at Old Penrith, in Cumberland, 
 and in another at Old Carlisle, of the date 242. 
 
 As far as we can perceive, the military, civil, and fiscal 
 departments of the administration of Britain were united, at 
 first, in the office of the propraetor ; but, as we have seen above, 
 after Constantine had divided the empire into four governments, 
 the different departments of administration in this island were 
 each placed separately under the praefect of the west in Gaul. 
 His vicar {vicarius) had the management of the civil govern- 
 ment of the island. But there was another, and an independ- 
 ent jurisdiction, that of the towns, which it is of the utmost 
 importance we should not overlook. The very doubtful treatise 
 attributed to Bichard of Cirencester, which, however, may pos- 
 sibly in this case offer us correct information, states that there 
 were in Britain two municipal towns {municipia)^ Verulamium 
 (>% Albans), and Eburacum (York), The same authority enu- 
 merates nine coloni^, Londinium {London), Camulofluniim 
 {Colchester), Butupise {Richborough), Aquae Solis {Bath), Isca 
 {Caerleon), Deva {Chester), (AlQYum {Gloucester), Lindum {Lin- 
 coln), and Carnboricum {Cambridge) ; ten cities under the Latin 
 law {civitates Latio jure donatce) , Durnomagus, considered to be 
 another name for Durobrivae {Castor), Cataracto {Catterick), 
 Cambodunum {Slack), Coccium {Ribchester), Luguballium {Car- 
 lisle), Ptoroton {Burgh-head), Victoria {Dealgin Ross), Theodosia 
 {Dumbarton), Corinium {Cirencester), Sorbiodunum {Old Sarum); 
 and twelve stipendiary towns, of less consequence,^ Venta 
 Silurum {Caerwent), Vonta Belgarum {Winchester), Yenta Iceno- 
 rum {Caistor, near Norwich), Segontium {Caer Segont), IMaii- 
 
 * Deinde xii. stipendiaria? miriorisq[ue uioinenti. 
 
42G 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 (lunum {Caennartheri') ^ Ratse {Leicester'), Caiitiopolis {Canter^ 
 harij), Diiriuiiin {Dorchester), Isca {Exeter), Bremeniuiii 
 {Rochester), Yiiicloiium {in Hampshire) , and Diirobrivse {Roch- 
 ester) . 
 
 In earlier times the coloyiice were the cities out of Italy 
 wliicli possessed in tlie most perfect degree the rights of Roman 
 citizens, hut at a later period the municipia and colonice appear 
 to have been nearly identical with each other. The Latian 
 law was a modification of the municipal privileges and forms, 
 which it is not necessary here to enter upon. The stipendiary 
 towns are said to have been distinguished by the payment of 
 their taxes in money, instead of giving a certain proportion of 
 the produce of the soil. All these towns enjoyed the civitas, or 
 riglits of Roman citizens; they consisted of the town and a 
 certain extent of land around it, and had a government of their 
 own, republican in form, resembling the ancient constitution of 
 Rome, and exempt from all control of tlie imperial officers. As 
 soldiers, they were obliged only to defend their own town, and 
 were not liable to serve elsewhere. They possessed, in fact, 
 their own free constitution and officers, perhaps differing at 
 times from one another; but, speaking generally, the Roman 
 rnmicipium, or town corporation, consisted of the people at 
 large and the curia or governing body. The membei’s of the 
 curia were called curiales, decur tones, or senators ; the rank was 
 hereditary, the son of a curialis becoming a member of the 
 curia by right of birth. Persons who were not of senatorial 
 birth might, however, be elected into that body. The curiales 
 received various emoluments, and possessed important privi- 
 leges ; they alone had the right of electing the magistrates and 
 officers of the municipimn. These officers were, first, two 
 duumviri, or chief magistrates, who answered to the consuls at 
 Rome, and whose authority extended over the civitas, or terri- 
 tory surrounding and depending upon the town. Sometimes 
 the mmiicipium had only one duumvir. The duumviri were 
 chosen from among the curiales, no person not a member of the 
 senatorial body being capable of election to that office. They 
 were obliged to accept office, if elected ; a curialis refusing to 
 act as duumvir, or concealing himself to escape election, was 
 punished by confiscation of his property. After the dumnviri. 
 a certain number of officers, termed principales, were elected 
 out of the body of the curia, who were the administrators of 
 the municipal affairs, and formed the permanent council of the 
 curia. The duumviri were in general elected yearly; prin- 
 
CII.VP. XIII.] MUNICIPAL CONSTITUTIONS. 
 
 427 
 
 clpales continued in office during fifteen years. Besides these, 
 there were difterent inferior officers, equally elected by the cm'ia. 
 The whole body of the citizens — the plebs — elected an important 
 officer, called the defensor civltatls, who was not to be a member 
 of the curia, and whose duty it was to protect the populace 
 against the senatorial body, when the latter acted unjustly or 
 tyrannically ; he was to the municlpium what the tribune had 
 been in Borne. There were also corporations or colleges of the 
 difierent trades in the municipia, who chose their patrons 
 among the senators or curlales. 
 
 At present we have unfortunately few inscriptions found in 
 Britain which illustrate the municipal constitution of the towns 
 under the Romans, probably because most of those which were 
 thus constituted are now covered Avith modern toAvns, and the 
 others have never been properly explored. The few which have 
 been found leave no doubt that the Roman laws in this respect 
 were firmly established here. VVe have already (p. 385) given 
 an inscription commemorating a decurion of the coloyiia of 
 Glevum {Gloucester'), \n\\o died at Aquse Solis {Bath). Another 
 inscription (p. 381), mentions a sevir of the colonia of Ebura- 
 cum {York). This word is generally understood as belonging 
 to a military officer, but it must here refer to a municipal one. 
 Several instances occur in which the collegia are mentioned in 
 inscriptions in Britain. The collegium ligniferorum mentioned 
 in inscriptions found at Castle Cary, in Scotland, has been 
 conjectured to be of a religious character. A collegium fa.br omim 
 is mentioned in a celebrated inscription of an early date found 
 at Chichester.^ A still more celebrated inscription found near 
 Bath, mentions a collegium fabricensium, a guild of smiths, or, 
 as we should say now, smiths’ company. This inscription relates 
 to a member of this college who belonged to the twentieth 
 legion, and is read as follows : — 
 
 IVLIVS VITX 
 
 LIS FABKICIES 
 
 IS . LEG . XX . V . V . 
 
 STIPENDIOK 
 VM IX ANNO 11 XX 
 IX. NATION K BE 
 LG A EX . COLLRGIO 
 FABHICE . ELATV 
 S . H S E 
 
 Julius Vitalis, 
 smith of the 
 
 twentieth legion, the valiant 
 and victorious, 
 who served nine years, 
 lived twenty- 
 nine, by nation a Belgian, 
 by the college 
 
 of the smiths carried to burial. 
 He is placed here. 
 
 ^ I have already given this inscription in a note to p. 51. It will be 
 
 2 I) 
 
428 
 
 THE ROMAXS. 
 
 [^CIIAP. XIII. 
 
 Grater has published an inscription, found on the site of the 
 ancient Nomentuin, in Italy, which commemorates an indi- 
 vidual who held the office of cenutor (or censor) of the citizens 
 of Camvdodunum (Colchester ) : — 
 
 cx . MUNATivs . M . F . PAL Cneius Munatius, Aurelius Bassus, 
 AVRELivs BASSVS SOU of Marcus, of the tribe 
 
 Palatina, 
 
 PR^F . COH . II praefect of the second cohort 
 
 ASTVRVM . CENsiToii . civiYM of the Asturians, censitor of 
 
 the 
 
 ROMANORYM . COLOXIAE .VIC- Roman citizens of the colonia 
 TRICENSIS victrix* 
 
 QU AE . FST . IX . BRITAXXIA which is in Britannia 
 CAMOLODVXi .... at Camulodunum. 
 
 iVt first the rigdits of citizenship were given as a mark of 
 honour and the reward of merit, chiefly to soldiers, for the 
 Homan municipalities in the provinces were all originally mili- 
 tary foundations ; but subsequently they were granted more 
 lavishly, and almost all the free population of the empire became 
 eventually Homan citizens. In earlier times the grants of 
 citizenship were duly registered at Home, and copies of the 
 grant, inscribed on plates of copper or bronze, appear to 
 liave been sent to the place where these new citizens 
 resided. Several such plates have been discovered in Britain, 
 as well as in other parts of the empire. One of these was 
 dug up ill the parish of Alalpas, in Cheshire, in 1812; frag- 
 ments of two others were found in a gravel-pit on Sydenham 
 Common, in Kent, in 1806 ; and another was found at Stain- 
 ington, ill Yorkshire, in 1761. They are all decrees of the 
 emperor Trajan, in favour of certain veterans serving in the 
 troops in Britain, and conferring upon them the clvltas^ or 
 rights of citizenship, and the consequent connnbiam, or civil 
 rights belonging to legitimate marriage. f The inscription 
 
 understood that, in the inscription which follows, fabriciesis is merely 
 contracted or mis- written for fabriciexsis. 
 
 * This epithet applied to the colonial town of Camulodunum, coincides 
 with the account of Tacitus that it was placed under the auspices of 
 Victory, whose temple served as a refuge to the inhabitants when attacked 
 by the insurgent Britons. 
 
 t The Romans termed a discharge from military service, mlssio ; and 
 these inscribed plates, as honourable discharges, are called by antiquarians 
 tahulce ho)iestce miiisio)ns. Those found at Malpas and Sydenham were 
 published by Samuel Lysons ; the other is given in Gough’s ‘Camden,’ 
 edition of 1806. 
 
CHAr. XIIT.] TABULA HONESTJE MISSIONIS. 
 
 429 
 
 found at Malpas, as tlie most perfect, may be given as an 
 example of this important class of inscriptions : — 
 
 IMP . CAESAR . DIVI . NERViE. F. NERYA . TRAIANYS 
 AYGYSTYS . GERMANICYS . DACICYS . PONTIFEX . MAX 
 IMYS . TRIEYNIC . POTESTAT YII IMP IIII COS . Y . PP. 
 
 EQYITIBYS . ET . PEDITIBYS . QYI MILITANT . IN ALIS 
 QYATYOR . ET . COHORTIBYS . DECEM . ET . YNA . QYAE . A 
 PELLANTYR . I . THRACYM . ET . I . PANNONIORYM . TAM 
 PIANA . ET . II . GALLORYM SEBOSIANA . ET . I . HISPA 
 NORYM YETTONYM . G . R . ET . I . HISPANORYM . ET . I 
 YALCIONYM . MILLIARIA . ET . I . ALPINORYM . ET . I 
 MORINORYM . ET . I . CYGERNORYM . ET . I . BAETASI 
 ORYM . ET . I . TYNGRORYM . MILLIARIA . ET . II . THRA 
 CYM . ET . Ill . BRACAR . AYGYSTANORYM . ET . IIII. 
 
 LINGONYM . ET . IIII . DELMATARYM . ET . SYNT 
 IN BRITANNIA SUB . I . NERATIO MARCELLO 
 QVT QYINA ET YICENA PLURAYE STIPENDIA 
 MERYERYNT . QYORYM . NOMINA . SYBSCRIPTA. 
 
 SYNT IPSIS LIBERIS POSTERISQYE EORYM . CIYITA 
 TEM DEBIT ET CONYBIYM . CYM . VXORIBYS . QYAS . 
 
 TYNC HABYISSENT . CYM . EST . CIYITAS . IIS . DATA . 
 
 AYT . SI . QYI . COELIBES . ESSENT . CYM IIS QYAS 
 POSTEA . DYXISSENT . DYMTAXAT . SINGYLI . SIN 
 GYLAS . AD XIII K FEBR 
 M . LABERIO MAXIMO II 
 Q GLITIO ATILIO AGRICOLA II CO 
 
 ALAE . I . PANNONIORYM . TAMPIANAE . CYI PRAEEST 
 C YALERIYS CELSYS . DECYRIONI 
 REBYRRO SEYERI . F . HISPAN 
 
 DESCRIPTYM . ET . RECOGNITYM . EX TABYLA . AENEA 
 QYAE . FIXA . EST . ROMAE . IN MYRO . POST . TEMPLYM 
 DIYI AATtYSTI ad MINERYAM . 
 
 Q . POMPEI HOMERI 
 C . PAPI EYSEBETIS 
 T . FLAYI SECYNDI 
 P . CAYLI YITALIS 
 C . YETTIENI MODESTI 
 P . ATINI HEDONICI 
 n. CLAYDI MENANDRI 
 
 The date of this record is fixed by its internal evidence to the 
 20th day of January a.d. 103. The other similar monuments 
 found in Britain are all of the same year. The example given 
 above may be translated thus : — The emperor Csesar, deified 
 Nerya’s son, Nerva Trajanus Augustus, the German, the 
 Dacian, Pontifex Maximus, invested with the tribunitian power 
 the seventh time, emperor the fourth year, consul the fifth time, 
 father of his country, to the cavalry and infantry who serve 
 in the four alse and eleven cohorts, which are called the first 
 of the Thracians, and the first of Pannonians termed the Tam- 
 pian, and the second of Gauls termed the Sebosian, and the 
 
430 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 first of Spanish Vettones, Roman citizens, and the first of 
 Spaniards, and the first of Valciones, a milliary one, and tlie 
 first of Alpini, and the first of Morini, and the first of Cno-erni, 
 and the first of Bsetasii, and the first of Tiino-rians, a milliary 
 one, and tlie second of Thracians, and the third of Braccse 
 Angnstani, and the fourth of Lingones, and the fourth of 
 Dalmatians, and they are in Britain under Julius Neratius 
 Marcellus, who have served twenty-five or more years, whose 
 names are written below, to themselves, their children, and 
 posterity, has given civitas and connubliim (the rights of 
 citizenship and marriage) with their wives, whom they might 
 then have when citizenship was given to them, or if any of 
 them were unmarried, with those whom they might afterwards 
 take, that is to say, provided they have only one each. On 
 the 13th kalends of Eebruary. To M. Laberius Maximus twice, 
 and Q. Glitius Atilius Agricola twice consuls. To Reburrus, 
 son of Severus, the Spaniard, decurion of the first ala of 
 the Pannonians, termed the Tampian, wliich is commanded by 
 C. Valerius Celsus. Copied and revised fi’om the tablet of 
 brass which is fixed at Rome on the wall behind the temple of 
 divine Augustus near that of Minerva. Quintus Pompeius 
 Homerus, Caius Papins Eusebes, Titus Elavius Secundus, 
 Publius Caulus Vitalis, Caius Vettienus Modestus, Publius 
 Atinius Hedonicus, and Titus Claudius Menander. 
 
 We have no traces of a Roman mint in Britain until the 
 reign of Dioclesian and Maximian, on the exergue or vacant 
 space on the reverse of some of whose coins we find the letters 
 LON and ML, which numismatists seem agreed in interpreting 
 Londinium^ moneta Londinensis, and in considering as an 
 indication of the place at which they were minted. It is, 
 however, far from certain that Roman money was not coined 
 in the island before it was thought necessary to indicate the 
 circumstance by such letters, and we cannot but be astonished 
 at the extraordinary activity of the Roman mint in Britain 
 during the usurpation of Carausius and Allectus. The great 
 mass of their coins appear to have been struck in Britain. 
 Those of Carausius bear in the exergues various combinations 
 of letters, which, there can be little doubt, refer to different 
 Roman towns in this island where they were minted. One of 
 the more common forms is ML, which is interpreted moneta 
 Londinensis, money of Londininm {London). In other examples 
 there is simply an L for Londininm. Another common form is 
 R. s, which is bclievea to signify Jlutnpiis sigriata {jnoneia), 
 
CHAP. XIII.] 
 
 ROMAN MINT-MARKS. 
 
 431 
 
 money coined at Rntnpiae {Ricliboroiujli) , The most common 
 form of all is RSU, which is also supposed to mean money 
 struck at Richborough, though the meaning of the second li 
 has not been satisfactorily explained. The letters mrs, found 
 on some coins of Carausiiis, may also signify moneta Rutiipih 
 signata. Two different types of the same usurper have on the 
 exergue the letters RSP, which are perhaps the initials of 
 Rutitpiis signatd pecimia. The letter c is found singly on a 
 considerable number of different types of the coinage of Carau- 
 sius, and is believed to refer to Clausentum one of 
 
 the great naval stations on the southern coast of Britain ; and 
 other similar inscriptions, such as MC, sc, Msc, spc, are believed 
 to refer to the same place, and to admit of the interpretations 
 moneta Clausentl, slgnata Clausenti^ moneta signata Claiisentl, 
 and signata pecimia Clausentl. The letters rsa, found in the 
 exergue of at least one type, may refer to Rutupim. Other 
 types exhibit the letters ms, or msp, or simply m, which may 
 possibly refer to Magna {Kencl tester) ^ where a remarkable 
 quantity of the money of Carausius is constantly found. The 
 letters may be thus interpreted, Magnis signata^ Magnis signata 
 pecunia, or giving merely the name of the place, Magnis. 
 Many examples have numerals added to the name of the place, 
 but their meaning is very doubtful. Thus we have many types 
 of coins of Carausius bearing on the exergue the letters mlxxi, 
 which seems to stand for moneta Londinii xxl ; a combination 
 of letters equally common is cxxx, which may stand for Clau- 
 sentl xxl ; and we have some which are marked simply with the 
 numerals xxi. We have on other examples mlx (^moneta Lon- 
 dinii x), and x by itself ; LVii {Londinii vll) ; and the numerals 
 XX and xxxx, without any indication of the name of the place. 
 On the coinage of Allectus we find in the exergues the letters 
 ML {inoneta Londlnensls) , which is the most common ; msl 
 {moneta signata Londinii) ; c. {Clausetitl), which is also veiy 
 common; M {Magnis?) CL, QL, and QC, which have not been 
 explained. A few of the coins of Constantine the Great have 
 in the exergue p lon {pecunla Londlnensls) , but they are far 
 more common with the continental mint-marks. The inscrip- 
 tion p LON IS also found on the coins of Constantine’s empress 
 Fausta, of his sons Crispus and Constantine, and of his daugh- 
 ter-in-law (as it is supposed) Helena ; but after the time of 
 Allectus there are no indications of other towns in Britain in 
 which money was minted; and even the simple p lon dis- 
 appears after the reigns of the sons of Constantine. There may, 
 
432 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 however, have still remained a local mint, which, as far as is yet 
 known, has left no distingnishin^- mark on its coinage.^ 
 
 It is to be remarked that the insnlar coins of Caransins are 
 not in general inferior in purity of metal and in execution to the 
 contemporary coinage of the continent. But it is no less true 
 that among the Roman money found in this country we find a 
 great mass of debased or adulterated coinage, and, which is 
 still more curious, that very extensive manufactures of spurious 
 money have been traced. A few years ago, during the excava- 
 tions for laying the foundations of King William-street, in the 
 city of London, a considerable quantity of coins made of iron 
 plated with silver, intended to pass as silver, were found ]3acked 
 up in tiers, as they had been imported into Britain, probably 
 to pay the troops. The latest of them were of the emperor 
 Claudius, which was perhaps the time when they were brought 
 over hither. Most of these coins are in the cabinet of Mr 
 Roach Smith, who also possesses a number of Roman forged 
 coins cast in lead, found chiefly in the Thames. Amongst the 
 numerous coins found at Maryport, in Cumberland, were a great 
 quantity of forged denarii of Trajan and Hadrian, mostly, 
 like those in Mr Smith’s museum, cast in lead. It has been 
 remarked that ‘ genuine coin must have been exceedingly 
 scarce among the soldiers of this camp, and their credulity very 
 great, to allow of the circulation of such base imitations.’ 
 
 Extensive remains of the manufactures of spurious money 
 under the Romans have been found in several places in this 
 island, but more especially at Lingwell Gate, near Wakefield, 
 in Yorkshire ; at Edington, in Somersetshire ; at Riiyton and 
 AVroxeter, in Shropshire ; and at Castor, in Northamptonshire. 
 The last three places Avere the sites of well-known Roman toAvns, 
 Rutunium, Uriconium, and Durobrivae. The manner of casting 
 the coins Avas a very simple process. A fine clay, found on the 
 locality, Avas formed into small round tablets, of uniform size and 
 thickness. A coin of one of the emperors Avas pressed betAA^en 
 each two tablets, so as to leave a perfect impression, and the 
 latter Avere then arranged upon one another in files or columns, 
 the upper and lower tablets being impressed only on one side. 
 xV notch Avas broken into the side all the Avay doAvn, AAdiich 
 admitted the metal into each impression. Two, or three, of 
 these columns, as the case might be, Avere placed side by side, 
 
 * It must be remarked that many of the foregoin*^ explanations are 
 conjectural, and they may perhaps admit of other interpretations. Tlie 
 c, tor instance, may stand for Camulodunum, instead of Clausentum. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] MANUFACTURE OF FORGED AfONEY. 
 
 433 
 
 witli tlie side notches joined tog-ether, and tliese were enclosed 
 in a clay case, with a hole at the top, through which the 
 melted metal ran down the opening left hy the notches, by 
 which it entered into all the impressions. The arrangement, 
 as observed in the monlds found at Lingwell Gate, is exhibited 
 in our w-oodcut, Avhere the upper 
 tigure represents the faces of three 
 impressed tablets as they were 
 joined together in the columns. 
 It Avas only necessary that care 
 should be taken to place the tablets 
 on one another so that the re- 
 verse might correspond with the 
 head belonging to it. Their mis- 
 placement would produce those 
 wrong reverses which are some- 
 times found among ancient Roman 
 coins, and Avhich have often puzzled 
 the numismatist. 
 
 From the number of these 
 moulds, Avhich are found on the 
 sites where they occur, we might 
 imagine that after being used two 
 or three times, they were thrown 
 aside as Avaste, and new ones 
 formed. In an account of those 
 found at Edington, in Somerset- 
 shire, printed in the fourteenth 
 volume of the ‘ Archseologia.’ 
 the Avriter informs us that ‘ the held in Avhich they Avere 
 found is a meadoAv that bears no marks of CA^r having- 
 been ploughed ; Avhich accounts for the moulds remaining so 
 long undiscovered. It is situated at the north edge of Polden 
 Hill, at about a quarter of a mile to the north of the village 
 of Chilton. We Avere led to this particular spot by a person who 
 had, some time before, cut through a bed of them in digging 
 a drain. They Avere lying promiscuously scattered over a space 
 about four feet square, and from six inches to a foot below the 
 surface of the ground.’ He adds that in the space of an 
 hour they picked up several hundred moulds. They are found 
 also scattered about very plentifully at Lingwell. In some 
 instances pieces of metal have been found, and at Lingwell 
 Gate an earthen crucible for melting it Avas met with. Some 
 
434 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 moulds have even been found to contain the forged coins as 
 the metal had been poured in, which had never been taken 
 out. 
 
 Moulds of the same kind have been found in France, espe- 
 cially in Lyons, and at Damery, near Epcrnay, in the depart- 
 ment of the Alarne. This latter place occupied the site of a 
 Roman station. Excavations made there in the winter of 1829, 
 brought to light, under a heap of burnt matter, the remains of 
 extensive buildings which had evidently been destroyed by 
 tire, and appeared to have consisted of baths and a money er’s 
 workshop. In some of the apartments were found vases full 
 of coins. The tirst contained at least two thousand pieces of 
 base silver, more than fifteen hundred of which bore the head 
 of Postumus ; the remainder presenting the series which is 
 generally found from the elder Philip down to that reign. 
 The fabric was bad, and the metal much alloyed. Another 
 vase contained a silver coin of Antoninus ; five small brass of 
 the money of Treves, with the types of Rome and Constanti- 
 nople ; a hundred other small brass of the money of Treves, 
 Lyons, Arles, Aquileia, and other towns, with the heads of 
 Constans and Constantins, sons of Constantine; and nearly 
 four thousand pieces in small brass of the fourth size, all of the 
 same emperors, Constans and Constantins. All these coins 
 were so fresh, that it seemed evident they had been made 
 in the place where they were found, and that they had never 
 been in circulation. This circumstance was soon explained by 
 the discovery in an adjoining room of a manufactory of money, 
 which, at the time the buildings were destroyed, must have 
 been in full activity. ‘ There, under a heap of ashes and 
 tiles, were found together, shears and the remains of other 
 instruments suitable for the making of money ; and several 
 collections of moulds of baked earth, still containing the 
 pieces which had been cast in them, and the ingot formed by 
 the superfluous metal. These moulds were moulded from the 
 money which tliey were intended to reproduce, by pressing the 
 models between discs ■ of worked clay of larger diameter, in 
 order to form ledges, and were then placed one upon another, 
 so that, with the exception of the first and last, they received 
 on the two faces the stamp of the obverse and the reverse of a 
 piece. The cavities and the impressions being obtained by this 
 process, both easily and accurately, the discs composing the 
 moulds were notched, in order to form a passage for the fused 
 metal; they were then hardened in the lire, and replaced on 
 
CHAP. XIII.] COINS EELATING TO EEITAIN. 
 
 43 .) 
 
 one another, notch over notch, in tlie same order as when 
 moulded.’ 
 
 It has been a question rather learnedly and warmly discussed, 
 whether these workshops were those of private forgers, or 
 whether they were establishments under the direction of the 
 imperial government. The latter supposition seems to be au- 
 thorized by the fact that they are found in large towms, and ap- 
 parently, in some instances, in public buildings. The moulds 
 found at Polden Hill, in Somersetshire, were of Severus and 
 ids wife Julia, of Caracalla, Geta, Macrinus, Elagabalus, Alex- 
 ander Severus, Maximinus, Maximus, Plautilla, Julia Paula, 
 and Julia Mammsea. These, compared with other circum- 
 stances, seem to show that the forgeries were carried on after 
 the reign of Severus, and that it was probably one scheme of 
 the fiscal administration to raise money by the issue of debased 
 coin, which, to protect the reigning emperor from odium, was 
 cast from moulds of the coins of previous emperors. Of 
 course, it does not follow necsssarily that some of the moulds 
 which have been found in other places may not have belonged 
 to private forgers, who thus enriched themselves by defrauding 
 the public. 
 
 Mr Akerman has published a useful volume under the title 
 of " Coins of the Eoinans relating to Britain.’ The series of 
 Eoman coins which come under this denomination have a 
 peculiar interest connected with the history of our island. 
 From the moment when Claudius set his foot on our shores, 
 there was a regular series of imperial coins commemorative of 
 victories in Britain by the emperors or by their military com- 
 manders. Those of Claudius, bearing on the reverse a 
 triumphal arch with the inscription de brittan (over the 
 Britons), are well known. The expedition of the emperor 
 Hadrian was commemorated by a coin in large brass, struck in 
 the year 121, on the reverse of which is the inscription, 
 ADVENTVS AVG BRiTANNiAE (the advciit of the Augustus to 
 Britain). The same emperor commemorated his exploits by 
 another coin, bearing on the reverse a figure of a female seated 
 on a rock, holding a spear on her arm, with a shield resting by 
 her side, and the inscription Britannia. There are several 
 difierent coins of Hadrian with this device, from which they 
 are usually knoAvn as the Britannia types, and similar coins 
 Avere struck under Antoninus Pius ; but in the latter the figure 
 is more frequently a male than a female. It is from these 
 Homan coins that the figure of Britannia was taken for our 
 
436 
 
 THE llOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. xiit. 
 
 modem Eiig*lisli mintage. Coins of Severns bear the inscrip- 
 tion victoriak BRiTANNiCAE, to commemorate the expeditions 
 of that emperor against the Caledonians. Similar inscriptions 
 appear on those of his sons, Caracalla and Geta. The mintage 
 of the usurpers Carausius and Allectus furnish the most 
 important monuments of tlie history of Britain during that 
 period ; while those of their successors are chiefly connected 
 with our island by the marks of the London mint. 
 
 The great quantities of Roman coins wliich are found in this 
 island, and which have been continually found for many ages, 
 prove that there was no want of money in Roman Britain. 
 They are usually found hoarded up in earthen vessels, each 
 containing sometimes several thousand pieces. These had, no 
 doubt, been concealed by the original proprietors, who were, by 
 some accident or other, prevented from taking them from their 
 hiding-places. The great number of pots of Roman money 
 found in almost every part of Britain, show that this was the 
 ordinary manner of storing up money which was not in circula- 
 tion. It was no doubt buried in the ground Avithin the limits 
 of the residence of its proprietor, or in some spot Avhere it was 
 not likely to be intruded upon. Large urns of this kind are 
 sometimes turned up by the ploughshare, and thus made to 
 display their contents to the Avondering eyes of the modern 
 husbandman. Roman urns filled AAuth coins have been found, 
 in some instances — chiefly in the mining districts — concealed 
 in crevices of rocks. The receptacle of the treasure Avas not 
 always, hoAvever, an earthenAvare vessel. In the year 1837, a 
 quantity of gold and silver coins of Roman emperors, from 
 Nero to Hadrian, Avas found in a bronze vessel, formed like a 
 shallow basket, and covered Avith a lid, concealed in the crevice 
 of a rock at Thorngrafton, near Hexham, in Northumberland. 
 SeA^eral instances have also occurred, Avhere the coins had been 
 placed in receptacles of a much more singular description. At 
 Cirencester, in the time of Leland (under Henry YIIL), a 
 quantity of Roman silver coin Avas found concealed in the shank 
 bone of a horse, which Avas closed at the end Avith a peg and 
 ten British gold coins Avere found by a boy tending sheep, a 
 feAV years ago, near High AVycombe, in Buckinghamshire, in a 
 holloAv hint. A still more remarkable circumstance is the 
 manner in Avhich coins are spread over almost all Roman sites. 
 
 * ‘ By the town fiostris temporibus was found a broken shank bone of 
 a horse, the mouth closed with a pegg:e, the which AVas taken owt, a shep- 
 ard fouude yt tillid nionmis argentels' — Leland' s Itin.^ vol. v. p. 61. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] rROPOUTIOXAL NUMBKRS OF ROMAN COINS. 437 
 
 In excavating- a town, or a villa, we find tliem scattered in tlie 
 houses and courts, about the streets, and over the fields around. 
 In the partial excavations at Lyrane, wliere few of the usual 
 articles of Eoman antiquity were found, coins occurred every- 
 where. In the ploughed land on the hill round the walls of 
 Richborough, one cannot walk long without picking up a 
 Eoman coin ; and on many other long-deserted sites there is 
 scarcely a cottager in the neighbourhood who has not a collec- 
 tion of coins, which he has picked up in his garden, or when at 
 Avork in the adjoining fields. Any one Avould imagine that the 
 Eomans in Britain amused themselves with throwing their 
 money away ; and I am not aware that any probable explana- 
 tion of this circumstance has yet been given. ^ The coins 
 found thus scattered about are generally, as might be expected, 
 in much Avorse condition than those Avhich are found in hoards. 
 
 The mass of the Eoman coins found in Bi-itain are of very 
 common types, and of small intrinsic value ; but a fcAV rarer 
 specimens are generally found even in small hoards, and now 
 and then an unique or nearly unique example occurs. This is 
 more frequently the case Avith the coins of Carausius. Coins 
 are found of all periods, from the consular series to the time 
 Avhen the Eoman legions abandoned the island, and in collec- 
 tions of any extent, in whatever part of the island they are 
 made, the proportional quantities of the coins of the different 
 emperors are generally much the same. There are some local 
 exceptions to this rule, more especially Avith regard to the coin- 
 age of Carausius and Allectus, Avhich are found to predominate 
 in one or two places, Avhich Avere no doubt chief stations of 
 their troops. More than eleven hundred Eoman coins found' 
 of late years at Eichborough, and described by Mr Eoach 
 Smith, presented the folloAving proportional numbers for each 
 emperor or empress : — 
 
 British. . = . . . 1 
 
 Consular 3 
 
 Augustus (b.c. 27 — a.d. 14) . 7 
 
 Agrippa (b.c. 9— a.d. 30) . . 1 
 Tiberius (a.d. 14 -37) . . 2 
 
 Antonia (wife of Drusus senior) 1 
 Caligula (a.d. 37—41) . . 2 
 
 If 
 
 Brought forward . .17 
 
 Claudius (a.d. 41 — 54) . . 15 
 Nero (a.d. 50—68) . . .11 
 
 Vespasian (a.d. 69 — 79) . . 13 
 Titus (a.d. 69 — 81) . . . 1 
 
 Domitian (a.d. 69 — 96) . . 10 
 Nerva (a.d. 96—98) . . 1 
 
 68 
 
 * Great quantities of Roman coins have been brought up from the bed 
 of the river Thames at London by dredgers. 
 
4o8 
 
 THE IlOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. XIII. 
 
 Brought forward 
 Trajan (a.d. 98 — 117) . 
 
 Hadrian (a.d. 117 — 138) . 
 Sabina (wife of Hadrian) . 
 ^Hlius Caesar (a.d. 136 — 138) 
 Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138 — 161 
 Faustina the Elder (wife o 
 Antoninus) . 
 
 Marc. Aurelius (a.d. 161 — 180 
 Faustina the Younger (wife o 
 M. Aurelius) . 
 
 Lucius Verus (a.d. 161 — 169) 
 Lucilla (wife of Lucius Verus 
 Cornmodus (a.d. 166 — 192) 
 Severus (a.d. 197 — 211) . 
 
 Julia Domna (wife of Severus 
 Caracalla (a.d. 196—217) 
 
 Julia Maesa (sister of Juli 
 Domna) 
 
 Severus Alexander (a.d. 221 
 235) .... 
 Gordianus (a.d. 238 — 244) 
 Philippus (a.d. 244 — 249) 
 Valerianus (a.d. 254 — 260) 
 Valerianus junior . 
 
 Gallienus (a.d. 253—268) 
 Salonina (wife of Gallienus 
 Postumus (a.d. 260 — 267) 
 Victorinus (a.d. 265 — 267) 
 Marius (a.d. 267) 
 
 Tetricus (a.d. 267 — 272) 
 Claudius Gothicus (a.d. 268 
 - 270 ) .... 
 Quintillus (a.d. 270) . 
 Aurelianus (a.d. 270 — 275) 
 Tacitus (a.d. 275) . 
 
 Florianus (a.d. 276) 
 
 Probus (a.d. 276 — 282) . 
 
 Carinus (a.d. 282 — 285) 
 Numerianus (a.d. 282 — 284) 
 Diocletianus (a.d. 284—313) 
 
 Brought forward . . 244 
 
 Maximianus (a.d. 286 — 310) . 16 
 
 Carausius (a.d. 287 — 293) . . 94 
 
 Allectus (a.d. 293 — 296) . . 45 
 
 Constantius I. (a.d. 293 — 306) 4 
 
 Helena (wife of Constantius) . 8 
 
 Theodora (second wife of Con- 
 stantius) . . . .13 
 
 Galerius Maximianus (a.d. 292 
 
 —311) 1 
 
 Maxentius (a.d. 306 — 312) . 2 
 Romulus (son of Maxentius) . 1 
 
 Licinius (a.d. 307 — 324) . . 12 
 
 Licinius junior . . . . 1 
 
 Constantine the Great (a.d. 306 
 
 —337) 149 
 
 Fausta (wife of Constantine) . 2 
 
 Crispus (a.d. 317 — 326) . .18 
 
 Delmatius (nephew of Constan- 
 tine) 1 
 
 Constantine II. (a.d. 317 — 340) 98 
 Constans (a.d. 333 — 350) . . 77 
 
 Constantius II. (a.d. 323 — 361) 42 
 
 Urbs Roma . . . .52 
 
 Constantinopolis . . . . 60 
 
 Magnentius (a.d. 350 — 353) . 21 
 
 Decentius (a.d. 351 — 353) . 4 
 
 Julianus II. (a.d. 355 — 363) . 7 
 
 Helena (wife of Julian) . . 1 
 Jovianus (a.d. 363 — 364) . . 1 
 
 Valentinianus (a.d. 364—375) 22 
 Valens (a.d. 364-378) . . 39 
 Gratianus (a.d. 375 — 383^ . .. 40 
 
 Theodosius (a.d. 379 — 395) . 14 
 M'rignus Maximus (a.d. 383 — 
 
 388) . . . . . 6 
 
 Victor (son of Maximus) . . 3 
 
 Eugenius (a.d. 392 — 395) . 1 
 
 Arcadius (a d. 383 — 408) . . 27 
 
 Honorius (a.d. 393 — 423) . 8 
 
 Constantine III. (a.d. 407) . 1 
 
 244 
 
 Total . .1144 
 
 Of these Eicliboroiig'li coins, seven (including the British coin) 
 are of gold, fifty-six of silver, fifteen of billon or debased 
 silver, and the rest of brass. The coins of billon, like most of 
 the debased silver, belong to the immediate successors of 
 Severus. Silver coins are often found in much larger propor- 
 tions to the others ; and the gold coins are too often carried 
 away separately, on account of their value, and they have thus 
 frequently found their way direct to the melting-pot. Among 
 two hundred and sixty-eight Eoman coins found at Caerleon, 
 and described in Mr Lee’s work on that ancient city, there 
 
CHAP. XIII.] PROrORTIOXAL NUMBERS OF ROMAN COINS. 439 
 
 were two of gold, forty-four of silver, eleven plated, and three of 
 billon or debased metal. These coins belonged to the different 
 emperors in the following proportions : — 
 
 Claudius 1 
 
 Nero 1 
 
 Vespasian . . . .13 
 
 Titus 1 
 
 Doniitian . .... o 
 
 Nerva . . . . . . 2 
 
 Trajan 12 
 
 Hadrian . . . . . 9 
 
 Antoninus Pius . . .11 
 
 Faustina, the elder . . . 3 
 
 Marcus Aurelius ... 3 
 
 Faustina, the youn«-er . . 1 
 
 Lucius Verus . . . . 1 
 
 Lucilla . . . . . 2 
 
 Mammaea . . . . 1 
 
 Julia Soeeinias . . . . 2 
 
 Comniodus .... 3 
 
 Se verus . . . . . 11 
 
 Julia ..... 2 
 
 Caracalla . . . . . 7 
 
 Geta ..... 3 
 
 J ulia Maesa . . . . 1 
 
 Macrinus 1 
 
 Severus Alexander . . . 1 
 
 Elagabalus (Heliog-abalus) . 1 
 
 Gordianus .... 3 
 
 Philippus 2 
 
 Vdlerianus . . . . 1 
 
 
 Brought forward . .104 
 
 Gallienus . . . • . 1 
 
 Salonina ..... 9 
 
 Postunius . . . . . 2 
 
 Victorinus .... 4 
 
 The Tetrici . . . . . 7 
 
 Claudius Gothicus ... 7 
 
 Probus . . . . . 2 
 
 Maxiraianus .... 5 
 
 Carausius 21 
 
 Allectus 4 
 
 Constantius . . . . 1 
 
 Helena ..... 1 
 
 Galerius Maxiniianus . . . 2 
 
 Liciniiis ..... 4 
 
 Constantine the Great . . . 28 
 
 Fausta 1 
 
 Crispus 4 
 
 Constantine II. . . .8 
 
 Constans 13 
 
 Constantius II. . . . 6 
 
 Urbs Roma . . . . . 13 
 
 Constantinopolis ... 5 
 
 Magnentius . . . . 12 
 
 Decentius . . . . 1 
 
 Valens 7 
 
 Gratianus .... 2 
 
 Arcadius . . . . . 1 
 
 lotal . . . 2 G 8 
 
440 
 
 THE ROMANS, 
 
 [CilAF. XIV 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Declining State of the Roman Empire after the age of Julian — Theodosius 
 sent to Britain — Revolt and Career of Maximus — Stilicho — Marcus 
 and Gratian revolt in Britain — The Usurper Constantine — Honorius — 
 Britain independent of the Empire and harassed by the Northern Bar- 
 barians — The Britons receive assistance from Rome — The last Roman 
 Legion withdrawn — The Angles and Saxons come in — The Angles 
 settle in Northumbria — The Jutes in Kent — Hengest and Horsa — 
 ^lla in Sussex — Cerdic arrives in Hampshire — Essex and the Angles 
 — Mission of St Augustine and Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to 
 Christianity. 
 
 At the period when we have to resume our sketch of tlie his- 
 tory of Britain, the vast empire of the Caesars, harassed on all 
 sides by its outward enemies, was approaching fast towards a 
 dissolution. It had required all the courage and vigilance ot 
 Julian to keep the Teutons at bay on the northern frontier, and 
 the Saxons were becoming every day more formidable in the 
 Avestern seas. The governor or vicar of Britain, at the time 
 when Julian ascended the imperial throne, was an officer named 
 Alvqhus, who was recalled by the emperor, in order to be 
 entrusted with the charge of directing the rebuilding of the 
 walls of Jerusalem, which Julian had determined to restore 
 in a feeling of hostility to the Christians. We know nothing 
 of the state of Britain during Julian’s reign, but soon after the 
 accession of Jovian it was fearfully harassed by the joint 
 attacks of the Piets, Scots, and Attacots from the north, and 
 of the Saxons from the sea. They seem to have met with 
 little resistance until the reign of his successor Yalentinian, 
 Avho, giving up the empire of the east to his brother Yalens, 
 employed his own energy in restoring security and order to the 
 Avest. It Avas in the year 368, as Yalentinian Avas on his Avay 
 from Amiens to Treves, that he received intelligence from 
 Britain of a new and terrible irruption of the barbarians, Avho 
 
CHAr. XIV.] 
 
 TROUBLES IN BRITAIN. 
 
 4^1 
 
 liad defeated and slain the count of the maritime district (the 
 Saxon coast), Nectarides, while the duke Eullofaudes (no doubt 
 the same officer called in the Notitia duke of Britain), had 
 fallen into an ambush. In his first moment of indignation, the 
 emperor despatched Severiis, the count of the domestics, or 
 steward of the household, to take the command in the island ; 
 but, on reflection, he recalled this appointment, and substituted 
 in his place Jovinus, who instantly sent Pro vert uides to Britain 
 to assemble the troops, that they might be ready on his arrival. 
 Purther consideration seems to have opened Yalentinian’s eyes 
 still more to the gravity of the crisis, and the appointment was 
 changed again, the command of Britain being finally entrusted 
 to one of the ablest of the imperial generals, the celebrated 
 Theodosius. 
 
