thus

:

"Numerus Frisionum Aballave]nsium? ex v(oto) p(osuit) XIIII et XIII Kal(endas Nov(embris. (Votum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito) [G]ordiano II et Ponpeiano Co(n)s (ulibus).” In n. 907 the fragment of the first line is read by him as V, the second line as LEG AVG IIVI, and the third line as NVM · FRISION. On the inscription he offers the following observations :-"V 3, [4]. De Aballava dixi in præfatione ad vallum Hadriani, 4 [5]. In fine litteræ quinque aut sex erasa sunt. Erat fortasse cognomen numeri aliquod erasum postea nescio qualem ob causam. 5 [6]. Cur dies illi duo mentis Octobris hic et in titulo n. 406 [n. 906] celebrentur ignoramus."

The obscure parts of the inscription n. 907 are (a) the remains of the letters in the first line, the characters (b) after G in the second line, (c) before VM in the third line, and (d) after VM in the fifth line. As to (a), nothing feasible can be suggested. In the Journal of the Archæological Institute, XXVIII, p. 131, Mr. Thompson Watkin proposes IN CVNEVM as the reading of (b) and (c), and this is adopted by Dr. Bruce. With this opinion we cannot agree. The words in cuneum in this position yield no sense, and as we know from the Notitia that there was a numerus at Aballava, we might expect a numerus here. We ourselves, however, have nothing probable to offer in explanation. LEG AVG Legatus Augusti we regard, as designating the Legate of a Legion, not the Governor of the Province. If it had been the latter, we should most probably have had after LEG AVG, some sigla of his titles, such as PR PR. In (d) Dr. Bruce reads PHILIPP = Philippianum; but this reading must be at once rejected, for most certainly this epithet was not used by any military body during the life of Gordian, and he was not killed before A.D. 244. His view, however, that the erased letters formed some epithet derived from an Emperor seems very probable. On the difficulty, noticed by Prof. Hübner and by Dr. Bruce, of accounting for the days XIIII & XIII Kal. Nov., i.e., October 19th and 20th, we would suggest that they may have been devoted to ludi in honor of Sol. In the city these ludi occupied four days in October, from the 19th to the 22nd. It may also have been that the armilustrium was celebrated on the first of these days. See Fasti Philocali and Commentarii Diurni. It should also be borne in mind that in A.D. 241 the marriage of Gordian and the preparations for the Persian war took place. The inscriptions, in

themselves notable, are rendered more remarkable by the questions which they suggest relative to the topography of Roman Britain. The first printed notice that we have seen of such questions was in this journal, Vol. XII, 1870, p. 131.

"Another altar has more recently been found, bearing a similar date, and dedicated by a Numerus Frisionum Aballavensium; a designation which it is exceedingly difficult to comprehend. The difficulty, to which Dr. Bruce refers, is not as to the meaning of the words, for they plainly signify the detachment of Frisiones stationed at Aballava.' The Frisii, or Frisiones, regarded by some as identical with the Frisianones, or Frisiavones, or Frisævones, or Frixagi, are well known as a portion of the Roman auxiliary troops in Britain. The first cohort was there in A.D. 106, in A.D. 124, and at the beginning of the fifth century, as appears from the diplomas of Trajan and Hadrian, and from the Notitia Aballava is also well known as a place in the island, although there are various opinions as to the identification of the site. In the Notitia, a detachment of Moors, called Aurelian, is said to have been stationed there. Nor is there any difficulty as to the use of Aballavensium. We have similarly Numerus exploratrrum Nemaningensium, Henzen's n. 6731, Numerus Brittonum Triputiensium, Orelli's, n. 1627, and Numerus exploratorum Bremeniensium, Bruce's Roman Wall, 3rd ed., p. 315. See Brit. Rom. Inscrip. p. 139. Dr. Bruce's difficulty as to the inscription, I apprehend, is that if the same principle, by which High Rochester has been recognized as Bremenium, on account of BREMEN and BREM in inscriptions on altars found there, be applied in this case, we must identify Aballava with Papcastle. If this be adopted, the views as to Brampton and Watchcross must be abandoned, and great latitude must be given to the terms per lineam vaili in the Notitia. For the present it must suffice to have noticed the difficulty. At some future time I hope to examine the general question relative to the stations after Amboglanna, and to offer some suggestions that may, perhaps, be useful, even though in some cases expressed doubtfully, as I have not the advantage of personal knowledge of the localities."

But the first clear statement of opinion on the subject is given by Mr. W. Thompson Watkin, in his article "on the tenth iter of the British portion of the Itinerary of Antoninus," in the Journal of the Archæological Institute, XXVIII, 1871, p. 131 :

“The successive order of the Notitia garrisons, broken off at Lanercost, seems renewed at Papcastle, Moresby, and Ellenborough,"

In a note on this page, Mr. Watkin refers to the similarity of Dr. McCaul's views as expressed in this Journal, in Part XIII. The next notice that we have seen of this question is in a note to p. 212 of the Lapidarium Septentrionale, published in the close of 1872 or the beginning of 1873:

"Dr. McCaul thinks that the compiler of the Notitia ceases after AMBOGLANNA to give the stations of the Wall in regular order.