 Theodosius hastened to Boulogne, which was at this time 
 called Bononia, and he soon landed at Butupiae with a strong 
 force, composed of the Batavii, the Eruli, the Jovii, and the 
 Yictores. We are told by the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, 
 the brief narrator of these events, that the Piets, who at this 
 time were divided into two great tribes (the Dicalidones and the 
 Yecturioiies), had joined with the Scots and the fierce nation of 
 the Attacotti, in this invasion, and we can understand its grave 
 character, when we are assured that at the time of the landing 
 of Theodosius at Butupiae, the enemies were plundering the 
 country round London, the name of which had then been 
 changed to Augusta. The Boman commander immediately 
 marched against them, and sub-dividing his forces, defeated 
 their numerous predatory bands with great slaughter, and 
 deprived them of their booty, a great part of which was re- 
 stored to those from whom it had been taken. The citizens ot 
 London joyfully opened their gates to their deliverer, and he 
 remained tliere a short time to give repose to his troops, and to 
 consider the difficulties with which he had to contend. He 
 soon learut from deserters and captives the character of the 
 enemy with which he had to deal, and he came to the con- 
 clusion that they might be conquered by policy as much as by 
 arms. He issued a proclamation ofiering a pardon to all who 
 would desert from their ranks, and ‘ on this promise a great 
 number returned to their duty.’ It is evident from this, that 
 there was an insurrection of the subject population combined 
 with the invasion. Theodosius next sent a report on the 
 state of Britain to the emperor, and recommended that an 
 officer named Civilis, distinguished for his energy and honesty, 
 
THE romans. 
 
 [chap. yiv. 
 
 ^‘t2 
 
 should be sent to him as o-overnor of Britain, accompanied by 
 a distinguished military commander, the duke Dulcitius.* 
 
 After remaining some time at London, to wait the effect of 
 liis proclamation, and the arrival of Civilis and Dulcitius with 
 reinforcements, Theodosius left that city at the head of a brave 
 and well-appointed army, and, by his rapid and great success, 
 soon justified the high military character for which he was 
 previously known. ' He always anticipated the enemy in 
 occupying the most important positions, and gave no orders to 
 the common soldiers which he was not himself the first to 
 execute. In this way, discharging the duties both of an able 
 general and brave soldier, he routed the various tribes whose 
 insolence, prompted by security, had led them to attack the 
 Roman province, and he re-established the cities and fortresses, 
 which had suffered severely by their manifold losses, but which 
 in their foundation had been calculated for preserving the island 
 in permanent tranquillity. ’f Among the auxiliary troops sent 
 into Britain by the emperor Valentinian, and probably at this 
 time, was a body of Grermans (^lumerm Allemannoru'in) , with a 
 king or chief {rex), named Eraomarius, who received the title 
 and office of tribune. 
 
 The first successes of a commander like Theodosius were 
 sufficient to discourage the opponents with whom he had to 
 deal ; and he not only cleared the southern districts of their 
 invaders, but he recovered from the Piets and Scots the country 
 between the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus, which he found 
 in the undisturbed possession of the enemy, and to which he 
 now gave the name of Yalentia, in honour of the emperor. 
 He repaired and strengthened the forts and garrisons which 
 protected the northern frontier, and the island appears to have 
 been restored to a degree of peace and prosperity which it had 
 not enjoyed for many years. For this Britain was probably 
 indebted in some degree to the indulgence of Valentinian, 
 whose constant study it is said to have been to ease the pro- 
 vinces by relieving them of taxes and protecting their frontiers. 
 
 * Denique edictis propositis impunitateque prornissa, desertores ad pro- 
 cinctum vocabat, et multos alios per diversa libero commeatu disperses. 
 Quo luonitu ut rediere plerique, incentivo percitus, retentusque anxiis curis, 
 Civilem nomine recturum Britannias pro prsefectis ad se poposcerat mitti, 
 virurn acrioris ingenii, sed justi tenacem et recti ; itidemque Dulcitium 
 ducem scientia rei militaris insignein.— Marcel., lib. xxvii. 
 c. 9. 
 
 t In integrum restituit civitates et castra, multiplicibus quidem damnis 
 afiflicta, sed ad quietem temporis longi fundata . — Ammianus Marcel., lib. 
 xxviii. c. 3. 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 THE AECAXr. 
 
 413 
 
 Indeed, when we consider the brief and imperfect account of 
 these events odven liy the old historian, we become convinced 
 that there was something* more than a mere invasion of barba- 
 rians, and tliat these had been joined, if not called in, by a 
 large portion of the population of the Homan province. We 
 have seen many instances of the readiness with which the citi(‘s 
 in Britain rose up in rebellion against the imperial autliority, 
 and it is not improbable tliat they looked upon the cliange 
 wliich had turned their governor into a mere vicar under the 
 government of Grant as a serious diminution of their independ- 
 ence. Perhaps, under the new regime, their taxes and services 
 had become more burthensome. It is certain, however, that 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, in resuming briefly the character of the 
 emperor Valentinian, blames him for an habitual inattention to 
 the complaints of his subjects in the distant provinces, and 
 accidentally informs us that it was this circumstance which had 
 caused the tumults in Britain.^ The people of Britain had 
 therefore asked for a redress of grievances, and the emperor had 
 turned a deaf ear to their complaints. Another incident men- 
 tioned by the historian shows us that there was intelligence be- 
 tween the insurgents and the invaders. There was, we are told, 
 in the province a class of men employed who were entitled, 
 according to the text of Ammianus as now printed, Areani, but 
 Avhich is supposed to be an error for Areani, secret agents ; for 
 he informs us that their duty was to travel as spies among 
 the difterent peoples on the frontiers of the empire, and bring 
 early intelligence of their movements and designs. These men, 
 we are told, in Britain, had entered into communication with 
 the enemies, and had given them information which enabled them 
 to make their invasions with the greater security and advantage. 
 The Areani had become so dangerous, that Theodosius found it 
 necessary to deprive them of the power of doing further evil, 
 and, as far as we can gather, the oflice itself appears to have 
 been abolished.f 
 
 ^ In hoc tanturn deerrans, quod, quuni grregarioruni etiani levia puniret 
 ('iTata, potioruni diicuni Hag-itia progredi sinebat in majus, ad querelas in 
 eus niotas aliquoties obsurdescens ; unde Britaimici strepitus et Africante 
 eludes et vastitas ernersit Illyrici . — Ammianus Marcel., lib. xxx. c. 9. 
 
 t Aniniianus bad given a further account of these Areani, or Areani, in 
 a part of bis book wbicli is now lost. The manuscript which preserved his 
 lii.^tory through the destructive period which followed the fall of the 
 empire had been much mutilated ; and it happens unfortunately that, as 
 ill the case of Tacitus, the very books which would have given us import- 
 ant infoi-matiou on the history and condition of Britain were those which 
 have perished. 
 
 2 E 
 
444 
 
 THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 Another occurrence related by the same historian g-ives us a 
 passing glance of the divisions and intrigues which at this time 
 ]*eigned in the province of Britain. There was in Britain at 
 this time a man named Yalentinus, a native of Yaleria, in 
 Pannonia, notorious for his intrigues and ambition, who had 
 been sent as an exile to Britain in expiation of some lieavy 
 crime. This practice of banishing political offenders to Britain 
 appears to have been, at the time of wliich we are now speak- 
 ing, very prevalent ; for we learn from the same annalist that a 
 citizen of Rome, named Frontinus, Avas at the time of the 
 revolt just described sent into exile in Britain for a similar 
 cause. Men like these no sooner arrived in the island than 
 they took an active part in its divisions, and brought the talent 
 for political intrigue which had been fostered in Italy to act 
 upon the agitation already existing in the distant province. 
 Such was the case with Yalentinus, who, as the brotlier-in-law 
 of one of the deepest agitators of Rome, the vicar Maximinus 
 (described by Ammianus as ille exltialis vicariiis), had no doubt 
 been well trained for the part he was now acting. As far as 
 we can gather from the brief notices of .the historian, this 
 individual seems, when Theodosius arrived in Britain, to have 
 l)een actiA^ely engaged in some ambitious designs, which the 
 anlval of that great and upright commander rendered hopeless. 
 Theodosius had not been long in Londinium, when he received 
 private information that Yalentinus Avas engaged Avith the other 
 exiles in a formidable conspiracy, and that even many of the 
 military had been secretly corrupted by his promises.^ With 
 the vigour which characterised all his actions, Theodosius 
 caused the arch-conspirator and his principal accomplices to be 
 seized suddenly, at the moment Avhen their designs Avere on the 
 point of being carried into execution, and they Avere delivered 
 over to duke Dulcitius, to receive the punishment due to their 
 crimes ; but, aAvare of the extensive ramifications of the plot 
 in which they had been engaged, and believing that it had been 
 sufficiently crushed, Theodosius Avisely put a stop to all further 
 inquiries, fearing lest by prosecuting them he might excite an 
 alarm, Avhich Avould only bring a renewal of the scenes of tur- 
 Ijulence and outiuge which his presence had already in a great 
 
 * Quietis iinpatiens malefica bestia ad res perniciosas consuroebat et 
 novas, in Theodosiuiu tuinoie quodaiii, quern solum resistere posse nefandis 
 cogitationibus advertebat. Multa tamen clam palamque circumspiciens, 
 orescente flatu cupiditatis immense exsules solicitabat et milites, pro tein- 
 poris captu au.soruni illecebrosas pollicendo mercedes. 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 REVOLT OF MAXIMUS. 
 
 445 
 
 measure appeased.^ The -nrudence as well as the valour of 
 Theodosius were thus united in restorini^ Britain to peace and 
 tranquillity; and we are assured that when, in 359, he quitted 
 the island, he was accompanied to the port where he embarked 
 by crowds of grateful provincials. 
 
 The spirit of discontent and rebellion, which appears to have 
 been so widely spread among the iidiabitants of the island 
 province, was only suppressed by Theodosius to break out a 
 few years afterwards in a more alarming form. The emperor 
 Yaleiitinian died in the November of the year 375, and left 
 the empire to his two sons, Gratian, who had already partaken 
 in its cares, and Valentinian, a mere child. Theodosius had 
 already fallen a victim to the jealousies of the court, but he 
 had left a son, also named Theodosius, to inherit his greatness. 
 The empire of the east having been made vacant by the death 
 of Valens, Gratian chose the young Theodosius as his successor, 
 in 379 ; he had already divided the empire of the west, by 
 placing Italy and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean 
 under his younger brother, while he retained for himself the 
 more difficult task of governing Gaul, Spain, and Britain. The 
 elevation of Theodosius to the imperial dignity was the signal 
 for a general revolt in the latter province. There was at this 
 time in Britain a young officer, a native of Spain, named 
 Magnus Maximus, who had served in the island along with 
 young Theodosius, and who was now a great favourite with the 
 troops, although we are not informed what command he held. 
 It is said that his jealous mind was profoundly wounded at 
 the honours showered upon Theodosius, and that he was easily 
 induced to join in a conspiracy for wresting the vrestern 
 division of the empire from Gratian. In the year 383, the 
 soldiers in Britain, who are characterised by the almost contem- 
 porary historian as the most arrogant and turbulent of all the 
 imperial troops,f rose, it appears, unanimously, and proclaimed 
 Maximus their emperor. Maximus at once placed himself 
 at the head of the British army, and, passing over to the con- 
 tinent, landed at the mouth of the Rhine. The troops in 
 Germany immediately revolted to his standard, and the new 
 emperor marched triumphantly into Treves, which he made 
 his capital 
 
 * De conjuratis qua3stiones agitari probibuit, ne formidine sparsa per 
 iniilfos reviviscerent provinciarum turbines compositi. 
 
 f Otrt tTov (iWuiv dirdvriou TrXiov avdadfiu kuI QvfJiM viKU}fxti>ov 9 . — 
 Zosimus, lib. iv. c. 35. 
 
446 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIV 
 
 Of the events wliich followed, the accounts of different 
 writers are very contradictory ; but, according to that which 
 appears to be entitled to most credit, Gratian was residing at 
 Paris, without any suspicion of the danger which threatened 
 liim, when he received intelligence of this dangerous revolt. 
 Perceiving that he was deserted by the troops in Gaul, whose 
 hostility lie had provoked, and having ascertained that it was 
 in vain to attempt to resist the usurper, he fled towards Italy, 
 accompanied by a faithful body of cavalry. But treason seemed 
 to beset him on all sides. The governor of the province of 
 Imgdunum [Lyons) treacherously persuaded him to remain in 
 (laul, and amused him with deceitful stories of armies that 
 were rising up to support his cause, until the general of the 
 cavalry of Maximus, the unscrupulous Andragathius, arrived 
 with a strong body of troops, to whom Gratian was delivered, 
 to be sacriticed immediately by the hand of an assassin. 
 
 The triumph of Maximus was now complete, and having no 
 longer any formidable rival to contend with in the west, he 
 assumed all the insignia and attributes of empire, conferred the 
 rank of Caesar on his son Victor, still a. child, and sent an 
 ambassador to the court of Theodosius, instructed to represent 
 to the eastern emperor that he had been compelled by the 
 army to assume the purple, to express his grief for the murder 
 of Gratian, which he pretended had been done without his 
 knowledge, and to offer Theodosius the choice of war or peace. 
 Theodosius, considering it prudent to temporise, chose the 
 latter, and it was agreed that Maximus should retain Bi’itain, 
 Gaul, and Spain, leaving to the young emperor Valentiniau 
 the provinces which had been assigned to him by his brother 
 Maximus now took up his residence in Treves, where he dis- 
 ])layed the cruelty of his disposition in persecuting some Chris- 
 tian heretics, with the object, it is said, of conciliating the more 
 orthodox Christians in Italy, that they might assist him in his 
 idtimate designs of reducing Italy to his obedience. At length, 
 when the moment appeared favourable for this enterprise, he 
 began by treacherously obtaining possession of the fortresses 
 which guarded the passes of the Alps. This was no sooner 
 effected, than the usurper, by a secret and rapid march, came 
 unexpectedly with his formidable army before the gates of 
 Milan. Valentiniau lied with his mother, the empress Justin a, 
 and his court, and succeeded in reaching in safety the dominions 
 of Theodosius ; while Maximus, who had met with no serious 
 opposition, entered A([uileia as emperor of the undivided west. 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 FATE OF MAXIMUS. 
 
 447 
 
 Theodosius was now roused to resistance and revenge by this 
 bold usurpation, and having despatched a body of foreign auxili- 
 aiies under Arbogastes, to march along the shores of the Danube, 
 he placed himself at tlie head of another army which marched 
 through Pannonia, while a numerous fleet conducted Yalentinian 
 and his mother back to Italy. Maximus had hitherto succeeded 
 by treason and fraud, and not by arms, and he seems to have 
 been overcome with the consciousness of the superior military 
 talents of the adversary with whom he had now to contend. 
 His troops were defeated whenever they attempted to oppose 
 tlie advance of the enemy, and Aquileia itself, in spite of its 
 impregnable walls, was soon obliged to throw open its gates to 
 Theodosius. Maximus was taken, and immediately put to 
 death ; and Arbogastes having by this time advanced into Gaid, 
 the child Victor was also taken, and fell an innocent victim to 
 the ambition of his fatlier. 
 
 Tlie expedition of Maximus has been made by the old his- 
 torians of Britain a fertile source of fable. It is pretended 
 that the island was so entirely drained of its population, that 
 it was never again able to defend itself against its barbarian 
 invaders; that the vast host of Britons who followed Maximus 
 into Gaul settled in Armorica after his defeat, and caused that 
 country to receive the name of Brittany ; and that the eleven 
 thousand virgins, who afterwards figured so prominently in the 
 Bomish martyrology, were maidens sent over from the island of 
 Britain to serve as wives to these adventurers. Such stories 
 have no foundation in accurate history ; and we have no good 
 reason for supposing that the usurpation of Maximus had led to 
 any very formidable invasion of the province in which he had 
 assumed the purple, although it is not probable that the Piets 
 and Scots would allow such an opportunity to pass without a 
 renewal of their predatory incursions. All that we know is, 
 that after the death of Maximus, Theodosius marched into 
 Gaul, where he appointed one of his eastern officers, Chrysaii- 
 thus, to the government of Britain. The new vicar probably 
 carried back with him most of the British troops, and perhaps 
 he took reinforcements. He is said to have restored the island 
 to a state of tranquillity. After ruling Britain for a short 
 period, Chrysanthus returned to the east, where he was made 
 prmfect of Constantinople ; and by a singular change of pro- 
 fession, this minister of the imperial will was subsequently 
 made a bishop. 
 
 We are now again left in utter darkness as to the internal 
 
448 
 
 THE ROMANS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 condition of Roman Britain, but it seems to have been exposed 
 to continual attacks from the Piets and Scots, or from the 
 Saxons. The emperor Theodosius died in 395, and left his 
 western dominions to be ruled by the feeble Honorius, while 
 Arcadius governed the east. Por a time the talents of Stilicho 
 arrested the fate of the empire, and it appears that Britain 
 owed to this great general some years of unusual tranquillity. 
 In the Notitia Imperii, composed in this reign, we learn the 
 military force which was then employed for the protection of 
 tlie island.* The twentieth legion, which had been so long 
 stationed at Deva {Chester), had then been entirely withdrawn ; 
 it is believed to have been taken away towards the end of the 
 fourth century, to be employed in the Getic war. Two legions, 
 however, still remained, with numerous bodies of auxiliaries • 
 and as these legions were the same that had always been in 
 Britain, they furnish evidence of the inaccuracy of the state- 
 ment that the island had been exhausted of its defenders. The 
 sixth legion remained in its old quarters at Eburacum, but the 
 second legion had been removed from Isca to Rutupise, in 
 order, no doubt, that it might be ready to act against the 
 Saxon marauders, or, in case of need, to be transported into 
 Gaul. The south-eastern and eastern coasts were strongly 
 guarded, and in the latter several fortresses appear to have 
 been newly erected, which are not mentioned at an earlier 
 period ; such as Othona, on the coast of Essex (the Saxon 
 Ythanceaster, the site of which is supposed to be no\V covered 
 by the sea), Gariannonum, in Suffolk (now Burgh Castle), and 
 Branodunum, in Norlolk (the site of which is now called Bran- 
 caster). The cities and municipal towns no doubt retained 
 their military organisation ; and in the invasions to which the 
 island was at this time exposed, they had to provide for their 
 own defence. 
 
 In the beginning of the fifth century, the soldiers in Britain 
 revolted, and conferred the title of emperor on a man named 
 Marcus. Soon tired of his rule, they slew him in 407, and 
 chose in his place Gratian, a burgher of one of the towns 
 in Britain.f This shows the prominent part Avhich the towns 
 took in the political troubles which then prevailed. Gratian 
 Avas allowed to reign four months, and then he also was slain. 
 The lot next fell upon an obscure soldier, who is said to have 
 
 * See before, p. 418. 
 
 f Apud Britannias Gratianus, municeps ejnsdem insulae, tyrannu 
 creatur et occiditur. — Orosius^ Hist., lib. vii. c. 40. 
 
CHAP, xiv.] THE USUEPI^Tx COXSTAXTIXE. 
 
 449 
 
 been chosen merely because liis name was Constantine, wliicli 
 was iraag’ined to be a good omen. It is probable, however, 
 that he possessed other qualities, for he was no sooner invested 
 with the purple than he showed a vigour and decision of cha- 
 racter equal to the task he had undertaken. He at once col- 
 lected his army and passed into Gaul, where he was received 
 as a deliverer, and acknowledged as the emperor of the west. 
 His reputation and popularity increased, when the Germans, 
 who had harassed the country, were reduced to submission by 
 his two prsefects, Justinns and Neviogastes. 
 
 At this moment (the earlier part of the year 408), the death 
 of the emperor Arcadius, and the elevation to the throne of the 
 east of Theodosius II., occupied the attention of the western 
 emperor; but, on tlie arrival of news of Constantine’s revolt, 
 Stilicho, who was still alive, proceeded to Home to concert 
 measures for suppressing it. He began by sending one of his 
 generals, Sams, into Gaul, who defeated the prmfect Justinns 
 in battle, and slew him and a great part of his men. He then 
 laid siege to Yalentia, where he had been informed that Con- 
 stantine was liolding his court. Here Neviogastes otiered to 
 negotiate, but he was entrapped by Sams,* and treacherously 
 put to death. Constantine, not discouraged, appointed two 
 new prefects, Edovinchus, a E’rank, and Count Gerontius, a 
 native of Britain, whose military talents Avere so Avell known, 
 that Sams raised the siege of Yalentia, and made so hasty a 
 retreat before Constantine’s troops, that he was obliged to give 
 up his plunder and baggage to the Bagaudi, Avho held the passes 
 of the Alps. 
 
 Constantine noAV felt secure in his power, and he proceeded 
 to strengthen the frontiers of his territories Aviih garrisons and 
 military posts. He next conferred the dignity of Cmsar on his 
 eldest son Constans, Avhom, it is said, he took from a monastery 
 to associate with him in the empire. Constans marched Avith 
 a part of his father’s army into Spain, and, not Avithout some 
 dilticulty, reduced that province also to his sway, and then, 
 leaving Count Gerontius to command it, returned to Gaul, at a 
 moment Avhen the death of Stilicho seemed to have relieved the 
 usurper from all danger. Constantine noAV followed a policy 
 similar to that of Maximus, in sending an embassy to Ilavenna 
 to entreat the forgiveness of Honorius for accepting an empire 
 Avhich he said had been forced n])on him by the soldiery. 
 Honorius, pressed by difficulties on all sides, reluctantly per- 
 mitted him to retain the title he had usurped. Constantine 
 
THE EOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 ioO 
 
 afterwards sent Jovius, a man of learning; and talent, as liis 
 envoy to the imperial court, to ask foi-g*iveiiess for the murder 
 of Didymus and Verinianus, two near relations of Honorius, 
 who had been taken prisoners by Constans in Spain, and lie 
 succeeded in obtaining a formal recognition of his title. 
 
 The successful rebel had now to contend with a rebellion 
 against himself. Constans returned to Spain, carrying with 
 him a new general, named Justus, whose appointment was so 
 olfensive to Count Gerontius, that he revolted with the army 
 under his command, and by means of his agents procured a 
 new invasion of Gaul by the barbarians. Instead of assuming 
 the purple himself, Gerontius conferred the dignity of emperor 
 on a man named Maximus, and leaving him to reign in Spain, 
 pursued Constans across the Pyrenees, and having captured 
 him at Yienne, immediately put him to death. He then 
 marched to besiege the father in the city of Arles. At this 
 time (a. d. 411), occurred the death of Alaric, and Honorius, 
 relieved from the terror wdiich the name of the Gothic king- 
 had so long inspired, sent Count Constantins with a powerful 
 army to assert his authority in Gaul and Spain. Constantins 
 approached Arles at the moment when it was closely besieged 
 by Gerontius, whose soldiei*s raised the siege tumultuously, 
 and rising furiously against their commander, put him to death. 
 Gerontius being thus disposed of, Constantius, with the troops 
 of Honorius, continued the siege of Arles, and, after defeating a 
 body of troops which had come to the assistance of Constantine, 
 compelled him to surrender. He made conditions for his life, 
 and was sent a prisoner to Italy ; but he was privately put to 
 death before he reached Eavenna. 
 
 The triumph of Constantius did not restore Gaul to obe- 
 dience, and from this time its western provinces, as well as 
 Spain and Britain, threvv off all subjection to Eome, and began 
 to rule themselves in their own way. This was not in itself a 
 difficult task, for the cities had always been accustomed to 
 govern themselves, while the superior government consisted prin- 
 cipally of the fiscal department and the military command. It 
 appears by the narrative of Zosimus, that while the usurper 
 was establishing himself in Gaul, Britain had been again visited 
 by the Saxon invaders, and we are assured that the British 
 cities took up arms to defend themselves, and that they drove 
 away their assailants.'^ Their freedom was acknowledged by 
 
 * OlTE OUP EK Ti]<i BpETTaLlUi OTrXa EuSoi/TE^j <T(p(A}l/ aVTODU TrpOKlUCVVtV- 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 THE CITIES IN BRITAIN. 
 
 4 /)\ 
 
 Hoiiorius, who, in 410, sent letters to the cities of Britain 
 exhorting them to provide for their own safety.^ 
 
 We now approach a period, the real history of whieli is 
 involved in profound obscurity, and to understand it at all we 
 must glance back on what has been already said of the state of 
 the island under Roman rule. The municipal cities, as it has 
 been seen, were founded for the secui'ity and protection of the 
 province, and by their constitution each was a little republic in 
 itself, governed by itself, while they were linked together only 
 by the superior fiscal administration which took from them 
 certain fixed taxes, by the judicial administration which regu- 
 lated the relations between them, and by the military command 
 which held the province and defended it. During four cen- 
 turies the original population of the island must have been 
 much diminished, and perhaps, except in particular parts, con- 
 sisted of little more than the servile peasantry ; f the popula- 
 tion of the cities had been recruited by the natural increase of 
 the inhabitants and by arrivals from the continent, and we 
 have already seen by the inscriptions and other monuments 
 that the latter class of recruits were becoming more and more 
 Teutonic. In fact, there can be little doubt that (lerman 
 blood predominated, to a great extent, in many of the Roman 
 cities in Britain, at the time when Honorius gave them entire 
 independence. They were thus left somewhat in the position 
 of the free cities of the middle ages, each ruling itself inter- 
 nally, within its ovvn massive walls and surrounding territory, 
 and, in external afi’airs, either acting by itself or joining in 
 confederacy with other towns. 
 
 The invasions of the Saxons resembled much that of the 
 Danes at a later period. At fii*st mere predatory attacks, they 
 had gradually made their leaders acquainted with the island 
 and its inhabitants, and these appear to have attempted soon to 
 form permanent settlements, selecting just the same coast dis- 
 ti-icts as were chosen by the Danes for the same purpose. It 
 seems to be -the received opinion that the title littm Saxonicum, 
 
 fraiJT£<;, ijXsvdk^xvaau 'tTou t-rrLKEi/uLtuu)U (3ap(3dpu)U Ta? -ttoAe/?. — Zoslinu.s, 
 lib. vi. c. 6. 
 
 * 'Oucapiov 0 £ ypappLcim 'wp6<; 'rdq Iv BpeT-rat/ia y^u^crapt-vov TroXsi?, 
 (poXaTTeerduL 7rapayyiXXov<TL. — Zosimtes, lib. vi. c. lU. 
 
 t Some confusion has been created by misunderstanding the term Britons 
 as used by the later historians, who apply it to the Roman population born 
 in the island, and not to the original Celtic race. In the same way the 
 later writers apply the term Celtic to the Romano-Gallic population of 
 Gaul, to distinguish it from the Teutonic invaders from the other side of 
 the Rhine. 
 
4o2 
 
 THE TvOMAXS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 applied to the coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk during the later 
 Eoinari period, indicates that tliere was a Saxon popidation 
 there, subject of course to the Eoinan government. It was 
 perhaps also the case in other parts of the kingdom. Wlien 
 new invasions took place, these settlers probably often rose to 
 join their brethren. The latter, during the divisions of *the 
 island under the later emperors, were frequently called in by 
 one party in the island as allies, and they took part in the 
 attempt to throw off the yoke of Home. When, therefore, the 
 British cities were left to themselves, it is natural that they 
 should become more intimately connected, either as friends or 
 foes, with the Teutons from the Ehine and the Elbe. It seems 
 certain that in some parts, especially in some of the cities, the 
 transition from Eomau to Saxon was gradual, and that the two 
 races mixed together. At Canterbury, Colchester, Eochester, 
 and other places, we ffnd Eomau and Saxon interments in the 
 same cemetery ; and in the extensive Saxon burial-ground at 
 Osengal, in the isle of Thanet, a Eoman interment in a leaden 
 coffin was met with. The result of the discoveries which have 
 been made in the researches among the Saxon cemeteries has 
 been to render it more and more probable that the Saxons were 
 gradually gaining a footing in the island before the period at 
 which the grand invasions an; said to have commenced. 
 
 The Piets appear to have entered the Eoman provinces, not 
 by scaling the wall, according to the vulgar notion published 
 under the name of Gildas, but from the Solway, where they 
 were joined by the Scots, or Irish, and thence they spread 
 themselves over the north-eastern parts of England. When we 
 excavate the sites of Eoman towns in this part of the country, 
 we still meet with traces of their destructive progress. Thus, 
 when the interior of the station at Maryport, in Cumberland, 
 was excavated in 1766, the workmen found the arch of the 
 gTite beaten violently down and bi’oken ; and on entering the 
 great street, tliey discovered evident marks of the houses having 
 been more than once burnt to the ground and rebuilt, as though 
 the j)lace had been several times taken and recovered. At Eib- 
 chester, in Lancashire, the important Eoman town supposed to 
 be Coccium appears to have been destroyed in one of these later 
 inroads. In the course of excavations made there in the earlier 
 |)art of the present century, the ruins of the temple of Minerva 
 were discovered ; they presented indisputable proofs of its 
 having been burnt, and among the debris Avere found skeletons, 
 no doubt those of soldiers who had here made their last stand 
 
CHAP. XIV.] RAVAGES OF THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 453 
 
 ao-ainst the assailants. It was a parallel story to that of the 
 (lestmction of Cainiilodunuin by the fierce troops of Boadicea. 
 It is also worthy of remark, that all the Homan toAvns on the 
 Welsh border to the north of Grloncester were destroyed, appar- 
 ently, before the period of the Saxon invasion. 
 
 Such are the slight and rather vague notions we can form 
 of what took place in Britain after the cities were left to take 
 care of themselves. It was not an independent state, but a 
 number of small independent republics, which of course had a 
 common interest against invaders, but which would most pro- 
 bably be soon divided into hostile confederacies amongst them- 
 selves. In these intestine wars, the prevalence of Teutonic 
 blood in the popidation of so many of the towns would naturally 
 lead them to call in Teutonic allies, and we can thus easily 
 understand how Angles and Saxons were gradually establishing 
 themselves on the eastern and south-eastern coasts, while the 
 western districts were harassed by continual invasions of Piets 
 and Scots. The only allusion to these events by a contem- 
 porary writer is found in the Chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine, 
 about A. D. 455, who states that in the eighteenth year of the 
 ivign of Theodosius the Younger (a. d. 441), Britain, after 
 many slaughters and revolutions, was reduced under the rule of 
 the Saxons.^ 
 
 Tlie period which intervened, left a blank by contemporary 
 annalists, was at a later period filled up with fable. According 
 to the tract which goes under the name of Grildas, when Maximus 
 carried with him the soldiery of Britain to establish his usurpa- 
 tion in Gaul, he left the island not only destitute of military, 
 but without men capable of bearing arms, and it was thus 
 exposed in a state of helplessness to the attacks of the bar- 
 barians. The British soldiers and youths, we are told, never 
 again returned, and ^ for many years ’ the Britons groaned 
 under the cruel oppressions of the Piets and Scots. f At 
 length, their power of forbearance being exhausted, they sent 
 an embassy to Home, offering as suppliants to submit to the 
 authority of the emperor if he would render them assistance. 
 In his compassion for their sad condition, the emperor forgot 
 their past rebellion, and sent a legion to help them, who 
 
 * Britannia u.sque ad hoc tempus variis cladibus eventibusque lata 3 , in 
 dirionem Saxonnin rediguntur. 
 
 t Exinde Britannia, onini arinato milite, militaribusque copiis, rectori- 
 bus linquitur irnmanibus, ingenti juventute spoliata, quae comitata vesti- 
 giis supradicti tyranni doniuin nunquarn ultra rediit, &c. — Gildas^ § 14. 
 
45t 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 defeated the invaders with terrible slan^liter. Before the 
 legion returned, tliey showed the Britons how to build a Avail 
 across the island from sea to sea, as a defence against the bar- 
 barians ; but they Avere so unskilful as to build it of nothing 
 but turf, and the Roman soldiers Avere no sooner gone than the 
 Piets and Scots, despising such a barrier as this, spread them- 
 selves again over south Britain, and committed greater havoc 
 than ever. ‘And noAV again,’ says the Avriter Ave are quoting, 
 
 ‘ the Britons sent suppliant ambassadors, Avith their garments 
 rent and their heads covered with ashes, imploring assistance 
 from the Romans, and, like timorous chickens, crowding under 
 the protecting Avings of their parents, that their Avretched 
 country might not altogether be destroyed, and that the Roman 
 name, Avhich now Avas but an empty sound to fill the ear, might 
 not become a reproach even to distant nations. Upon this, the 
 Romans, moved Avith compassion, as far as human nature can 
 be, at the relation of such horrors, send forAvard, like eagles in 
 tlieir flight, their unexpected bands of cavaliy by land and 
 mariners by sea, and, planting their terrible swords upon the 
 shoulders of their enemies, they mow tliem doAvn like leaves 
 Avhich fall at the destined period.’ On this occasion tlie 
 Romans AA^ere more generous than before, for they helped the 
 natives to build a stone Avail from sea to sea (the Wall of 
 Hadrian) ; and they raised fortresses at stated intervals along 
 the south-eastern coast. When they Avere gone, the Piets and 
 Scots reappeared. Throwing up hooks, they pulled the Britons 
 doAvn from the top of their Avail, and sIcav them, and then, 
 passing the wall, they destroyed the cities and murdered the 
 inhabitants. At length the Britons made a third appeal to 
 Rome, and, addressing themselves to ‘ a powerful Roman 
 citizen ’ named JStius, in a letter entitled ‘ the groans of the 
 Britons,’ they implored assistance in the most piteous terms. 
 This, however, could no longer be given, and the Britons Avere 
 left to the accumulated evils of invasion and famine. After a 
 Avhile, however, came peace and plenty, and then the Britons 
 fell into luxurious habits, became proud and turbulent, and 
 ([uarrelled among themselves. ‘ Kings Avere annointed, not 
 according to God’s ordinance, but such as showed themselves 
 more cruel than the rest ; and soon after they Avere put to 
 death by those Avho had elected them, Avithout any inquiry 
 into their merits, but because ethers still more cruel w^ere 
 chosen to succeed them.’ At length rumours came of a new 
 and terrible invasion of the Piets and Scots, and the British 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 IIISTORTCAL LEGENDS. 
 
 4o5 
 
 chiefs held a council under their proud tyrant Gurt]iri«-ern 
 (V^orlig'ern), and came to tlie fatal resolution of callinu* in the 
 Saxons. These, tlionj^li bron^^'ht in peaceably, became Avorse 
 tyrants than tlie Piets and Scots, nntil at length tlie Pritons 
 rose under Ambrosius Anrelianus, ‘the only one of the Homan 
 nation Avho had been left alive’ in the island, and then followed 
 a long’ struggle between tlie Britons and the Saxons, until the 
 latter finally established themselves in the land. 
 
 Such is the narrative which has been usually taken for the 
 history of Britain during the first half of the fifth century. Its 
 composer was ignorant of the events which followed the usurpa- 
 tion of Maximus, as well as of the early Saxon invasions ; he 
 adopted later and vulgar legends relating to the two walls, and 
 he evidently misunderstood and misplaced the usurpations of 
 Alarcus, Gratian, and Constantine, who were probably the cruel 
 kings to whom he alludes. In fact, the whole story, built ap- 
 jiarently on some slight notes in an old continental chronicler, 
 displays the most profound ignorance of the period to which it 
 relates. All we know relating to the book ascribed to Gildas 
 is, that it existed before Bede — the style of its Latinity appears 
 to me to be of the latter part of the seventh century, and these 
 brief notices of history seem to be founded partly on Saxon 
 traditions. This, however, is not the place to discuss the 
 cpiestion of its authenticity. 
 
 Bede has adopted the narrative of Gildas, only adding to it 
 some circumstances from more authentic historians, and the 
 account of the Saxon invasion from the traditions of his own 
 countrymen. Here he is unfortunately very brief. He tells us 
 that the Teutonic settlers came hither under their tAvo chiefs, 
 Hengest and Horsa, in the year 449, and that they Avei'e 
 received in peace, and alloAved to settle in the isle of Thanet. 
 Their success he says, induced others to folloAv in greater 
 numbers, Avho Avere also received into the island as friends and 
 allies. They consisted of three of the bravest of the Teutonic 
 tribes — the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. The Jutes formed the 
 population of Kent, the Isle of Wight, and the opposite coast 
 district. The Saxons established themselves in Essex, Middle- 
 sex, and Wessex. The Angles occupied East- Anglia, the 
 country of th.e Middle- Angles, Mercia, and all the northern 
 parts of the kingdom. 
 
 The ordinary notion, that the first settlement Avas that under 
 Hengest and Horsa, has arisen from the circumstance that the 
 Anglo-Saxon accounts of these events Avere founded on the 
 
456 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XVI. 
 
 traditions of Kent. It is probable, liowever, tliat they had been 
 preceded by the Angdes in the north, for when we first become 
 acquainted with them, this tribe appears to have been long in 
 undisputed possession of the whole country from the Humber 
 to the w^all of Antoninus, which was formed into two kingdoms, 
 that of Bernicia and that of Deira. Eburacum, to wliicli the 
 Angles gave the name of Eofor-wic, afterwards cori’upted into 
 York — the important town on the wall. Pons iElii, which 
 was under the Saxons still a great commercial town, known by 
 the name of ALunuces-ceaster (Monk’s-chester) — with others 
 of the Homan towns in Yorkshire, appear to have passed 
 peaceably or by treaty under the rule of the settlers ; while 
 others, more especially in Northumberland and the lowlands of 
 Scotland, had perhaps been destroyed before their arrival. 
 The presumption, however, is that the settlement of the Angles 
 in the north had begun at a very early period after the island 
 had been abandoned by the Romans, and that they had been 
 called in to the assistance of the northern towns. 
 
 The Saxon Chronicle, composed ages afterwards, gives us the 
 first narrative of the wars between the Saxons and the Britons 
 in the south, after the former had gained a footing there ; it is 
 founded on the Anglo-Saxon traditions, perhaps on poems, and 
 there are many circumstances about it which would lead us to 
 believe that it is partly romance. Even the names of Hengest 
 and Horsa are supposed to be mythic."^ The Saxon Chronicle 
 informs us, that in the year 455, or six years after the arrival 
 of Hengest, a battle was fought at JEgeles-throp in Kent 
 {Aylesford), between the Saxons under Hengest and Horsa, 
 and the Britons under Vortigern, in which Horsa was slain ; 
 and according to Bede, who also mentions this battle, his tomb 
 was still shown at a place which was called by his name — it is 
 said to be the modern Horsted. After this, the Chronicle tells 
 us, Hengest and tEsc, his son, obtained the Kentish kingdom. 
 The royal race of Kent was called, after the latter, ^scingas. 
 Next year, Hengest and iEsc defeated ‘ four troops ’ of 
 Britons at a place called Crecganford (Crayford), with great 
 slaughter. In 457 there was another battle at Crecganford, 
 in which the Saxons slew four thousand men, ‘ and the Britons 
 then forsook Kent, and in great terror fled to London.’ Eight 
 
 * On the un-historic character of the narratives of the Saxon invasion of 
 Britain, the reader is referred to a rather long dissertation in Lappcnberg’s 
 ‘ England under the Anglo-Saxons ’ (Thorpe’s Translation), and to Kem- 
 ble’s ‘ Saxons in England.’ 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 FIRST SAXON INVASIONS. 
 
 457 
 
 years afterwards, in 465, Heno’est and /Esc are said to have 
 fought ‘against the VVelsli ’ at Wippedes-tieot, a place ot 
 whieh we are not acquainted with the modern representative, 
 but whicli is said to have received that name from Wipped, a 
 Saxon chief wlio was slain on this occasion. We are informed 
 that ‘twelve Welsh ealdormen,’ or chiefs, were slain in this 
 battle. After eight years again, in 473, there was another war 
 between the Kentish Saxons and the Britons, and ‘ the Welsh 
 Hed from them like tire.’ * After this date, we hear no more of 
 the Kentish kingdom and its wars, except that ^sc succeeded 
 to the kingdom in 488, until the accession of king Athelbert or 
 Ethelbert, in 565. The principal Homan towns of Kent seem 
 to have passed into the possession of the Saxons peacefully. 
 Hengest and Horsa are said to have first landed at Ypwines- 
 heot (Ebhs-fleet), and the Saxons no doul)t immediately received 
 Rutupiae {Riclihoroiicjli) into their hands. Durovernum they 
 made their capital, and on that account it received the name of 
 Cantwara-byrig, the city of the Kentishmen, now Canterbury ; 
 D librae and Regulbium retained their original names, slightly 
 changed into Dover and Heculver; and Durobrivae was called, 
 it is said, from a chief who ruled over it, Hrofes-ceaster, the 
 Chester or city of Hrof, now Rochester. 
 
 Leaving the history of Kent, the Saxon Chronicle, taking np 
 another set of traditions, tells ns, that in the year 477, the 
 Saxons, under iElla and his three sons, Cymen, Wleucing, 
 and Cissa, landed on the southern coast, at a place named after 
 one of the sons, Cymenes-ora {Keymr on Selsea), ‘ and there 
 they slew many Welsh, and some they drove in Tight into the 
 wood that is named Andredes-leah,’ the Roman Sllvri Anderida. 
 '/Ella and his sons, like Hengest and Horsa, came in three 
 ships. Here, again, eight years passed until the next great 
 struggle between the followers of /Ella and the Britons. In 
 
 Tlie reader must bear in mind, that Britons and Welsh are merely 
 j>;eneral terms applied by the Saxons to the Romanised population of the 
 island. The humer was, of course, merely the Roman name, as they 
 adopted it. The word Welsh [wilisc^ ivcelisc) meant simply a foreig-ner, 
 one who was not of Teutonic race, and was applied especially to nations 
 using the Latin language. In the middle ages the French language, and, 
 in fact, all those derived from Latin, and termed on that Jiccount lingiue 
 Romanoi^ were called in German Welsch. France was called by the me- 
 diaeval German writers claz ivelsche laut, and when they wished to express 
 ‘ in the whole world,’ they said, in alien icelsehen loid in tiutschen richoi^ 
 in all Welsh and Teutonic kingdoms. In modern German the name 
 IFdlsch is used more especially for Italian. It was in its primitive sense 
 that the Saxons applied the name to ihe Britons, and from them it has come 
 gradually to its present restricted use. 
 
4/i8 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 4S5, iElIa foiio’lit against tlie Britons near the banks of the 
 Mearcraedes-burna, and the battle is represented, in traditions 
 gatliered by a later writer, to have been obstinately fonght, and 
 to have had a doubtful result. For six years both parties 
 seemed to have remained in peace; and then, in 491, in con- 
 sequence, it is said, of new arrivals from the continent, the 
 Saxons recommenced the war, and iElla and Cissa laid siege to 
 tlie ancient Homan city of Anderida, which was called by the 
 Saxons Andredes-ceaster. It is said to have been reduced by 
 famine, and the Saxons, irritated at its long and obstinate 
 defence, slew all the inhabitants. The massive Avails of the 
 ancient city are still seen at Pevensey. Thus was established 
 the kingdom of the South-Saxons, or Sussex. Here the coun- 
 iry Avas evidently dependent on the Homan city, and Avas only 
 conquered Avhen that city Avas taken. The other Homan city, 
 Hegnum, probably submitted without a siege, and i*eceived the 
 name of Cissan-ceaster, the Chester or fortified town of Cissa, 
 since softened doAvn into Chichester. 
 
 The Saxon Chronicle next informs us, that in 495, another 
 body of Saxons, under tAVO chiefs, Cerdic and his son Cynric, 
 landed from five ships at a place called Cei’dices-ora, on the 
 coast of Hampshire, ‘ and the same day they fought against the 
 AVelsh.’ Six years afterAvards, another Saxon chief, named Port, 
 Avith his two sons, Bieda and Msegla, landed at a place named, 
 it is pretended, from him, Portsmouth,^ and there fought with 
 the Britons, and ‘slew a young British man of high nobility.’ 
 In 508, another great battle Avas fought by Cerdic and Cynric, 
 ill Avhich a British king named Natan-leod and five thousand 
 men Avere slain. ‘After that the country Avas named Natan- 
 lea, as far as Cerdices-ford {Cliarford') ' In six years again (a. n. 
 514), Cerdic’s two iiepheAvs, Stuf and AVihtgar, came Avith three; 
 more ship-loads of Saxons, and landed at Cerdices-ora. The 
 Britons were still there to oppose them, but the neAV-comers 
 Avere victorious in battle. Cerdic and Cynric are stated to have; 
 established the kingdom of the West-Saxons in 519, in Avhich 
 year they defeated the Britons in a great battle at Cerdices-forel . 
 In 527 they gained another great battle at a place called Cereli- 
 ces-leah. During the intervening years, Cerelic Avns, no doubt, 
 occupied iu strengthening and regulating his conquest ; the 
 Homan city of Venta luul passed over to him, and under tlie 
 
 * This is most undoubtedly a legendary derivation, and should make us 
 the more cautious in receiving the statements of the Chronicle with regard 
 to these early events. 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 AVARS OF THF SAXOXS. 
 
 4o0 
 
 name of the Wiiitan-ceaster (JFincl tester'), wliicli, no doubt, 
 means the Chester of Venta, was made the capital of the West- 
 Saxons. The last exploit of Cerdic and Cynric recorded in the 
 Clironicle, is the conquest of Wight from the Jutes; Cerdic 
 died in 534, and his son gave the Isle of Wight to Stuf and 
 AVihtgar, who had probably been instrumental in its conquesr. 
 
 Cynric soon sought to extend Ins kingdom. In 552 he de- 
 feated the Britons in a battle near the lioman city of Sorbiodu- 
 num, called by the Saxons Searo-byrig (now old Siiruni). He 
 died in 560, and was succeeded by his son Ceawlin, whose 
 power extended into SuiTcy, and lie was engaged in resisting 
 an attack from Athelbert, king of Kent ; after which he ex- 
 tended his conquests northwards, so far as to make himselt’ 
 master of some of the principal towns in the modern counties 
 of Bedford, Buckingham, and Oxford. He next pushed his 
 conquests westward; and, in 577, Ceawlin and his brother 
 Cuthwine, or Cutha, defeated the Britons in a great battle at 
 Deorham {^Derham) in Gloucestershire, and obtained possession 
 of the three great Roman cities of Gleviiin, Corinium, and Aqnm 
 Solis, which became known to the Saxons by the name of Glev- 
 ceaster or Gleovv-ceaster {Gloucester), Cyren-ceaster {Ciren- 
 cester), and Bathan-ceaster {Bath). 
 
 We have no information to enable us to judge on what 
 authority the dates of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle during this 
 pcj’iod rest ; but the singular manner in which one kingdom 
 begins to be founded, after the preceding kingdom had been 
 established, cannot fail to arrest our attention. It seems as 
 though the brief narrative had been abridged from some memo- 
 rial poem, where the compiler mistook the order in which the 
 establishment of the different kingdoms was told, as indicating 
 the succession of dates at which they took place. It certainly 
 appears more probable that the invasion of the Teutonic tribes 
 took place nearly at the same time, or in rapid succession one after 
 another ; and we might expect them to have begun in the north. 
 
 The Saxon Chronicle, compiled in Wessex, gives little in- 
 formation on the progressive establishment of the kingdoms 
 founded by the Angles. We are merely informed that, in 
 547, Ida began to reign in Northumbria, and that he built a 
 town which was called, in honour of his wife Bebba, Bebban- 
 byrig {Bain.borotuih). In 560 Ida died, and was succeeded by 
 his son iElla. According to an obscure tradition, the Saxons 
 first landed in Essex, under their king iEscwine or Ercenwine, 
 as early as the year 527 ; they probably only came to strengthen 
 
 2 F 
 
460 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap XIV. 
 
 the older settlements on what had long* been known as the 
 Saxon coast. Camulodanum and other towns seem to have 
 been occupied without any resistance. The coasts to the north 
 of them were seized by the Angles, who appear to have con- 
 sisted of two tribes, distinguished by their positions as tlie 
 North-folk and the South-folk {Norfolk and Suffolk). Their 
 ])o\ver extended over Cambridgeshire and into Lincolnshire. It 
 was from settlements in the north of the latter county that 
 another branch of the Angles extended themselves so inpidly 
 through the heart of England, until they reached the borders of 
 Wales, and intrenched upon the West-Saxons to the south. 
 They took the name of Myi’ce, which has been Latinised into 
 Mercians. The great extent of ground which the Angles oc- 
 cupied in Britain is quite sufticient to explain the statement of 
 the old historians, that they had completely evacuated their 
 native land, and left it uninhabited. Erom them, as the 
 earliest settlers, and the most numerous, the island became 
 known among foreign writers by the names of Anglia and 
 Anglormn terra, and among the Saxons themselves it was 
 usually called Engla-land {England), and the language of its 
 inhabitants Englisc {English). The population of the Teutonic 
 portion of the island is still known by no other name than that 
 of Englishmen. 
 
 The Teutons who had come into the island at an earlier 
 period as auxiliaries, had always, as a matter of course, con- 
 formed to the religious forms and laws of the Eomans ; but 
 now they preserved their own religion and their own institu- 
 tions. Saxon paganism was everywhere substituted for Eornaii, 
 and it was only perhaps in a few cases — chiefly, we may suppose, 
 ill the towns — that individuals preserved fora while their respect 
 for Roman gods, or their attachment to Roman ceremonies. 
 The latter are sometimes traced in Saxon cemeteries, where a 
 Roman interment is found in the midst of graves of undoubted 
 Teutonic character. This is the only indication we have of the 
 transition, and it would be difficult to point out an exact date 
 when pure Saxon interments began. We have less difficulty in 
 fixing the other limit. 
 
 The Latin language, too, continued probably for some time 
 to be in use in the towns. I believe indeed that when the 
 Angles and Saxons came into Britain they found the people 
 talking not a Celtic dialect, but Latin, and hence when they 
 formed the English language, the foreign words introduced into 
 it were not Celtic but Latin. I think I have traced the citizens 
 
CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 THE LANGUAGE. 
 
 461 
 
 of English towns speaking Latin at a later period, and we find 
 that it was the earlier language of our municipal records and 
 deeds, and of the inscriptions on monuments. There was a 
 Celtic people m modern Gaul, tlie Armoricans, Avho talk a 
 Celtic dialect down to modern times, and who issued forth on 
 piratical excursions on the sea about the time of the Saxon in- 
 vasions ; and these Armoricans invaded Cornwall and Wales ap- 
 parently about the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain, 
 and they appear to have formed the population of the Cornish 
 peninsula and of the principality of Wales. The remarkable 
 similarity between the Celtic languages of Cornwall and Wales 
 and that of the Bretons of Gaul has been frequently pointed 
 out, and we may perhaps be justified in considering that our 
 Welsh Avere really a Breton settlement from Gaul about the 
 time of the Saxon invasions of our island, and that they by no 
 means represent the original Celtic population of Britain, the 
 ancient Britons, and that the Welsh language Avas not the 
 British. There appear to be reasons for believing that that 
 Avas similar to the modern Irish.* 
 
 The traffic in slaves prevailed very extensively among all the 
 Teutonic peoples, and it is frequently mentioned or alluded to 
 in the early historical records of Saxon England. We are told 
 that, during the pontificate of Pelagius II. , some boys from 
 Saxon Britain, distinguished by their beauty, Avere exposed for 
 sale in the slave-market at Borne. The priest Gregory, as he 
 passed through the ancient forum, AA^as struck Avith their appear- 
 ance, and on being told that they Avere Pagans from Britain, he 
 lamented that people having such bright countenances slioidd 
 remiiin a prey to the spirit of darkness. Continuing the con- 
 versation, Avith the same play upon words, he AA^as told that they 
 Avere called Angles, upon Avhich he observed that it Avas a just 
 name, for they had angelic faces, and ought to be the co-heirs of 
 angels in heaven. He then asked the name of the province 
 from which they came, and Avas told that it was the kingdom of 
 Deira. ‘It is Avell,’ he said, ‘ they shall be de ira eriitl, 
 snatched from the Avrath and brought to the mercy of Christ.’ 
 He Avas next told that the name of their king Avas ^Ella. 
 ‘ That,’ he said, ‘ is Alleluiah, and it is right that the prais(i 
 of God should be sung in that land.’ Full of projects of con- 
 version, Gregory hastened to the pope, and begged to be em- 
 ployed on this distant mission ; but the citizens, Avith Avhom lie 
 
 * See what has been siid on this subject in a former chapter, at p. 219 
 of this volume. 
 
462 
 
 THE SAXOXS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 was extremely popular, were unwillino’ to allow of liis absence. 
 Xothirio* further, therefore, was done towards the conversion of 
 the Anglo-Saxons, until, in 590, Gregory himself was elected 
 to the papal see. The xAnglian children were then remembered, 
 and Gregory despatched missionaries under the guidance of St 
 Augustine to visit the distant island. Their zeal, however, was 
 not equal to that of their employer ; for they had proceeded no 
 further than Provence, when they were so alarmed by the de- 
 scriptions of the barbarous character of the Anglo-Saxons, that 
 A ugustine was sent back to Home to obtain the revocation of 
 their mission. Gregory exhorted him to persevere, gave him 
 letters of recommendation to the Prankish kings, Theoderic and 
 Theodebert, and to their grandmother Brunhilda, as well as to 
 the Prankish bishops, who furnished them with interpreters. 
 In the year 597, Augustine, with, it is said, above forty 
 monks, landed in the isle of Thanet, no doubt in the old 
 Roman port of Rutupise ; from whence he sent a messenger to 
 Etheibert, king of Kent, to announce the object of his mission. 
 
 It happened that Etheibert had married Berta, the daughter 
 of Charibert, king of Paris ; and it was one of the terms of the 
 marriage contract that, as a Christian princess, she should hv 
 allowed the free exercise of her faith, and that she should 
 retain for that purpose the Prankish bishop Liudhard, who had 
 accompanied her to England, and who now officiated in the 
 little church of St Martin, near Canterbury. Christianity was 
 not thus totally unknown among the Kentish Saxons. Ethei- 
 bert received the message of the missionaries with favour, and 
 directed that they should remain for the present in Thanet. A 
 few days after he went to visit them, and gave audience in the 
 open air; for, influenced by the ancient superstitions of his 
 forefathers, he feared that if he received them in a house, they 
 might get the better of him by magical arts. It is recorded, 
 that when the king had patiently listened to what they had to 
 say, he replied, ‘ Your words and promises are very fair, but 
 as they are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot so far 
 approve of them as to forsake that which I have so long fol- 
 lowed with the whole English nation. But because you are 
 come from afar into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are 
 desirous to impart to us those things which you believe to be 
 true, we will not molest you, but give you favourable enter- 
 tainment, and take care to supply you Avith your necessary 
 sustenance ; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain as many 
 as you can to your religion.’ The Roman monks marched in 
 
CHAP. XIV.] CONVERSION OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 
 
 463 
 
 solemn procession to Canterbury, where they established them- 
 selves, and of which city Augustine was subsequently made the 
 lirst bishop. 
 
 The new faith was ultimately accepted by king Ethelbert, 
 and soon spread with extraordiriary rapidity ovf^r Kent, and 
 through the other kingdoms wherever that king’s influence ex- 
 tended. The East-Saxons received baptism in 604 ; and in 
 607, the year of the battle near Chester, rendered celebrated by 
 the slaughter of the Welsh monks, the faith of the Gospel must 
 liave been established far towards the west. With the mass of 
 the people conversion was at first a imne change of forms, and 
 they easily resumed their old customs ; and it naturally took 
 some years to make the cliange permanent. Thus Augnstint; 
 had appointed Mellitus bishop of London, and he is said to 
 have selected there the site of a ruined temple of the Roman 
 period to build a church, no doubt because it furnished an un- 
 occupied place and ready materials. The Saxon Chronicle 
 informs us, that after Mellitus became bishop of Canterbury, 
 an event which is generally placed in the year 619, ‘then the 
 men of London, where Mellitus had been formerly, became 
 heathens again.’ The example had already been set them by 
 the East-Saxons, and even by the Kentish men, after the death 
 of their first Christian kings. 
 
 The progress of the Christian faith among the Anglo-Saxons 
 was, on several occasions, materially assisted by intermarriages 
 among their chiefs. Ethelbert of Kent, before the arrival of 
 the missionaries, had maiTied a Christian lady, the daughter of 
 a Frankish king. The king of Essex, who first received the 
 Gospel, had married a daughter of king Ethelbert, who was also 
 a Christian. Another daughter of Ethelbert, Ethelberga, was 
 married to Edwin, king of the Northumbrians, and she no 
 doubt paved the way for the preaching of Paulinus. The con- 
 version of king Edwin took place in the year 626. The West- 
 Saxons were converted by Birinus in 635 ; the East- Angles 
 liad embraced the new faith under their kirg Earpwald, about 
 the year 632 ; but the Middle-Angles were not converted until 
 the reign of Peada, the son of Penda, about the year 653. This 
 king became a Christian on marrying a daughter of the king ot 
 the Northumbrians, and from Lincolnshire, the country of tin; 
 Middle- Angles, the faith soon spread through the extensive 
 dependencies of Mercia. At this time the faith of Christ had 
 jienetrated into every part of the island, except the small and 
 secluded kingdom of the South-Saxons, which was cut off from 
 
THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XIV. 
 
 4t>4 
 
 tlie other Saxon states, and protected in its independence, by 
 the ancient forest of Anderida, the impervious Andredes-weahl. 
 As late as the year 681 , the people of Sussex remained pao-ans. 
 Tlieir condition became known to Wilfrid, archbishop of York, 
 who, in returnino- from the continent was driven by stress of 
 weather on the coast, and who subsequently founded a monas- 
 tery on the little islan.d of Selsea, 
 
CHAP. XV. 7 
 
 SAXON antiquities. 
 
 466 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Antiquities — Barrows, or Graves, and the general Character 
 of their Contents — Arms — Personal Ornaments ; Fibulae, &c. — Anglo- 
 Saxon Jewellery — Pottery — Glass — Other Articles found in the Bar- 
 rows ; Bowls, Buckets, &:c. — Coins — Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage. 
 
 We derive our antiquities of tlie period of Anglo-Saxon 
 paganism almost entirely from one source, the graves. It hap- 
 pens, however, fortunately for the study of the history of this 
 period, that the contents of the Anglo-Saxon graves are par- 
 ticularly ]-ich and interesting, and that we are enabled, from the 
 various articles found in them, to form a tolerable estimate of 
 the civilisation of our ancestors before tliedaysof St Augustine. 
 The Anglo-Saxon graves occur generally in extensive groups, 
 and on high ground. They are found thickly scattered over 
 the downs of Kent, Sussex, and tlie Isle of Wight. Extensive 
 cemeteries have also been found in Gloucester and Oxford- 
 shire, as well as in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, 
 Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Caml3ridgeshire, Suffolk, and 
 Norfolk, and in Yorkshire. They exist, no doubt, in other 
 counties, where they have not been explored.* 
 
 ^ The largest and most important collections of Anglo-Saxon antiquities 
 are those of Lord Londesborough, the late Dr Faussett of Heppingtoii near 
 Canterbury, and the late Mr W. H. Rolfe of Sandwich, all taken from 
 barrows in Kent. The two latter collections are now in the possession (»f 
 Mr Joseph Mayer of Liverpool. Smaller private collections are found in 
 different parts of England, and a few articles belonging to this class are 
 met with in most local museums ; but there is as yet no public collection 
 of early Anglo-Saxon remains of any importance. The most valuable work 
 on the subject is the ‘Nenia’ of Douglas, a folio volume published in 
 1793. An interesting volume on the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in Gloucester- 
 shire, has been recently published by Mr W. M. Wylie, under the title of 
 ‘ Fairford Graves ; ’ and extensive materials for the archaeology of this 
 period will be found in Mr Roach Smith’s ‘ Collectanea,’ and in some of 
 the volumes of the ‘ Archaa)logia.’ We may alsi> recommend Mr Aker- 
 man’s ‘Pagan Saxeiidom.’ 
 
466 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 An Anglo-Saxon poem belonging, no doubt, to this primitive 
 period — the adventures of Beowulf — has been preserved; and, 
 although it has been considerably modified in the transition, it 
 still gives us glimpses of the manners of our forefathers before 
 they had turned from the worship of AVoden.^ In this poem, 
 but unfortunately in a part of it which is imperfect in the 
 manuscript, we find a description of the ceremonies attendant 
 on the burial of the hero. Beowulf’s dying lequest was, that 
 his people should raise a barrow ‘ on the place of his funeral 
 ])ile,’ proportionate in size to the celebrity of his deeds. They 
 accordingly raised a mighty funeral pile to burn his corpse; it 
 was — ' 
 
 hung round with helmets, 
 
 with boards of war (shields) 
 
 and with bright hyrnies {coats of mail) ^ 
 
 as he had requested. 
 
 Then the heroes, weeping, 
 laid down in the midst 
 the famous chieftain, 
 their dear lord. 
 
 Then began on the hill, 
 
 the warriors, to awake 
 
 the mightiest of funeral fires ; - 
 
 the wood-smoke rose aloft, 
 
 dark from the fire ; 
 
 noisily it went, 
 
 mingled with weeping. 
 
 After the burning of the body had been completed, Beowidf s 
 people proceeded to raise — 
 
 a mound over the sea ; 
 it was high and broad, 
 by the sailors over the waves 
 to be seen afar. 
 
 And they built up 
 during ten days 
 
 the beacon of the war-renowned. 
 
 They surrounded it with a wall 
 in the most honourable manner 
 that wise men 
 could desire. 
 
 They put into the mound 
 rings and bright gems, 
 all such ornaments 
 
 * The Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf was published with an English 
 translation by my friend Mr J. M. Kemble, in 1837. An edition, in many 
 respects more convenient, was subsequently published by Mr Thorpe, in 
 185o 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON BARROWS. 
 
 467 
 
 as before * from the hoard 
 the fierce -minded men 
 had taken ; 
 
 they suffered the earth to hold 
 the treasure of warriors, 
 
 ^•old on the sand, 
 where it yet remains 
 as useless to men 
 
 as it was of old. — Beowulf^ line 62 >8. 
 
 When tlie mound was completed, the war-chiefs rode round 
 it, chantino* the praises of their departed king. 
 
 In England we find in the graves of the Saxon period the 
 same mixture of the two modes of interment, cremation and 
 the burial of the body entire, as among the Romans, but in 
 different and varying proportions. The custom in this respect 
 appears to have varied with the different tribes who came into 
 the island. In the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in Kent, cremation 
 is the rare exception to the general rule ; while it seems to have 
 been the predominating practice among the Angles, from Nor- 
 folk into the centre of Mercia. The poem of Beowulf was 
 perhaps derived from the Angles, and it thus describes the 
 mode of burning the dead as it existed among them. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon barrows in general have a character very 
 distinct from those of the Romans or Britons. They were the 
 prototy[)es of our modern graves in country churchyards. A 
 I’ectangular cist, or pit, was cut in the ground, varying in depth 
 from three or four feet to seven or eight, on the floor of which 
 the body was laid on its back in full dress, surrounded with a 
 variety of articles which, no doubt, the deceased had valued when 
 alive ; the grave was then filled up, and a mound of earth raised 
 above. This mound was termed lilmw, a hillock, the modern 
 word low, as in names like Ludlow, which is still used in Derby- 
 shire, and heorli, heorg, ovbeanc, a word having the same signili- 
 cation, from Avhmh is derived our modern name of harrow. In 
 Sussex they are still called burghs. Grene rally, each grave 
 contains the remains of one body ; but instances occur where more 
 than one body has been interred in the same grave, and under cir- 
 cumstances which show that they must have been buried simul- 
 taneously. We can only account for this by supposing that 
 they were members of the same family avIio had been carried 
 off by an epidemic disease or slaughtered in a sudden invasioii 
 
 Beowulf had signalised himself by killing a dragon whieh guarded a 
 hoard of treasures, of whic^h, as a matter of course, he took possession. 
 
468 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 of plunderers. In the Anglo-Saxon eeineterv at Osengal, in 
 the Isle of Thanet, one grave contained a male and a feinah^ 
 skeleton, laid side by side, with their faces turned toward each 
 other; and another contained three skeletons, a ladv in the 
 middle, a man, no doubt her husband, on her right side ; and 
 a child, apparently a little girl, on her left ; they lay arm in 
 arm. More than one instance has occurred where a grave con- 
 tained all the articles usually interred with a body, but no 
 traces of the body. A remarkable instance of this was found 
 in a large Anglo-Saxon grave in the cemetery in Bourne Park, 
 near Canterbury. The grave was nearly fourteen feet long, 
 about half that width, and somewhat more than four feet deep. 
 The floor was very smoothly cut in the chalk, and surrounded 
 by a narrow gutter ; and the grave Avas tilled up with fine 
 mould brought from a distance, and not, as in most other cases, 
 Avith the chalky soil of the spot. At the foot of the grave, in 
 the right-hand corner, had stood a bucket, of Avhich the bronze 
 hoops, in perfect preservation, occupied their position one above 
 the other as if the Avood had been there to support them. A 
 little higher up in the grave, in the position generally occupied 
 by the right leg of the person buried, Avas found a considerable 
 heap of fragments of iron, among which Avere the boss of a 
 shield of the usual Saxon form, a horse’s bit, a buckle, and 
 other fragments Avhich appeared to liave belonged to the shield, 
 a number of nails with large ornamental heads, Avith smaller 
 nails, the latter mostly of brass. Prom the position of the boss, 
 it appeared that the shield had been placed with tlie convex 
 (or outer) surface downwards. Not far from these articles, at 
 the side of the grave, Avas found an iron ring Avith two smaller 
 ones attached to it, apparently belonging to the horse’s bridle, 
 or to a belt. On the left-liand side of the grave was found a 
 small piece of iron resembling the point of some Aveapon. At 
 the head of the grave, on the right-hand side, Avas an elegantly- 
 shaped bowl, about a foot in diameter, and tAVO inches and a half 
 deep, of very thin copper, which had been thickly gilt, and Avitli 
 handles of* iron. It had been placed on its edge leaning against 
 the Avail of the grave, and Avas crushed and broken by the 
 Aveight of the superincumbent earth. Two small round discs, 
 resembling counters, about seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, 
 were found near the head of the grave. They were flat on one 
 side and convex on the other, the one of bone, Avhile tlie other 
 liad been cut out of a piece of Samian ware. There Avas not the 
 slig’htest trace of a body having ever been deposited in tliis 
 
CHAP. XV. J 
 
 AXGLO-SAXOX BARROWS. 
 
 469 
 
 grave ; the appearances were decisive to the contrary. This 
 may he explained by supposing that the person for whom the 
 grave was made had been a chief killed in battle in some distant 
 expedition, and that his friends had not been able to obtain his 
 body. It was, in fact, an Anglo-Saxon cenotaph. This view 
 of the case seemed to be supported by the fact that, although 
 so many valuable articles were found in the grave, there were 
 no traces of the long sword and the knife usually found 
 with the bodies of male adults m the Saxon barrows. These 
 would have been attached to the body itself as a part of the 
 dress. 
 
 It is a singular circumstance connected with the Anglo-Saxon 
 graves that human bones are often found among the earth at 
 the top, sometimes in the mound above, and the unexperienced 
 excavator is discouraged by this discovery, in the belief that the 
 grave has been previously broken up, whereas, when he reaches 
 the bottom, he finds that the original deposit has not been dis- 
 turbed.^ I can only exjdain this by the supposition that they 
 are the bones of slaves or captives, l .jn as a propitiation to the 
 shades of their master or mistress, and thrown upon the grave. 
 We know that the immolation of slaves at funerals was a com- 
 mon practice among the Teutonic races. In the northern Edda 
 when Erynhild, like Dido, slew herself for her faithless lover, 
 we are told that she ordered that at her funeral pile tAvo im- 
 molated slaves should be placed at her head, and tAvo at her 
 feet. 
 
 As I haA^e said, the Anglo-Saxon barroAvs are generally found 
 in large groups or cemeteries, and the mound Avhich covers each 
 grave is very Ioav, but this is perhaps to be attributed to the 
 eflect of time, as they are generally placed in exposed situations. 
 But Ave sometimes find isolated Anglo-Saxon barrows, Avhich we 
 can only appropriate by the Saxon character of the articles they 
 contain. Several of these are found in the peak of Derbyshire ; 
 but they are met with chiefly on elevations near the sea. A 
 bold conical hill overlooking Eolkestone, in Kent, is crowned 
 Avith a fine Saxon barroAV. The sentiment Avhich led to the choice 
 of such positions may be gathered from more than one passage 
 in the poem of Beowulf. It Avas the hero’s dying request to 
 his people, — 
 
 In a few instances the bones in the upper part of the mound have 
 been found so much less decomposed than those underneath, that we can 
 hardly avoid coming to the conclusion that tbay belonged to some later 
 interment. 
 
470 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [CHAr. XV. 
 
 command the war-chiefs 
 
 to make a mound, 
 
 bright after the funeral tire, 
 
 upon the nose of the promontory ; 
 
 which shall for a memorial 
 
 to my people 
 
 rise high aloft 
 
 on Hronesness ; 
 
 that the sea- sailors 
 
 may afterwards call it 
 
 Beowulf’s barrow, 
 
 when the Brentings 
 
 over the darkness of the floods 
 
 shall sail afar. — BeowulJ\ line d«599. 
 
 The hill of Osengal, overlooking Pegwell Bay near Eainsgate;, 
 and furnishing a magnifieent view of the Channel with the dis- 
 tant coast of France, is perforated like a honeycomb with the 
 graves of an immense Saxon cemetery. Here time has entirely 
 obliterated the barrows whicli once covered the graves, and the 
 latter were only discovered accidentally in the course of the 
 railway cutting. Many of them have been since opened by the 
 late Mr Eolfe, of Sandwich, and have added considerably to 
 the richness of his museum. The Anglo-Saxons generally 
 placed their cemeteries on elevated spots, where these could be 
 found in the neighbourhood of their settlements. People seem 
 TO have been carried for burial there from the country at a 
 distance around; we generally also find Saxon cemeteries in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of a Eoman city or town, where 
 it continued to be occupied in Saxon times, and it is not un- 
 frequently placed on the site of the older Eoman cemetery of 
 the town. Such is the case at Canterbury, Colchester, and 
 other places. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon was buried in his full dress, with all his 
 arms and accoutrements. By his side we often find the long 
 iron sword, the presence of which is, in itself, an unfailing 
 twidence of the people to whom the grave belonged. These 
 swords are often nearly a yard long, and Avere evidently in- 
 tended rather for cutting than for thrusting. They appear 
 usually to have been double-edged, and the blades are plain, 
 and nearly uniform in shape. The one represented in our 
 plate (fig. 5), in the cemetery at Osengal in Thanet, 
 
 seems to have had but one edge, with a blunt back. The 
 hilts appear usually to have been made of Avood or some other 
 ])erishable material ; but SAVord hilts of metal have also been 
 found, and they are then extremely ornamental. Their general 
 
Anglo-Saxon Weapons, &c. 
 
library 
 
 ^’^'^^usiTylTiuiNeis. 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 AXGLO-SAXOX SWORDS. 
 
 473 
 
 form may be understood by fig. 10 in our plate, which repre- 
 sents the liilt of a sword found in a barrow at Ash, near (hin- 
 terbury, and now in the collection of Mr Rolfe. The metal 
 appears to have been gilt or silvered. A very handsome hilt of 
 the same description, found with the sword in the parish of 
 Coombe, in Kent, is engraved in the second volume of Mr 
 Roach Smith’s Collectanea; the ornamental parts in this in- 
 stance were of bronze gilt. Mr Rolfe also possessed tlu^ 
 extremity of a Saxon sword-hilt of silver, ornamented, and bear- 
 ing an inscription in rudely formed runes, which nobody has 
 yet been able to decipher. This curious relic, which was found 
 also in the parish of Ash, is engraved in the Archaeological 
 Album. In the poem of Beowulf, swords are not unfrequently 
 described as having richly ornamented hilts. Thus one of the 
 heroes — 
 
 gave his ornamented sword, 
 
 the costliest of irons, 
 
 to his servant. — Beowulf^ line 1338. 
 
 And in another passage it is said, — 
 
 and with it the hilt, 
 
 variegated with treasure. — Bcownlj\ line 3228. 
 
 And a little further on there is a description particularly inter- 
 esting as illustrating the description of the sword-hilts just 
 given, especially of the silver hilt with the runic inscription. 
 A sword, described as follows, bore not only the name of the 
 possessor inscribed in runes, but also an episode of the ancient 
 Saxon mythology, — 
 
 He looked upon the hilt, 
 the old legacy, 
 
 on which was written the origin 
 
 of the ancient contest ; 
 
 after the flood, 
 
 the pouring ocean 
 
 slew the race of giants ; 
 
 daringly they behaved : 
 
 that was a race strange 
 
 to the eternal Lord, 
 
 therefore to them their last revvard 
 
 through floods of water 
 
 the ruler gave. 
 
 So was on the surface 
 of the bright gold 
 with runic letters 
 rightly marked, 
 
474 
 
 THE SAXOXS. 
 
 [CHAl. XV, 
 
 set and said, 
 for whom that sword, 
 the costliest of irons, 
 was first made, 
 
 with twisted hilt and variegated like a snake. 
 
 Meoiviclf, line 3373. 
 
 The slieatli appears to have been a’enerally of wood, tipped 
 with metal, and it was sometimes covered with, or made en- 
 tirely of, leather. One found at Strood, in Kent, was covered 
 externally with a substance resembling’ shag’reen. A !Saxon 
 sword found at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, had its wooden 
 scabbard partly remaining, protected at the top and bottom 
 with bronze. 
 
 On the opposite side of the body from the shield, and simi- 
 larly attached to the girdle, we usually find one or even more 
 knives. These are usually of not very large dimensions, though 
 they probably served the purposes of a dagger as well as those 
 of a knife. In former clays, people did not keep knives for the 
 use of their guests, but the latter always carried their knives 
 with them. A small knife is usually found with the other 
 articles which appear by their position to have been suspended 
 at the girdles of the Anglo-Saxon ladies. Mr Eoach Smith 
 has engraved an interesting collection of Anglo-Saxon knives in 
 the second volume of his Collectanea. The four represented in 
 our plate, figs. 18 to 16, are from the Saxon cemetery at 
 Osengal. Some antiquaries have supposed that these knives 
 are the seams, from which the Saxons were pretended to have 
 derived their name. 
 
 The figures in our plate, Nos. 6 to 9, are examples of Saxon 
 spear-heads, obtained from the cemetery of Osengal ; they 
 represent the usual forms of this weapon. The position of the 
 shaft in the grave may generally be traced by a long line of 
 black, decomposed wood, and a ferrule, with a knob or spike, is 
 sometimes found at the bottom. The spear appears in some 
 cases to have been seven, or even eight, feet long. A remarkable 
 spear-head, with four edges, was found in the Saxon cemetery 
 at Fairford. The spear-heads are usually from ten to fifteen 
 inches long. Arrow-heads are occasionally found, but they 
 are rare. 
 
 The shield was generally laid fiat over the middle of the 
 corpse. It has been traced in some instances to have been 
 round, and not of large dimensions. It was usually formed of 
 wood, generally of the linden tree, which was of a yellow tint. 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 AXGLO-SAXON WEAPONS. 
 
 475 
 
 Hence, tlie poem of Beowulf speaks of ‘ the broad shield, yel- 
 low-rimmed,’ and it is sometimes railed a ‘ war-board ’ {lillde- 
 Lord). Ill one instance we are told— 
 
 he seized his shield, 
 
 the yellow linden- wood. — Beowulf^ line 5215. 
 
 The wood of the shield seems to have been sometimes covered 
 with leather; and mention is made in Beowulf of a shield of 
 iron. It may be suspected that the round metal shields which 
 have been pronounced to be British, are really Saxon. The 
 principal relic of the shield found in the g-raves, is the iron boss 
 which occupied the centre externally, and which has usually 
 attached to it all or some of the rivets which tixed it to the 
 wood. The usual form of the boss is that of a small basin, 
 tapering at the top to a point, and ending in a knob. Some 
 of our old writers on antiquities have indeed taken the Saxon 
 bosses for basins, and others have thought them to be skull- 
 caps, so little observation was made on the circumstances of 
 their discovery. Eig. I, in our plate of Anglo-Saxon weapons, 
 is also rather a common form of the boss of the shield. The 
 three other bosses represented in the plate are unusual forms ; 
 fig. 2 was found in a barrow on the Breach downs, and was in 
 the collection of Lord Londesborough, and fig. 3 was found at 
 Sittingbourne, also in Kent. Fig. 4 is a veiy singular boss, 
 which was found among Anglo-Saxon graves near Driffield, 
 in the East Biding of Yorkshire; the boss itself is not of an 
 unusual form, but it has four circular discs arranged round it, as 
 represented in the cut. 
 
 Strips of iron, formed into different shapes, but evidently 
 designed to be held by the hand, are often found in Saxon 
 
 Braces ot Anglo-Saxon Shields. 
 
 graves, among the remains of the shield, and were supposed by 
 Douglas to be the braces of bows. This explanation, however, 
 
476 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV , 
 
 hnd been lonp: doubted, when, in openino- the p:raves at Osenp:al, 
 in Thanet, a more careful observation cleared up the mystery. 
 In every instance, the article referred to was found in the centre 
 of the shield, just under the boss, and in such a position that 
 there could be no longer any doubt of its having been the 
 liandle of the shield. Two of these handles, from the graves 
 at Osengal, are represented in the annexed cut. The lower 
 (example retains the rivets by which it was tixed to the wood of 
 the shield, in which there was, no doubt, in the middle, a hole 
 to receive the hand, which was covered by the boss on the out- 
 side. We thus learn the importance of very careful observation, 
 even of the minute circumstances connected with antiquarian 
 discoveries. 
 
 The discovery of buckles of different forms shows clearly that 
 the swords and, knives were suspended to a girdle drawn tight 
 round the body. Two such buckles, from the cemetery at 
 Osengal, are represented in figs. 11 and 12 of our plate at 
 p. 471. These buckles are often highly ornamented, and they 
 are sometimes enamelled. We tind very little traces of dress 
 in the graves, though a fragment of the material found some- 
 times impressed in decomposed metal, seems to show that it was 
 generally of rather coarse texture. We know from passages in the 
 poem of Beowiilf, that the early Saxons wore armour, apparently 
 composed of rings, but no very distinct traces of it have yet 
 been found in the graves. This may, perhaps, be accounted 
 for by the rapid decomposition whicli articles made of iron 
 undergo in the ground. Perhaps, moreover, it Avas not the 
 custom to equip the body in armour and helmet when it was 
 buried. The ribs, or framework, in bronze, of a defensive ca]) 
 of some kind or other, supposed to be Saxon, Avere discovered 
 on a skull dug up at Leckhampton Hill, near Cheltenham, and 
 are preserved in the museum of that toAvn. A framework of a 
 helmet, not very unlike that at Cheltenham, Avas taken by Mr 
 Bateman from an Anglo-Saxon barrow in Derbyshire, and his 
 description of it is sufficiently curious to be given in his own 
 Avords. It had been formed, he says, ‘ of ribs of iron, radiating 
 from the crown of the head, and coated Avith narrow plates of 
 horn, running in a diagonal direction from the ribs, so as to form 
 a herring-bone pattern ; the ends were secured by strips of horu, 
 radiating in like manner as the iron ribs, to Avhich they Avere 
 riveted at intervals of about an inch and a half ; all the rivets 
 had ornamented heads of silver on the outside, and on the front 
 rib is a small cross of the same metal. Upon the top or crown 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 AXGLO-SAXOX AEMOUH. 
 
 477 
 
 of the helmet, is an elongated oval brass plate, upon which 
 stands the tigure of an animal, carved in iron, now much rusted, 
 but still a very good representation of a pig ; it has bronze eyes. 
 There are also many smaller decorations, abounding in rivets, 
 all which have pertained to the helmet, but which it is impos- 
 sible to assign to their proper places, as is also the case with 
 some small iron buckles.’ Mr Bateman adds, that tliere was 
 found with the helmet a mass of chain-Avork, formed of ' a large 
 quantity of links, of two descriptions, attached to each other 
 by small rings, half an inch in diameter ; one kind is tlat and 
 lozenge-sha})ed, about one inch and a half in length; those of 
 the other sort are all of one pattern, but of different lengths, 
 varying from four to ten inches ; they are simply pieces of 
 square rod iron, Avith perforated ends, through Avhich are passed 
 the rings connecting them Avith the diamond-shaped links. 
 Along Avith them Avas a six-pronged instrument, similar to a 
 hay-fork, Avith the difference that the fang, Avhich, in a fork, is 
 inserted into the shaft, is in this instance flattened and folded 
 over, so as to form a small loop, as for suspension. All the 
 iron articles, except this and the helmet, Avere amalgamated 
 together from the effects of rust ; they also present traces of 
 cloth over a great part of their surface ; it is therefore not 
 improbable that they may have originally constituted some 
 kind of defensive armour by being sewn upon or within a 
 doublet.’ Mr Eoach Smith has quoted, in illustration of the 
 swine or boar on this helmet, passages from Tacitus, and from 
 the Anglo-Saxon poem of BeoAvulf, Avhich shows that that 
 animal was a favourite ensign on the helmets and arms of the 
 ancient Saxons.’^ 
 
 Another Aveapon found in Anglo-Saxon graves, though it is 
 of very rare occurrence, must not be overlooked. This is the 
 axe, Avhich seems to have been more common among the Tiunks 
 than among the Saxons in England. The lowei* of the two 
 examples given in the accompanying cut Avas taken from a Saxon 
 barrow in the isle of Thanet, and is preserved in the inuseum of 
 J\lr Eolfe ; the axe represented in the upper figure Avas found 
 in a grave of this same period, from a cemetery discovered at 
 Selzen, in Ehenish Hesse, f and is here given for the sake of 
 
 * Cuts of these helmets will be found in Mr Roach Smith’s Collectanea, 
 vol. ii. p. 2J^)8. 
 
 + A very interesting^ account of this «emetery, which resembled closely 
 the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in England, was published at Maintz, in 1S18, 
 by the brothers W. and L. Liiidcnschmidt. . 
 
 2 G 
 
THE SAZOXS. 
 
 478 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 comparison. Their identity of form is remarkable. A similarly 
 shaped axe was found in a grave 
 at Ash, near Canterbury ; Mr 
 Eoach Smith possesses one which 
 was obtained in Berkshire ; and 
 two or three others have been 
 found in different parts of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 It will be seen by what has 
 been already said, and by the ex- 
 amples given, that the weapons 
 of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers 
 were purely Teutonic, and that 
 so fcir they had borrowed nothing 
 of the Homans. In war, they 
 fought as Saxons : and it was 
 only when they came in social contact with the people who had 
 preceded them that they felt the superiority of the Homans in 
 the arts of peace. The personal ornaments found in our Anglo- 
 Saxon barrows are numerous, especially • in Kent, where the 
 discoveries hitlierto made show a greater degree of wealth and 
 refinement than in the other Saxon or Anglian kingdoms. Of 
 all the articles of personal ornament found in the Anglo-Saxon 
 interments, the fibulae are the most remarkable, and at the 
 same time the most characteristic; and they have a peculiar 
 interest from the circumstance that there are several distinct 
 varieties, and that the difference arose evidently, not from indi- 
 vidual caprice, but from the distinctive fashions of the different 
 races who came into the island. They help to corroborate the 
 statements of the early Anglo-Saxon annalists of the positions 
 of these various tribes in Britain. We have given examples of 
 these different varieties in the accompanying plate. 
 
 The first and the richest variety of these ornaments are the 
 circular fibulse found in the barrows in Kent, of which some 
 very fine examples are preserved in the museums of Lord 
 Londesborough, Dr Eaussett, Mr Holfe (the two latter now 
 united in the possession of Mr Mayer, of Liverpool), and other 
 collectors. They are more usually of gold than any other 
 material, are generally ornamented with filigree work, and are 
 set with^ stones, usually garnets, or with glass or vitreous 
 pastes, and sometimes with enamel. One of the finest examples 
 of this class of fibulae was found a few years ago at Sitting- 
 bourne, in Kent. The form of the ornament was that of a 
 

 Anglo-Saxon Fibula). 
 
CUAP. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON FIBUL.E. 
 
 481 
 
 double star, set with garnets, or coloured glass, upon chequered 
 foils of gold. The rays of the inner star were of a blue stone. 
 Between the rays of the larger star were four studs, with a 
 ruby in each, surrounded with a circle of garnets, the spaces 
 between being filled up with gold filigree. 
 
 A much diminished sketch of this fibula is given in the 
 upper figure to the left in our plate. Iii another very hand- 
 some round fibula in the collection of Lord Londesborough, 
 found in a barrow at VYingham, in Kent, the outer rim is 
 bronze, but all the rest gold, set with garnets and blue stones, 
 as usual, over thin gold foil, Avhich was indented with cross 
 lines, to give greater brilliancy ; the spaces between the limbs 
 of the cross or flower formed by the stones were here also filled 
 up with the twists of gold filigree which are so common in 
 Anglo-Saxon jewellery. These round fibulae appear to have 
 been worn by ladies, and from the position in which they are 
 found they seem to have been placed on the breast. They 
 'were evidently peculiar to the people of Kent and to the 
 kindred inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, where examples have 
 been found. It is very unusual to find them in other parts of 
 England ; though a very rich gold fibula of this description was 
 found some years ago at Sutton, near Woodbridge, in Suftblk, 
 which was covered with filigree work, and had been set with 
 stones and enamel.* 
 
 The second class of Anglo-Saxon fibulse present a totally 
 different type; they are generally made of bronze or brass, 
 though they appear in almost every instance to have been gilt. 
 They have been usually termed cross-shaped, a term which is 
 not always correct, and we must be careful not to imagine that 
 the approach to the form of‘ the cross has any connexion with 
 Christianity, for there can be little doubt that all these barrows 
 belonged to the pagan Saxons. Several examples of this class 
 of fibulae are given in our plate. The upper one to the right 
 was found at Ingarsby, ten miles from Leicester. It has been 
 broken, and, as will be seen by comparison with the other 
 examples, the upper part only remains. When perfect, it must 
 have been very large, for the part here represented is five 
 inches in length. The figure immediately below it represents 
 one of this class of fibulae, of a rather dilferent type, found at 
 
 * This beautiful fibula is given in colours, and of the size of the original, 
 with several other examples of the round Kentish fibula, in a plate in tlie 
 ‘Archaeological Album.’ Other examples will be found in Douglas’s 
 ‘ Neuia.’ 
 