"If the proper order was to be abandoned, this seems the fitting place for doing so, as the Maiden way, coming from the south to MAGNA, and continued northwards from this station, brings AMBOGLANNA into direct intercourse with the contiguous forts in all directions."

Subsequently, in 1873, Prof. Hübner's Inscriptiones Britannia Latina appeared, in which he identifies Maryport (otherwise called Ellenborough) with Uxellodunum (otherwise called Axelodunum), regards Papcastle as Aballava, and infers "stationes Notitia omnes inde ab Aballaba numerari ordine nobis adhuc ignoto." We have thought it necessary to mention the facts that are here adduced, as the remark in the Lapidarium

"Mr. Watkin, Dr. McCaul, and Prof. Hübner, all yield to the argument we have stated"

might be misinterpreted as indicating that Dr. Bruce had ever advocated these views before they were advanced by the above-named enquirers, or that he had in any way led to the inference.

In n. 725, Dr. Bruce gives the following inscription:

D+ M

CONDATI

ATTONIVS

QVINTIANVS

MEN EX CC IMP

EX IVSSU LL A (?)

His expansion is :-" Deo Marti (?) Condati Attonius Quintianus mensor ex ducenario Imperatoris ex jussu lætus libens merito."

And the following are his observations :—

"The expansion of the two last lines is that which the editor is informed Professor Mommsen long ago proposed, and which Dr. McCaul has also given in the Canadian Journal.

"Attonius Quintianus was a mensor, having previously been a ducenarius Imperatoris. Both of these terms admit of various applications. In a civil sense, the ducenarii were imperial procurators who received a salary of two hundred sestertia; in a military sense they were officers who commanded two centuries. The mensores were surveyors employed in various capacities; some had charge of measuring the space to be occupied by the tents in the camp, others provided quarters for soldiers on a journey; in a civil sense they were measurers of land, or of corn taken to the public granaries, or architects.

"See Smith's Dict. Ant.

"Probably the last letter on the last line was M, merito; if, however, it be correctly read, the A stands for animo."

Dr. Bruce, we think, should have given the credit which is due to Dr. McCaul for his interpretation, especially as he refers to the Canadian Journal, Vol. X, 1865, p. 96, in which it was first published, and as he evidently does not know (nor do we either) whether Professor Mommsen ever published it at all. A more remarkable example of this omission is to be found in the following, n. 656 :---

Dr. Bruce's expansion is:-" Legato Augusti [proprætore] Quintus Calpurnius Concessinius præfectus equitum cæsa Corionototarum manu præsentissimi numinis Deo (?) votum solvit."

And the following are his observations :

"This inscription has given antiquaries much trouble. The simplest explanation of it is that which has been suggested by Professor Mommsen, and which is adopted in the expansion. It requires, however, the alteration of dei, in the last line, to deo. According to this view, the altar was reared by Concessinius, after having slain a number of the Corionototæ (a British tribe not elsewhere men. tioned), to the god by whose presence and effectual help he had prevailed. The top of the altar, which has been broken off, no doubt contained the name of the god and the imperial legate."

Now this same solution of the difficulty was published in this Journal, Vol. IV, 1859, p. 175, and again in Britanno-Roman Inscriptions, p. 142. Dr. Bruce indeed refers to the latter, but he omits all notice of priority. And yet it is well understood that publication is the only reliable test of priority among authors. It sometimes happens that the same solution presents itself to the minds of different enquirers, but the credit is certainly due to him who first publishes it. It is true that neither does Professor Hübner in his work, Inscriptiones Britannic Latina, notice the previous suggestion in these pages of the same interpretations as those attributed to Prof. Mommsen, but it must be borne in mind that Professor Hübner had not consulted, nor perhaps seen, the Canadian Journal, whereas Dr.

Bruce frequently refers to it, and often uses its suggestions; as, in a similar way, the omission by Professor Hübner, of reference to Britanno-Roman Inscriptions, is plainly due to his having read only parts of that volume, but the same excuse cannot be pleaded in Dr. Bruce's behalf, as he was evidently familiar with the whole of it. The omissions in the "Additions, Notes, and Emendations," of which we have given specimens, are greatly to be regretted, as the volume is remarkably attractive, and affords the distant enquirer an excellent opportunity of inspecting well and faithfully-executed copies of the originals. In this respect it is far superior to Professor Hübner's book, which has almost no illustrations; but the latter, it must be admitted, is better adapted for the use of the student, even in the limited range to which the Lapidarium Septentrionale is confined. Dr. Bruce's diligence and fidelity deserve the highest commendation (especially when we look back on the successive editions of "The Roman Wall"), and his editorial labors have been admirably seconded by artistical and typographical skill, but he has not produced a volume that can compete with foreign works in those scholarly characteristics that mark the successful pursuit of Latin Epigraphy.