482 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV, 
 
 Stowe Heath, adjoining to Icklingham, in Suffolk. The 
 original is six inches in length, and it is ornamented, like 
 others of the same class, witli attempts at representing mon- 
 strous heads. The ornamentation of the large fibulae of this 
 class is often very elaborate^ though rude in character. The 
 ffbulae of this form are found in large quantities in the counties 
 of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Northampton, and thence 
 through Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, as well as in 
 Yorkshire. They were evidently peculiar to the Angles, who 
 formed the population of Mercia, East- Anglia, and North- 
 umbria. As shown ill the examples just described, some of the 
 more ornamental ones were of very large dimensions ; but 
 others, and that by much the most numerous class, are smaller 
 and plainer. The two examples given in our plate, between 
 the circular fibulae, both from Stowe Heath, in Suffolk, are 
 types of rather a numerous class of the smaller ffbulae, found 
 chiefly in Mercia and East- Anglia. Many similar ffbulae wer(‘ 
 found by Lord Braybrooke in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at 
 AYilbraham, in Cambridgeshire. Sometimes in these smaller 
 ffbulae, the head was formed into a plain trefoil, or clover leaf, 
 as in the example found in Y^orkshire, which is given in ffg. 1, 
 in the cut below. Fibulae of this form were found in the Anglo- 
 Saxon cemetery at Barrow Eurlong, in Northamptonshire, de- 
 scribed in the thirty-third volume of the Archmologia. Others 
 with square heads were found in tlie last-mentioned cemetery, 
 one of whicli is represented in ffg. 2 in our cut. This class of 
 
 fibulae is found much more rarely out of the Anglian districts. 
 Some have been found in Kent, differing a little in torm and 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 AXGLO-SAXON FIBUL.^:. 
 
 483 
 
 ornament, and by no means so common as the circular ones. 
 We find also in Kent a fibula of this class, but of a peculiar 
 pattern, havino- its head semicircular. One of these, found 
 near the turnpike road at Eolkestone-hill, between Folkestone 
 and Dover, is represented in fig*. 3 in the preceding page. The 
 body was of bronze-gilt, the central band had been ornamented 
 with slices of garnet, one of which still remains at the bottom 
 in a silver rim ; and the projecting buttons in the upper part 
 had also been set with stones, or with some kind of glass. A 
 fibula exactly similar to this was found at Osengal in Thanet, 
 and is in the collection of Mr llolfe. Precisely the same type 
 has been found in Germany and in France. In fact, the class 
 of fibulae we are now describing is that usually found in the 
 graves of the same period on the Continent, especially in those 
 of the Franks in Gaul. 
 
 The third variety of Anglo-Saxon fibulae is, as far as has yet 
 been discovered, peculiar to the counties of Gloucester, Oxford, 
 and Buckingham ; and it can now hardly be doubted that 
 they belonged to the West-Saxons, but comparatively little 
 accurate observation has yet been made of Anglo-Saxon 
 remains found in the purely Saxon districts. These fibulax 
 which are also of brass or bronze, are circular, and deeply 
 concave, or, rather, formed like a saucer. The rim, or side, 
 is usually plain, but the flat bottom is ornamented with Saxon 
 tracery. The example represented in our plate at p. 480, is 
 now in the museum of Lord Braybrooke, who bought it at 
 the sale at Stowe, in Buckinghamshire ; it is said to have 
 been found with a skeleton at Ashendon, in that county, with 
 a smaller fibula of the same description, whicli is also in Loi*d 
 Braybrooke’s collection.^ In Lord Braybrooke’s example, 
 which is, I believe, in this respect unique, the centre and the 
 four points of the cross of the ornament are set with coloured 
 glass on gold foil, like the circular fibulae of Kent, from which, 
 in other respects, it differs ividely. It is much larger than the 
 Kentish fibulae, measuring in diameter nearly three inches and 
 a half. Others of equal, and of smaller, dimensions have been 
 found, in the counties above mentioned. The field is always 
 covered with ornamentation of the same class, in some instances 
 with rude figures of faces and animals, and resembling in style 
 
 * It is a proof of tlie low state of antiquarian science in Eng-land till a 
 very recent date, that, while this fibula was in the collection at Stowe, it 
 was considered to be one of a pair of scales, and as such it was described 
 ill the sale catalogue. 
 
484 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 and character that of the cross-shaped fibulae. The only in- 
 stance I know at present of the discovery of one of these 
 fibulae out of the counties mentioned, occurred in an Anglo- 
 Saxon burial-place in Yorkshire. 
 
 Other small circular fibulae of a much plainer and less cha- 
 racteristic description are also found with Saxon remains in 
 difierent parts of the island. Sometimes they consist of a 
 circular plate, at others of a mere circular rim, or fiat ring:, 
 the material being* generally of bronze. They are sometimes 
 ornamented in the style of the fields of the saucer-shaped fibulae, 
 while ill many instances they are merely marked with small 
 circles, or lines, or are left quite plain. Fibulae of more fan- 
 ciful forms are also found with Anglo-Saxon remains, and not 
 nnfrequently shaped into the rude figure of a bird. Circular 
 fibulae, apparently of the early Anglo-Saxon period, made of lead, 
 have also been found, but they are very rare, and possess many 
 jieculiarities. Of three which I have examined, one was found 
 111 Yorkshire, and the other two in London. The first is in the 
 collection of Mr Hargrove, of York ; it is a thin circular plate 
 of lead, exactly an inch and a half in diameter, ornamented 
 with three concentric circles, and a rude figure in the centre. 
 The outer circle, or rim, is of a chain or cable pattern ; the tv/o 
 inner cii’cles are hatched in square compartments ; while the 
 central figure was intended to represent a dragon, with its tail 
 twisted and inserted in its mouth. In one of the London spe- 
 cimens, the field in the centre, which is raised above the rest, 
 bears the figure of a lion ; it is surrounded with a series of con- 
 centric rings formed of ovals and circles of various sizes. The 
 other London example, which was in the museum of Mr Hoacli 
 Smith, is still more curious, from the circumstance that the 
 ornament of the central field is made of a confused mass of 
 letters, exactly resembling those marked on the earlier Anglo- 
 Saxon coins. 
 
 We have no very distinct notion of the particular use of the 
 Anglo-Saxon fibulae in attaching the dress, though the larger 
 and more ornamental ones were probably employed in fastening 
 a mantle. The Kentish circular fibulae are usually found on 
 the breast, and the others are often in front of the body, some- 
 what nearer the girdle. In East-Anglia and Mercia, the cross- 
 shaped fibidae, and, more to the south-west, the saucer-shaped 
 fibulae, are often found in pairs, either over the breast, or, 
 especially in the case of the saucer-shaped fibulae, on the 
 shoulders. It may be observed, that the buckle of the belt cr 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 PERSONAL ORNAMENTS. 
 
 485 
 
 girdle is often ornamented in the same style as the fibiilm, and 
 sometimes it bears some resemblance in form to the cross-sliaped 
 variety. The use of other personal ornaments is more exactly 
 defined b\^ their form and position. Amongst these the most 
 remarkable and numerous are rings, armlets, ear-rings, hair-pins, 
 pendants to the neck, and beads. 
 
 Eings and bracelets are not found so abundantly as we might 
 expect from the manner in which they are spoken of in the old 
 Anglo-Saxon poetry, and they are seldom of better material 
 than bronze. Finger rings of silver have been found in Kent, 
 but, from their character, it is not improbable that they were 
 of Eoman workmanship. In the cemetery at Barrow Furlong, 
 in Northamptonshire, only one ring was found, which was on 
 the finger-bone of one of the skeletons ; it was made simply of 
 a bit of silver wire, bent into a circle, and tied at the two ends 
 by twisting the wire. In the graves at Fairford, in Glouces- 
 tershire, were found several rings of bronze, all of them unorna- 
 inented. A rather massive bronze spiral ring, perhaps of 
 Eoman workmanship, was found in a Saxon grave, in the same 
 county. The Saxon ladies were evidently more anxious to 
 adorn their heads and necks, than their hands and arms. Ear- 
 rings are not very uncommon, but they are extremely varied in 
 form. Sometimes they consist, like the finger-rings, merely of 
 a bit of silver wire, either bent into a plain ring, or twisted in 
 a spiral form. In the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Chavenage, in 
 Gloucestershire, was found a pair of ear-rings, formed of thin 
 plates of silver, shaped like crescents, the ends drawn out fine 
 and twisted together. Hair-pins are common, and resemble in 
 character those of the Eomans. They are usually of bronze, a 
 metal the use of which the Saxons probably derived from the 
 people on whose lands they came to reside. They are often 
 ornamented, and in some cases they seem to have been en- 
 amelled. A hair-pin with the head set with jewels, was found 
 in a barrow at Wringham, in Kent. A very highly ornamented 
 hair-pin, of bronze gilt, found in a Saxon grave at Gilton, in 
 East Kent, and now preserved in the Canterbury museum, is 
 engraved in the second volume of the ‘ Collectanea Antiqua ’ 
 of Mr Eoach Smith, who considers it to be of late Eoman 
 workmanship. These pins were no doubt intended, like the 
 Eoman ones, for fastening up the hair behind the head. The 
 greater number are mere pins of bronze, or sometimes of bone ; 
 but it is remarkable that these plain hair-pins have almost 
 always a ring at the top, or, at least, the head pierced for one, 
 
4.86 
 
 THE SAXom. 
 
 [chap. xy. 
 
 which was, no doubt, intended for attaching some part of the 
 head’dress with which we are unacquainted. The jewellery 
 suspended round the neck was often rich and highly orna- 
 mented. A beautiful necklace of stones set in gold, pendent 
 to a gold band, was found by Mr Bateman, in an iknglo- 
 Saxon barrow in Derbyshire. Sometimes a gold ornament in 
 the form of a cross, or a circular bulla, or, in place of these, 
 a gold Homan or Merovingian coin, was suspended to the 
 necklace. Examples of all these ornaments are found abund- 
 antly in the Kentish barrows, but they are rare in other parts 
 of the kingdom. A few of these necklaces and bullse are re- 
 presented in our plate, chiefly taken from barrows in Kent. 
 Eig. 1, from the cemetery at Sibertswold, is curious as inclosing 
 a Homan intaglio ; hg. 2, is a gold bulla from Kingston Down : 
 7 and 8 are examples of the bullse from Breachdown and Wing- 
 ham ; 3 and 4, beads or ornaments in glass from Sibertswold 
 and Beakesbourne ; 5 and 6, the parts of a neck-ornament from 
 Houndway Down, near Devizes, in Wiltshire. There can be 
 no doubt of these ornaments being of native workmanship, 
 and they show us to what a high state of perfection the art of 
 the goldsmith was carried among our forefathers at this early 
 period. At a later date, the Anglo-Saxons were celebrated 
 throughout Europe for the beauty of their jewellery. - A. poem 
 on the various fortunes of men, in the valuable collection of 
 Anglo-Saxon poetry called the Exeter Book, describes the high 
 consideration in which the Saxon goldsmith was held ; — 
 
 For one a wondrous skill 
 in g:oldsmith’s art 
 is provided, 
 full oft he decorates 
 and well adorns 
 a powerful king’s nobles, 
 and he to him gives broad 
 land in recompense. 
 
 Beads are found in the Anglo-Saxon barrows in great variety, 
 and they present a mixture of the common Homan types and 
 of others which were doubtless of Saxon manufacture. Per- 
 liaps the Homan manufactories of beads continued to exist after 
 the settlement of the Saxons ; but whether this Avere the case 
 or not, it is certain that almost every variety of Homan beads 
 are found in tlie Saxon interments. The Homan beads are 
 generally of glass, tvhile of those which are purely Angi(»- 
 Saxon a large proportion are of terra-cotta or earthen waiv.^, a/ .d 
 
Anglo-Saxon Jewellery. 
 
CHAT. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON BEADS, 
 
 4S9 
 
 these are sometimes incrusted with vitreous substances. The 
 Saxons introduced the same kind of ornament into their eartlien- 
 ware beads which had been used by tlie Homans in beads of 
 glass, and Ave find them often tastefully variegated with stripes 
 of different colours. These colours are often very brilliant. A 
 few examples of the glass beads are given in the plate, ffg. 5. 
 Two examples of the striated earthenware beads from the 
 cemetery at Osengal, in Thanet, are given in the annexed cut. 
 
 Beads from Osengal. 
 
 Other substances used very extensively by the Anglo-Saxons in 
 the manufacture of beads, were amethystine quartz, which is of 
 a lilac colour, and amber. Beads appear to have been worn 
 round the neck very generally by persons of both sexes ; and it 
 is probable that they Avere not only considered as ])ersonal orna- 
 ments, but that they Avere looked upon Avith a superstitious feel- 
 ing as preservatives against danger, and especially against Avitch- 
 craft. This Avas peculiarly the case with amber, Avhich, according 
 to the belief of the ancients, protected the person Avho bore it about 
 him against the evil spirit. Mence we find continual instances 
 of interments in Avhich the deceased had merely one bead of 
 amber attached to the neck, and sometimes it appears to haA^e 
 been simply placed in the grave by the side of his head. The 
 lumps of amber were generally made into beads by drilling a 
 hole through them, without attempting to shape them into 
 regular form. 
 
 At the girdle of the Saxon lady Avas suspended a bunch of 
 various small implements, ansAvering to Avhat in modern times 
 is called a chatelaine, and Avhich appears to have been usually 
 buried Avith the person to Avhom it belonged. These articles 
 appear to have been very numerous, but, unfortunately, from 
 the circumstance of many of them being small, and of iron, 
 Avhich decomposes rapidly, they are often reduced to mere 
 shapeless bits of rust. Sometimes, hoAAmver, they are more 
 nerfect, and articles of bronze are always better preserved. We 
 usually ffnd among these articles a small knife — sometimes more 
 
490 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 than one — and a pair of scissors. The scissors, or rather 
 shears, are almost always of the description represented in our 
 cut on page 409, which were no doubt borrowed from the 
 Eomans; but one or two instances have been met with in 
 Anglo-Saxon barrows of scissors of the same construction as 
 those used at the present day. Scissors of this latter descrip- 
 tion were found in the Saxon burial-place at Driffield, in York- 
 shire. Needles and pins, made of bronze or bone, are somt‘- 
 times found ; they had probably been placed in a case or sheath. 
 Of articles of the toilet found attached to the chatelaine, if we 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Tweezers. 
 
 mav adopt the word, the one of most frequent occurrence is a 
 pair of bronze tweezers, used, no doubt , for extracting super- 
 fluous hairs from the body. This ^ 
 
 instrument is so perfectly identical 
 in form and character with the Eo- 
 man tweezers, that we might sup- 
 pose it to be a mere relic of the 
 Eoman period preserved by one of 
 the Saxon conquerors, if it Avere not 
 of such common occurrence in An- 
 glo-Saxon graves, that it must have 
 been an article in general use. One 
 of these bronze tweezers, from the 
 cemetery at Osengal, is represented 
 in our cut. A number of small im- 
 plements resembling bodkins, are 
 often found attached together by a 
 ring ; some of them seem to have 
 been intended for tooth-picks and 
 others for ear-picks, and they all 
 sl.o\> that the Anglo-Saxon ladies 
 paid considerable attention to per- 
 sonal cleanliness. As i. have before 
 observed, it would be impossible, 
 
 from the state in Avhich they are ^ ... 
 
 generally found, to particularise all Anglo-Saxon Latch-keys (r) 
 the various articles Avhich the Anglo- 
 
CHAP. XV.] ANGLO-SAXOX AXTIQUITIES. 
 
 491 
 
 Saxon ladv carried at her girdle. Some are almost inexplicable. 
 The three implements suspended by two rings, represented in the 
 cut on the preceding page, were found in the cemetery at Osen- 
 gal, and are in the collection of Mr Eolfe. The only explana- 
 tion that can be offered is, that they may have been latch- 
 keys ; but I believe that nothing exactly similar to them has 
 been found elsewhere to assist in explaining them, though 
 they may be compared with the Eoman latch-keys, which we 
 have given at p. 400. Another class of objects, found always 
 with the articles hung to the lady’s girdle, and invariably in 
 pairs, has furnished a puzzle to antiquaries. Several pairs of 
 them were found in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Wilbraham, 
 in Cambridgeshire, in most cases attached together by a ring, 
 or small frame at the top. One of these is given in our next 
 cut, of the form which seems to have been most common. The 
 extremities of others were of the form represented by the figure 
 
 at the side. A number of other 
 examples found at Stowe Heath, 
 in Suffolk; near Swaftham, in 
 Norfolk ; at Scaleby, near Cais- 
 tor, in Lincolnshire ; and at an 
 unascertained locality in Lei- 
 cestershire ; are given in the 
 second volume of Mr Koach 
 Smith’s ‘ Collectanea.’ They 
 seem to be confined to the 
 Anglian districts, and I am 
 not aware of any example 
 found in Kent ; but, curiously 
 enough, they are not uncom- 
 mon in the Prankish cemeteries 
 in France. They have puz- 
 zled the few antiquaries, who 
 have observed them, extremely. 
 They were supposed at first to 
 be latch-keys, but their being 
 found in pairs and the thin- 
 ness of the metal (bronze) 
 seemed to militate against this 
 explanation, which was quite 
 exploded when other examples 
 were found with the ends perforated for small rings, and in some 
 
 Articles from Wilbraham. 
 
432 
 
 THE SAXOXS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 tiie rings were still found in the perforations. The most pro- 
 bable explanation seems now to be, that each pair either formed 
 the framework of a bag or purse ; or that they belonged to a 
 frame, to which the various articles the lady carried by her side 
 were attached. In some cases they are slightly ornamented. 
 
 Among other articles of the toilette, we must not forget to 
 mention comb«, which have been found in several instances in 
 Anglo-Saxon g;raves. A double-toothed comb, of bone, with 
 rivets of iron, was found in an urn in the cemetery at Barrow 
 Eurlong, in Northamptonshire ; and a single one, of the same 
 material, was found in a grave in Kent. 
 
 Remains of various smaller articles are found scattered 
 about the Anglo-Saxon graves, many of which, made of perish- 
 able materials, are only indicated by decayed matter. Thus we 
 often trace the place once occupied by a small box, or coffer, 
 and find hinges, or clasps, or metal guards, whicli have belonged 
 to it. A very remarkable small bronze coffer, or box, was found 
 in the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Stroud, in Kent. It was made 
 of two thin plates of bronze, riveted together, and bound round 
 at the lower part with a narrow band of the same metal ; on 
 one side was a ring, which appeared to have been intended for 
 hanging it to the girdle. It was stamped with Christian figures 
 and emblems, and was, doubtless, of foreign manufacture ; 
 perhaps obtained in barter or in war, for the interment Avas 
 clearly a pagan one.^ It is unnecessary to attempt an enu- 
 meration of all the small miscellaneous articles found in the 
 Anglo-Saxon graves. In one of those at Osengal, a pair of 
 compasses was found, and in another lay a pair of scales, the 
 scales of Avhich were very neatly made of thin bronze ; along 
 with them were the weights, Avhich were formed of Roman 
 coins, carefully adjusted by rubbing away the surface. It is 
 not unusual to find in the Anglo-Saxon graves in Kent, sea- 
 shells, and even snail-shells, and we sometimes meet with 
 cowries, Avhich must have been brought from the East. These, 
 Avith the occurrence of Byzantine coins, and articles like tlie 
 coffer described above, sIioav to Avhat extent the early Anglo- 
 Saxon settlers held communication with foreign and even dis- 
 tant nations. 
 
 The larger portion of tlie pottery found in the Anglo-Saxon 
 
 This very curious relic is engraved in Mr Roach Smith’s ‘ Collec- 
 tanea Antiqua,’ vol. ii. plate 36. A somewhat similar box, ornamented 
 with Cliristian subjects, has recently been found by Mr Ackerman in the 
 Saxon cemetery of Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire. 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POTTELY. 
 
 493 
 
 S!^’-aves ill Kent, is Koman, often cups and paterae, sometimes 
 in frao’ments, of the red Samian ware. The pottery of Saxon 
 manufacture found in this country occurs chiefly in tlie ceme- 
 
 teries wfiere cremation was practised, that is, in JMercia and 
 East Angdia, and consist of burial urns. These were long- 
 classed indiscriminately as British, and it is not till lately that 
 their distinctive characteristics have been pointed out. The 
 cut given above presents five examples of Anglo-Saxon earth- 
 enware vessels. The two to the left, taken from a Saxon 
 cemetery at Kingston, near Derby, are the ordinary types of 
 burial urns found in interments of this period in England. They 
 are usually made with the hand, without the use of the lathe, 
 of a dark-coloured clay, and are not well baked ; their colour is 
 generally a dark brown, passing either to a black or to a dark 
 green tint. Their distinguishing characteristics are projecting 
 knobs or bosses at the sides, peculiar zigzag patterns, and a 
 still more usual ornamentation of circles or scpiares, which have 
 the appearance of having been stamped with the end of a notched 
 stick. The small unornamented vessel on the right was found 
 in the same cemetery, but without bones, and it was probably 
 a cup for domestic purposes: it exactly resembles oue found 
 in a grave in Kent. The long-necked ampulla in the middle 
 
THE SAXOXS. 
 
 494 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 was found in an Anglo-Saxon grave in Kent. The vessel 
 at the bottom, to the right, from 
 the same cemetery at Kingston, was 
 also used as a burial urn. An Anglo- 
 Saxon burial urn, of a somewhat dif- 
 ferent pattern, but similar in general 
 character, is represented in the annexed 
 cut. It was found by Mr Bloxam, at 
 Chertersover, in Warwickshire, tilled 
 with ashes, and accompanied with an 
 iron sword, a spear-head, and other 
 articles, all undoubtedly Saxon. The 
 articles constantly found with the urns 
 of this class, leave no room for doubt 
 that they have been correctly appropriated to the early Saxon 
 settlers in our island ; and this appropriation is corroborated in a 
 very remarkable manner by discoveries made on the continent. In 
 1848, two German antiquaries, the brothers Lindenschmit, pub- 
 lished an account of the opening of an ancient Teutonic cemetery 
 of the pagan period, at Selzen, in Hhenish Hesse, the articles 
 found in which presented exactly the same character as those 
 in our Anglo-Saxon barrows. There was a similar mixture of 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Urn. 
 
 the two kinds of interment, but the practice of burying the 
 body entire seemed to prevail. The pottery was of precisely 
 the same character ; it was similar in form, and was ornamenteii 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 GLASS DRINKING VESSELS. 
 
 49o 
 
 with the same bosses on the sides, and the same impressed 
 notches as in the Angdo-Saxon pottery described above. Eor 
 the sake of comparison, four examples of the pottery from 
 Selzen are given in the annexed cnt : the two to the left are 
 cinerary urns, like those found in Derbyshire. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon glass, which is not nncommon, differs from 
 the Roman in being thinner, not so fine in texture, and more 
 subject to that kind of decomposition, which destroys its trans- 
 parency, and gives it a variegated tint. It is probable that the 
 
 Saxon glass-workers derived the art from their Roman pre- 
 decessors, and they certainly possessed very great skill, although 
 the form and ornament of their Avork differed entirely from 
 Roman Avork. The glass vessels found in Anglo-Saxon graves 
 are generally drinking-cups, the forms of Avhich will be best 
 understood by the cut above. When ornamented, they are 
 usually ribbed or striated. The forms Avere evidently derived 
 from the imitation of drinking-horns.^ The examples given 
 in our cnt Avere all taken from barrows in East Kent, and 
 were in the collections of Lord Londesborough and Mr Rolfe. 
 The ornamentation answers snfiiciently Avell to the epithet of 
 
 * It will be observed that these drinking-cups are so made that they 
 could not stand upright ; each guest was expected to drink his glass oft' at 
 a draught. It is said that this custom of making drinking-cups which 
 would not stand, in order to compel the drinkers to empty them at once, was 
 the origin of the modern name of tumblers, given to glasses which are not 
 now placed in the same predicament. 
 
406 
 
 TILE SAXONS, 
 
 [cnAp. XV. 
 
 twisted, which is applied in Anglo-Saxon poetry to drinkiiio- 
 cnps. Thus in Beowulf (line 983), we are told that — 
 
 the thane observed his office, 
 he that in his hand bare 
 the twisted ale-cup. 
 
 The small eup-shaped gdass vessel at the bottom of onr ent is 
 also the type of a elass of not uncommon occurrence in Kent. 
 A remarkable eliaracteristic of the early Anglo-Saxon glass 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Glass Vessels. 
 
 manufacture is an ornamentation formed by separate threads of 
 glass twisted round the vessel after it had been formed; and 
 sometimes of large knobs added to the glass, these latter 
 assuming very singular shapes. It is difficult to say how far 
 this kind of ornament was derived from the late Roman period, 
 but there is in the little museum at Lewes, in Sussex, a 
 glass ampulla, said to have been found among purely Roman 
 remains, which is ornamented with the same strings twisted 
 round the neck. I give, on this page, two examples of Analo- 
 Saxon glass vessels, with these singular ornamentations. The 
 one with knobs attached was found at Reculver, in Kent, and 
 is now preserved in the museum at Canterbury : it is about 
 six inches high, of a colour varying from olive green to yellow 
 (the variations perhaps caused by decomposition), the projections 
 being of a dark grecm — it is also ornamented with the strings 
 mentioned above. The other vessel represented in tne cut was 
 found at Ash, in Kent, in 1849, and is in the collection of Mr 
 Rolfe ; it is a curious specimen of the application of the thread 
 ornament. Other examples of glass vessels, resembling the 
 
CHAP, xy.] 
 
 DIIINKING VESSELS. 
 
 407 
 
 first of these, with the projecting; claws, have been found in 
 different parts of Saxon Erigdand. One is given in Mr AVylie’s 
 account of the Eairford graves, in Gloucestershire, where it was 
 found. Another was found in a Saxon grave in Hampshire, 
 and a fourth at Cooinbe, in East Kent. Another was found at 
 Castle Eden, in Durham, and was engraved in the fifteenth 
 volume of the Archseologia. 
 
 It is a very remarkable circumstance, and shows ns the 
 necessity of comparing the antiquities of cognate races, that 
 one of these cups with the projecting claws, so similar to those 
 found in England that we might suppose it had come from the 
 same workshop, was found in a grave in the ancient cemetery 
 at Selzen, in Ehenish Hesse. ^ To show the close similarity 
 between the glass vessels found in the Selzen graves and those 
 of the Anglo-Saxons, which is the best evidence we could have 
 of their purely Teutonic character, I give in this page three 
 
 Germano- Saxon Drinking Vessels. 
 
 drinking-glasses copied, from the work of the brothers Linden- 
 schmit. One of the cup-shaped glasses, like those in our Anglo- 
 Saxon graves, with two earthenware jugs, also from Selzen, are 
 given in our cut on the next page. These two vessels are evi- 
 dently the original type of our modern pitcher. They are not 
 often found in Anglo-Saxon barrows, but examples have occur- 
 red, and others probably have been passed over unobserved. A 
 good specimen is preserved in the museum of Dover; it is said 
 to have been dug up in that neighbourhood. Mr Roach Smith 
 
 * Mr Roach Smith has given engravings of this Selzen specimen, along 
 with the (litFcrent examples found in England, in his • Collectanea Antiqua,’ 
 vol. ii. 
 
THE SAXONS. 
 
 4^8 
 
 [chap. XT. 
 
 extracted frao-ments of another from a barrow on the summit of 
 the hills beliind Folkestone. 
 
 Germano- Saxon Pottery and Glass. 
 
 Although there is uo doubt much of purely Teutonic character 
 in the ornamentation of the pottery and glass, and of many of 
 the other articles manufactured by the Anglo-Saxons, it is pro- 
 bable that much of it also originated in attempts, more or less ^ 
 rude, to imitate that which was seen on Eoman work. In some 
 of the jewellery we observe an evident design to imitate late 
 Eoman and Byzantine ornaments, and perhaps if we compared 
 more closely the ornamental pottery, we should find it was the 
 same. This is observable more 
 distinctly on the Frankish 
 pottery, which differs some- 
 what in character from that 
 of the Anglo-Saxons. The 
 accompanying cut represents 
 a prevailing type of the Frank- 
 ish burial urns, which have 
 often, however, much more 
 ornament. The ornament here 
 is evidently a rude imitation 
 of that found on the Eoman 
 red Samian wares ; it may be 
 compared with that of some 
 late Eoman pottery found in 
 Britain, of which we have al- 
 ready given a cut at p. 279, and also with the ornament of a 
 Eoman altar given in p. 376. The comparison of these ex- 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON POTTERY. 
 
 49S 
 
 amples shows how an elegant ornament, in passing througli 
 successive imitations, degenerates into a very rude one. 
 
 There are two classes of household utensils found frequently 
 in Anglo-Saxon interments, which are worthy of particular notice. 
 Howls of Ijronze, highly gilt, are met with in the cemeteries in 
 Kent, and generally so elegant in form, tliat we can hardly 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Bowls. 
 
 hesitate in looking upon them as the work of Itoman manufac- 
 turers. Three examples of these bowls are given in our cut, 
 the first of which was found in a barrow at Wingham, in Kent; 
 the lower example was found at Bourne Park, near Canterbury; 
 and the one in the middle, on Barham Downs. They are of 
 different sizes, from five or six inches to thirteen in diameter. 
 
 Another article, found very frequently in Anglo-Saxon graves, 
 is a bucket, which generally retains 
 sufficient proofs of having been more 
 or less highly ornamented. These 
 buckets are found in Anglo-Saxon 
 cemeteries in all parts of England. 
 Many of them have been found at 
 different times in Kent, and traces 
 of others, which had been formed of 
 more perishable materials, have been 
 met with. One found in a grave in 
 Bourne Park, near Canterbury, had 
 been of rather large dimensions ; the 
 hoops only remained perfect, but 
 _ they were of bronze, and very ele- 
 
 Bucket, from Bourne Park, f^aiitly formed ; the lower hoop was 
 a foct in diameter, the upper hoop 
 
500 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV, 
 
 ten inches, and the whole height of the bucket appeared to 
 have been about a foot. The hoops are represented in the 
 annexed cut as they must have stood on the wood, whicli had 
 perished ; the hooked feet of the lower bronze hoop appear to 
 liave been intended to turn over the woodwork and hold it 
 firm. The bucket on the right, in our next cut, was found in 
 a grave on the Chatham lines, and is engraved in Douglas’s 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Buckets. 
 
 ‘ Nenia.’ It was made of iron and brass, and was, thei-efore, 
 better preserved. This bucket was only seven and a half 
 inches in height, by eight inches in diameter. Buckets found 
 in the East- Anglian cemeteries are often of still smaller dimen- 
 sions. Several were found by Lord Braybrooke, at Wilbraham, in 
 Cambridgeshii-e. The bucket on the left in the last cut was 
 found in a barrow near Marlborough, in Wiltshire, opened by 
 
 Sir Richard Colt Iloare, who erroneously supposed it ic be 
 
CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANGLO-SAXON BUCKETS. 
 
 50 1 
 
 Eoinan. Tlie metal hoops, in this case, were embossed or 
 stamped with figures of animals. Our last cut on the preceding 
 page represents one of these bucket-foianed vessels found in a 
 grave at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, formed as usual of wood, 
 with brass hoops^ and ornaments ; it was only four inches in 
 diameter, and between three and four inches high. These buckets 
 are, as far as I liave observed, always found in the graves of men, 
 and they were evidently vessels which served for something more 
 than igiio])le purposes. The only explanation 1 can suggest is, 
 that they were for containing the ale, mead, or wine, which 
 Avas to be served in the Saxon hall. They are probably the 
 vessels (vats) alluded to in the wcrds of the poem of Beowulf, 
 which describes how 
 
 cnp-bearers ^ave 
 
 the wine from wondrous vats. 
 
 Beoivulf^ line 2316. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxon translation of the book of Judges (vii. 20), 
 rendered hijdrlas corifregisseut, by ‘to-broecon ]?a bucas,’ they 
 broke the buckets. A common name for this vessel, which 
 Avas probably called biic, Avas cescen, signifying literally a \’'essel 
 made of ash, the favourite Avood of the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 Koman coins are not unfrequently found in Anglo-Saxon 
 graves, and in some instances a single coin has been found, as 
 though the deceased, or his relatives, had retained some of the 
 older Koman customs. A few later Byzantine, and also Frankish, 
 coins have been found, but they are much rarer than the 
 Koman coins, Avhich, no doubt, continued in circulation under 
 the Saxons.^ The earlier history of the Anglo-Saxon coinag(‘ 
 is very obscure. On many Koman sites, especially such as are 
 known to have been occupied down to a late period, are found 
 very small coins in brass, which appear, from their rude cha- 
 racter and imperfect design, to have been late imitations of the 
 Koman coins of the size denominated third brass. These coins, 
 from their diminutive size, are termed by numismatists rn'mimi, 
 and are supposed to have been struck during the period be- 
 tween the abandonment of the island by the imperial govern- 
 ment, and the establishment of the Saxon kingdoms. It is 
 very probable that these coins began to be struck very soon 
 after the imperial authority was extinct, and they are of his- 
 
 * It is by no means uncommon to find coins, especially of gold, botli 
 lioman, Byzantine, and Merovingian, witli loops attached to them, for tin; 
 ]>urpose of suspension as ornaments. It was a custom which prevailed 
 among the liomans themselves. 
 
502 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 torical interest, because tliey seem to show tlie eoiitiiiued ex- 
 istence of the municipal government in the town. These so- 
 called minimi are not always of the diminutive size which gave 
 rise to their name, as we find them sometimes as large, or 
 nearly, as the small copper coin of the mintage of the emperors 
 of the Constantine family, 
 which seem in most cases 
 to have been the types from 
 which they were riulely 
 copied. I give two exam- 
 ples from coins recently 
 found at AYroxeter {Ihico- 
 niiim). On this site, two 
 instances have already been 
 met with in which, at the 
 time the ancient city was 
 destroyed, individuals have 
 dropped the money with 
 
 which they were attempting to make their escape, leaving us 
 curious evidence of the class of money which was at that 
 moment in circulation. The first of these individuals was an 
 old man, whose skeleton was found where he had sought to 
 conceal himself in one of the hypocausts of the public baths, 
 and he may have been the money-taker in that establishment, 
 for his treasure consisted almost entirely of coins of small 
 value. They were : 
 
 Minimi^ from Wroxeter [TJriconiiim), 
 
 Tetricus (much worn) 
 
 1 
 
 Claudius Gothicus 
 
 .. 1 
 
 Constantine the Elder 
 
 .. 13 
 
 Constans 
 
 1 
 
 Constantine II. 
 
 .. 36 
 
 Constantins 11. 
 
 . . 5 
 
 Julian (a plated denarius) 
 
 1 
 
 Helena . . 
 
 .. 2 
 
 Theodora 
 
 .. 1 
 
 I The type ukbs roma . . . . 24 
 
 That of CONSTANTINOPOLIS . . 3t 
 Valens (much worn) . . . . 1 
 
 liude copies of Homan coins, or 
 minimi . . . . . . 6 
 
 Illegible . . . . . . . . G 
 
 Total 132 
 
 The second bundle of coins alluded to, appeared to have 
 b(‘longed to some one who was making his escape from what is 
 supposed to have been an enameller’s workshop, and consisted 
 of the following coins : — 
 
 ( 'aracalla (a silver denarius) .. 1 i 
 
 Severus Alexander (a plated de- 
 narius) . . . . . . 1 I 
 
 Maximus (second brass) . . II 
 
 (iallienus ., .. 21 
 
 Salon ina (copper, washed with 
 silver) . . . . . . . . I 
 
 Postumus . . . . . . 1 
 
 Victorinus . . . . . . 8 
 
 Tetricus . . . . . . . . 3 
 
EARLY AXGLO-SAXOX COINS. 
 
 ?03 
 
 t ’HAP. XV. j 
 
 Claudius Gothicus 
 Carausius 
 
 The Constantine family 
 A'alentinian 
 
 2 Gratian . . 
 
 1 A minimus 
 
 12 Illegible.. 
 1 
 
 Total oS 
 
 The minimus found in this second lot is the lower coin of the 
 two engraved on the preceding page. All tliese coins, which are 
 not otherwise described, are small copper ; and we cannot but 
 remark how large a proportion are those of the Constantine family. 
 The very small comparative number of minimi found in circula- 
 tion in so important a town, would seem to show that this coinage 
 was quite recent when TJriconium was destroyed. On the site 
 of some other Roman towns, which had continued to exist 
 through the period between the Romans and the Saxons, they 
 are found in pi’oportionally greater numbers. In London a 
 large quantity of these have been found ; and Mr Roach Smith 
 enumerates among the coins found of late years at Richborough 
 {Rutupim), no less than two hundred of these minimi, Avhich 
 show that that post continued to be occupied as a place of 
 importance during the period just mentioned. These coins 
 were followed by a different coinage, which was undoubtedly 
 Saxon, but Avhich also was imitated from that of the Romans, 
 and it is not improbable that the old minting establishments 
 continued to exist. These early Saxon coins, for the classifica- 
 tion of which very little has yet been done, are called sceattas."^ 
 It is remarkable, that while the Roman minimi are all in brass, 
 the sceattas are invariably in silver. The devices may generally 
 be traced to be rude imitations of Roman types, especially of 
 the coinage of Constantine and his family, which are found in 
 great abundance in this country. Of the two examples given 
 in our cut, the upper has on one side a copy of a very common 
 reverse of tlie coins of the Constantine period, which are 
 usually classed under the head of urbs Roma, representing Ro- 
 mulus and Remus suckled by the wolf. The second has a 
 head on one side, and on the other, a device which is pro- 
 bably copied from the altar which occurs on the coins of the 
 Constantine family. Many are copied from the coins of 
 Arcadius, Honorius, and others of that period. The sceattas 
 
 * The sceattas were the common coins of the Anglo-Saxons at an early 
 period ; and the name was often used as a general term for money. 3’ he 
 word, in the singular, is sceat or sccet, and to pay your sceat, was literally 
 to pay your reckoning. This has been by course of time corrupted into the 
 modern ale-house phrase of imying your shot. 
 
THE SAXONS. 
 
 504 
 
 [chap. XV. 
 
 have been foiind at Eichboroiip:h, Eeculver, and other places 
 in East Kent, in considerable num- 
 bers, as well as in the nortli of Eng- 
 land. They are met with oceasionally 
 in the pagan Anglo-Saxon barrows or 
 graves, which fixes the period to 
 which they belong. The moulder- 
 ing remains of Avhat appeared to 
 have been a small purse, with four 
 sceattas of silver, were found by the 
 side of a skeleton _ in a barrow on Anglo-Saxon Sceattas from 
 the Breach Downs, in Kent. Richborougli. 
 
CHAT. XVI.] ANGLO-SAXON SETTLEMENr. oCo 
 
 ( tiAri’H.R Xvi. 
 
 An ^lo- Saxon Settlement — Division of the Land — Population of the Country’’ 
 and of the Towns — Continuance of the Roman Municipalities — Traces 
 of Municipal Privileges in the Anglo-Saxon Towns ; Canterbury, 
 Rochester, Dover, Exeter, London. 
 
 The remains of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, as described in 
 the preceding* chapter, present sufficient evidence that society 
 tlien consisted of two very distinct elements ; one purely Teu- 
 tonic, the other derived from intercourse with the Eoman popu- 
 lation. The Teutonic settlers took possession of the land, which 
 the various chiefs divided among* themselves by lot ; and it 
 was held by a totally different tenure to that Avhich existed 
 under the imperial government. The characteristic of Teutonic 
 society was a deeply implanted aristocracy, that of the heads of 
 clans, or tribes, and there was very little tendency to the central- 
 isation which was exhibited in the Eoman imperial constitution. 
 Each chief received his share of land, on which he settled with 
 his houseliold and followers, and which descended in his family 
 as a freehold. We still trace these original allotments of land 
 in the names of places in every part of England, Avhich are com- 
 posed of the patronymic of the family or race. Thus, when we 
 find such a name as Birmingham, we may be sure that it was 
 originally the ham, or residence, of the Beormingas, the descend- 
 ants or clan of Beorm, for this was the regular form of the Teu- 
 tonic patronymic — Beorming, the son of Beorm. And thus we 
 have Badlinghamin Cambridgeshire, the seat of the Bsedlingas ; 
 Buckingham, of the Bucingas ; Warmingham, in Cheshire, of 
 the Wearmingas; Littlington, the tun or head residence of the 
 Lytlingas ; Elvington, the seat of the Elfingas ; Killinghall, 
 the hall of the Cylingas ; and a vast number of similar names. 
 The family or clan did not always take its name from the chief 
 who obtained the allotment of land ; it was often but a branch 
 of a much older family in the land from which the settler came. 
 
THE SAXOXS. 
 
 FcHAP. XVI. 
 
 5or> 
 
 Hence we find tlie same patronymics in distant parts of England, 
 which would seem to indicate that ditf'erent members of the same 
 original family had joined in various separate expeditions to 
 Hritain ; and it is still more curious tliat this identity of name 
 is found in districts peopled severally by the dilterent races, 
 Angles, or Saxons, or Jutes. This admits of two explanations : 
 it shows the close relationship between the three races them- 
 selves ; and it proves, probably, that when a great chieftain of 
 one, race, an Angle, for instance, planned an expedition to 
 Britain, subordinate leaders from the other races, Saxons, 
 Jutes, or others, were ready to enlist among his followers. 
 Thus we find the Billingas at Billingham, in Hurliam : at Bil- 
 lingley, in Yorkshire; at Billinghay, in Lincolnshire: at Bil- 
 lington, in the counties of Bedford, Stafford, and Lancaster ; 
 as well as at other places, all within the districts occupied by 
 the Angles. We find a settlement of the same family at Bil- 
 lingshurst, in Sussex ; and some of them appear to have estab- 
 lished themselves in the outskirts of London, and to have 
 given their name to Billingsgate. The Bosingas are found at 
 Bossingham, in Kent, and again at the two Bossingtons, in 
 Hampshire and Somerset. The Scearingas are found at Shar- 
 rington, Sheringford, and Sharringham, in Norfolk ; at Sheer- 
 ing, in Essex ; at Scarrington, in Nottinghamshire ; and at 
 Sherrington, in Buckingham, and in Wiltshire. We have the 
 Haningas at three places named Hannington, in Northampton- 
 shire, Hampshire, and Wiltshire, and also probably at Han- 
 ningfield, in Essex. When w^e examine further we find, among 
 these patronymics, names which belong to the great families 
 Avhose history is mixed up in the earliest Teutonic mythology. 
 The Wselsings, who are found at Walsingham, in Norfolk, at 
 Walsingham, in Durham, and at Woolsington, in Northum- 
 berland, appear to have been offsets of the great family of the 
 Volsungar of the Edda, the Yolsungen of the old German ro- 
 mances. The Harlings (Herelingas), who are found at three 
 places named Harlington, in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, and 
 Yorkshire, as w^ell as at Harling, in Norfolk, are also connected 
 with the ancient Teutonic mythology, and their name is found 
 at Harlingen, in Eriesland. The Swsefas, a tribe who are 
 known to have dwelt on the borders of tlie Angles, on the con- 
 tinent, appear to have given their name to Swaffham, in Nor- 
 folk. Mr Kemble, quoting other well-known names from the 
 mythic and half-mythic history of the continental Teutons, 
 points out, as further instances, that the Brentings of northern 
 
CHAP. XVI.] THE ANGLO-SAXON SETTLEMENT. 
 
 507 
 
 romance are found in Eng*land, at Brentingley, in Leicester- 
 shire, and at Brantingham, in Yorkshire. The Scyldings, and 
 Scylfings, celebrated Northern races, gave their names to Skel- 
 ding, and to two places named Skillington, in Northumberland 
 and Dorset ; the Ardings, who are found at Ardington, in 
 Berkshire, and at Ardingiy, in Sussex, are, he says, the 
 Azdingi, the royal race of the Visigoths and Vandals ; and the 
 leanings of the continent, over whom, when the curious Anglo- 
 Saxon fragment called the Traveller’s Song was written, a 
 prinee named Becca ruled, are recognised in Banningham, in 
 Norfolk. The Helsings gave name to Helsington, in West- 
 moreland, and to Helsingland, in Sweden; and we find the 
 name of the Bleecingas as well in Bleckingen, in Sweden, as in 
 Bletchington, in Oxfordshire, and Bletchingley, in Suri*ey. In 
 the Gytingas, found at Giiyting, in Gloucestershire, we perhaps 
 trace the Jutungi of Germany : and another Alamannic tribe, 
 the Scudingi, are supposed to be traced in the Scytings, who 
 gave their name to Shuttington, in Warwickshire. In these 
 instances, conjecture is, perhaps, carried too far, as well as in 
 the supposition that the Wirings, who left their name in two 
 AVarringtons, in Lancashire and Buckinghamshire, and to the 
 same number of Werringtons in Northamptonshire and Devon, 
 belonged to the same race as the Varangians (Vgerinjar), so 
 celebrated in Byzantine history ; but there can be no doubt 
 that the careful study of the Anglo-Saxon names of localities is 
 calculated to throw a light upon the history and condition of 
 the first settlers which we can hope to derive from no other 
 source.* Many of these names point directly to the state of 
 the country itself, at the time the Teutonic population came in, 
 and we can have no doubt that then the site of Beverley was a 
 plain so unfrequented by man, that it was occupied only by 
 lieavers, or that places with names compounded of those of 
 wolves, boars, &e., were the usual resorts of wild beasts. 
 
 The Teutonic settlers established themselves chiefly in the 
 country, where they retained all their old national feelings. 
 \\ e know that they were averse to living in towns, and, from 
 a superstitious feeling which led t hem to believe that the houses 
 built by other peoples might be rendered dangerous for them 
 by means of charms and magic, they preferred the houses 
 •v hich they built for themselves. iMoreover, the countrv villas 
 
 * Extensive materials on this interesting subject have been collected by 
 Mr Kemble in tae lirst volume ot his ‘ Saxon in England.’ 
 
508 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XVI. 
 
 of the Eomaiis, and the smaller and iinfortitied towns, liad 
 been mostly burnt or overthrown, and their plan and construc- 
 tion were not tliOse to which the Saxons were accustomed. 
 However, we do meet with instances of Eoman villas occupied 
 and altered by the Angdo- Saxon settlers, and in some instances 
 we hnd that the residence of the Saxon chief did occupy a 
 Eoman site. This was the case with the two seats of the 
 Iclings ; Icklingham, in Suffolk, and Tckleton, or Icklington, 
 in Cambridgeshire, in both which places have been found 
 extensive traces of Eoman settlement. One of them is sup- 
 posed to occupy the site of the Eoman station of Iciani, and 
 it is not quite impossible that the Saxon name in this case may 
 liave arisen from mistaking the Eoman name for a patronymic. 
 Tlie Anglo-Saxon landholders held a position totally different 
 from that of the Eomans ; they were lords over their own 
 allotment of soil and its population, and the principle of cen- 
 tralisation existed so little amongst them, that, rather than 
 look up to a superior head for justice, the landlords formed 
 associations among themselves, to manage their own affairs, 
 and administer justice in their mutual transactions. Such 
 mutual associations formed the groundwork of the subsequent 
 division of the country into hundreds, shires, kc. Each land- 
 holder, nevertheless, acknowledged a certain depcmdence upon, 
 or subjection to, the chief under whom he had come into the 
 island, and the latter assumed the title of king over his chief- 
 tains and their people. These kings were soon tempted by the 
 splendour of the old Eoman rule, and they tried to establish 
 and increase their authority by imitating Eoman forms, and 
 adopting, as far as they could, the Eoman principles of admin- 
 istration. They were wealthy, by the extensive landed estates 
 which they had reserved to themselves in the division of lands, 
 and by the possession of the old Eoman towns, which fell to 
 their share ; and they had a natural influence over the other 
 chiefs who had followed their banner from the first, because 
 they belonged to the great families of supposed divine blood, 
 who alone commanded that sort of confidence and respect which 
 was necessary to insure obedience. 
 
 The population of the country consisted of two elements — 
 the chiefs and their followers, who had obtained possession and 
 lordship of the lands, and the agriculturists and labourers, who 
 were in the position of serfs and bondmen, and comprised 
 chiefly the old Eomano-British population, which under the 
 Saxons was probably quite as Avell off as under the Eomans. 
 
CHAP. XVI.] THE ANGLO-SAXOX LANDHOLDERS. 
 
 509 
 
 The Saxons thus held the country, while the Homan citizens 
 continued to hold the towns as tributaries of the Saxon kin^s, 
 within whose bounds they stood. The country thus exhibited 
 Teutonic rudeness, while the towns were the representatives of 
 Homan civilisation, and thougH the intercourse between the 
 two, and tbe gradual infusion of Saxon blood into the towns, 
 laid the founda|;ion of modern society, there was a feeling of 
 hostility and rivalry between town and country, which has 
 hardly yet disappeared. Between the aristocratic feeling of 
 the Saxon landholders, and the republican principles tliat 
 existed in the towns, arose, under the balancing intluence of 
 tlie crown, the modern political constitution. 
 
 We can understand best the mofle and forms in wliich the 
 Anglo-Saxons established themselves here, by comparing them 
 with what took place, under similar circumstances, in other 
 parts of Europe, where our historical accounts are more detailed 
 and precise. There, also, the barbarian settlers seized upon the 
 lands, while the cities were generally left in the hands of the 
 old citizens. On a former occasion I have described briefly the 
 internal constitution of the Homan towns, with their cariales, 
 or senators, and their various municipal officers, which we 
 know were all preserved after the Teutonic conquests in the 
 cities in Ganl and the other Homan provinces on the continent, 
 and which were, no doubt, also preserved in Britain.^ In 
 Italy, where, in the mixture, the spirit of the Homan institu- 
 tions prevailed most over the barbarian population, the cities, 
 relieved from the imperial power to which they had been pre- 
 viously subjected, became in the middle ages powerful repub- 
 lics, and the curia was the prototype of those bodies of 
 patrician princes, whose personal feuds led in the end to their 
 subversion. In other parts of Europe, amid the general 
 wreck, some powerful commercial cities retained a complete 
 independence, and became known as free cities, and some of 
 them have continued so to the present day. In Erance, M. 
 Haynouard has traced the existence of the municipal officers 
 by their original titles, even the defemor civitatls, during 
 several centuries after the fall of the Homan power. We have 
 unfortunately few documents which throw any light on the 
 condition of the towns in England during the Saxon period of 
 our history ; but we cannot help recognising in the Homan 
 
 * The following remarks were first published in a paper communicated 
 to the Society of Antiquaries, and printed in the thirty-second vt)lume of 
 the Archieologia. 
 
510 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XVI. 
 
 curia the orio'in of the elective body in oiir medieval towns, 
 the jprohi homines or honi homines of the older records, the 
 burgesses, who, like the curiales or senators, obtained their 
 rank by birth or election. The duumviri an severed to the two 
 bolUvl or bailiffs, or as the Saxons called prof ectl or reeim, 
 
 who were the chief magistrates in most of our medieval boroughs. 
 The prlnclpales were the scabinl (echevlns) of the continentnl 
 towns, in England generally known by the Saxon name of 
 aldermen. We might go on to enumerate other minor points 
 of resemblance between the constitutions of the municlplum 
 and of the medieval borough at the time when we become 
 fully acquainted with the domestic affairs of the latter; but I 
 will only now point out a few circumstances which tend to 
 throw a light upon tlie condition of these boroughs under the 
 Anglo-Saxons, when they have commonly been supposed by 
 legal writers to have had no corporate existence. 
 
 It strikes us at the first glance, that the few historical facts 
 relating to the condition of our towns during the Saxon period, 
 preserved by the older annalists, exhibit them in a state of 
 importance and independence, which they could hardly have 
 reached, had it not been derived from municipal constitutions 
 already existing when the Saxons settled in this country, and 
 which is observed most distinctly in those places which are 
 known to have occupied the sites of the more powerful Roman 
 towns.* All traditions (for our history of the first Saxon 
 invasion is nothing more than tradition, and that very vague) 
 represent East Kent as having been occupied by the Saxons 
 under a pacific arrangement, when they took Durovernum, or 
 Canterbury, as their capital. Recent discoveries show that the 
 Saxons not only continued to inter their dead on the site of 
 the Roman burial-places around the ancient city, down to the 
 time of their conversion, but that they afterwards erected 
 Christian churches on the same spots ; one of the strongest 
 proofs we could have of the gradual change from Roman to 
 Saxon in that city. We find Canterbury at an early period 
 governed by a prefect, or reeve, who gives land to the monks ; 
 and in a later charter confirming his grant, dated in 805, there 
 is a remarkable distinction between the villa or town, and the 
 civitas or corporate body, such as we might naturally expect 
 
 * It mav be observed that the destruction of Roman towns is rarely 
 mentioned in our earlier historians. The Saxons Chronicle speaks of the 
 destruction of Andredesceaster in 491 as though it were a remarkable 
 occurrence. 
 
CHAP. XVI.] 
 
 ROCHESTER AND DOVER 
 
 511 
 
 ill the transmission of the Roman principle to the Saxon 
 people.^ 
 
 Rochester {Ilrofescester) derived its Saxon name, accordiiii* * * § ' 
 to Bede, from one of its early rulers or prefects named Hrof, 
 who, for some circumstance or other, had probably gained 
 greater notoriety than most persons of his class and rank.f 
 In the reign of king Ethelred (in the latter half of the tenth 
 century), on account of some dissensions with the bishop, the 
 king besieged this city with an army, but, being unable to take 
 it, he in revenge laid waste the surrounding and dependent 
 district. J We here find the body corporate of the city taking- 
 part with its bishop, engaged in open war with the king, and 
 successfully resisting him. The anger of the king is said to 
 have been finally appeased by a sum of money given by the 
 archbishop of Canterbury (Dimstan). 
 
 Dover occupies the site of the Roman Diibrm. It is not 
 often mentioned by our earlier historians, because Richborough 
 {Rutiipicd) was the more usual port in landing from France ; 
 but an incident occurred in the reign of Edward the Confessor 
 which throws some light on the position of its municipal body. 
 In 1048, Eustache count of Boulogne, Edward’s brother-in- 
 law, visited the king at Gloucester, where he was then holding 
 his court. On his return, when at a short distance from 
 Dover, Eustache and his men put on their armour, and, enter- 
 ing the town in a rude manner, they proceeded to take forcible 
 possession of the lodgings which pleased them best.§ This 
 was a right which the feudal barons of the continent claimed 
 under the title of the droit de gite, and which was ex- 
 pressly provided against in the English municipal charters 
 subsequent to the Conquest. One of Eustache’s men went to 
 the dwelling of a townsman, and wounded the householder, 
 
 * Hanc praenominatam terrain quidam homo bonus nomine Aldhun, qui 
 in hac re^uli villa inlustris civitatis praefectus fuit, pro intuitu inreriiae 
 niercedis fratribus nostris ad mensani tradidit. Kemble’s Codex Diploma- 
 ticus Anglo- Saxonu in, vol. i. p. 231. 
 
 t Quam gens Anglorum a primario quondam illius, qui dicebatur Hrof, 
 Hrofescestir cognominat. Bede, Hi.st. Eccl. lib. ii. e. 3. In another place, 
 lib. ii. c. 6, Bede calls the city, in Latin, civifas llrofi. 
 
 X Osborn’s Life of Dunstan, in the Act. SS. Benedict. Saoc. V. p. 683. 
 W. Malmsb. de Gest. Reg. p. 63. (Ed. Savile.) 
 
 § pa hi pider comon, pa woldon hi innian hi paer beom sylfan ge-licode. 
 Sax. Chron. From the circumstance of their arming before they came to 
 tlie town, we might be led to suspect that Eustache and his men had had 
 a previous dispute with the townsmen of Dover on this subject, perhaps 
 when they first came to England. 
 
ol2 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. xti. 
 
 because lie refuseJ to admit him. Tlie latter seized his own 
 weapon and slew the intruder. ‘Then,’ to use tlie words of 
 the contemporary Saxon chronicler, ‘ Eustache got upon his 
 horse, and his companions upon theirs, and they went to the 
 householder and slew him within his own dwelling ; and then 
 went up towards the burgh, and slew, as well within as with- 
 out, more than twenty men. And the townsmen slew nineteen 
 of the count's men, and wounded they knew not how many, 
 and Eustaclie escaped with only a few companions.’ Eustache 
 returned to the king, gave a partial account of the affair, and 
 made him so ‘ wroth with the townsmen,’ that he ordered 
 Godwin, in whose earldom of Kent the occurrence had taken 
 place, to proceed with an army against the men of Dover. 
 But earl Godwin, knowing that Eustache had begun the quarrel, 
 espoused the cause of the townsmen, and an irruption of the 
 Welsh seems to have turned the king’s attention in another 
 direction. Eour years after this, in 1052, count Eustache 
 again visited king Edward, and on his landing at Dover the old 
 feud was renewed. ‘ Then,’ says the chronicler, ‘ went his 
 men inconsiderately after lodgings, and slew a certain man of 
 the town, and then another, until seven lay slain. And much 
 harm was then done on both sides, both with horse and with 
 weapons, until the people gathered together, and then Eustache’s 
 men fled away till they came to the king at Gloucester.’ On 
 this second occasion, Godwin more openly took part with the 
 townsmen of Dover, and, raising a considerable army, marched 
 towards the king, and demanded that count Eustache and his men 
 should be delivered into his hands. We have here a town 
 virtually claiming a very important municipal right, and defend- 
 ing it by force ; while the king proceeds, not judicially against 
 the individuals who had offended, but against the whole cor- 
 porate body, as though it were an independent state. ^ We 
 learn, also, from the Domesday Survey, that in this same reign, 
 the burgesses of Dover had purchased certain immunities of tlu^ 
 king, for the condition of serving him with twenty ships for 
 firteen days in the year.f 
 
 * The above version of the story is taken from the Saxon Chronicle as 
 printed in the text and in the notes of the Collection of Historians edited 
 by order of the Record Commission, which appears to be the best authority. 
 The subsequent historians have confounded the two riots, and made only 
 one. See Florence of Worcester, sub an. 1051 ; W. Malmsb. de Gest. Reg 
 p. 81, (fcc. 
 
 t Burgenses dederunt xx. naves regi una vice in anno ad xv. dies ; et in 
 nnaquaque navi erant homines xx. et unus. Hoc faciebant pro eo quoJ 
 eis perdoiiaverat sacarri et sucam. 
 
CHAP. xvT.] INDEPENDENCE OF THE TOAYNSMEN. 
 
 513 
 
 We have another instance of municipal responsihility in the 
 case of Thetford, in Norfolk. In 952, the people of that town 
 were engag’ed in hostilities with the monks (probably in defence 
 of some of their privileges), in the course of which they slew 
 their abbot Eadhelm. King Edred appears to have taken no 
 steps to discover the persons immediately concerned in this act 
 of violence, but he sent an army, and caused ‘ a great slaughter ’ 
 to be made of the townsmen.^ 
 
 In 1040, king Hardacnut imposed a very heavy tribute on 
 his English subjects. Two of the king’s huscarles were sent to 
 enforce its payment by the citizens of AVorcester, who rose 
 against them, and slew them in the cathedral. The king, in 
 revenge, sent an army to ravage the neighbourhood and destroy 
 the city, but the inhabitants had taken shelter, with their 
 most valuable effects, in an island in the river Severn, and 
 there they set their persecutors at defiance. t A'Ye here find a 
 town asserting its right to exemption from extraordinary taxa- 
 tion ; another of the municipal privileges guaranteed by the 
 charters of a later period. 
 
 The city of Exeter affords a remarkable instance of the 
 manner in which the Roman municipal institutions were pre- 
 served. In other towns the Romano -British population gradu- 
 ally disappeared ; but we learn, from William of Malmsbury, 
 that, down to the reign of Ethelstan, Exeter was inhabited by 
 English and Welsh, who lived on an equality of rights {/£quo 
 jtireX), which they could only have done by virtue of an 
 original composition with the Saxon conquerors. It may be 
 cited as a proof of the correctness of this view of the mode in 
 which the Roman corporations outlived the shock of invasion, 
 and thus became a chief instrument in the civilisation of subse- 
 quent ages, that even the Danes, in their predatory excursions, 
 often entered into similar compositions with the Saxon towns, 
 as with Canterbury, in 1009. It may be added, that there is 
 no greater evidence of the independence and strength of the 
 towns under the Saxons, than the circumstance that, while the 
 king and his earls, with the forces of the counties, were not 
 able to make a successful stand against the Danish invaders, it 
 frequently happened that a town singly drove a powerful army 
 
 * Saxon Chron. sub an. 
 
 t Saxon Chron. Florence of Worcester. 
 
 I: Illos [Cornevvallensos] quoque iinpig-re adorsus, ab Excestria, quam nd 
 id teiiiporis aiquo cum An^lis jure inhabitarant, cedere compulit. — W. 
 Malmsb. do Gest. Rej^. p. 50. 
 
 2 I 
 
5U 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. xvr. 
 
 iVoin its gates, and tlie townsmen sometimes issued forth and 
 defeated the enemy in a pitched battle. The Saxon Chroniele 
 furnishes many examples. In 855, the townsmen of ^Roehester 
 made a brave defence against the Danes, till they were relieved 
 by Alfred. The inhabitants of Exeter opposed the invaders 
 with success on several occasions ; the townsmen (bnrgware) 
 beat them in battle in 895. In 918, the men ot‘ Hereford and 
 Gloucester went out, and defeated the Danes in a pitched battle. 
 In 921, the Danes were beaten by the men of Bedford, and 
 also by the inhabitants of Maldon in Essex. In 1001, the 
 people of Exmouth drove away the Danisli army which came 
 to attack that town. When the Saxons began to obtain tlie 
 ascendancy by the abilities of the family of Alfred, we find the 
 towns revolting from the Danes in a manner which can hardly 
 leave a doubt of their acting as free corporate bodies. The 
 Saxon Chronicle, under the year 918, speaking of Ethelfleda, 
 tells us, ‘ in the early part of this year, by God’s help, she 
 got into her power, by treaty, the burgh of Leicester, and the 
 greater part of the army which owed obedience thereto (fe 
 fmr-to hyrde) became subject to her; and the people of Tork 
 (Eforwicingas) had also covenanted with lier, some having given 
 a pledge, and some having bound themselves by oath, that they 
 would be at her command.’ And again, in the same year, 
 
 ‘ Thurcytel the eorl sought king Edward to be his lord, and 
 all the holdas and almost all the chief men who owed obedience 
 to Bedford, and also many of those who owed obedience to 
 Northampton.’ In the year following, ‘those who owe obe- 
 dience to Bedford’ are called Om'givara, In 921, 
 
 ‘ the army which owed obedience to Cambridge ’ chose king 
 Edward to be their lord. 
 
 We can trace the power and independence of the citizens of 
 London from the earliest period of our annals. We have no 
 reason for believing that this city, which was a powerfid com- 
 nnu’cial port, was ever taken and ravaged by the Saxon in- 
 vaders. It appears to have afforded a shelter to the people of 
 West Kent, when that district was overi-un by the Saxons in 
 their first inroads.^ At the end of the sixth century, London 
 was considered as the capital of the East-Saxons, although 
 Ethelbert, king of Kent, appointed Mellitus to the bishopilc, 
 and built there for him the church of St Paul.f At that 
 
 See the Saxon Chron. sub an. 457. 
 t Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 3. 
 
c::ap. XVI.] 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 51-3 
 
 period it was still a rich trading’ town,^ and it appears to have 
 experienced no check to its prosperity. After tlie relapse of 
 the East-Saxons to idolatry, the Londoners refused to receive 
 back their bishop, and neither the king of Kent, nor the two 
 East-Saxon kings, liad power to force him upon them.f About 
 the year 635, AVini bought of AYulfliere, king of the Mercians, 
 the see of the city of London, and I’emained bishop thereof till 
 his death. At a subsequent period, archbishop Theodore 
 appointed bishops of the East-Saxons ‘ in the city of London,’ 
 and Essex has been ever since included in the diocese. In 679, 
 we hear of Friesland merchants in London, and it appears to 
 have been then a great mart of slaves. J A comparison of these 
 dilferent circumstances gives us some grounds for believing 
 that, although nominally the metropolis of the kings of the 
 East-Saxons, London was in the fullest sense of the word a 
 free-trading town, neutral to a certain degree between the 
 kingdoms around, although each king exercised a greater or 
 less degree of influence over it according as he was more or less 
 powerful than his neighbours, and perhaps each had his officers 
 there to look after the interests of his own subjects. This 
 would explain in some degree an obscure law of the Kentish 
 kings, Hlothhere and Edric (673 — 685), made at a time when 
 we should expect London to have been under the power of tin* * * § 
 kings of Mercia : — ‘ If any Kentish- man buy a chattel in Lun- 
 den-wic, let him then have two or three true men to witness, 
 or the king’s wlc-reevo. If it be afterwards claimed of the man 
 in Kent, let him then vouch the man who sold it him to war- 
 ranty, in the toic (town) at the king's hall, if he know him and 
 can bring him to the warranty : if he cannot do that, let him 
 prove at the altar, with one of his witnesses, or with the king's 
 wic-reem, that he bought the chattel openly in the toic, with Ids 
 own money, and then let him be paid its worth : but if he 
 cannot prove that by lawful averment, let him give it up, and 
 let the owner take possession of it.’§ The king^s loic-reeve 
 appears to have been an officer of the king of Kent who exer- 
 cised a jurisdiction over the Kentish men trading with or at 
 London, or who was appointed to watch over their interests. 
 
 * Et ipsa nmllorum emporiuin populorum terra marique venientiuiii. 
 Bede, ib. 
 
 + Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. c. 4. 
 
 X Bede, Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 7, and lib. iv. cc. 6, 12, 22. 
 
 § Thorpe’s Anglo-Saxon Laws, p. 14. Some antiquaries have supposed, 
 very erroneously, that Zunde/i-ivic in here another name for Sandwich. 
 
.516 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. XV r. 
 
 AYlien the different Saxon kingdoms became consolidated into 
 one, the influence of the sole monarch over the metropolis 
 would be of course greatly increased, but we still meet with 
 remarkable proofs of its power and independence. Ethelstan 
 was one of the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs of 
 England; yet under his reign, soon after the year 900, we find 
 ‘ the bishop and reeves, who belong to London,’ making in 
 the name of the citizens laws, which were confirmed by the 
 king (because Alley had reference to the whole kingdom), and are 
 preserved in the Anglo-Saxon code. These laws prove that the 
 body corporate of the city of London exercised an independent 
 jurisdiction in matters which concerned themselves far beyond 
 the limits of their own territory, and the necessity of making 
 this power known throughout the kingdom was the cause that 
 their laws on this subject were entered among the public laws of 
 the land, which circumstance has led to their preservation, 
 while every document relating to the internal government of 
 the city at this early period has perished. These laws relate 
 chiefly to robberies committed by strangers, to which a large 
 commercial city was naturally exposed, and against which it 
 could provide itself with no redress unless it could pursue the 
 offenders to a distance. One of the clauses provides, ‘ if it then 
 should happen that any kin be so strong and so great, within 
 land or without land, whether twelve-hynde or two-hynde, that 
 they refuse us our right, and stand up in defence of a thief, that 
 we all of us ride thereto with the reeve within whose district 
 {manung) it may be ; and also send on both sides to the reeves, 
 and desire from them aid of so many men as may seem to us 
 adequate for so great a suit, that there may be the more fear 
 in those culpable men for our assemblage, and that we all ride 
 thereto, and avenge our wrong, and slay the thief, and those 
 who fight and stand with him, unless they be willing to depart 
 from him.’ The power of making a law like this, implies 
 something like an understood agreement or treaty between a 
 free commercial city and the states which surround it, whereby 
 those states are allowed commercial privileges on condition of 
 giving the citizens the right of pursuing offenders through their 
 territories ; and it agrees perfectly with the interpretation given 
 to the earlier law of the kings of Kent. 
 
 This also explains to us why, at a very early period after the 
 Norman Conquest, the privileges of the city of London are 
 
 Judicia civitatis Lundoniae, viii. § 2, 3. Thorpe, p. 100. 
 
CHAP. XVI. j 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 517 
 
 excepted and protected in charters given to corporate towns in 
 far distant parts of the kingdom. In a dispute with the abbot 
 of Bury, in the twelfth century, the citizens of London, so far 
 from admitting (as Brady supposed) that their privileges were 
 newly acquired from their Norman sovereigns, professed to 
 have enjoyed them from the first foundation of their city, 
 which they carried as far back as the time of the foundation ot 
 Eome.^ 
 
 We learn from the Saxon Chronicle that, in the Danish inva- 
 sion of the year 994, ‘ Anlaf and Swegen came to London, on 
 the Nativity of St Mary (Sept. 8), with ninety-four ships ; and 
 they then continued fighting stoutly against the town, and 
 would eke have set fire to it. But they there sustained more 
 harm and evil than they ever imagined that any townsmen 
 {buruJmaru) would be able to do unto them.’ In 1009, the 
 men of Canterbury bought a peace with the Danish invaders, 
 and then, as we learn from the contemporary authority just 
 quoted, the latter ‘ fought oft against the town of London ; 
 but, praise be to God, that it yet stands sound, and they there 
 ever fared ill.’ In 1013, king Ethelred sought shelter in 
 London, which was besieged by Swegen : ‘ When he came to 
 the town,’ says the chronicle, ‘ the townsmen (seo burhwaru, 
 la bourgeoisie, it is a collective noun in the singular number) 
 would not submit, but held out against him with all their 
 might.’ Althougli the Danes now overrun without opposition 
 the rest of the kingdom, the Londoners defended the Saxon 
 king, until at length he deserted his protectors, and then, 
 Swegen being generally acknowledged as king of England, 
 ‘ the townsmen of London submitted, and delivered hostages, 
 because they dreaded lest he should utterly undo them.’ f 
 When king Ethelred returned, after the death of Swegen, he 
 was again received by the Londoners, who formed his surest 
 defence. In 1016, Edmund Etheling collected his forces 
 against Cnut. ‘ When the forces were assembled, then would 
 it not content them, except it so were that the king were 
 there with them, and they might have the help of the townsmen 
 of London.’ As the townsmen would not go, Edmund’s army 
 
 * Et dicebant cives Lundonienses fuisse quietos de tbeloneo in omni foro, 
 et semper et ubique, per totarn Arigliam, a tempore quo Roma pririiu 
 fundata fuit, et civitatem Lundoniuj eodem tempore fundatum. Josceliiie 
 de Brakclonde, p. 56. 
 
 t Compare W. Malmsb. de Gest. Reg. Angl. p. 69, with the Saxon 
 Chronicle. 
 
518 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chap. X' I. 
 
 dispersed itself. On king* Etlielred’s death, which occuiTed tlie 
 same year, ‘all the witan who were in London, and the towns- 
 men (seo burhwaru, William of Malmsbury calls them the 
 p7'oceres Lmdonice), chose Edmund to be king*.’ The Danes 
 soon afterwards laid siege to London, but the citizens again 
 defended themselves with obstinacy, until Edmund came and 
 relieved them. They sustained a second siege the same year, 
 but, after Edmund’s defeat at Assandun, ‘ the men of London 
 made a truce with the army.’ 
 
 It appears from the foregoing statements of a contemporary 
 chronicler, that the men of London were brave and experienced 
 warriors; but they were evidently, like the citizens of the 
 Homan mimicipium, not liable to be called out of their own 
 walls to fight, even when the country wns on the brink of ruin 
 by a successful invader ; and the power of the monarch over 
 them was very limited. In the course of the history I have 
 just recited, they act in every respect as a small independent 
 state. Another incident occurred at this period, which illus- 
 trates in a remarkable degree the extent of their power. When 
 archbishop Elfey had been slain by the Danes in 1012, the 
 Londoners purchased his body of the murderers, and deposited 
 it in St Paul’s cathedral. After Cnut had obtained the crown 
 by conquest, and peace was restored, archbishop Agelnoth 
 ( Elfey ’s successor) applied to the king to give up the body of 
 the martyr to the monks of Canterbury. Cnut, who was then 
 holding his court in London, consented, but he wovdd only 
 undertake to get away the body by deceiving the citizens. He 
 gave orders to his huscarles, or household soldiers, to disperse 
 themselves in parties, some on the bridge and along the banks 
 of the river, whilst others went to the gates of the city, and 
 there raised tumults and riots. f By dint of promises and 
 persuasions, the men who had the care of the body of Elfey 
 were prevailed iq^on to assist in the plot, and, whilst the atten- 
 tion of the citizens was called to the disturbances at the gates, 
 the sacred deposit was carried by stealth to the river and there 
 placed in a boat, which was rowed in all haste beyond the limits 
 of the capital, and then landed in Kent. The king stood on 
 the bank of the Thames, and watched its progress with anxious 
 
 * Saxon Chronicle. 
 
 t Mandans omnibus familiae suae militibus, quos lingua Danorum 
 huscarles vocant, ut alii eorum per extremas civitatis portas seditiones con- 
 citent, alii pontem et ripas fiuminis armati obsideant, ne exeuntes eos cum 
 curpore sancti Lundanus populus praepedire valeat. 
 
CHAP. XVI.] 
 
 LOXDOX. 
 
 519 
 
 eye, for he was afraid of the citizens/^ When the latter dis- 
 covered the trick which had been played upon them, they sent 
 out a party in pursuit oF the fugitives, who, however, had 
 reached a place of safety before they were overtaken. f 
 
 This anecdote gives us a curious glance at London manners 
 at the beginning of the eleventh century. About half a century 
 later, at the entry of the Normans, we tind the citizens of 
 London again holding the same bold position ; and the con- 
 (pieror of Hastings was obliged to make conditions with them 
 before they would acknowledge him as king. It is not neces- 
 sary to enter into their subsequent history ; but it must be 
 stated to their glory that, if we ijegin with their defence against 
 the Hanes, in the tenth century, the citizens of London have 
 been, througli at least nine centuries, the constant, powerful, 
 and unflinching — perhaps, sometimes, turbulent — champions of 
 the liberties of Englishmen. 
 
 To return again to the more general subject, we trace by 
 various allusions during the Anglo-Saxon period, that in these 
 corporate towns there was, independent of the municipal officers, 
 an officer of the king, or king’s reeve, who took certain tolls or 
 dues which were reserved for the king on sales, manumissions, 
 judicial executions, &c., and which the king had obtained in 
 the transmission of the municipal system from the Eoman to 
 the Saxon government. Thus at Exeter, as we learn from the 
 entries on the fly-leaves of the now well-known ‘ Codex Ex- 
 oniensis,’ such duties were regularly paid to an officer ‘ for the 
 king’s hand,’ to use the phrase of the original ; as, for instance, 
 Alfric Hals took the toll in Tovie’s house ‘ for paes kynges 
 liand ’ (fob 6, r°) ; Widfet took the toll ‘ for Jias cinges hand ’ 
 ffbl. 0, v^’j, and so forth. When we hear of a Saxon king giving 
 a town to a queen, or to a bishop, or to an abbey, it means, oF 
 course, that the king gave to those persons merely the duties 
 which accrued to him from the towns in question. 
 
 Although the municipal privileges were all derived directly 
 from the Homans, it does not of course follow that such privi- 
 leges were enjoyed only by towns which had been founded in 
 Eoman times. As the Saxons became established throughout 
 the island, and adopted, to a certain degree, the manners of 
 their Eoman predecessors, they founded other toAvns, and they 
 
 * Tiniebat nanique civium interruptiones. 
 
 f Translatio S. Elphegi, by Osborn, ap. Act. SS. Ordinis Benedict. 
 sa3C. y 1. part. i. pp. 124 — 126. Osborn received his account from i eoplo 
 who were present, see p. 125. 
 
520 
 
 THE SAXOXS. 
 
 [chap. XVI. 
 
 naturally imitated the forms presented to their view in the 
 Eoman models already existino*. Most of these were, as tlie 
 lioman towns had become, royal towns, that is, they had no 
 superior lord but the king. But otliers, after the conversion of 
 the Saxons to Christianity, gTadually sprung up about, and 
 under the protection of, episcopal sees and abbeys, and these 
 eventually received their rights and privileges at the hands of 
 their ecclesiastical protectors. Numerous instances of such 
 towns might be pointed out, such as St Alban’s, Bury, 
 l^everley, &e. It was more common for the early Saxon and 
 Frankish monarchs to give towns to bishops and abbots than 
 to any other class of persons, or, at least, gifts to ecclesiastical 
 dignitaries were always of a more permanent character. Hence 
 it arises that, at a later period of mediaeval history, we find 
 so many corporate towns whose charters are derived from 
 ecclesiastical, and not from lay, lords. On the continent, one 
 or two towns became, in this manner, ecclesiastical princi- 
 palities. 
 
 We trace in these ecclesiastical towns of the Anglo-Saxon 
 period the existence of a municipal government, and the same 
 jealousy of their privileges, as in the more perfect models de- 
 rived from Eoman times. When the Danish king Swegen, 
 then at Cxainsborough, ignorant or careless of local privileges, 
 demanded a tax of the people of Bedricsworth, or Bury St 
 Edmunds, the latter pleaded their exemption from royal taxes, 
 and refused to pay. The monks of St Edmund’s of course took 
 their part, because to them the regular taxes of the town had 
 been given. Swegen was furious, and threatened with his 
 vengeance both the monks and the townsmen : but the ecclesi- 
 astics have recorded, exultingly, that that same night the hand 
 of death was laid upon the proud and scornful Dane, and that 
 the country was thus delivered from one ferocious enemy. ^ 
 
 In the foregoing remarks, my object has been to bring toge- 
 ther a few historical incidents which, in the entire absence of 
 more explicit documents, seem to show clearly that the muni- 
 cipal government and privileges of corporate towns, derived 
 from Eoman civilisation, had existed in this country, as on the 
 continent, uninterruptedly from Eoman times. In these inci- 
 dents we trace here and there the preservation of Eoman forms 
 and Eoman principles, and we trace still more distinctly almost 
 
 ^ An interesting acoonnt of this affair is given among the miracles of St 
 Edniutid, MS. Cotton. Tiber. B. II. fol. 25 and 26. See also W. Malmsb. 
 do Gest. Reg. p. 71. 
 
CHAr. XVI.] 
 
 CHARTER OF TO^yx\S. 
 
 621 
 
 every municipal right and municipal power which were at a later 
 period guaranteed by royal or other charter, and which, by 
 comparison with the privileges and government of corporate 
 towns in France and Italy, and elsewhere on the continent, we 
 know to have been derived from the political constitution of 
 the Eomans. From these circumstances we are justified in 
 concluding that our municipal corporations were not the crea- 
 tions of the royal will in Norman times, but that they had 
 existed in a perfect form throughout the Saxon period. Fy 
 these considerations, also, we are enabled to understand better 
 the entries relating to the towns in Domesday Book. We find 
 there that in many of these towns tlie king received /ils rates 
 by liis receiver (the prcBpoutm regis), from each particular 
 person from whom they were due individually, and in each 
 individual case. In such towns the numbers of burgesses paying 
 rates are enumerated, both in the time of king Edward and in 
 that of king William. The prcepositm regis, or king’s reeve, 
 is frequently mentioned, as at Dover, Lewes, Guildford, ka. 
 In other instances, and these are not few, we find that the 
 municipality, to escape the too officious interference, and some- 
 times oppressive conduct, of a collecting officer who was not 
 under their own jurisdiction, had compounded for the king’s 
 taxes, by the yearly payment of a certain sum of money. Such 
 was the case with Dorchester, Bridport, Wareham, Sliaftesbury, 
 Hertford, and other places. It was a very necessary safeguard, 
 especially for smaller towns, whose revenue the king might let 
 out to farm to some one who paid a certain sum, and made as 
 much of it as he could, and would probably practise every kind 
 of extortion to enrich himself. This was experienced more 
 severely in Norman times ; and when the towns obtained 
 charters, they invariably bought the farm of the king’s dues for 
 ever, which was called the fee-farm of the town. 
 
 The judicial entries on the fly-leaves of the Exeter manu- 
 script, written before and after the Conquest, show us that the 
 municipal forms and conditions of that city underwent no 
 change upon the transfer of the English crown to a Norman 
 line of sovereigns ; and such was probably the case in all other 
 cities and towns then in existence. But, although their privi- 
 leges and constitution were in principle untouched, in practice 
 they were frequently trespassed upon. A new race of feudal 
 lords had entered upon the land, who were ignorant of the 
 customs of the people over whom they had intruded them- 
 selves, and who had little respect for any customs which stood 
 
522 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 [chat. XVI. 
 
 as obstacles in the gratification of their views of aggrandise- 
 ment. Tliis must have led to continual riots and disturbances 
 in the old Saxon towns, and to infringements of their privileges 
 where they had little power to obtain permanent redress. xAfter 
 undergoing all these vexations during a feiv years, they saw the 
 advantages — or we may perhaps better say the necessity — of 
 purchasing from the king written charters, confirming their old 
 rights, which became an effective protection in a court of law. 
 Thus originated municipal charters, which are rather to be con- 
 sidered as a proof of the antiquity, than of the novelty, of the 
 privileges they grant. They were given most abundantly under 
 Henry II. and his sons, when it became the policy of the Eng- 
 lish monarchs to seek the support of the independent burghers 
 against a turbulent feudal aristocracy. 
 
 Perhaps we may be thought to have wandered a little from 
 our immediate subject in the preceding remarks ; but in the 
 absence of all contemporary inlbrmation on the state of the 
 Eoman towns in Britain after they had fallen under the sub- 
 jection of the Saxons, it is only by these traces of their con- 
 dition at a subsequent period that we can perceive how the 
 Eoman element of civilisation was preserved in them. They 
 hold a very important place in the history of social develop- 
 ment, ina-smuch as, while the country itself underwent so many 
 violent revolutions — while Britons, and Saxons, and Normans, 
 alternately gained possession of the soil — the population of the 
 towns continued to exist without any further alteration than 
 that gradual infusion of foreign blood which must necessarily 
 take place in the course of ages, and to which we owe that due 
 mixture of Saxon and Eoman that forms the basis of modern 
 civilisation. 
 
 If we possessed the necessary information on the subject, we 
 should no doubt find that the Anglo-Saxons had adopted many 
 of the arts and amusements of society from the Eoinans. 
 Although the large potteries and such establishments in the 
 country, having been deserted by the workmen, were no doubt 
 left in ruin, many of the manufactories, where they existed in 
 the towns, continued probably in activity. We know nothing 
 of the fate of public buildings in the towns, but we have a 
 proof that the amphitheatres continued in use, in the circum- 
 stance that long afterwards we find them the scene of perform- 
 ances of bears and of bull-baiting. I have stated before that 
 the Anglo-Saxons adopted the Eoman roads and bridges in 
 every part of the island. To the former they gave the name of 
 
CHAP. XVI ] 
 
 THE SAXON EOADS. 
 
 streets {street'), a word no doubt derived from the Latin word 
 strata, by which probably they heard tliein designated among- 
 the Eoman population. We may still trace their course, by the 
 continued recurrence of names of places in which the Saxon 
 word, under such forms as stret, strat, streat, occurs iu compo- 
 sition, as Stretton, Stratford, Streatham, &c. A glance at the 
 map will show that the great Eoman military roads resolved 
 themselves into a few grand lines which traversed the island in 
 different directions. Of these there were four principal lines, 
 of which perhaps the most important was that which ran from 
 Eichborough or Dover, through Canterbury and London, across 
 the island to Chester. The Saxons, who planted their own 
 local traditions wherever they settled, connected this vvOiideiih'. 
 work with one of their own mythic traditions, and called it 
 Waetlinga-straet, the road of the AVaetlings, or sons of Waetla,’''^ 
 and it was celebrated down to recent times as the Watlinu*- 
 street, a name still retained by the portion of it which ran 
 through London. To the road which ran direct from Pevensey 
 and Eegnum through Loudon, and by Lincoln and the great 
 Yorkshire towns to the south-east of Scotland, they gave the 
 name of Eormen-strset, the street of Eormen, who was one of 
 the chief Anglo-Saxon divinities, and whose name was often 
 compounded in those of persons and things which were regarded 
 as great or wonderful. The name at a later period was cor- 
 rupted to Ermyn-street. Two other great roads which crossed 
 the island, one from the coast of Norfolk, by Cambridge, Old 
 Sarum, and Exeter, to the extremity of Cornwall ; the other, 
 from the mouth of the Tyne to Gloucester, and thence to St. 
 Land’s ; were named the Iknield-street and the Eyknield- 
 street, but the origin of these names is very doubtful. Other 
 roads of less importance received also their distinctive appel- 
 lations. Two, originating at the great saltworks at Droitwich, 
 
 ^ The milky way was also popularly called Watling:' street, and it is 
 mentioned under this name in Chaucer’s house of Fame : 
 
 Lo there, quod he, cast up thine eye, 
 
 Se yondir, lo, the galaxie, 
 
 The wiche men clepe the milky way. 
 
 For it is white ; and some, par fay, 
 
 Y-callin it han Watlinge-strete. 
 
 Florence of Worcester, in his chronicle, under the year 1013, mentioning- 
 the British Watling-street, says, ‘ Omnia populisqui habitabant insepten- 
 trionali plaga Weatlingastreatae, id est strata quam filii Weatlae regis ab 
 orientali mare usque ad occidentale per Angliain straverunt.’ King 
 Weatla was no doubt a personage of the Anglo-Saxon mythology. 
 
524 
 
 THE SAXOXS. 
 
 [chap. xti. 
 
 and proceeding, one eastwardly to the coast of Lincolnshire, 
 the other southwardly to the Hampshire coast, have been 
 designated as the Salt-ways ; and another leading from the east 
 to Cirencester, was known as the Akeman-street, it is supposed 
 because it was the way by which invalids travelled to Bath, one 
 of the Saxon names of which was Akemannes-ceaster, or the 
 ciLv of invalids. 
 
CHAP. XVII J 
 
 the welsh. 
 
 
 CHAPTEfl XVTL 
 
 wfV.ti'i Estp.blishments — Strath-Cluyd, Cornwall, Wales — Early sepulchral 
 inscriptions found in the two latter countries. 
 
 While the Saxon tribes were penetrating into the island 
 fiom the east and south, other races were establishing them- 
 selves on the western side, whose history is completely lost. We 
 are assured by nearly contemporary writers that, when the 
 Teutonic invaders began to harass Britain, the Piets and Scots, 
 who were of course joined by the Irish, carried on their de- 
 structive inroads on the other side of Britain, which would be 
 left in a comparatively defenceless state by the withdrawal of 
 the legions from Deva (^Chester) and Isca {Caerleou) some 
 years before the Roman emperors relinquished the island. 
 From this time history and tradition are equally silent, until, 
 when we arrive again at the period when the annals of at least 
 one part of the island become authentic, we find three distinct 
 Celtic states in existence, that of the Strath-Cluyd Britons 
 in the north, that of the Wealas, or Welsh, in the mountainous 
 region to which they have given their name, and which was 
 divided into several petty states, and that of the Corrnvealas, 
 who gave their name to Cornwall. It has been a doubted 
 ([uestion as to whence the population of these districts came, 
 whether they were the primitive Britons, who had arisen and 
 taken possession of the land of their forefathers ; whether they 
 were Caledonians from the north, who, like the Saxons, at last 
 settled down in the country which they had been accustomed to 
 invade ; or Irish from the neighbouring island ; or perhaps even 
 Armoricans, at a later period, from Gaul ; but the latter appears 
 to be the more correct explanation of the subject. We know 
 too little of the language of the Britons before (,'msar’s invasion 
 to found any certain argument upon it ; and all that we can say is, 
 that these Celtic settlers seem to have been a barbarous peo])le, 
 
626 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 LOHAP. xvit. 
 
 who were much less than the Saxons capa1)le of benefiting by the 
 Homan civilisation with which they came in contact. We find no 
 antiquities of this period among the Welsh, as we do among 
 the Anglo-Saxons, and in Wales at least the Eoman towns seem 
 to have been mostly destroyed. 
 
 We can hardly doubt that it was the Caledonian Piets who, 
 while the Angles were establishing themselves in Bernicia and 
 13eira, got possession of the district extending on the western 
 side of the island from Lancashire, of which they formed a 
 kingdom, called by the Scots the kingdom of Strathclnyd, 
 because its northern limits lay upon the Clyde. They have 
 been called by historians Cumbrian Britons. The Cumbrian 
 Celts preserved, Ave knovv, two Eoman towns, Luguballium 
 ni the neighbourhood of the wall of Hadrian, and a strong 
 town on the waters of the Clyde, Avhich had been called, under 
 the Eomans, Tamea and Theodosia. The latter became the 
 metropolis of the chieftains of the Cumbrians, and they named 
 it, from its situation, Al-cluyd ; the Irish Scots, their neigh- 
 bours, called it Dun-B reton, the fortress of the Britons, a 
 name still preserved in that of Dumbarton, by Avhich it is 
 known at the present day. Their southern town, Luguballium, 
 retained its old name, corrupted, with the addition of caer, 
 which, like the Saxon ceaste7\ is a mere corruption of the 
 Eoman castrum, and was called Caer-luel, or Caer-leol, now 
 Carlisle. The legendary Scottish annalists give us names of the 
 kings of Strathclnyd, and speak of their exploits ; some of 
 them pretend that Carausius granted Cumberland and West- 
 moreland to a Scottish king named Crathlynt, in consideration 
 of important services Avhich he had rendered to that usurper, 
 and they add that Crathlynt’s son was confirmed in possession. 
 These, however, are no donbt mere fables ; and all that we 
 know with certainty is, that the Cumbrian Britons were at an 
 early period engaged in Avar Avith the Angles, and that the 
 southern part of the kingdom of Alcluyd, Avith the city of 
 Carlisle, fell eventually under the power of the Northumbrian 
 kings. Carlisle is celebrated in British legend as the favourite 
 residence of king xArthur. 
 
 To judge by the tenor of these legends, the Cumbrians 
 appear to have preserved more of Eoman culture than the 
 Welsh or Cornish. The latter seems to have had a close con- 
 nection Avith the Irish and Avith the Celts of Armorica, and Ave 
 can hardly help believing that invaders from the one country, 
 and settlers from the ^ther, helped to swell its population. 
 
CIIA!\ XVII.] 
 
 THE CELTIC DISTRICTS. 
 
 5'J7 
 
 They were dependent on tlie important Roman tonn of Isca, 
 which the Saxons called Exan-ceaster, the city on the river 
 Exe. The Corn-wealas preserved their independence until the 
 time of king Ethelstan. 
 
 Wales was divided under several petty chiefs, of wliom those 
 who inhabited the southern district, where the principal Roman 
 towns stood, seem to have been the least barbarous. Here 
 they are believed to have taken possession of the important 
 Roman town of Maridunnm, and to have preserved the memory 
 of its ancient name in that of Caer-Marddyn, or Caermarthen, 
 which during the middle ages was tlie most important town in 
 Wales. Most of the names of Roman towns in Wales were 
 preserved in the same manner, as in Caer-Seiont {Segontlum) , 
 Caer^Went {Venta), Neath {Nldicm), &c. ; and this might 
 certainly make us incline to believe that the Welsh race Avas an 
 indigenous one, and that it consisted, at least in part, of a 
 population which had been left there by the Romans. In 
 memory of the second legion, Avhich had been so long estab- 
 lished at the Silurian Isca, they gave to the ruins of that city 
 the name of Caer-Legion, the city of the legion, now softened 
 to Caerleon. They gave the same name of Caer-Legion to 
 Deva, or Chester, the head-quarters of the twentieth legion. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance connected Avith tliese Celtic 
 kingdoms, that Avhen we first become acquainted Avith them — 
 about the time of St Augustine* — Ave find that Christianity 
 was established among them. We have no evidence, indeed, 
 that the Cumbrian Britons Avere Christians, and Ave may per- 
 haps presume the contrary ; but there can be no doubt that the 
 Welsh and the people of CorriAvall professed the Gospel, and the 
 former had a large establishment of monks at a place called by 
 the Saxons Ban corn a-by rig, Avhich probably occupied the old 
 Roman station of Bovium, which may have been called at the 
 close of the Roman period Banchorium (a name found only in 
 the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester), and is supposed to 
 be the place now called Bangor Iscoed, in the Welsh county of 
 Flint. The origin of Christianity in CoriiAvall and Wales is a 
 very obscure question, and one Avhich it is not a part of our 
 plan to discuss. It has been already intimated that Ave find no 
 traces of Christianity among the innumerable Roman remains 
 found in this country ; and the Christian faith of the Britons 
 seems to have been closely allied Avith that of Ireland. To 
 this connection the later legends of the WTdsh and Cornish 
 saints seem distinctly to refer; and we miglit be induced by 
 
THE AVELSH. 
 
 [chap, xtil 
 
 5‘:3 
 
 these legends and other circumstances to suspect that their first 
 missionaries came from Spain or Armorica, after the period 
 when the island was relinquished by Ptome. 
 
 There is one class of antiquities found in AVales and Corn- 
 wall, but more especially in the latter county, which appears to 
 belong to the period following immediately after that of the 
 departure of the Homan legions. These are large, roughly- 
 hewn stones, bearing sepulchral inscriptions, in letters nearly 
 resembling those of the late Homan monuments. They are in 
 Latin, bnt the names are apparently Celtic, and they give 
 simply the name of the individual commemorated and his 
 father. They differ from the Homan inscriptions in this, that 
 usually the inscription rims the length way of the stone, instead 
 of being read across. A number of examples will be found in the 
 volumes of Lysons’s Magna Britannia for Devonshire and Corn- 
 wall, and in Borlase’s Antiquities of Cornwall. One of the 
 earliest and best preserved stands in the parish of St Colomb 
 Minor, in the latter county ; it is five feet high, by twenty 
 inches in width, and the inscription is particularly curious, as 
 giving to the person it commemorates the Homan title of 
 tribune : — 
 
 HONEMIMOB, Honemimorus 
 
 TRIBVX the tribune. 
 
 Another of these stones, which is found at Lanyon, in the 
 parish of Maddern, where it is popularly known as the mm 
 skri/fa, or inscribed stone, has the inscription 
 
 RIALOBRAX Rialobranus, 
 
 CvxovAL FiL son of Cunovalis 
 
 The inscription on a similar stone, at Tavistock in Devonshire, 
 is : — 
 
 XEPRAXi Hepraniiis, 
 
 FiLi coxDEVi son of Condevus. 
 
 Lysons gives two others found in Devonshire, at Buckland 
 Monachorum, and at Lastleigh. One, which had been used 
 as the gate-post to the vicarage-house at St Clement’s, near 
 Truro, had the following inscription in one line, giving a 
 Homan name combined with a Celtic or a Teutonic name : — 
 
 isxiDC VITAL FILI TORRici Isniocus Yitalis, son of Torricus. 
 
 Sometimes the words Juc jacet are added to the inscription. 
 Thus the inscription on one of these monuments, standing in the 
 
CHAP. XVII.] EARLY SEPULCHRAL INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 529 
 
 road between Eowey and Castiedor, and popularly called from 
 its height (eight feet) the long stone, is : — 
 
 c^Rvsivs Hic lACET Cirusius lies here, 
 
 CVNOMOKi FiLivs the son of Cunomorus. 
 
 At Worthy vale, not far from Camelford, in Cornwall, there 
 is an inscribed stone, nine feet nine inches long, and two feet 
 three inches wide, which had been formerly thrown across a 
 small stream to serve as a bridge. The inscription is : — 
 
 CATIN HIC lACiT Catinus lies here, 
 
 riLivs MAGAKi the son of Magarus. 
 
 These inscriptions are usually assigned, and probably with 
 reason, to the fifth and sixth centuries. Those found in Wales 
 have generally a mixture of cursive letters with the capitals, 
 and belong apparently to a later period, perhaps from the ninth 
 to the eleventh centuries. One stone, however, which was dis- 
 covered near the Eoman road from Nidum (Neath) to the 
 southern Bovium (Etvenny), is of a date as early as those found 
 in Ccrnwall, and is expressed in the same form. The inscrip- 
 tion. ill one line, commemorates Caiitusus, the father of Pavi- 
 nus : — 
 
 HICI ACIT CANT> SVS PATER PAVINYS. 
 
 It was evidently written by one who spoke Latin corruptly ; 
 but its greatest singularity is the circumstance that the inscrip- 
 tion is cut on the back of an older inscribed stone, dedicated to 
 the emperor Maximinus; and although the pure Eoman in- 
 scription is written in lines across the stone, the later inscription 
 is written, like those found in Cornwall, lengthways. It re- 
 mains to be stated that one or two of these stones have evi- 
 dently had a cross at the top, so that there can be no doubt of 
 the people to whom these belonged being Christians. 
 
JThcodosuu ~ 
 
 I^n^aUde W«0t 2 ^ f • jjt 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I.— THE ITINEEARIES AND LISTS OF TOWNS. 
 
 In our fifth chapter we have given a general account of the Roman 
 towns in Britain, with their modern representatives, as far as these 
 have been ascertained, or where they have been fixed conjectural ly. 
 Many of them are identified without any room for doubt, while others 
 (though comparatively few) remain still uncertain, from errors in the 
 distances given in the Itineraries, or for the want of a proper investi- 
 gation of the neighbourhoods in which they must have stood. It will 
 be perhaps of use, to assist such investigations, if wo give here the 
 texts of the Itineraries relating to our island, with the distances as there 
 given in Roman miles. 
 
 The first and most undoubtedly authentic of these is the great Itinerary 
 of the Roman empire which goes under the name of Antoninus Augustus. 
 It is supposed to have been composed about the year 320. The best 
 edition is that of Wesseling, from which the portion relating to Britain is 
 here taken. 
 
 A Gessoriaco de Galliis Ritupis in 
 portu Britanniarum stadia 
 numero ccccl. 
 
 (1) A limite, id est a vallo, Prae- 
 torio usque . m. p. clvi. 
 
 A Bremenio Cor- 
 
 stopitum . m. p. xx. 
 
 Vindomora . . m. p. ix. 
 
 Vinovia . . m. p. xix. 
 
 Cataractoni . . m. p. xxii. 
 
 Isurium . . m. p. xxiv. 
 
 Eburacum, leg. 
 
 vi victrix . m. p. xvii. 
 
 Derventione . m. p. vii. 
 
 Delgovitia . . m. p. xiii. 
 
 Prtetorio . . m. p. xxv. 
 
 (2) Iter a vallo ad portum Ritupi?, 
 m. p. cccclxxxi, sic : 
 
 A Blato Bulgio 
 Castra Explo- 
 
 ratorum 
 
 . m. p. xii. 
 
 Luguvallo 
 
 . m. p. xii. 
 
 Voreda 
 
 . ni. p. xiv. 
 
 Brovonacis 
 
 . ni. p. xiii. 
 
 Verteris 
 
 . m. p. xiii. 
 
 Lavatris . 
 
 . m. p. xiv. 
 
 Cataractoni 
 
 . m. p. xiii. 
 
 Isurium 
 
 . rn. p. xxiv. 
 
 Eburacum 
 
 . m. p. xvii. 
 
 Calcaria 
 
 . m. p. ix. 
 
 Cambodimo 
 
 . m. p. XX. 
 
 Mamucio 
 
 . m. p. xvi::. 
 
 Condate . 
 
 . m. p. xviii. 
 
532 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Deva leg. xx. vie 
 
 
 
 Lavatris . 
 
 m. p. xviii. 
 
 
 trix . . . 
 
 m. p. XX. 
 
 
 Yerteris . . 
 
 m p. xiii. 
 
 
 Bovio 
 
 m. p. X. 
 
 
 Brocavo . 
 
 m. p. XX. 
 
 
 Mediolano . . 
 
 m. p. XX. 
 
 
 Luguvallio . . 
 
 m. p. xxii. 
 
 
 Rutunio . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Uroconio . . 
 
 m. p. xi. 
 
 (6) 
 
 Iter a Londinio 
 
 Lindo, m. 
 
 P- 
 
 Dxacona . 
 
 m. p. xi. 
 
 
 clvi, sic ; 
 
 
 
 Pennocrucio 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Yerolamio 
 
 ni. p. xxi. 
 
 
 Etoceto 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Durocobrivis . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Manduessedo . 
 
 m. p. xvi. 
 
 
 Magiovinio 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Y enonis . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Lactodoro . . 
 
 m. p. xvi. 
 
 
 Bennavenna 
 
 m. p. xvii. 
 
 
 Isannavatia 
 
 m p. xii. 
 
 
 Lactodoro . . 
 
 ni. p. xii. 
 
 
 Tripontio . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Magiovinto 
 
 m. p. xvii. 
 
 
 Yenn-.'iiis . . 
 
 m. p. ix. 
 
 
 Durocobrivis . 
 
 ni. p. xii. 
 
 1 
 
 Ratis 
 
 ni. p. xii. 
 
 
 Yerolamit) 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Yerometo . . 
 
 m. p. xiii. 
 
 
 Sulloniacis . . 
 
 ni. p. ix. 
 
 
 Margiduno 
 
 m. p. xiii. 
 
 
 Londinio . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Ad Ponteni . . 
 
 ni. p. vii. 
 
 
 Noviomago . . 
 
 m. p. X. 
 
 
 Crococalano 
 
 m. p. vii. 
 
 
 Yagniacis 
 
 m. p. xviii. 
 
 
 Lindo 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Durobrivis . . 
 
 m. p. ix. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Durolevo . 
 
 m. p. xiii. 
 
 (7) 
 
 Iter a Regno Londinio, ra. 
 
 P- 
 
 Duroverno . . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 xevi, sic : 
 
 
 
 Aa portum Ri- 
 
 
 
 Clausentum 
 
 m. p. xx. 
 
 
 tupis . 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 
 Yenta Belgarum 
 
 m. p. X. 
 
 
 \'8) Iter a Londinio ad portum 
 Dubris, m. p. Ixvi, sic : 
 
 Durobrivis . . m. p. xxvii. 
 
 Durovemo . m. p. xxv. 
 
 Ad pcrtuin Du- 
 
 bris . . m. p. xiv. 
 
 (tc) Iter a Londinio ad portum 
 Lemanis, m. p. Ixviii, sic : 
 
 Durobrivis . . m. p. xxvii. 
 
 Duroverno . m. p. xxv. 
 
 Ad portum Le- 
 manis . . m. p. xvi. 
 
 {j) Iter a Londinio 
 vallum, m. p, 
 Caesaromago 
 Colonia . 
 
 Villa Faustini . 
 Icianos . . 
 
 CaniDorico' 
 Duroliponte . . 
 
 Durobrivas 
 Causennis . . 
 
 Lindo 
 
 Segeloci . . 
 
 Dano 
 
 Legeolio . . 
 
 Eburaco . 
 Isubrigantum . 
 Cataractoui . . 
 
 Luguvallio ad 
 . ccccxliii, sic : 
 m. p. xxviii. 
 m. p. xxiv. 
 m. p. XXXV. 
 m, p. xviii. 
 m. p. XXXV. 
 m. p. xxv. 
 ni. p. XXXV. 
 m. p. XXX. 
 m. p. XX vi. 
 m. p. xiv. 
 m. p. xxi. 
 m. p. xvi. 
 ni. p. xxi. 
 m. p. xvii. 
 m. p. xxiv. 
 
 Calleva Attreba- 
 tum 
 
 Pontibus 
 Londinio 
 
 m. p. xxii. 
 m. p. xxii. 
 m. p. xxii. 
 
 (8) Iter ab Eburaco Londinium, 
 m. p. ccxxvii, sic : 
 
 Lagecio 
 Dano . 
 Ageloco . 
 Lindo . 
 Crococalano 
 Margiduno 
 Vernemeto . 
 Ratis 
 Vennonis 
 Bannavanto 
 Magiovinio 
 Durocobrivis 
 Verolamio 
 Londinio 
 
 , m. p. XXI. 
 
 . m. p. xvi. 
 
 . m. p. xxi. 
 
 , ni. p. xiv. 
 
 . m. p. xiv. 
 
 . m. p. xiv 
 . m. p. xii. 
 
 . m. p. xii. 
 m. p. xii. 
 m. p. xviii. 
 m. p. xxviii. 
 m. p. xii. 
 
 . m. p. xii. 
 m. p. xxi. 
 
 (9) Iter a Yenta Icenorum Lon- 
 dinio, m. p. cxxviii, sic ; 
 Sitomago . 
 
 Combretonio 
 Ad Ansam . 
 Camuloduno 
 Canonio . 
 Caesaromago 
 Durolito . 
 Londinio 
 
 111 . p. xxxii. 
 m. p. xxii. 
 m. p. XV. 
 
 , m. p. vi. 
 m. p. ix. 
 
 111 . p. xii. 
 
 111 . p. xvi. 
 m. p. XV. 
 
ITINERARY OF ANTONINUS 
 
 533 
 
 (10) Iter a Glanoventa Mediolano, 
 
 m. p. cl, sic : 
 
 Galava . . m. p. xviii. 
 
 Alone . . . m. p. xii. 
 
 Galacum . . m. p. xix. 
 
 Bremetonaci . rn. p. xxvii. 
 Coccio . . 111 . p. XX. 
 
 Mancunio . . rri. p. xvii. 
 
 Condate . . ni. p. xviii. 
 
 Mediolano . . in. p. xviii. 
 
 (11) Iter a Sejrontio Devam, m. p. 
 
 Ixxiv, sic : 
 
 Conovio , . . ni. p. xxiv. 
 
 Varis . . . ni. p. xix. 
 
 Deva . . m. p. xxxii. 
 
 (12) Iter per Muridunum Yiroco- 
 
 nium, ni. p. clxxxvi, sic : 
 Vindomi . . in. p. xv. 
 
 Venta Belgarum m. p. xxi. 
 Brige . . m. p. xi. 
 
 Sorbiodimi . . m. p. ix. 
 
 A^indogladia . m. p. xii. 
 
 Durnovaria . m. p. viii. 
 
 Muriduno . . in. p. xxxvi. 
 
 I sea Duninnnio- 
 
 rum . . m. p. xv. 
 
 Lencaro . . m. p. xv. 
 
 Nido , , m. p. XV. 
 
 Bomio . . . ni. p. xv. 
 
 Iscae, leg. ii. Au- 
 gusta . . m. p. xxvii. 
 
 Burrio . . . m. p. ix. 
 
 Gobannio . . ni. p. xii. 
 
 Magnis . . in. p. xxii. 
 
 Braviiiio . . m. p. xxiv. 
 
 Yiroconio . . m. p. xxvii. 
 
 (13) Iter ab Isca Calleva, m. p. 
 
 cix, sic : 
 
 Burrio . . m. p. ix. 
 
 Blestio . . m. p. xi. 
 
 Ariconio . . in. p. xi. 
 
 Glevo . . . in. p. xv. 
 
 Durocornovio . in. p. xiv. 
 Spinis . . in. p. xv. 
 
 Calleva . . m, p. xv. 
 
 (14) Item alio itinere ab Isca 
 
 Calleva, ni. p. ciii, sic : 
 Venta Siluruin . m. p. ix. 
 Abone . . m. p. ix. 
 
 Trajectus . . ni. p. ix. 
 
 Aquis Solis . m. p. vi. 
 Verlucione . . m. p. xv. 
 
 Cunetione . m. p. xx. 
 Spinis . . . in. p. xv. 
 
 Calleva . . m. p. xv. 
 
 (15) Iter a Calleva Isca Duinnu- 
 
 niorum, m. p. cxxxvi, sic ; 
 Vindomi . . in. p. xv. 
 
 Venta Belgarumm. p. xxi. 
 Brige . . ni. p. xi. 
 
 Sorbioduni . . ni. p. viii. 
 
 Vindogladia . m. p. xii. 
 Durnovaria . . ni. p. viii. 
 
 Muriduno . in. p. xxxvi 
 Isca Dumnunio- 
 
 runi . . m. p. xv. 
 
 The description of Britain attributed to Richard of Cirencester has 
 been the subject of much discussion, and appears to be made up of 
 very discordant materials. How much was really the work of a monk 
 of Westminster, and how muen we owe to the modern editor, Bertram 
 of Copenhagen, it is not easy to say, for the manuscript has very 
 strangely disappeared. It is supposed, however, that the old monk may 
 have had before him a Roman Itinerary similar to that of Antoninus, or 
 perhaps a map, from which he extracted the part relating to Britain, 
 which is inserted in his book under the title of Biaphragmata. I confess 
 that the more I read this book, the more I am inclined to believe that the 
 whole is a mere fabrication. The following is the text of Richard’s 
 Biaphragmata, which is in some parts imperfect, as stated, from the 
 damaged state of the manuscript ; — 
 
 Iter I. Rhutupis prima in Bri- 
 tannia insula civitas versus 
 Galliam, apud Cantios sita, a 
 Gessoriaco Bonnoniai portu, 
 
 unde commodissimus in su- 
 pi;adictam insulam transitus 
 obtingit, ccccl. stadia, velut 
 alii volunt xlvi. mille pas- 
 
.534 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 suum remota. Ab eadem 
 civitate ducta est via Guethe- 
 lin^a dicta, usque in Segon- 
 tiurn, per m. p. cccxxiiii. plus 
 minus, sic : 
 
 Cantiopoli, quse et 
 
 Duroverno . . m. p. x. 
 
 Durosevo . . xii. 
 
 Duroprovis . . xxv. 
 
 deinde m. p. xxvii. transit Thame- 
 sin, intrasque pn)vinciain Fla- 
 viam et civitateni Londiiiium 
 (Augiistam), 
 
 Suloinago . . m. p. ix. 
 
 V erolamio muni- 
 
 cipio . . . xii. 
 
 Unde fuit Amphibalus et Albanus 
 martyres. 
 
 Foro Dianye . . xii. 
 
 Magiovinio . . xii. 
 
 Lactorodo . . xii. 
 
 Isantavaria . . xii. 
 
 Tripontio . . xii. 
 
 Benonis ... ix. 
 
 Hie bisecatur via, alterutrumque 
 ejus brachium Lindum usque, 
 alterum versus Viriconium 
 protenditur, sic ; 
 
 Manduessuedo . m. p. ix. 
 
 Etoceto . . xiii. 
 
 Pennocrucio . . xii. 
 
 Uxaconia . . xii. 
 
 Yirioconio . . xi. 
 
 Banchorio . . xxvi. 
 
 Deva colonia . x. 
 
 Fines Fla vise et Secundye. 
 
 Varis . . . m. p. xxx. 
 
 Conovio . . . XX. 
 
 Seguntio . . xxiv. 
 
 Iter II. A Seguntio Yiriooonium 
 usque m. p. Ixxiii, sic : 
 
 Heriri monte . m. p. xxv. 
 
 Mediolano . . xxv. 
 
 Butunio . . xii. 
 
 Yirioconio . . xi. 
 
 Ad Sturium am- 
 uem . . . m. p. vi. 
 
 et finibus Trinobantiim Ceni man- 
 nos advenis. 
 
 Carnbretonis 
 Sitomago 
 Yenta Cenom. 
 Camborico 
 Duraliponte . 
 Durnomago 
 Isinnis . 
 
 Lindo 
 
 m. p. XV. 
 xxii. 
 xxiii. 
 xxii. 
 
 XX. 
 
 XX. 
 
 XX. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Iter lY. A Lindo ad vallum 
 usque, sic : 
 
 Argolico . . m. p. xiv. 
 Dano . . . XX. 
 
 Ibi intras Maximam Cajsariensem. 
 Legotio . . m. p. xvi. 
 
 Eboraco municip. 
 olim colonia sex- 
 ta . . . m. p. xxi. 
 
 Isurio . . . x»^i. 
 
 Cattaractoni . . xxiv. 
 
 Ad Tisam . . y.. 
 
 Yinovio . . . xii. 
 
 Epiaco . . . xix. 
 
 Ad Muriim . . ij;. 
 
 Trans Murum intras Yalentiam. 
 Alauna amne . m. p. xxr. 
 Tueda flumine . xxx. 
 
 Ad vallum . 
 
 Iter Y. A limite Piaituilam 
 
 usque, sic ; 
 Curia 
 Ad Fines 
 Bremenio 
 Corstoplio . 
 Yindomora 
 Yindovio 
 Cattaractoni 
 Eboraco 
 Derventione 
 Delgovicia . 
 Praeturio . 
 
 . m. p. . . . 
 
 . m. p 
 
 . m. p. . . . 
 
 XX. 
 
 . ix. 
 
 xix. 
 
 . X.. 
 
 \u. 
 
 . xdi. 
 
 Iter III. A Londinio Lindum 
 coloniam usque, sic : 
 
 Durosito . . m. p. xii. 
 
 Csesaromago . . xvi. 
 
 Canonio . . xv. 
 
 Camaloduno colonia ix. 
 
 Ibi erat templum Claudii, arx 
 triumphalis, et imago Yic- 
 toriib deae. 
 
 Iter YI. Ab Eboraco Devam 
 usque, sic : 
 
 Calcaria . . m. p. ix. 
 
 Camboduno . . xxii. 
 
 Mancunio . . xviii. 
 
 Finibus Maximae et 
 
 Flaviae . . xviii. 
 
 Condate . . xviii. 
 
 Deva . . . xviii. 
 
ITINERARY OF EICIIARD. 
 
 535 
 
 Iter VII. A portu Sistuntiorum 
 Eboracum usque, sic : 
 Rerigonio . . m. p. xxiii. 
 
 Ad Alpes Peninos viii. 
 
 Alicana ... x. 
 
 Isurio . . . xviii. 
 
 Eboraco . . . xvi. 
 
 • Iter VIII. Ab Eboraco Luguva- 
 lium usque, sic : 
 
 Cattaractoni . m. p. xl. 
 Lataris . . . xvi. 
 
 Vataris . . xvi. 
 
 Brocavonacis . . xviii. 
 
 Vorreda . . xviii. 
 
 Lugubaiia . . xviii. 
 
 Iter IX. A Luguballio Ptoroto- 
 rurn usque, sic : 
 
 Trimontio . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Gadanica . . iii. p. . . . 
 
 Corio . . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Ad Vallum . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Incipic Vespasiana. 
 
 Alauiia 
 
 Lindo 
 Victoria 
 Ad Iliernam 
 Orrea . 
 
 Ad Tavum 
 Ad JEsicam . 
 
 Ad Tinam 
 Devana 
 Ad Itunam . 
 
 Ad montem Gram 
 pium 
 
 Ad Selinam 
 Tuessis 
 P ton' tone 
 
 m. p. xii. 
 ix. 
 ix. 
 
 IX. 
 
 xiv. 
 
 xix. 
 
 xxiii. 
 
 viii. 
 
 xxiii. 
 
 xxiv. 
 
 m. p. . 
 
 111. p. . 
 
 m. p. . 
 
 Iter X. Ab ultima Ptorotone per 
 medium insulse Iscam Damno- 
 ncrum usque, sic : 
 
 Varis . . . m. p. viii. 
 
 Ad Tuessim . . xviii. 
 
 Tamca . . . xxix. 
 
 in Medio 
 Orrea . 
 Victoria . 
 
 Ad Vallum . 
 Luguballia 
 Brocavonacis 
 Ad Ala imam 
 Coccio . 
 Mancunio 
 
 ra. p. XXI. 
 
 ix. 
 
 ix. 
 
 xviii. 
 
 xxxii, 
 
 Ixxx. 
 
 xxii. 
 
 m. p. . . . 
 m. p. . . . 
 
 xviii: 
 
 Condate . . xxiii. 
 
 Mediolano . . xviii. 
 
 Etoceto . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Salinis . . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Glebon colonia . ni. p. . . . 
 Corino . . . xiv. 
 
 Aquas Solis . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Ad Aquas . . xviii. 
 
 Ad Uxellam am- 
 nem . . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Isca . . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Iter XT. Ab Aquis per viam 
 Juliam Menapiam usque, sic ; 
 
 Ad Abonam . m. p. vi. 
 
 Ad Sabrinam . . vi. 
 
 Unde trajectu intras in Brit- 
 taniam Secundam et statio- 
 nem Trajectum m. p. iii. 
 Venta Silurum . viii. 
 
 Isca colonia . . ix. 
 
 Unde fuit Aaron martyr 
 Tibia amne . . m. p. viii. 
 
 Bovio . . . XX. 
 
 Nido . . . XV. 
 
 Leucaro . . . xv. 
 
 Ad Vigesimum . xx. 
 
 Ad Menapiam . xix. 
 
 Ab hac urbe per xxx. m. p. navi- 
 gas in Hybemiam. 
 
 Iter XII. Ab Aquis Londinium 
 usque, sic : 
 
 Verlucione . . m. p. xv. 
 
 Cunetione . . xx. 
 
 Spinis . . . XV. 
 
 Calleba Attreba- 
 
 tum . . . XV. 
 
 Bibracte . . xx. 
 
 Londinio . . . xx. 
 
 Iter XIII. Ab Isca Uriconium 
 usque, sic : 
 
 Bultro . . . m. p. viii. 
 
 Gobannio. . . xii. 
 
 Magna. . . xxiii. 
 
 Branogenio . . xxiii. 
 
 Urioconio . . xxvii. 
 
 Iter XIV. Ab Isca per Glebon 
 Lindum usque, sic : 
 
 Ballio . . . m. p. viii. 
 
 Blestio . . . xii. 
 
 Sariconio . . xi. 
 
 Glebon colonia , xv. 
 
536 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Ad Anionam . . m. p. xv. 
 
 Alauna . . xv. 
 
 Yoluba 
 
 . 111. p. xxviii. 
 
 Vennonis 
 
 Ratiscorion 
 
 V enromento 
 
 Margiduno 
 
 Ad Pontem . 
 
 Crococolana 
 
 Lindum 
 
 m. p. X 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 xi 
 
 X 
 
 xii. 
 
 Iter XV. A Londinio per Clau- 
 sentum in Londinium, sic : 
 Caleba . . . in. p. xliv. 
 
 Vindomi . . xv. 
 
 Venta Belgarum . xxi. 
 
 Ad Lapideni . vi. 
 
 Clausento . . iv. 
 
 Portu Magno 
 Regno . 
 
 Ad Decimum . 
 
 Anderida portu 
 
 Ad Lemanum 
 Lemaniano portu 
 Dubris . 
 
 Rhutupis colonia 
 Regulbio 
 Contiopoli . 
 Durolevo 
 Mado . 
 Vagnaca. 
 Noviomago . 
 Londinio 
 
 m. p. XXV. 
 
 X. 
 
 X. 
 
 X. 
 
 X. 
 
 X. 
 
 xviii. 
 
 xii. 
 
 xviii. 
 
 xviii. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Iter XVI. A Londinio Ceniam 
 usque, sic : 
 
 Venta Belgarum. m. p. xc. 
 
 Brige ... xi. 
 
 Sorbioduno . . viii. 
 
 Ventageladia . xii. 
 
 Durnovaria . . ix. 
 
 Moriduno . . xxxiii. 
 
 Isca Damnon . xv. 
 
 Durio amne . 
 
 m. p. . . . 
 
 Cenia 
 
 in. p. 
 
 Iter XVII. Ab Anderida [Ebora- 
 cum] usque, sic ; 
 
 Sylva Anderida . m. p. . . . 
 Noviomago . . m. p. . . , 
 
 Londinio . . . m. p, xv. 
 
 Ad Fines . . in. p. . , . 
 
 Durolisponte . . m. p. . . . 
 
 Durnomago . . in. p. xxx. 
 
 Corisennis . . xxx. 
 
 Lindo . . . xxx. 
 
 In Medio . . xv. 
 
 Ad Abum . . xv. 
 
 Unde transis in Maxiniam. 
 
 Ad Petuariam . . ni. p. vi. 
 
 Deinde Eboraco, ut 
 
 supra . . m. p. xhd 
 
 Iter XVIII. Ab Eboraco per 
 medium insulae Clausentum 
 
 usque, SIC : 
 Legiolio . 
 
 . m. p. xxi. 
 
 Ad Fines 
 
 xviii. 
 
 
 
 . m. p. xvi. 
 
 . m. p. xvi. 
 
 Derventione . 
 
 . m. p. xvi. 
 
 Ad Trivonam . 
 
 . xii. 
 
 Etoceto 
 
 . xii. 
 
 Manduessuedo 
 
 . xvi. 
 
 Benonnis 
 
 xii. 
 
 Tripontio 
 
 . xi. 
 
 Isannavaria . 
 
 . xii. 
 
 Brinavis . 
 
 . vii. 
 
 JElia castra . 
 
 . xvi. 
 
 Dorocina . 
 
 . XV. 
 
 I'amesi 
 
 . vi. 
 
 Vindomi . 
 
 . XV. 
 
 Clausento 
 
 . xlvi. 
 
 Plurima insuper habebant Ro- 
 mani in Britanniis castella, 
 suis quaeque muris, turribus, 
 portis, et repagulis munita. 
 
 Tamara 
 
 m. p. . . . 
 
 The work known by the title of the Cosmography of the anonymous 
 writer of Ravenna, is a treatise on geographical science compiled in 
 that city, apparently in the seventh century. Its writer had evidently 
 before him large maps of the provinces of the Roman empire, from 
 
THE RAVENNA LIST. 
 
 537 
 
 ^vhich he derived his lists of towns and rivers, but as lie took them 
 without any apparent system, paying no attention to the roads of the 
 Itineraries, and as his names are written very corruptly, we can only 
 identify them by similarity of sound. Two manuscripts, one in the 
 Vatican, the other in the National Library in Paris, furnish various 
 readings, which sometimes give assistance in explaining the printed 
 text. I here give the part relating to Britain, placing opposite such of 
 the names as can be made out, the parallel names from the two pre- 
 ceding Itineraries, or the conjectures of Horsley as to the present sites. 
 Such of the various readings as seem important are given at the foot 
 of the page. 
 
 . (Tamerton) 
 
 (Durnovaria) 
 
 (Lostivithiel) 
 
 In Britannia plurimas fuisse 
 legimus civitates et castra, ex 
 quibus aliquantas designare volu- 
 mus, id est, — 
 
 Giano 
 Eltabo 
 Elconio 
 Nemetotacio 
 Tamaris . 
 
 Durocoronavis 
 Pilais 
 Vernalis 
 Ardua 
 Ravenatone 
 Devionisso 
 Statio Deventia 
 Stene 
 Duriarno . 
 
 Uxelis 
 Vertevia 
 Melarnoni 
 
 Scadum Namorum (Isca Dum- 
 nonioruiii) 
 
 Termonin 
 Mostevia 
 Milidunum 
 Apaunaris 
 Masona 
 ^ Alongium 
 
 Item juxta suprascriptam ci vita- 
 tern Scadomorum est civitas 
 quae dicitur 
 Moriduno 
 Alauna silva 
 Omire 
 Tedertis 
 2 Londinis 
 Canca 
 Dolocindo 
 Clavinio 
 
 (Maridunum) 
 
 Morionio 
 Bolvelaunio 
 Alauna 
 Coloneas 
 Aranus 
 Anicetis 
 3 Moiezo 
 Ibernio 
 
 Bindogladia . {Viudogladia) 
 
 Noviomagno 
 
 Onna 
 
 Venta Velgarum (Ventu Bi-lga- 
 runi) 
 
 Armis 
 
 Ardaoneon . 
 
 (Sorbiodunun. 1) 
 
 4 Ravimago . 
 Regentium 
 
 . (Noviomagu.s) 
 
 Leucomago 
 
 (Leucarum : ) 
 
 Cunetzone . 
 
 . (Cunetio) 
 
 Punctuobice 
 Venta Silurum 
 Jupania 
 Metambala 
 Albinunno 
 
 . (Cowbridge) 
 
 Isca Augusta 
 
 . ([sea Silurum) 
 
 Bannio . 
 
 . (Gobannium) 
 
 Brenna 
 
 Alabum 
 
 Cicutio 
 
 [Bretihridge) 
 
 Magnis . 
 
 . . (Hagna) 
 
 Branogeniuin 
 
 Epocessa 
 
 Ypocessa 
 
 . (Biuvinium) 
 
 Macatonion . 
 
 . (Aiiconium) 
 
 . (Gilevum) 
 
 Glebon colonia 
 
 Argistillum . 
 Vertis 
 
 [Arwystli) 
 
 Salinis 
 
 (Salinm) 
 
 Corinium Dobunorum 
 
 Caleba Atrebatium . (Calleva) 
 
 * Alovergium, Vo.i. Laudinis, Pr. Lindinus, Vat. Melezo, Vat, 
 
 4 Noviomago Regentium, i. e. Novlomagus of the Regiii. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 5AS 
 
 1 Anderesio . . (Anderida ?) 
 
 Miba . . . (Midhurst) 
 
 2 Mutuantonis 
 
 Lemanis . (Portus Lernanis) 
 Dubris . . . (Dubrae) 
 
 Duroverno Cantiacorum (Duro- 
 vernum) 
 
 Eutupis . . . (Rutupiae) 
 
 Durobrabis . (Durobrivae) 
 
 Londini . . . (Londinium) 
 
 Tamese . . . (Tamesis) 
 Brinavis . . . (Brinavae) 
 
 Alauna 
 
 Uriconiiini Cornovinorum 
 Lavobrinta 
 
 Medioniano . (Mediolanum) 
 
 Seguntio . . (Segontium) 
 
 *Canubio . . . (Conway) 
 
 Mediolano . (Meivod) 
 
 Sandonio 
 Drva victrix 
 Veratino 
 Lutudaruin 
 
 Derbentiouo . (Derventio) 
 
 Salinis . . (Nantwich) 
 
 Condate 
 
 ^Batecorion . . (Ratae) 
 
 Eltanori 
 
 Lectoceto . . (Litchfield) 
 
 ^ lacio 
 
 Dulma . . (Bunstahle) 
 
 Yirolaniiim . (Vemlamium) 
 
 Londinium Augusta 
 Caesaromaguiii 
 
 Camulodulo colonia (Camulo- 
 
 dunum) 
 
 Durcinate 
 
 Duroviguto 
 
 Durobrisin . . (Durobrivae) 
 
 Venta Cenomum (Yenta Iceno- 
 rum) 
 
 Lindum colonia 
 
 Banovalliim . . (Benwell) 
 
 Navione 
 
 Aquis . . (Aidon Castle) 
 
 Arnemez i 
 
 Zerdotalia 
 
 Mantio 
 
 Aliinna . (Allenton, or Whetley) 
 Camulodouo . (Almonbury) 
 Calunio . . . (Coin) 
 
 Gallunio . . (Whaley) 
 
 Modibogdo 
 
 Cantiumeti 
 
 Juliocenon 
 
 Gabrocentio . {Gabrosentce) 
 
 Alauna 
 
 Bribra 
 
 Maio 
 
 Olerica 
 
 Derventione . . (Derventio) 
 
 Ravonia . . (Ravenglasse) 
 
 Bresnetenati Yeteranorum {Over- 
 
 borough) 
 Pampocalia 
 Lagentiuni 
 Yalteris . 
 
 . . (Yerterge) 
 
 Bereda . 
 
 . . (Yoreda) 
 
 Lugubalum 
 
 (Luguballium) 
 
 Magnis 
 
 (Magna) 
 
 Babaglanda . 
 
 (Amboglanna) 
 
 Yindolande 
 
 Lineojugla 
 
 Yinovia 
 
 (Yinovium) 
 
 Lavaris . 
 
 (Lavatrse) 
 
 Cataractonion 
 
 (Cataracto) 
 
 Eburacum 
 
 Decuaria 
 
 . (Petuaria) 
 
 Devovicja . 
 
 . . (Delgovitia) 
 
 Dixio 
 
 Lugundino 
 
 Coganges 
 
 {Cayngham) 
 
 Corie . 
 
 . . (Coriiim) 
 
 Lopocariuni 
 
 Iterum sunt civitates ipsa in 
 Britannia, quae recto traniite 
 de una parte in alia, id est 
 de oceano in oceano, et Sis- 
 tuntiaci dividunt in tertia 
 portione ipsam Britanniam ; 
 id est, — 
 
 Serduno . . (Segedunum) 
 
 Conderco . . (Condercum) 
 
 Yindovala . . (Yindobala) 
 Onno . . . (Hunnum) 
 
 Celunno . . . (Cilurnum) 
 
 Procoliti . . (Procolitia) 
 Yolurtion . . (Borcovicus h) 
 
 Aesica .... (JEsica) 
 Banna . . . (Banna) 
 
 Uxeludiano . (Axelodunum) 
 Avalaria . . (Aballaba) 
 Maia 
 
 6 Fai:.ocedi 
 
 * Ar.dereliomiba, Vat. ® Mantuantonis, Vat. 3 Conovio. 
 Ratae Coritanorum. 5 Static Dulma, Vat. 6 Fauococidi, Vat, 
 
THE R A VENN A LIST. 
 
 
 Brocara 
 
 Croucingo 
 
 Stodoion 
 
 Sinetriadum 
 
 Clidum . 
 
 Carbantium 
 
 Tadoriton 
 
 Maporiton 
 
 Alitacenon 
 
 Loxa 
 
 Locatrene 
 
 Cambroiana 
 
 Snietri 
 
 Uxela 
 
 Lucotion 
 
 Corda 
 
 Camulossesa 
 Praesidiurn . 
 Brigomono 
 Abisson 
 Ebio 
 
 Coritiotar 
 1 Celerion 
 Itucodon 
 Maremago 
 Duablisis . 
 Venutio 
 Trimuntium 
 Eburocassuin 
 Bremeniuiii 
 Cocuneda 
 Alauna 
 Oleiclavis 
 Ejudensca 
 lluinabo 
 
 (Brocavonacae) 
 . (Crosby) 
 
 . (Glasgow) 
 . (Carbantorigum) 
 
 . (Elgifi) 
 . (In nerlochy) 
 (Loch Catrine?) 
 
 . (LucopibiaJ 
 , (on Lough Cure) 
 
 . (Camulon) 
 (Rerigonium) 
 
 (Curia Otadenorum ?) 
 . (Calendar Castle) 
 
 . (Duplin) 
 . (Banatia) 
 (Triinontiuni) 
 
 . (Coquet) 
 (Alnwick) 
 . (Ogle Castle) 
 
 (Drumburgh Castle) 
 Iterum sunt civitates in ipsa Bri- 
 tannia retro (al. recto) tra- 
 mite, una alteri connexa, ubi 
 et ipsa Britannia plus angus- 
 tissinia de oceano in oceano 
 esse dinoscitur, id est, — 
 Velunia 
 Volitanio 
 Pexa 
 Begesse 
 
 Colanica . . (Colania) 
 
 Medionemetom 
 
 Subdobiadoii 
 
 Litana 
 
 Cibra 
 
 Credigone 
 
 Iterum est civitas quae dicitur 
 2 lano 
 IMjiulion 
 
 Pemerose^a . . (Dumfries) 
 
 Cindocelluin 
 Cermo 
 Veronio 
 Matovion 
 Ugrulentum 
 Ranatonium 
 Iberran 
 3 Praematis 
 
 Tuessis . . (Berwick) 
 
 Ledone . . . (Dunbar) 
 
 Litinomago . . (Linlithgow) 
 
 Devoni 
 
 Memanturum 
 
 Decha 
 
 Bograndium 
 
 Ugueste 
 
 Leviodanum . (Livingston) 
 
 Poreo Classis (Forfar^ or ') 
 
 Levioxana . . (Lennox) 
 
 Cerinium 
 
 Victoria3 
 
 Marcotaxen 
 
 Tagea . . . (Menteith'\ 
 
 Voran . . .(Caer Voram\ 
 
 Sunt autem in ipsa Britannia 
 diversa loca, ex quious aii- 
 quanta nominari volumus, la 
 est, — 
 
 Maponi 
 
 Mixa 
 
 Panovius 
 
 Minox 
 
 Taba . . . (Tava) 
 
 Manavi 
 
 Segloes 
 
 Daunoni 
 
 CuiTunt autem per ipsam Britan- 
 niam plurima flumina, ex 
 quibus aliquanta nominare 
 volumus, id est, — 
 
 Fraxula . . (Ashbourne) 
 
 Axium .... (Axcj 
 Maina . . . (31intern) 
 
 Sarva . . . (ISeverne) 
 
 Tamaris . . . (Tamar) 
 
 Naurum . • Nader ^ Wilts) 
 Abona . - . (Avon) 
 
 Isca .... (Fx) 
 Tamion . . (Tavy) 
 
 Aventio . . (Aun) 
 
 Leuca . . , i Loid) 
 
 Juctius 
 
 * Celorion, rat. 
 
 Lano, Fat. 
 
 3 Pinna tis. Fat, 
 
540 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Coantia 
 
 Dorvatium 
 
 Anava 
 
 Bdora 
 
 Novitia 
 
 Adron 
 
 Certisnassa 
 
 Intraum 
 
 Tinea 
 
 Liar 
 
 Lenda 
 
 . . {Keutzey) 
 
 (Dart^ or Uarent) 
 
 Yividin . 
 Durolani 
 Alauna 
 Coguvensuron 
 Durbis . 
 Lemana 
 * E-ovia . 
 Ractomessa 
 Senna 
 2 Ciinia 
 Yelox 
 
 . ( bawey) 
 
 {Leuham river) 
 
 {Soar) 
 {Dom\ or Dover) 
 , {Lymne river) 
 . {Rother\ 
 {Raco^iX 
 
 Novia, yat. 
 
 Cunia, veltax. Tat 
 
APPENDIX IT. 
 
 ROMAN POTTERS’ MARKS. 
 
 It will bt* useful to local antiquaries to furnish them with a list of 
 the names of potters stamped on the red Samian ware, as mentioned 
 at p. 275. This list is naturally incomplete, for new names are turning 
 up daily, but it will enable those who are occupied in researches on 
 Koman sites to judge it tne names they meet with are new, or of com- 
 n on occurrence, and it will assist the general reader in forming a 
 notion of the extent of the Roman power. It will be observed in this 
 numerous list of names, that many are not Roman, and some are 
 aTjparently Teutonic. The explanation of the different formulae of the 
 potters will he found in our text at the page just referred to. It will 
 be seen in the list that most of the potters used the different formulae 
 indiscriminately. 
 
 Before these potters’ marks were collected and explained, writers 
 who had met with single instances, fell into the most ridiculous mis- 
 takes in attempting to interpret them. Dr Leigh, who published in 
 1099 a ‘Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Peak, with 
 an account of the Antiquities in those parts,’ obtained at Ribchester, 
 where the Samian ware is found in great abundance, a fragment with 
 the stamp fab. piio (fabrica Frobi), which he conjectured must have 
 been made when one of the Fabii was proconsul or procurator ! 
 A still more curious blunder was made in the county of Essex. By 
 the road side, at Cogereshall, in that county, a sepulchral interment 
 was found, in wliich, among other objects, was a vessel of Samian ware 
 with the stamp coccilli. m, which will also be found in the following- 
 list. It was immediately interpreted as an abbreviation of Coccilli 
 manibusy to the manes of Coccillus, and it was resolved that, from this 
 personage, who was supposed to have been the lord of the spot, and to 
 have been buried there, the place derived its name of Coggeshall ! 
 Such errors show us how necessary it is for the antiquary to begin by 
 studying his science elementarily. 
 
 At the end of the list of potters’ marks, I have given very imperfect 
 lists of names stamped on mortaria and amphoree found in this island, 
 which have hitherto been less carefully noted than those on the 
 Samian ware. It will be observed that the formula) and the names are 
 different. 
 
 The frequent use of the n, for e, will be observed in these potters’ 
 marks. See the observations on this subject at p. 23o. 
 
542 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 POTTERS’ MARKS ON THE RED WARE, TERMED SAMIAN. 
 
 A. 
 
 AMAXDO 
 
 AVITVS 
 
 
 AMARiLis. F {? Ama- 
 
 AVITVS. F 
 
 OF. A. AX 
 
 bilis) 
 
 A V LI VS. F 
 
 ABALAXIS 
 
 AMATICI. OF 
 
 OF. AVRAF 
 
 OF. ABALI 
 
 AMATOR 
 
 AVRICV. F 
 
 OF. ABARI 
 
 AMATORIS 
 
 AVSTRI. M. 
 
 OF. A^IX 
 
 AMIIEDV 
 
 AVSTRI. OF 
 
 ABIAXI 
 
 AMICI. M 
 
 AVSTVS. F 
 
 ABILI. M 
 
 AMMIVS. F 
 
 
 ACCILIXVS. P 
 
 AMOXVS 
 
 
 OF. ACIRAF 
 
 AXDORX 
 
 B. 
 
 A. C. E. R. O 
 
 AXISATVS 
 
 
 AGO. M 
 
 AXXLOS. F 
 
 BALBTNVS. F 
 
 ACRIS. 0 
 
 AXVXI. M. 
 
 BANOLVCCI 
 
 ACVRIO. F 
 
 A. POL. AVSTI 
 
 BASSI 
 
 ACVTVS 
 
 AP^)LAVCIR 
 
 OF. BASSI 
 
 ADIECTI. M 
 
 OF. APRILIS 
 
 OF. BASSICO 
 
 ADIVTORI 
 
 OF. APRIS 
 
 BELINICCI 
 
 L. ADX. ADGEXI 
 
 OF. APRO 
 
 BELINICCI. M 
 
 ADVOCISI 
 
 APROXIS 
 
 BELINICCVS. F 
 
 AOVOCISI. OF 
 
 AQVIIXVS 
 
 BELINOI. M 
 
 ADVVCISI. O 
 
 AQVIT 
 
 BELINICI 
 
 AEI. XAXT 
 
 AGVIT 
 
 BELLIAIICI 
 
 AELIAXI. M 
 
 OF. AOVITA 
 
 BELSO. ARV. F 
 
 AEQVIR. F 
 
 OF. AQVITANI 
 
 BELSO. ARVE. F 
 
 AEQVR. F 
 
 ARACI. MA 
 
 BENNICCI. M. 
 
 AESFIVIXA 
 
 ARDAC 
 
 BENNICI. M 
 
 AIISFIVI. M {?) 
 
 ARGO. F 
 
 BICAAICD 
 
 AIISTIVI. M 
 
 ARICI. M 
 
 BIGA 
 
 AISTIVI. M 
 
 ARICI. MA 
 
 BIGA. FEC 
 
 AESTIVI. M 
 
 ARRO 
 
 OFIC. BILICANI (?) 
 
 M. IXaiTaA 
 
 ASCILLI. M 
 
 BILICAT 
 
 M. AIAVCXI 
 
 ASIATICI. M 
 
 OFIC. BILICAT 
 
 AETERXI. M 
 
 ASIATTCI. OF 
 
 BILLICI 
 
 AGEDILLI 
 
 ATECII. M 
 
 BILLIC. OF 
 
 AGEEDILLVS. F 
 
 ATEI 
 
 BIO. FECIT 
 
 AGIILITO 
 
 ATILitVXI. M 
 
 BIR. ANIII 
 
 OFF. AGER 
 
 ATILIAXI. O 
 
 BIRANII 
 
 OF. ALBAX 
 
 ATILIAX. 01 
 
 BIRBIIINI 
 
 OF. ALBAXI 
 
 ATILIANVS. F 
 
 BISENE . . . 
 
 ALBAXI. M 
 
 ATILLVS 
 
 BISSVN 
 
 ALBILLI. M 
 
 ATTICI. M 
 
 BITVRIX 
 
 OF. ALBIX 
 
 ATTILLI. M 
 
 BL. AESI 
 
 ALBIX. P 
 
 ATTILLII. M 
 
 BOINICCI. M 
 
 ALBIXV8 
 
 ATTIXVL 
 
 BOLDVS 
 
 ALBIXI. MA 
 
 ATTIVS. FE 
 
 BONOXVS. F 
 
 ALBVCI 
 
 AVCELIA. F 
 
 BORILI. OP 
 
 ALBVCIAXI 
 
 AVEXTI 
 
 BORILLI. M 
 
 ALBVS 
 
 AVEXTIXI. M 
 
 BORILIJ. OF 
 
 ALBVS. FE 
 
 AVGVSTALI8 
 
 BORILLI. OKFIC 
 
 ALBVSA 
 
 AVGV8TIXV8 
 
 BORVSI. FE 
 
 ALIVS. F. 
 
 AVITI. M 
 
 BOVTI. M 
 
 AMABIVS 
 
 AVITOS. OF 
 
 BRACKILLO 
 
POTTERS’ MARKS, 
 
 BIIICCI 
 BRICC. M 
 BRITAENII 
 BV. DO 
 BVCCIO 
 M. BVCIANl 
 BVRDO. F 
 BVRDOXIS. OF 
 OF. BVRILINDI 
 BVTRIV. 
 
 c. 
 
 C. C. F 
 CABIAN 
 CABRVS 
 CACAS. M 
 CACASI. M 
 CACILANTRO 
 CADDIRON 
 CAI. M. S 
 CAIVS. F 
 CAIVS. OF 
 OF. CAI. IVI 
 OF. CAIVI 
 CAKIVFDO. FE 
 CALENVS. OF 
 CALENVS. F 
 CALETI. M 
 CALAVA 
 CALCIO. F 
 T. CALIXA 
 CALLI. M 
 CALMVA. F 
 CALVI. M 
 OF. CAL 
 OF. CALVI 
 CALVINI. M 
 CALVINVS 
 CAMBYS. F 
 CAMPANO 
 CAMTI. M 
 CANAI. M 
 CAN. PATR 
 C. ANPATR 
 CANETII. M 
 CANRVCATI 
 CAPAS 
 
 CAPELLIV. F 
 CAPIIRI. O 
 CAPRASTAS. FE 
 CAPRASIYS 
 CARANI 
 CARANI. F 
 OF. CARAN 
 CARANT 
 
 CARANTINI. M 
 CARATILLI 
 CARETI. M 
 CARBONIS. M 
 OF. CARI 
 CARINYS 
 CARINOS 
 CARITI 
 CARVS. F 
 CARO 
 O. CARO 
 CARVS S A 
 CASIVS. F 
 CASSIA. O 
 CASTVS 
 CASTVS. F 
 i CASVRIVS. F 
 I CATASEXTVS. > 
 CATIANVS 
 CATYCI 
 CATYLII 
 CATVS. F 
 CAVPI . . . FECI 
 OF. CE 
 OF. CEI 
 CELSIANI. F 
 
 L. C. CELSI. O 
 CELSINVS 
 CELTAS. FC 
 CENETLI. M 
 
 M. CENI 
 CENSORI 
 CENSORINI 
 OF. CEN 
 OF. CENSO 
 CENT. AI. E 
 OF. CERA 
 CEREA 
 CEREALIS 
 CERIALIS 
 CERIAL. M 
 CERESl. M 
 
 I CERTVS. F 
 I CETI 
 I CHRESI. M 
 t CIAMAT. F 
 1 CIMINI 
 CINIVS. M 
 CINNAMI 
 CINNVMI 
 CINTIRIO. M 
 CINTVAGENI 
 CINT. VGEN^J 
 CIN. T. VSSA 
 CINTVSMI. 
 CINTVSMIJi 
 I CINTVSMV 
 
 CINTVSMVS. P 
 CIRKI. M 
 CIRRVS. FEG 
 CIVPPI. M 
 CLEMENS 
 CLIVINTI. O 
 COBNERTI. M 
 COBNERTVS 
 COCCIL. M 
 COCCILLI. M 
 OP. COCI 
 COCVRNV. P 
 COCVRO 
 COCVRO. P 
 OF. COE 
 OP. COELI 
 OF. COET 
 OP. COFI 
 COLLO. P 
 COLLON 
 COLON 
 COMITIALIS 
 COMPRIN. P 
 COMPRINNL M 
 CONSERTI. M 
 CONGI. M 
 CONSTANS. P 
 CONSTAS. F 
 COSAXTIS. P 
 COSIA. P 
 COSI. R . . . 
 COSIRV 
 COSIRVFIN 
 F. L. COS. V 
 COSMI. M 
 COSRV. P 
 COTTO. P 
 OF. COTTO 
 CRACIS. M 
 CRACI. S. M 
 CRACISA. P 
 CRACVNA. P 
 CRANI 
 CRAOSNA. P 
 CRASSIACVS. P 
 CRAVNA. F 
 CRECIRO. OFI 
 OF. CREM 
 OF. CRES 
 CRESCENT 
 CRESCENTI 
 OP. CRESI 
 CREST. M 
 CRESIMI 
 M. CREST! 
 
 M. CRESTF. O 
 OF. CRESTIC 
 
544 
 
 CRIMVS. FE 
 CRISP INI. M 
 C ROB I SO il 
 CROBRO. F 
 CRVCVRO 
 CVCALI. M 
 CVCCIL 
 CVCCILIJ. 
 OF. CVEX 
 CVFF 
 CVI. M 
 OFI. CVIRTTl 
 CVNI. lA. F 
 CVSPICI 
 CVTAI 
 
 D. 
 
 DACO. M 
 DACUIMNVS. F 
 DAGO 
 
 DOGOUVBNVS. P 
 DAGOMARVS 
 DAGOMARVS. F 
 DAGOMARVS. FE 
 DAMIMI. M 
 DAMONVS 
 DAVICI. M 
 DECMI. M 
 DECVMINI. M 
 DECVMNI. M 
 DEM . . . R. M 
 DESTER. F 
 DIGNVS 
 DIOGNATO 
 DIVICATI. M 
 DIVICATVS 
 DTVICI. M 
 DIVIX 
 DIVIX. F 
 DIVIX [ 
 
 DIVIXTI 
 
 DIVIXTVL 
 
 DMCCIVE 
 
 DOOALT. M 
 
 DOCCIVS. P 
 
 DOlICCI 
 
 DOECA 
 
 DORIC (?) 
 
 DOMETOS. P 
 
 DOMINAC 
 
 DOMINCI 
 
 DOMINIC! 
 
 DOMITIANVS. F 
 
 DOMITVS 
 
 DONAT VS 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 DONATVS. F 
 DONNA. M 
 DONNA. OF 
 DONNAV 
 DONTIONI 
 DONV. M 
 DOVIICCVS 
 DOVIIICCVS 
 DRAVCVS. F 
 DRAVCI. M 
 DVPI . . . 
 
 DVRINX 
 
 E. 
 
 ECVESER 
 ELVIL 1 
 OF. IlMAN 
 EPPA 
 EPPN 
 ERICI. M 
 EROR 
 
 E oc CVI 03 I. M 
 
 ERRIMl 
 
 ESCVSI 
 
 ETVS. F 
 
 IIVST 
 
 F. 
 
 O. FABIN 
 OF. FAGE 
 FALENDl. O 
 FELIX. F 
 FELIXS. F 
 FELICIO. O 
 FELICTS. U 
 OF. FELIC 
 OF. FELICIfi 
 FELICIONIS 
 O. FELMA 
 FESTVS. F 
 FESTVS. FO 
 FETI 
 FIR . . . 
 
 O. FIRMONIf 
 FIVI. M 
 FLOI 
 
 FLORVS. I 
 FOVRI 
 FRONTINJ 
 FRONTINVS 
 O. FRONT! 
 OF. FRONT! 
 O. FRONTIN' I 
 
 OF. FBONTINI 
 M. FVCA 
 OF. FVS 
 OFF. FVS 
 
 G. 
 
 GABRVS. F 
 GAIVS. F 
 GALRINVS. F 
 GENIALIS. FECI 
 GEMINI. M 
 GENITOR. F 
 G. E. N. I. T. O. R F 
 GEN IV. 
 
 GERMANI 
 GERMANI. F 
 GERMANI. OF 
 GERMANVS 
 OFF. GER 
 GERTAL. M 
 GLVPEI. M 
 GONDI. M 
 GRACCHVS 
 GRAN AN I 
 GRAN I 
 GRANIANI 
 GRANIO. M 
 GRANIVS. F 
 
 H. 
 
 HABICNS. M 
 
 HABILIS. F 
 
 HABITIS. F 
 
 HELI . . . VS. FI. FE 
 
 HELINIV 
 
 HELL ... 3. FEC 
 
 HIBI . . . 
 
 I. 
 
 I + OFFIC 
 lABI 
 
 lABVS. FE 
 lACOMIO. F 
 IANVARIV& 
 lANVARII 
 lANVARI. OF 
 lASSO. F 
 ICMCRIMO. F 
 IGTNI. MA 
 ILLIANI. M 
 ILLIOMEN 
 
POTTERS’ MARKS. 
 
 5-1 
 
 ILLIOMUIN 
 IMANN 
 INPRINTV. F 
 lOENALIS 
 lOVANTI 
 ISABINI. F 
 ISTVllOXIS 
 IVCANVS. F 
 OF. IVCYX 
 IVENALIS. MA 
 1 YEN IS. M 
 OF. lYLIA 
 lYLIA 
 
 lYLIA. PATH 
 OF. lYL. PAT 
 lYLII. MA 
 lYLIOS 
 lYLI. M 
 lYLIYS. F 
 lYIXYMI. M 
 lYRONIS. OF 
 lYSTI. MA 
 OF. lYSTI 
 OF. lYYEXAL 
 
 K. 
 
 KALENDI. O 
 
 L. 
 
 O. LAE 
 
 OF. LARIOXIS 
 LALLI. MA 
 LAX Cl Y . . . 
 LATIXIAX. F 
 LATIXIAXYS 
 LATIXYS 
 LIRERALIS 
 LIRERIYS 
 LIRER YS 
 LIRERTI. M 
 OF. LICIXI 
 OF. LICIXIAX 
 LICIXILYS 
 LTCIXYS 
 LICIXYS. F 
 LICXYS 
 
 LILTAXI. M (?) 
 LIXIYSMIX 
 LITYGAMYS 
 LOCCO. F 
 LOCIRM. M 
 LOGIRX. M 
 LOLIYS. F 
 
 LOLLIYS. F 
 LOSSA 
 
 OF. LOYIRILO 
 LYCAXYS 
 LYCANYS. F 
 LYCAXTYS. F 
 M. LYCCA 
 OF. LYCCEI 
 LYGETO. FE 
 LYPEI. M 
 LYPI. M 
 LYPIXI. M 
 LYPPA 
 LYPPA 
 LYTAEYS 
 LYTAEYS. FEC 
 LYTAFYS 
 
 M. 
 
 MACCAIYS. F 
 MACCALI. M 
 OF. MACCIA 
 MACCIYS 
 MACCIYS. F 
 MACERATI 
 MACI. OF 
 MACILLI. M 
 MACIRYS 
 MAORI. M 
 MACRIA 
 MACRIXYI 
 MACRIXYS 
 MACRIAXI. M 
 MAGXYS. F 
 MAIAXYS 
 OF. MAIO 
 MAIORI. M 
 MAIOR. I 
 MAIORIS 
 MAIORIS. F 
 MALCI. O 
 MALLIIDO. F 
 MALIYRX 
 MALLI. M 
 MALLIACI 
 MALLIACI. M 
 MALLICI. M 
 MALLYRO. F 
 MALXCXI 
 MAMILIAXI 
 MAXDYIL. M 
 OF. MAXXA 
 MAXTIIO. F 
 MAXYS. F 
 1 U. MAR. F 
 
 I ^fARCELLT. M 
 I MARCELLI.>1. M 
 I MARCI 
 MARCI. F 
 MARCI. MA 
 MARCI. O 
 MARCILLI. M 
 MARC VS. FIG 
 MARINI. M 
 MARITVS. M 
 MAROILLI. M 
 MARTAXI. M 
 OF. MARO 
 MAROI. M 
 MARONI. M 
 MARONI. F 
 MARSI. M 
 MARS VS. FECI 
 MARl'ANI. M 
 MARTI 
 MARTI. M 
 MARTIALIS. FEC 
 MARTJALIS. M 
 MARTINI 
 MARTIM. M 
 MARTIN V 
 MARTIN VS. F 
 MARTII. O 
 MARTI VS 
 MASCL 
 
 MASCVLYS. F 
 OF. MASCYL. A:VRRI 
 MASVETI 
 MASVRIAXI 
 MATEMI 
 MATERXI 
 MATERXIXYS 
 MATERXNI. M 
 OF. MATE 
 MATRIAXI 
 MATVCEXVS 
 MATVCYS 
 MATVRI. M 
 MATVRX 
 MAXI. MA 
 MAXIMI 
 MAXMII. M 
 MAXMIXI 
 OF. MEM 
 MEMORIS. M 
 ME RCA 
 MERCAO 
 MERCATOR 
 MERCATOR. M 
 MERCVSSE. M 
 MERCVSSA. M 
 ' MEDETI. M 
 
. 51 f 3 ArPENDIX. 
 
 METHILLVS 
 METTI. M 
 MICCIO 
 MICCIO. F 
 MICCIONIS. M 
 MIDI. M 
 MILIACI 
 MILIANI 
 MILLIAKII 
 OF. MINI 
 MINVLI. M 
 MINVS. FE 
 MINYS. () 
 MINVTIVS. 
 MISCIO. F 
 MO 
 
 OF. MO 
 OF. MODEST 
 OF. MODESTI 
 OF. MOE 
 MOM 
 O. MOM 
 MOM I. M 
 MON 
 
 OF. MONO 
 OF. MONTAN I 
 OF. MONTECI 
 OF. MONTEI 
 OF. MONTI 
 OF. MONTO 
 MOSS I. M 
 MOXIVS 
 MVISVS. F 
 OF. MYIlllA 
 OF. MVKIIANI 
 OF. MVSEllA 
 MVXTVLI. M 
 MVXTVLLI. M 
 MVXIVIII. M (r) 
 
 N. 
 
 NAMILI 
 NAMILIANT 
 NANII. CKOES 
 OF. NARIS 
 NASSO. F 
 NATALIS 
 O. NATIVI 
 NEBVRRI. OF 
 OF. NEM 
 NEPOTIS 
 NEKT. M 
 OF. NERT 
 NERTVS 
 OF. NEK I 
 
 NEdVREC 
 NICEPHOR 
 NICEPHOR. F 
 OF. NI 
 OF. NIGRI 
 OF. NIGRIAN 
 NIGRINI 
 N I MILIANI 
 OF. NITORI 
 NORILIAM. M 
 NORILIANVS 
 NVMIDI. M 
 IVL. NVMIDI 
 NVTIS 
 
 O. 
 
 OCRI. MA 
 ONATIVI (?) 
 OPPKIN {:) 
 OPTATI. M 
 OPVSIA 
 ORI. MAN (?) 
 OSBI. MA 
 OVIDI 
 
 P. 
 
 PANT. L. F 
 OF. PARI 
 PASSENI 
 PASSI. F 
 PASSIENI 
 OF. PASSIENI 
 OF. PASSIENVS 
 O. PAS. F (?) 
 PATER. F 
 PATERATI. OF 
 PATERCLINI. OF 
 PATERCLOS 
 PATF.BOLOS. FFJ 
 PATERCLVS. F 
 PATERIKANVS. FIT 
 PP. PATERMI 
 PATERNI 
 PATERNI. M 
 PATERNI. OF 
 PATERNVLI 
 PATIIRNV 
 PATNA. FEC 
 PATNI. FEC 
 PATRC M LIN I 
 PATRCIINI 
 PATRICI. M 
 1 C. AN. PATH 
 
 I OF. PATRC 
 OF. PATRICI 
 OF. PATRVCI 
 PAVLIANI 
 PAVLTVS. F 
 PAVLI. M 
 PAVLI. MA 
 PAVLIANI. M 
 PAVLLI. M 
 PAVLLVS. F 
 PAVLVS 
 PAZZENI 
 PECVLIAE 
 PECVLIAR. F 
 PECVLIARIS. F 
 PIINTII. MANY 
 PERE .... 
 PERECHTLI 
 PEREGRIN 
 PERPET 
 PERRVS. F 
 PER VS 
 PERVS. FE 
 PITVRICr. M 
 OF. POLIO 
 OF. POLLIO 
 OF. PONTEI 
 OF. PON THE! 
 PONTI. OFFIO 
 O. PONTI 
 POTIACI 
 POTITINI. M 
 POTITIANI. M 
 C. IVL. PR 
 PRID. FEC 
 PRI. IMO 
 PRIM 
 PRIMANI 
 PRIMI 
 OF. PRIM 
 OFIC. PRIM 
 OF. PRIMI 
 PRIM IS 
 PRIMITIVI 
 PRIMVL 
 PRIMVLI 
 PRIMVL. PATER 
 OF. PRIMVL 
 OF. PRIMVS 
 PRISC. L. M 
 i PRISCINI. M 
 PRIVATI. M 
 OF. PRM 
 FAB. PRO 
 PROBI. OF 
 PR0BV8. F 
 PROTVLI 
 
OF. PVDEN 
 I’VONI. M 
 1*VRINX 
 PVTRI. M 
 PYLADES 
 
 Q. 
 
 QVADRATl 
 UVADRATVS 
 UVARTVS 
 QVARTVS. F 
 QVIETVS. F 
 QVINNO 
 QVINTI. M 
 QVINTINI. M 
 QVINTINIANI 
 QV. C 
 
 II. 
 
 RACVXA. F 
 RAMVLVS 
 REHVRRI. Or- 
 RERVRRIS 
 RERVRRVS F 
 llECEN. F 
 RECMVS 
 REDITI. M 
 llEGALIS 
 REGALIS. F 
 REGENYS 
 REGENTS. F 
 REGIN I. M 
 REGINYS 
 REGINYS. F 
 RIIGNYS 
 REGYILL 
 REGYLI. M 
 RIIGYLI. M 
 REGYLIN YS 
 REGVLIN. F 
 RENECR. M 
 RIIOGENI. M 
 REYILINYS 
 RI. lOGENl 
 OF. RICIMI 
 RIPANI 
 RIYICA 
 ROFFYS. FF<^ 
 ROFFYS. FE 
 ROIPYS. F 
 ROLOGENI. M 
 ROMYLI. OF 
 ROPPYS. FF 
 
 POTTERS’ MARKS. 
 
 j llOPYSI. FE 
 f ROPPIRYI. M 
 ROTTLAI. IM 
 OF. RYRA 
 RYFFI. MA 
 RYFFI. M 
 OF. RYFl 
 RYFIA 
 RYFINI 
 RYFINI. M 
 OF. RVFIN 
 OF. RYFNI 
 RYFYS. FE 
 
 SA. ARTI (y) 
 
 OF. SAR 
 SARELLYS 
 SARELYI 
 SARI AN I 
 SARINIANYS. I 
 SARINYS 
 SARIN YS. F 
 SARINI. M 
 OFF. SAR 
 SACERYASIII 
 I SACERYASIFi’ 
 j SAGER. YASl. OF 
 SACERI. OF 
 SACEROT. M 
 SACIANT 
 SACIRAP. O 
 SACTRO. M 
 SACREM 
 SACRI. OF 
 SACRILI. M 
 SACROTI. M 
 SACROT. M. S. 
 SALIAPYS 
 SALT. F 
 SALTS. F 
 SAMACYIS 
 SANTINYOY. O 
 SANYCIYS. F 
 SANYILLI M 
 SANYITTT. MA 
 SARENTIY 
 OF. SAIIRVT 
 SATERNYS 
 SATERNINI. () 
 SATYRNNI. OF 
 SATTO. F 
 SCOLYS 
 SCOPLI. F 
 SGOPLl. M 
 
 SCORVS 
 SECANDI. M 
 SECANDJN 
 SECINI 
 SECVNDI. OF 
 OF. SECVN 
 SECVNDINI 
 SECVNDVS 
 Si:CVNDVS. F 
 SEDATYS. F 
 SEDATI. M 
 I feEDETI. M 
 ! SENI. A. M 
 ; SENICA. M 
 i SKNICI. O 
 SENILA. M 
 SENNITS. F 
 SENO. M 
 SENONI 
 SENTRVS. FE 
 SERRVS 
 SERVILIS 
 SEVER! 
 
 SEVER I. OF 
 SEVERI. M 
 OF. SEVElil 
 SEVERJANVS 
 SEVERIANI 
 SEVERI AM. M 
 SEVERI N VS. FE 
 OF. SFVEKPVl) 
 OF . SEVIEMi 
 SEXTI. O 
 SEXTI. M 
 SEXTI. ]\IA 
 SIIXTI. MA 
 SIIXTI. MAN 
 SEXTVS. F 
 SlIXTITJ. F 
 SHVLNI 
 SILDATIANI. M 
 SILENVS 
 SILVAN I 
 SILVimr. M 
 SILVI 
 
 SILVI. PATER 
 SILVINl 
 SILVINI. F 
 SILVINVS. F 
 SILVI OF 
 C. SILVI I 
 SILVI. PATRI. O 
 SILVIPATUICI 
 SILVVS 
 SIMVRS. O 
 SINTVHNV . . . 
 SITVSIRI. M 
 
548 
 
 SOTIILLI. M (?) 
 hOLIMI. OF I 
 SOLLEMNI. or 
 SOLLVS 
 SOLLY S. F 
 MA. SVETI 
 SVLPICl 
 OF. SVLPICl 
 SVLPICIAN I 
 SVOBNI. O 
 SVODNED. OF 
 SVRIVS 
 SYMPHO 
 
 T. 
 
 TALLIN! 
 TASCONVS. F 
 TASCIL. M 
 TASCILLA 
 TASCILLI. M 
 TAVRI 
 TAVRIANVS 
 TAVRICVS. F 
 lEBBIL 
 TEDDI 
 TENEV. M 
 TERRVS 
 TERCII. M 
 TEKT. M 
 TERTI. MA 
 TERTIYS 
 TESTY S. FO 
 TETTVR 
 TETTVR. O 
 TETVR. O 
 TITTICI 
 TITTILI 
 TITTIVS 
 TITVRI. M 
 TITVRONIS 
 TITVRONIS. OF 
 TVLLVS. F 
 TVLLVS. FE 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 TVRTVNN 
 
 V. 
 
 VACIR. O 
 C. YALAB 
 VALERI 
 VARIVS. F 
 VASSALI 
 VAXTI 
 VECETI. M 
 VEGETI. M 
 VENERAND 
 YENI. M 
 VENICARV? F 
 VERECV 
 VERECVNDl 
 VEREDV. M 
 VERTECISA. F 
 VIIRI. M 
 VERVS 
 VESPO. F 
 VESPONI 
 VEST. M 
 VESTRI. OF 
 VETERXIV 
 OF. VIA 
 VICAR VS. F 
 
 victor:. M 
 
 VICTORINVS 
 
 VIDVCOS. F 
 
 VIDVCVS. F 
 
 YIMPVS 
 
 VINN 
 
 VIRIL 
 
 O. VIRILI 
 
 VIRILIS. F 
 
 OF. VIRILLI 
 
 OF. L. COS. VTRIL 
 
 OF. L. C. VIRIL 
 
 OF. L. Q. VIRIL 
 
 YIRONI. OF 
 
 VI RT 
 
 POTTERS’ MARKS ON 
 
 ALBINVS 
 ALBINYS. FECIT 
 APRILIS 
 I AN DON 
 ( P. ARVA 
 ANDTD. FECIT 
 AMMIVS 
 BRIXSA 
 
 CAS . . . 
 
 CATVLYS. F 
 CIREKOFNS 
 CRICIR. OF 
 DEVA . . . 
 DVBITATVS 
 DOINV 
 DO . . . 
 
 VIRTHV 
 
 VIRTHVS 
 
 VIRTHVS. FECl-^ 
 
 VIRTIVAS 
 
 VIRTVTI. F 
 
 OF. VIRTVTIS 
 
 VISI. M 
 
 VITA 
 
 OF. VITA 
 
 OF. VITAL 
 
 OF. YI l'ALIS 
 
 OF. VITALI 
 
 VITAL! . OF 
 
 VITALIS. FE 
 
 VITALIS. M. S. F. 
 
 VITALIS. M. S. FECIT 
 
 VITALIS. PP 
 
 VITINVS. F 
 
 a. VO 
 
 Q. VOVO 
 
 VOCEV. F 
 
 VOSIICVNNVS 
 
 VNICVS. F 
 
 VRNINI 
 
 VRSY^LVS. FE 
 
 VSTI. MA 
 
 VXMLINI 
 
 VXOPILLI. M 
 
 X. 
 
 XANTHI 
 
 XIVI 
 
 XVNX 
 
 Z 
 
 ZAPEPIDIV 
 
 ZOIL 
 
 ZOL VS 
 
 . . R^IL LV F 
 OIVNV 
 
 MORTARIA. 
 
 EOAB 
 
 I ESVNERT 
 ( Q. VALERI 
 I GATTIV.'. 
 
 ( MANSINV.S 
 LICINILwS 
 LITVCEN 1 
 LVGVDI. r 
 
rOTTERS’ MARKS. 
 
 LVGVDVS. FACTVS 
 LVGVDV 
 F. LVGVDV 
 LVGVDV. FACTV 
 L. E. ECIT 
 MAllINYS. FECIT 
 MARTIN VS. F 
 MATVCENVS 
 MATYSENS. F 
 maxi' 
 
 FRASSO. OF 
 FRIMYS. F 
 L. LYRIYF. FRISCYS 
 P. P. R 
 
 P. R. E 
 
 POTATICVS. FE 
 
 Q. . S. D 
 RIDANYS 
 RIDANYS. M 
 RIPANI 
 
 RIPANYS TIBER. F 
 A. TEREX 
 RIPANI 
 RYCCYS 
 SAYRAXYS 
 SATVRXIXYS 
 SATYRNIXYS. FEC 
 U. YA. SE 
 
 L. CAN. SEC 
 SECYNDYS 
 SOLLVS 
 SOLLVS. F 
 TANK) 
 
 SEX. VAL 
 Q. YALC. F 
 YERAXI. P 
 Q. YALERI. 
 ESYXERTI 
 ( Q. VALERIYS 
 ( VERAXIYS 
 T . . . S. YALEX 
 YIALLA 
 
 POTTERS’ MARKS ON THE HANDLES OF AMPHOR.E 
 
 A. A. F 
 AERI 
 C. F. AI 
 C. AZ. 
 
 AXII 
 BELLYCT 
 L. YI. BR 
 C. 
 
 C. lY. R 
 C. V. H 
 L. CES 
 C. AP. F 
 CRADOS 
 
 CARTYNIT. M (') 
 CORI 
 
 F. C. CYFIA 
 
 L. F. CRESCIY. FE (?) 
 
 EIPC 
 
 EROV. IF 
 
 FAVSTI. MANIB 
 
 GMT. 
 
 G. S. A. 
 
 HILARI 
 L. A. GE 
 L. C. F. P. C. O 
 I IIVX. (?) MELISSAE 
 ( MELISSE 
 
 L. lYXI (?) 
 
 MELISSI 
 MAMILI (?) 
 
 MELISSI 
 
 M. P. R 
 MCC 
 MIM 
 NYMPH 
 
 P. S. A 
 POR. L. AX 
 
 Q. S. P 
 CAT. QYIE 
 CANTON, Q,V 
 
 CANTON. QV. ET 
 
 CANT. QYESI (?) 
 
 QIMFN 
 
 ROMANI 
 
 L. V. ROPI. M 
 
 RYFSANI 
 
 SAENYS 
 
 OF. SAN I 
 
 SCALENS 
 
 L. SER SENC 
 
 C. SEMPOL 
 
 L. S. SEX 
 
 L. C. SOL 
 
 C. MARI. STIL 
 
 S. YENNR 
 
 YALERI 
 
 YEXYSTI 
 
 YIBIOR 
 
 K. YKXXR 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 A r)fillab!i [IVatch-o'oss), 158 
 Aboiia {Bitton)^ 169 
 Acits, 393 
 
 Ad Abonani {Bitton)^ 169 
 Ad Abum [Winterton)^ 152 
 Ad Alaunam [Laiicaster) 164 
 Ad Alpes Penninos, 161 
 Ad Aiisam {Stratford), 160 
 Ad Antonarn, 165 
 Ad Aquas {JFells), 168 
 Ad Decimimi, 169 
 Ad Fines, {Broucjlii'ag)^ 150 
 Ad Lapidem {Stoueham), 167 
 Ad Lemanum {on the Ltjmne), 170 
 Ad Petuariam {Brough), 153 
 Ad Pontera {Farndon), 152 
 Ad Sabrinam {Sea 3Iills), 169 
 Ad Tisam, 154 
 
 Ad Trajectiim {Severn side), 169 
 Ad Trivonain {Burg), 165 
 Ad Uxellam [Bridgewater), 168 
 Ad Vigesinium [Castle Flemish), 
 162 
 
 Adminius, a British prince, 41, 43 
 Bratus, 18 
 .F.s, 18, 19 
 
 iElia Castra [Alcester), 166 
 aPhla, the leader of the West 
 Saxons, 457 
 JF.quipondiu}n, 413 
 ^Pisc, king of Kent, 456 
 ^Esculapiiis, worship of, 325 
 ^Kscwine, kiiig of the^East Saxons, 
 ^59 
 
 iEsica [Great Chesters), 1”^. 214 
 iEtius, letter ol the B.dtons to, 
 45 1 
 
 Age, average of the Homans in 
 Britain, 385 
 
 Agelocum {Littlchorough), 152 
 Agger, 222 
 Agminales, 223 
 Agricola, Julius, 57 — 60 
 Agriculture, state of, under the 
 Homans, 255 — 257 
 Akeman-street, 524 
 Akemannes-ceaster {Bath), o24 
 Alauna {Alcester), 165 
 Alauna {Lancaster), 164 
 Alauna {Kier), 123, 155 
 Albani {Scottish tribe), 63 
 Albinus, Decimus Clodius, 128 — 
 131 
 
 Alcluyd {Dumbarton), 526 
 Aldermen, 510 
 Aliona {Whitley Castle), 158 
 Allectus, his usurpation, 142 
 Alonye {Ambleside), 164 
 Altars, Homan, 316 — 320 
 Amber, use of, and superstitions 
 connected with, among the 
 Anglo-Saxons, 489 
 Amboglanna [Birdosivald), 158 
 Ambrosius Aurelianus, 455 
 Amphitheatres, Homan, 212 
 Amphorm, 280, 403, used for 
 coffins, 365 
 Ampulla, 363, 403 
 Ancalites {Beople of Berkshire?), 
 34 
 
INDEX. 
 
 o.vl 
 
 Ancastii, a goddess worshipped in 
 Jioman Britain, 851 
 Anderida [Pevenst'y), 169 
 Aiidredes-ceaster {Pevexsey), 458 
 Aiidredes-leali {Silva Anderid<(), 
 457 
 
 Angles, 455 
 
 Anglo-Saxons, their mode of set- 
 tling on tlie conquered lands, 
 505, prejudiced against set- 
 tling in towns, 507 
 Animal remains found near Ho- 
 man sites, 405 
 Ansa^ 413 
 
 Antivestseum {the Land's End), 61 
 Antoninus Bins, 126 
 Antoninus, Itinerary of, 146, 531 
 — 5Ji 
 
 Antoninus s waH, j 27, 133 
 Apollo, worship of, 322, 324 
 Aqiue Calida?, Aquic Solis {Bath), 
 68,121,210 
 
 Arcani, agents employed in Bri- 
 tain, 443 
 
 Arciaconns, a deity worshipped 
 in Kofiian Britain, 351 
 Ariconiiim {Weston), 161 
 ArniilUe, 393 
 
 Armour, Homan, 414, Anglo- 
 Saxon, 470, 471 
 
 Arrow-heads of stone, 96 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 474 
 
 Astarte, worship of, 325 
 Athelbert becomes king of Kent, 
 457 ; converted to Christi- 
 anity, 462, 463 
 
 Attacotti {Scottish tribe), 63, 139, 
 441 
 
 Attrebates {Berkshire), 62 
 Augustine, St., the apostle of the 
 Anglo-Saxons, 462 
 A uteri {Irish tribe), 64 
 Avebury, British circles at, 83 
 Avisford, in Sussex, remarkable 
 Homan tomb found there, 364, 
 387 
 
 Axe, Anglo-Saxon war-axe, 477 
 Axelodunum {Boivness), 158 
 
 B. 
 
 Banatia (Bonness), 123 
 
 Banchorium {Bangor), 163 
 Bancorna-byrig {Bangor Iscoed), 
 527 
 
 Banna, a Homan town near Ha- 
 drian’s AV’all, 257 
 Barrows, or sepulchral mounds, 
 70, 71, 86; Homan, 377, 378 ; 
 Anglo-Saxon, 467, 469 
 Bartlow hills, 377 
 Ilasilica, Homan, 211 
 Bathan-ceaster {Bath) 459 
 Batlis. in Homan houses, 199y 
 200 ; imblic, 211, 212, 414 
 ! Beads, Homan, 287, 288 ; Anglo- 
 j Saxon, 486, 489 
 I Bebban-byrig {Bamboroagh), built, 
 459 
 
 Helatucadrns, a god worshipped 
 in Homan Britain, 349 
 Bclgie {Hants, IVilts, and Sooic^''- 
 set), 25, 43, 61 
 Bells, Homan, 405 
 Bennaventa {Barrow Hill), 149 
 iieiioniie {High Cross), 149 
 Beorh, beorg, beariv, 467 
 Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon poem 
 of, 466 
 
 Bericus, a British prince. 40, 42 
 Bernicia, kingdom of, 456 
 Bibracte, 161 
 
 Bibroci {People of Sussex), 34 
 Bignor, Homan villa at, 243 
 Bilanx, 413 
 Blanii {Irish tribe), 64 
 Blatum Bulgium {Middleby), 156 
 Blestium {}[onmoiith), 161 
 Boadicea, 51 — 55 
 Holanus, Vettius, 56 
 Boleriuin {the Land's End), 61 
 Bollivi, 510 
 Boni homines, 510 
 Bonus Eventus worsliipped, 233, 
 337 
 
 Borcovicus {Hoasestcads), 158, 
 316 
 
 Bos longifrons, 404 
 Bovium {Bangor), 163 
 Boviuin {Ewenny), 162 
 Bowls, Anglo-Saxon, 499 
 Box, branches and leaves of, bu- 
 ried with the dead by tlie 
 Homans, 387, 388 
 Bracem, 65 
 
552 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 liraciaca, an epithet of Miirs, 310 
 Erannogeniuni {Leintivardiiie), 122 
 lU-aviniiim [LeiHtivardine), 163 
 liremenium [High Rochester)^ 123, 
 155 
 
 Bremetoiiracnm [Brampton), 158 
 Brenietonacje {Occrhoroitgh), 164 
 Bricks or tiles, Bomnn, 183, 184 
 Bridges, Homan, 225 
 Brig-antes [North of England), 45, 
 62, 126 
 
 Brigantes [Irish tribe), 64 
 Brigantia, the goddess, 351 
 Brigis, or Brige [Bronghton)^ 167 
 Brinavce [Black-ground), 166 
 Britain, description of, by Cmsar, 
 36 ; by Strabo and Diodorus, 37 
 Britannia, the goddess, 333 
 Britons, their condition and man- 
 ners, 37, 65 ; serving as aux- 
 iliaries abroad, 139 
 Brocavium [Brougham), 155 
 Bronze, age, 2 ; swords, 5 — 18, 
 101 ; coins, 14, 16 ; spear- 
 
 heads, 15 ; daggers, 15, 103 ; 
 primary origin of, 16 ; armour, 
 18; weapons, 19; Celts, 20; 
 instruments made of, 95 ; Bo- 
 man manufactures in, 9, 19, 
 22, 297 
 
 Bronzes, Boman, 408 
 Brovonacne [Kirbg Thore), 155 
 Buckets, Anglo-Saxon, 499 
 Bulheum, see Burrium 
 Biirgwara, 514, 517 
 Burrium [Usk), 122, 161, 139 
 Bustum, o6c> 
 
 C. 
 
 Cacr, 526 
 
 Caer-Legion [Caerlon), 527 
 Caer-Luel [Carlisle) 526 
 Caer-Marddyn [Caer mar then), 527 
 Caer-Seiont, 527 
 Caer-Went, 527 
 
 Cuesar, Julius, iavades Britain, 28; 
 
 his second invasion. 30 
 Cmsaromagus (Chelmsford), 159 
 Cairns, 77 
 
 Calcaria [Tadcaster), 152, 213 
 Calcvus, calceamentam, 398 
 
 Caledonia Svlvn, 63 
 Caledonii [Scottish tribe), 18, 59, 
 63, 131 
 Caliga, 396 
 
 Caligula marches to the coast of 
 Gaul, 41 
 
 Calleva [Silchester), 122, 161 
 (kimbodunum (Slack), 122, 164 
 Camboricum [Cambridge), 160 
 Camnlodunum [Colchester), 41, 
 43, 45, 52, 122, 159 
 Camunlodunum, see Cambodu- 
 num. 
 
 Candelabrum, 407 
 Cangi, 45, 62 
 Canonium (Kelvedon), 159 
 Cantm [Scottish tribe), 63 
 Canterbury, its municipal condi- 
 tion under the Anglo-Saxons, 
 510 
 
 Cantii [tribe inhabiting Ke)it), 37, 
 61 
 
 Cantwara byrig (Canterbury), 457 
 Capulus, 409 
 Caput stater ce, 413 
 Caracalla, 11, 133, 137 
 Caractacus, 40, 45 
 Caransius assumes the empire, 
 139; his coins, 140; mur- 
 dered, 142 
 
 Carbantorigum [Kirkcudbright) , 
 
 123 
 
 Carnabii (Scottish tribe), 63 
 Carnonacm (Scottish tribe), 63 
 Carnydd, 77 
 
 Cartismandua, 47, 48, 57 
 Cassi (Hertfordshire), 34, 62 
 Cassivellaunus, 31, 34 
 Castra Exploratorum [Netherby), 
 156 
 
 Cataracto, or Cataractonium [Cat- 
 terick), 122, 154 
 Catini (Scottish tribe), 63 
 Catus Decianus, 52 
 Catyeuchlani [Buckingham, Bed' 
 ford, and Hertford), 62 
 Cauci (Irish tribe), 64 
 Can ponce, caupones, 223 
 Causenme [Ancaster), 151 
 Caves, habitations in, 115, 118 
 Ceajius, a deity worshipped in 
 Boman Britain, 351 
 i Ceaster, 526 
 
IXDEX. 
 
 Ceawlin, king of the West Saxons, 
 459 
 
 Celtic tribes, their origin and 
 movement, 23 
 Celtis, 10 
 
 Celts, instruments so called, 8, 10, 
 16, 20, 98 
 
 Cemeteries, Homan, 213 
 Cenia {the Fat). 168 
 Cenimagni [the peoiFe of SaffulJc), 
 
 39 
 
 Cenotaph, Anglo-Saxon, 367, 368, 
 469 
 
 Centram Hnterce, 413 
 Centiirial stones, 418, 420 
 Cerdic, king of the West Saxons, 
 458 
 
 Cerealis, Petiliiis, 53, 57 
 (.eres, worship of, 321 
 Cerones [Scottish tribe)., 63 
 Chatelaine of the Anglo-Saxon 
 ladies, 489 
 
 Christianity, its establishment in 
 Roman Britain questioned, 
 353, 356 ; among the Welsh, 
 527 
 
 Cilnrnimi [Chemrs)., 137, 157, 
 210, 328, 338, 418 
 Cireiinis, 413 
 Circles of stones, 79, 83 
 Cissan-ceastor [Chichester)^ 453 
 Cities of Britain, their condition 
 when the Boman legions left 
 the island, 451 
 Civitas, 426, 427, 428, 510 
 Classicianus, Julius, 56 
 Claudius, his expedition to Bri- 
 tain, 42 
 
 Clausentum [Bittern)^ 167, 351, 
 422, 431 
 
 Cniit, king, deceives the citizens 
 of London, 518 
 
 Coal, Kimmeridge, 290, mineral, 
 used as fuel by the Romans, 
 292 
 
 Cocci urn [Rlbchester)., 164, 210, 
 336 
 
 Cochlear., 410 
 
 Coeidius, a god worshipped in 
 Roman Britain, 350 
 Cogidubnus, or Cogidunus, 51 
 Coinage, Roman, 14, 15 ; British, 
 
 40 
 
 553 
 
 Coins, British, 109, 112; Roman 
 plated, 431; forged, 432; 
 coins relating to Britain, 435 ; 
 modes in Avhich they were 
 hoarded up, 436, 437 ; pro- 
 portional numbers in which 
 Roman coins are found, 438, 
 439; Anglo-Saxon, 501 
 Colania [Carstairs., or LanarF)^ 
 123, 156 
 Collegia., 427 
 Colonice^ 426 
 Colonies, Roman, 296 
 Colam, cola nivaria., 402 
 Combretonium [Burgh)., 160 
 Combs, Roman, 398; Ang^o- 
 Saxon, 492 
 
 Comius, a British prince, 40 
 I Commius, the Attrebatian, 27, 29, 
 30, 35 
 
 Coniinodus, 128 
 Compasses, Roman, 412 
 Condate [Kinclerton), 163 
 Condercum, [Benwell), 210, 336, 
 348 
 
 Congavata, 158 
 Coiinubium, 428 
 Conoviiim [Caer him)., 163 
 Constans visits Britain, 143 
 Constantine the Great, 143 
 Constantine, the usurper, his his- 
 tory, 449, 450 
 
 Constantius, marches against Ca- 
 rausius and Allectus, 142 
 Copper, found in Britain, 22 
 Corb ridge lanx, 326 
 Corda [Birreusworh), 123 
 Coria, 123 
 
 Coiinium (Cirencester), 122, 161, 
 168 
 
 Coriondi [Iri-nh tribe), 64 
 Coritavi [Northampton, Leicester, 
 Rutland, Derby, Nottingham, 
 Lincoln), 61 
 
 Cornabii ( Warwick, Worcester, 
 Stafford, Salop, Cheshire), 62 
 Corn-wealas, 525 
 
 Corstopitum [Corchester, Cor- 
 bridge), 154, 325 
 Costume of the Romans, 391 
 Cowey Stakes, 36 
 Cowries found in Anglo-Saxon 
 graves, 492 
 
INDEX. 
 
 5rA 
 
 Cnissiis, Publius, 24 
 Creoiics {Scottish tribe), 63 
 CrococoliiUii {Brofff/h), 152 
 Cromlechs, 7*2—77 ; their position, 
 83—86; iige oi; 106, 107 
 Crvptoporticus, in Roman villas, 
 ^ 240, 243 
 
 Culinary utensils, Roman, 401, 403 
 Cutter, 314, 409 
 Cumbria, kiui'-dom of, 5i6 
 Cunetio {Folltf Farm), 16D 
 Cunobeline, 40, 41 
 Curator viarum, 223 
 Curia [Currie), 123, 155 
 Curia, 426, 509 
 Curiales, 426, 509 
 Cynric, king- of the West Saxons, 
 459 
 
 Cyren-ceaster [Cirencester), 459 
 
 D. 
 
 Da 2 r.£^ers, early bronze, 15, 16 
 Damnii [a. Scottish tribe), 63, 123 
 Damnonii [Devon and Cornwall), 
 43, 63 
 
 Daiium [Doncaster), 152 
 Darini [Irish tribe), 64 
 Decianus, Catus, 52 
 Jtecuriones, 426 
 Defensor civitatis, 427, 509 
 Dcira, kingdom of, 456 
 Delg’ovitia [site uncertain), 153 
 Demetae [Welsh tribe), 62 
 Derventio [Old Malton), 153 
 Derventio [Little Chester), 165 
 Deva [Chester), 123, 163 
 Devana [Old Aberdeen), 123 
 Diana, worship of, 320 
 Dic didones [a Scottish tribe), 441 
 Didius Gallus, Avitus, 47 
 Jtiplomata, 223 
 Jlirersoria, diversores, 223 
 Dobuni [Gloucester and Oxford), 
 42, 62 
 
 Dogs, British, 38, 257, 558 
 Dolichene, Jupiter, 316 
 Dolmen, 72 
 
 Dorocina [Dorchester, Oxf.), 166 
 Dover, its municipal privileg'cs 
 under the Anglo-Saxons, 51 1 
 Drift, geological formation, 1 
 
 Drinking-glasses, Anglo-Saxon, 
 495 
 
 Droit de gite, 511 
 Druids, their political faction in 
 Gaul, 27 ; retire to Anglesea, 
 49 ; their system and worship, 
 66—69 
 
 Druids’ circles, 79 
 Druids’ beads, 288 
 Dubrae [Dover), 146, 170. 184 
 Dunium [Dorchester), 121 
 Durius [the Dart), 167 
 Durnovaria [Dorchester), 121, 167 
 Durotriges [Dorset), 61, 121 
 Durobriv.e [Fochester), 14(;, 360 
 DurobrivjB [Castor), 151, 210 
 Durocobrivm [Dunstable), 148 
 Durolevum [Davington), 146 
 Durolipons [Godmanchestcr), 150, 
 160 
 
 Durolitum, or Durositum [llo,n~ 
 ford), 159 
 
 Durovernum [Oanterhurg), 121, 
 146, 457 
 
 Duumviri, 426, 510 
 
 E. 
 
 East- Anglia, kingdom of, founded, 
 459; the East-Angles con- 
 verted to Christianity, 463 
 Eastlow hill, in Suffolk, a remark- 
 jible barrow opened by Pro- 
 fessor Henslow, 377 
 East-Saxons converted to Ciiristi- 
 anity, 463 
 
 Eblani [Irish tribe), 64 
 Eburacum [York), 122, 133, 136 
 152, 153, 456 
 Echevins, 510 
 Elauna, the goddess, 352 
 Ellebri [Irish tribe), 64 
 Ensis, 19 
 
 Eofor-wic [York), 456 
 Epiacmn [Lanchester), 122, 154, 
 293 
 
 Epidii [Scottish tribe), 63 
 Epistomium, 404 
 Epona, the goddess, 338 
 Eppillus, a British prince, 40 
 Erdini [Irish tribe) 64 
 Ermyn Street, 523 
 
INDEX, 
 
 555 
 
 Erpeditaiii [Irish tribe) 64 
 Eteocetum [IVall)^ 149, 164 
 Eustache, Count of Boulogne, his 
 quarrel with the burghers of 
 Dover, 511 
 
 Exeter, its position under the 
 Anglo-Saxons, 513 
 Exan-ceaster (Exeter), 527 
 
 F. 
 
 Faiiiim Cocidis [uear Ean/cshead), 
 350 
 
 Eerrum, 19, 21 
 
 Fibuhe, Konian, 392 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 478, 484 
 
 Fire-dogs, Uonian, found in 
 Britain, 401 
 
 Fire-places, Roman, 401 
 hlint implements, 1 
 Flora, coin representing the god- 
 dess, 14 
 Focus, 314, 401 
 For f ex, 408 
 
 Forgeries of Roman coins, 432, 
 434 
 
 Forks, Roman, 410 
 Fortune, worship of, 336, 337 
 h'oruni Diaiiae (Dunstable), 118 
 Froutinus, Julius, 57 
 Ealijur divoni, 389 
 
 G. 
 
 Gabrosentaj (Burffh- upon -Sands), 
 158 
 
 Gadeni (Cumberland and Scottish 
 hordes), 64, 351 
 Gagates, or jet, 289, 290 
 Galacum (near Kendal), 122, 164 
 Galava (Keswick), 164 
 Galgacus, 17, 60 
 G algal, 77 
 
 Gallus, Avitus Didius, 47 
 Gangani (Irish tribe), 04 
 Gariaimonum (Burgh Castle), 448 
 Genii, worship of the, 329, 331, 
 333 
 
 Geroutius, Count, 449 
 Gessoriacum (Boulogne), 28, 139, 
 142 
 
 Gildas, liis legendary history, 452 
 — 455 
 Gladius, 19 
 Glanovanta, 159 
 
 Glass, Roman, 282 ; manufactured 
 at Brighton, 283 ; different 
 articles made of it, 284, 287 ; 
 Anglo-Saxon glass, 495 ; Ger- 
 man- Saxon glass, 497 
 Glass windows in Roman houses, 
 205 
 
 Gleow-eeaster (Gloucester), 459 
 (ilevum (Gloucester), 161 
 Gobannium (Abergavenny), 163, 
 169 
 
 Gold found in Britain, 296 
 Goldsmiths, skill of the Anglo- 
 Saxon, 486 
 
 Goldsmith’s sign at Old Maltoii, 
 304 
 
 Government, Roman, in Britain, 
 416 
 
 Governors of Roman Britain — 
 Bropreetors : 
 
 Aldus Blautius, 42, 424 
 Ostorius Scapula, 44 
 Avitus Didius Gallus, 47 
 Veranius, 49 
 
 Caius Suetonius PauUinus, 49 
 Petronius Turpilianus, 56 
 Trebellius Maximus, 56 
 Vettius Bolanus, 56 
 Petilius Cerealis, 57 
 Julius Frontinus, 57 
 Julius Agricola, 57 — 60 
 Sallustius Lucullus, 124 
 Julius Severus, 126 
 Priscus Licinius, 126, 424 
 Jjollius Urbicus, 126, 424 
 Platorius Nepos, 424 
 Aulidius Victorinus, 127 
 C. Valerius Pansa, 424 
 Ulpius Marcellus, 127 
 Perennis, 127 
 
 Publius Helvius Pertinax, 128 
 Decimus Clodius Albinus, 128 
 Virius Lupus, 131, 336, 424 
 Claudius Xenophon, 425 
 Marius Valerianus, 137, 425 
 Mmcelius Fuscus, 425 
 Gincus Jmcilianus, 425 
 Claudius Paulinus, 425 
 Xonnius Pliilippus, 137, 425 
 
556 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Governors {continued ) — 
 
 Vicarii : 
 
 Martin, 144 
 Alypius, 440 
 Civilis, 441, 442 
 Chrysantlms, 447 
 Gratian, a British usurper, 448 
 Gregory, Pope, undertakes the 
 conversion of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, 461 
 
 11 . 
 
 Ilabitancum (Risingham), 154, 
 337, 420 
 
 H^idriun in Britain, 124 
 Hadrian’s wall, 125, 156, 157, 210 
 Hair-pins, Roman, 393 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 485 
 Ham^ 505 
 
 Hammia, a goddess worshipped 
 in Roman Britain, 352 
 Harimella, a goddess, 352 . 
 Hengest and Horsa arrive in Kent, 
 455 — 457 
 
 IlercLilentus, the god, 352 
 Hercules, worship of, 325 
 Heriri Mons {Snowdon)^ 150 
 Hibernia {Ireland), invaded by 
 the Romans, 61 : description 
 of, by Ptolemy, 64 
 Himilco, the Carthaginian, 25 
 Holy Promontory {Carnsore 
 Point), 64 
 
 Honorius, the emperor, gives li- 
 berty to the cities of Britain, 451 
 Horestii {Scottish tribe), 63 
 Household gods of the Romans, 
 407 
 
 Houses, Roman, 187 — 199 
 Hrofes-ceaster,(7?6<c//^.sY^;-),457, oil 
 Hunnum [Halton-chesters], 157, 
 213, 389, 419 
 Huscarles, 513, 518 
 Hvpocausts in Roman houses, 196, 
 ^ 199 
 
 Iconi {Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, 
 and Huntingdon), 44, 61 
 
 Iciani {Icklingham), 160, 508 
 Ictis {the Isle of Wight), 25 
 Ida, king of Northumbria, 459 
 lerne, 25 
 
 Iknield Street, 523 
 Imanuentius, king of the Trino- 
 bantes, 31 
 In Medio, 153 
 
 Inscriptions, on Roman coins, 14 ; 
 in Roman villas, 245, 254 ; 
 on drinking vessels, 286 ; on a 
 Roman pig of copper, 291 ; on 
 pigs of lead, 294, 295 ; on 
 silver, 296 ; on medicine 
 stamps, 299, 303 ; on signs, 
 304 ; on roundels at Colches- 
 ter, 312; on altars, 314—352; 
 sepulchral inscriptions, 378 — 
 387 ; centurial stones, 418, 
 419; early inscriptions to the 
 emperors, 420 — 423; to muni- 
 cipal officers, 427 ; sepulchral 
 inscriptions found iii Cornwall 
 and Wales, 528, 529 
 Iron, swords, 7, 19 ; early use of, 
 17, 22 ; procured in Britain, 
 37 ; manufacture under the 
 Romans, 291 — 294 
 Isannavaria {Burnt Walls), 149 
 Isca Humnoniorum {Exeter), 121, 
 167 
 
 Isca Silurum {Caerleon), 48, 122, 
 162, 169 
 
 Isclialis {Ilchester), 121, 168 
 Isiuiee {Ancaster), 151 
 Isurium {Aldboroagh), 122, 154, 
 213, 225, 404 
 
 ftininaries, Roman, 145, 162, 166, 
 527, 528 
 
 I tuna {Solway Firth), 158 
 Iveriii {Irish tribe), 64 
 
 J. 
 
 .lewellery, Anglo-Saxon, 485, 486 
 Jugantes, 61 
 Julianus, Didius, 128 
 •lupiter, worship of, 315 — 318 
 Jutes, 455, 506 
 
 K. 
 
 Kent, kingdom of, founded, 4 56 
 
INDEX. 
 
 557 
 
 Kevs, Roman, 339 ; Anglo-Saxon, 
 *490, 491 
 
 Kimmeridge coal, ornaments made 
 of, 288 
 Kist-vae)iy 7 2 
 
 Knives, Roman, 409; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 474, 489 
 
 Lachrymatories, 284 
 Laconiciim, 236 
 Lactodorum (Towcester)^ 151 
 Lamps, Roman, 406, 407 
 Lamps placed in Roman graves, 
 363 
 
 Lancula^ 413 
 Lares, 407 
 
 Lavatrse {Bowei^^ 155, 336, 425 
 J.ead, manufactures in, in Roman 
 Britain, 294; leaden coffins 
 found in Roman cemeteries, 368 
 Legions, Ronn<n, in Britain, 123, 
 448 
 
 Legiolium [Castleford), 152 
 Leraanis Portus i^Lymne), 146, 170 
 Leucarum {Llychwr)^ 162 
 Libra, 413 
 Lichavens, 74 
 Idcinius Priscus, 126 
 LJgula, 410, 411 
 
 Lightning, people killed by, 
 buried on the s’^ot, 389 
 Lindum [Lincoln), I'll, 151 
 Lindum [Ardoch), 123, 155 
 Locks, Roman, 399, 400 
 Logi [Scottish tribe), 63 
 Londinium (London), 53, 121, 147, 
 148 ; the residence of the 
 propraetor, 185 
 
 London, its municipal history 
 under the Aaglo- Saxons, 514— 
 517 
 
 Low, 70, 79, 467 
 LAiccrna, 406 
 
 Lucius, king, a fabulous person- 
 age, 354, 355 
 
 Lucopibia (Whithern), 122 
 Lucullus, Sallustius, 124 
 Luentiniiin [Llanio), 122, 169 
 Luguballium, Luguvalliuni (Car- 
 lisle), 155, 158 
 
 Lundenwic (London), 515 
 lAipicinus, 144 
 Jmpus, Virius, 131 
 Lutudarum (Chesterfield), 166 
 
 M. 
 
 Maeatae (a northern tribe), 131 
 Madus (Medway), 146 
 Magiovintum (Lenny Stratford), 
 151 
 
 Magna (Kenchester), 163, 299 
 Magna (Carvoran), 158, 321, 349 
 Magnatae (Lrish tribe), 64 
 Magnentius, 144 
 
 Mais, a town near Hadrian’s wall, 
 261 
 
 Mancipes, 223 
 
 Mancunium (Manchester), 164 
 Mandubratius, cliief of the Trino- 
 bantes, 31, 33 
 
 Maiiduessedum (Manceter), 149 
 Mansiones, 223 
 
 Maponus, a god worshipped in 
 Roman Britain, 352 
 Marcellus, Ulpius, 127 
 Marcus, a British usurper, 448 
 Margidunum (Bridyeford), 152 
 Mariduniim (Caer mar then), 122, 
 162 
 
 Mars, worship of, 318 
 Martin, governor of Britain, 144 
 Masonry, Roman, characteristics 
 of, 179—191 
 
 Matres deae, worship of the, 338 ; 
 traces of, in the middle ages, 
 338—315; Roman altars in 
 Britain dedicated to, 345 — 347 
 Matunus, a god worshipped in 
 Roman Britain, 352 
 Maiirusius, Yictorinus, 138 
 Maximus, Magnus, his revolt and 
 usurpation, 445; his deatii, 
 447 ; fables connected w.th 
 him, 447 
 
 Medicine stamps, Roman, 299, 
 304 
 
 Mediolanum (Chesterton), 164 
 Mediolanum (on the Tanad), 122, 
 150 
 
 Menapia (St. David's), 162 
 Menapii (Lrish tribe), 64 
 

 INDEX. 
 
 Menhir^ 74, 82 
 Mercia, kingdom ot, 460, 463 
 Mercury, worship of, 322 
 Mertie {Scottish tribe), 63 
 Middle Angles converted to Chris- 
 tianity, 463 
 
 Mile-stones, Homan, 224 ; length 
 of the Homan mile, 225 
 Military force in Britain under the 
 Homans, 418 
 Milliariam, 223, 421 
 Minerva, worship of, 320 
 Minimi, 115, 501 — 503 
 IMint, Homan, in Hritain, 430 
 Mirrors, Homan, 398 
 ]\[issio, 428 
 
 IMistletoe, a sacred plant among 
 the Druids, 69 
 
 Mithras, worship of, 326—329 
 Mogontis, a god worshipped in 
 Britain, 350 
 Mona (Anglesea) 49, 62 
 Money, see Coins. 
 
 Mons Heriri {Stmvdon), 150 
 Morbium {Temple-buroiigh), 166 
 Moridunum {Roniton ?), 167 
 Mortar, Homan, 189 
 Mortaria, Homan, 280, 403 
 Miicrones, 17 
 Manicipia, 425, 426, 510 
 IMunuees-eeaster {]^ tie castle^, 456 
 ALutatioues, 223 
 
 N. 
 
 Nails in the Homan sandals, 397 
 Nasica, Cmsius, 48 
 Needles, Homan, 408 
 Nidum [Neath], 162, 527 
 Niger, Heseennius, 128 
 Northumbrians converted to Chris- 
 tianity, 463 
 Notitia Imperii, 416 
 Novantes [a Scottish tribe), 63 
 Noviomagus {Rolwood hill), 121 
 147 
 
 Nucleus, 221 
 
 Numen, numina, 311, 335 
 Nymphs, Avorship of the, 330 
 
 O . 
 
 Octopitarum Promontori um, 163 
 
 Oculists’ stamps, Homan, £00— 
 303 
 
 Officials, Homan, in Britain, 417, 
 418 
 
 Olenaeurn {Old Carlisle), 159 
 Olicana {Ilkleg), 122, 164 
 Olla, 403 
 
 Ordoviees {North Wales), 45, 67 ^ 
 62 
 
 Orestii, see Ilorestii. 
 
 Orrea {Bertha), 123, 155 
 Ostorius Scapula, 44 
 Otadeni [Northumberland and 
 South of Seotland), 62 
 Othona {Ythaneeaster), 448 
 Oysters, British, 120 
 Oyster-shells found on Homan 
 sites, 404 
 
 P. 
 
 Parisii {Yorkshire), 61 
 Patera, 314 
 
 Paullinus^ Cains Suetonius, 49, 56 
 Paulus Catena, 144 
 Pavements, tesselated, 230, 246 — 
 254 
 
 Pavimentum, 221 
 Pecten, 398 
 Penates, 407 
 
 l*ennocrucium {on the Penk), 149 
 Perennis, 127 
 
 Periods, division of pre-historie 
 times into, 2, 5 
 Pertinax, 128 
 
 Petriana {Camheck Fort), 158, 210 
 Petronius rurpilianus, 56 
 Petuaria, 122, 153, 316 
 Peulvan, 74, 82 
 Philippus, Nonnius, 137 
 Piets and Scots, 139, 441, 454 
 Planets, deities of the, 322 
 Plautius, Aulus, 42, 44 
 Plebs, 427 
 
 Polybius, anecdote by, 17 
 Polycletus, 56 
 
 Pons iElii [Newcastle), 155, 157 
 Pontes {Staines), 161 
 Population of Homan Britain, its 
 character, 306 
 
 Portus Lcmanis(Zy»?W6'), 146, 170, 
 404 
 
INDEX. 
 
 5.09 
 
 Portiis Maxims [Portchestcr), 169 
 I'ortiis Sistuiitionini [Freckleton), 
 164 
 
 Potters’ marks, 275, 541 — 549 
 Pottery, British, 93 ; Roman, 
 made in the Upcluirch marshes, 
 260 ; at Durobrivjo, 263 ; pot- 
 ters’ kilns, 261; Samian ware, 
 269 — 276 ; other varieties of 
 Roman potteries, 277 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 493, 494 ; Germun- 
 Saxon, 494, 498; Frankish, 
 498 
 
 Frmfecti, 510 
 Prcefei'iciduin^ 314 
 Pr(epositiis rer/is, 521 
 Prietorium (Flamborough Head /), 
 153 
 
 Prasiitagus, 51 
 Principales^ 426, 510 
 Prohi homines, 510 
 Procolitia {Carraichnrgh), 158 
 Propnetors of Rritain, see Go- 
 vernors. 
 
 Province, Roman, its constitution 
 and divisions, 416 
 Pteroton Castrum {Burghead), P23 
 IHoleray’s account of Britain, 61 
 Piincta stater ce, 413 
 Pnticnli, 389 
 Pgra, 358 
 
 Q. 
 
 Querns, for grinding corn, 404 
 
 R. 
 
 Ritse [Leicester), 122, 151 
 Ravenna, anonymous geograplier 
 of, 145 ; his list of Roman 
 towns in Britain, 257, 537 
 Reeves, 510, 515, 521 
 Regni [Sussex and Surrey), 61 
 Regniini [Chichester), 51, 210 
 Regulbium [Reculoer), 146, 410 
 Retigonium [Stranraer), 122 
 Ricagni . . ., a ^oddess worsh ppcd 
 in Roman Britain, 352 
 Richard of Cirencester, 145, 53 ■ 
 his Itinerary, 527 
 
 Rigodunum [Coccium), 122 
 Kings, Roman, 393 
 Roads, Roman, construction of, 
 221 — 223; adopted by the 
 Anglo-Saxons, 522 — 524 
 Robogdii [Irish tribe), 64 
 Rochester, its municipal privileges 
 under the Anglo-Saxons, 511 
 Rocking -stones, 84 
 Rogus, 358 
 
 Koofs of Roman houses, 206 
 Roundels, inscribed, found at Col- 
 chester, 311 
 
 Rubbish pits attached to Roman 
 towns, 215 
 Rudge cup, 257 
 Rudus, ruder atio, 221 
 Rutunium [Rowton), 150, 163 
 Riitupim (Richborough), 120, 121, 
 146 
 
 Ryknicld Street, 523 
 
 S. 
 
 Salinie [Droitwich), 164 
 Salime of Ptolemy, 122, 165 
 Salt-ways, the roads so called, 524 
 Samian ware, 269 — 275 
 Sandals, Roman, 396, 397 
 Sarabus sinus, Neptune so called, 
 352 
 
 Sarcophagi of stone at York, 363 
 Saxonieum littus, 451 
 Saxons, invasion of the, 452, 455 — 
 459 
 
 Scab ini, 510 
 Scales, Roman, 413 
 Scapula, Ostorius, 44 
 Sceat, sceattas, 503 
 Scissors, Roman, 408 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 490 
 Scopus stater ce, 413 
 Scots, 139 
 Scowles, 292 
 
 Sculptures on stone, 12, 13 
 'caro-byrig [Old Sarum), 459 
 '^euxus, 474 
 Seuris, 314 
 
 •xedmiuin [Wallsend), 157 
 geb)cum [Littleborough), 152 
 outiaci ( Hampshire and Berks), 
 34 
 
5o0 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Seu^ontium [Cyaev Seionf), 150, 163 
 Si'lgovie {a Scottish tribe), 63 
 {Sepulchre, modes ofjUinoii^- the Ro- 
 mans, 357 — 360 ; articles buried 
 Avitli the dead, 363 ; rites of, 
 among the Anglo-Saxons, 466 
 Sera pensilis, 401 
 Serapis, worship of, 329 
 Sestuntii ( Westmoreland and Cum- 
 berland), 62 
 
 Setlocenia, a goddess worshipped 
 in Roman Rritain, 352 
 Severus, the emperor, 129 ; pro- 
 ceeds to Rritain, 133 ; estab- 
 lishes his court at Eburacuni, 
 133 ; his cainp;dgns against the 
 Caledonians, 134; dies at York, 
 136 
 
 Severus, Julius, 126 
 Severus, Junius, 128 
 Shields, Anglo-Saxon, 475 
 Signa, 322 
 
 Silures (border of Wales), 45, 47, 
 57, 62, 65 
 
 Silvanus, worship of, 257, 324 
 Silver, found in Rritain, 295 
 Sitomagus (Danwich), 160 
 Slaves, traffic in, among the Saxons, 
 461 ; sold in London, 515 
 Slaves, immolated at the burial of 
 their chiefs by the Anglo- 
 Saxons, 469 
 
 Sorbiodunum (Old Sarwm), 167 
 South-Saxons, kingdom of the, 
 founded, 458 
 
 Snails found on Roman sites, 404; 
 snail shells found in Anglo- 
 Saxon barrows, 492 
 Spears, Anglo-Saxon, 21, 474 
 Speculum, 398 
 Spimn (Speen), 161, 168 
 Spoons, Roman, 410 
 Spurs, Roman and Saxon, 415 
 Standard, Roman, found near 
 Stoney-Siratford, 415 
 Stater (, 412, 413 
 Sta tores, 223 
 Statamen, 221, 223 
 Steel for sharpening knives, Ro- 
 man, 410 
 
 Steelyards, Roman, 413 
 Siependiarice civitatc'^, 426 
 Stone, early use of, 4, 5 ; sculp- 
 
 tures, 12, 13 ; implements, 95 
 —98 
 
 Stonehenge, 79, 83, 85, 108 
 
 Strathcluyd, kingdom of, 526 
 
 Street, 523 
 
 Strigiis, 413 
 
 Sturius (the Stour), 160 
 
 Stylus, 411 
 
 Suetonius Panllinus, Caius, 49, 56 
 Sulloniacm (B rookie y Hill), 148 
 Summum dorsum, samma crusta, 
 222 
 
 Superstitions connected with an- 
 cient monuments, 85, 86, 105 
 Swegen, king, liis death, 520 
 Swords, bronze, 5, 20 ; iron, 7, 19; 
 characteristics of Roman, 7 — 
 14; on coins, 14; used by the 
 Gauls, Romans and Rritons, 
 17; Rritish or Roman, 101, 
 102 ; Anglo-Saxon, 21, 470 — 
 474 
 
 Syria dea, worship of the, 322 
 
 T. 
 
 TnherneB. di verso rice 223 
 Tabula, 411 
 
 Tabulce horiestce missionis, 429 
 I'aixali (Scottish tribe), 63 
 I'amara (on the Tamar), 121, 168 
 Tamesis (Sinodun Hill?), 166 
 Tamia (Braemar Castle), 123 
 Tasciovanus, 40 
 Tcgnla, 363 
 
 Terra-cottas, Roman, 281 
 Tertiance dece, 338 
 Testudo, 30 
 Tetricus, 138 
 Theatres, Roman, 212 
 Theodosia (Dumbarto)t), 156 
 Theodosius takes the command in 
 Rritain, 441 
 
 Thetford, the townsmen of, kill 
 their abbot, 513 
 Tibia (the Taaf), 162 
 Tiles, Roman, 183 
 Tin, procured from Britain, 24, 25 
 'I'inc . . . , a Rritish prince, 40 
 Tintinnahulum, 405 
 Tisa (the Tees), 154 
 I’itus, the emperor, 42 
 
INDEX. 
 
 561 
 
 Tog’odamnus, a British prince, 40, 
 43 
 
 Tombs, Eoman, made of tiles, 360 
 Torques^ torquis^ 394 ; torquim bra- 
 chialis, 395 
 
 Town, Eoman, description ot a, 
 171 ; its walls, 172 ; gates, 
 174 ; houses, 187 ; streets, 207 ; 
 public buildings, 210 ; suburbs, 
 212 ; drainage, 213 
 Towns, municipal, under the Ho- 
 mans, 425 ; preserved under 
 the Anglo-Saxons, 508 ; exam- 
 ples, Canterbury, 510; Eoches- 
 ter and Dover, 511 ; Thetford, 
 Worcester, Exeter, 513 ; Lon- 
 don, 514— 519; charters grant- 
 ed to towns, 520 
 Trebellius Maximus, 56 
 Trebonius, Caius, 32 
 Triliths, 74 
 
 Trimontium {Eildon), 123, 155 
 Trinobantes [the people of Essex), 
 31, 61 
 
 Tripontium (Dove Bridge), 149, 
 151 
 
 Trnxi, or trulla, 403 
 
 Trutina, 413 
 
 Tuesis (Cromdale), 123 
 
 Tumblers (origin of the word), 495 
 
 Tumulus, 71 
 
 Tin, 505 
 
 Tunnocelum (Drumburgh), 158 
 Turpilianus, Eetronius, 56 
 Tweezers, Eoman, 399 ; Anglo- 
 Saxon, 490 
 
 U. 
 
 Urbicus, Lollius, 126, 127 
 Uriconium (Wroxeter), 122, 149, 
 163, 212, 301 
 
 Urns, sepulchral, Eoman, 359 ; 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, 493 
 Usdite (Irish tribe), 64 
 JJstrinum, 358 
 
 Uxaconium (Bed-hill, or Oaken- 
 gates), 149 
 
 Uxela (Bridgewater), 121 
 Uxelum (Raeburnfoot, or Castle- 
 cver), 123, 156 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yacomagi (Scottish tribe), 63 
 Yagniacae (Southjleet), 147 
 Yalentinus, bis intrigues against 
 Theodosius, 444 
 Yalerianus, Marius, 137 
 Yanduara (Paisley), 123, 156 
 Yarae (Bodfari), 163 
 Yectis (Wight), 44, 167 
 Yecturiones (Scottish tribe), 441 
 Yelibori (Irish tribe), 60 
 Yellocatus, 57 
 Yeniconii (Irish tribe), 64 
 Yenonae, 151 
 
 Yenricones (Scottish tribe), 63 
 Y enta Belgarum ( Winchester) ,121, 
 167 
 
 Yenta Icenorum (Caistor), 122, 
 160 
 
 Yenta Silurum (Caerwent), 169 
 Yenusius, chief of the Biigantes, 
 48, 57 
 
 Yeranius, 49 
 
 Yerbeia, a goddess worshipped in 
 Roman Britain, 352 
 Veredarii, 223 
 
 Veric, a British prince, 40, 42 
 Verlucio (Highfield), 169 
 Verometurn (near Willoughby), 
 152 
 
 Verterae (Brough), 155 
 Y^erularnium (near St. Alban's), 36, 
 41, 53, 122, 148, 212 
 Yespasian. the emperor, 42 
 Veteres, Vetires, or Vetiris, a god 
 * worshipped in Roman Britain, 
 349 
 
 Vettins Bolanns, 57 
 Vice VLcinales, privdtce, agrarian, 
 device, 22 
 
 Vicarii of Britain, see Governors. 
 Yictoria (Dealgin Boss), 123, 
 155 
 
 Yictorinus, Autidius, 127 
 Yictorinus, Maurusius, 138 
 Yictory, Avorship of, 336 
 Villa, '51^ 
 
 Yilla Faustini, 160 
 Yillas, Eoman, 227 — 255 ; occu- 
 pied by the Anglo-Saxons, 508 
 Yillages, British and Eoman, 113 
 — 115, 255 
 
 2 M 
 
562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Vindohala [Eutchester), 157 
 Yindogladia {Gussages)^ 167 
 Yindolaiia {Chester holm') ^ 158 
 Yindomis {Whitechurch), 167 
 V^indomora [Ebchester), 154 
 Yinovium or Yinnovium {Binches- 
 ter), 122, 154 . 
 
 Yiradesthi, a goddess worshipped 
 in Roman Britain, 3o3 
 V^iroconiuin, see Uriconiuin. 
 Yirosidiim {Maryport and Ellen- 
 boroiigh)^ 159 
 Yodiae (Irish tribe), 64 
 Yoliba (on the Foivey), 121 
 Volsellce, 399 
 Yoluba (the Foivey), 168 
 Yoluntii (Lancashire), 62 
 Yoluntii (Irish tribe), 64 
 Yortigern, king of the Britons, 
 455, 456 
 
 W. 
 
 Walls, Roman, character of, 172— 
 177 ; Hadrian’s, see Hadrian. 
 Water-cock, Roman, 404 ^ 
 Watling Street, 523 
 Weapons, Roman, 414 
 Week, gods of the days of the, 
 322, 323 
 
 Welsh, origin and meaning of the 
 word, 457 ; the Welsli settle- 
 ment in England, 525 — 527 ; 
 Christianity introduced among 
 them, 527 
 
 Wessex, kingdom of, founded, 459 
 West-Saxons, kingdom of the, 
 founded, 458 ; converted to 
 Christianity, 463 
 
 Wintan-ceaster (Winchester), 459 
 Woodchester, Roman villa tliere 
 described, 229—240 
 
 tv 
 
 THE END. 
 
 I'KINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDONr-