Gildas's much-criticised sketch, outlining the perils of Britain after Maximus, lists three Pictish wars before the adventus Saxonum. Claudian's poem on Stilicho's consulate seems to allude to a recent encounter, which may be one of these wars. Now that the political and propagandist character of Claudian's verse has been analysed, and the poems accurately dated, a more useful survey of the references to Britain may be attempted. The result is no more than a footnote to the understanding of Claudian: its impact may be greater on the understanding of Gildas.

With the exception of stamped, red-slipped wares from the Argonne region of France, pottery imported from the Continent into late Roman Britain has received little attention. The object of this paper is to define and describe some types in Britain which appear to have originated in Germany. The vessels were first recognised during preparation of reports on Roman pottery from the Wallbrook, London, and Portchester Castle, Hampshire, and the closest parallels were to be found in the Rhineland. Petrological examination of these sherds in thin section and by heavy mineral analysis has defined two main categories of fabric, which accord geologically with the postulated origin. Further research in site- and museum-collections indicated the chronological and geographical distribution of these types in England: stratigraphical evidence, where available, points to a fourth-century date for importation, although in the Rhineland many of the forms originated in the late second and third centuries.

The enamelled skillet-handle illustrated (FIG. I) was found in 1972 at Brough-on-Fosse, Nottinghamshire, by Mr John Hart. The handle adds a further example to the rare group of vessels with cham plevé enamelling which include the Rudge cup and Amiens skillet. The Brough skillet-handle measures 3 in. (7·8 cm) in length and is enamelled on the upper side; the reverse is plain. The enamelled decoration consists of a panel of vine-leaf ornament repeated five times. The enamel has flaked, but it appears that red was used in the centre of the vine leaf surrounded by a deep blue and then a green. These vessels are conveniently referred to as being enamelled, but recent analyses have shown that, in common with late Iron Age enamelwork, these are not true enamels but only coloured glass, which has not fused with the bronzework.

The Roman Fort of Bothwellhaugh is situated on the north-western boundary of the burgh of Motherwell, at the confluence of the River Clyde and the South Calder Water, immediately overlooking the point where the latter river was crossed by the Roman road (FIG. I). It lies approximately 15 miles (24 km) north-west of the Roman fort at Castledykes and 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Old Kilpatrick at the west end of the Antonine Wall. The site is one of great natural strength, the ground falling away very steeply on all sides except the east, and even here access would have been impeded in Roman times by a small tributary of the River Clyde, which, flowing south in a fairly narrow valley, cut across the most direct line of approach. Unfortunately the natural features on this side of the fort have been largely obscured in recent times by the levelling of adjacent coal-tips.

‘The problem of Claudius’ temple at Camulodunum is one of those hardy perennials where insufficient evidence makes a final solution in practice hardly possible; anyone laying the law down on the subject does so at his peril’.

Meagre archaeological data that add up to few hard facts, a sneer by Seneca on which a whole case has been built, obscure terminology in a solitary half-sentence of Tacitus – all the familiar knots in the problem are brought into play by C.J. Simpson in his recent reappraisal of the enigmatic temple. That there are enough loose ends to justify continuing debate is hardly in contention. Whether Simpson succeeds in demonstrating that a temple dedicated to the living emperor Claudius was already in existence at the colony by that emperor's death in A.D. 54 is another matter. A rejoinder provides in any event a welcome opportunity to consolidate a thesis that has been the focus of vigorous discussion for well over twenty years.

The following examination of the agricultural aspects of Bignor Roman villa was written in 1950, and is here reproduced with a few additions, and with corrections necessitated by the results of Professor S. S. Frere's excavations at the villa in the years 1957–1962.

It is very likely that Lysons, who excavated the villa in the eighteenth century, did not find, or did not record, earlier farm-buildings which may well have preceded those to be seen on his plan. Nor may he have noticed various details or subdivisions of the latter. Nevertheless it seemed worthwhile attempting their analysis in order to resuscitate the general lines of the agriculture practised at Bignor in the fourth century; and while further excavation of the farmyard, if it takes place, will doubtless produce corrections and new facts, the attempt will have been justified if it suggests new considerations and methods. Some of the conclusions of the present study were included in much abbreviated form in the writer's contribution on Roman Britain to The Agrarian History of England, Vol. I, part ii, published in 1972.

This analysis of the stamps of Legio IX (or VIIII) Hispana found at Lincoln, Templeborough, Old Winteringham (Lines), Malton, Aldborough and mainly York, or at Carlisle and its legionary tilery at Scalesceugh forms a sequel to the present writer's article in Britannia vii (1976), 224-35 on ‘Tile-Stamps of the Sixth Legion found in Britain'. It has been based on rubbings and squeezes made from the originals. Much of the earlier bibliography has been omitted because stamps when published merely in printed capitals cannot be identified with specific dies. The die used for the one example known from Lincoln (Lindum) seems to have been taken north for use among others at one of the tileries, on sites not yet located, which supplied York (Eboracum). The rare examples from Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum), the capital of the canton fifteen miles north-west of York, match two of the dies from York. But in contrast one example, Type I, assigned with probability to Aldborough, has no parallel. The outlying post at Malton (Derventio) has produced two dies unmatched elsewhere, even at York.

North of the Antonine Wall, four series of temporary camps have recently been distinguished. They are described as the ‘Stracathro-type’, from the distinctive gateway-plan first clearly demonstrated at Stracathro, and the 30-acre, 63-acre and 120-acre camps, after the average size of the different series. Much knowledge is to be gained if these camps can be related to the various Roman campaigns beyond the Antonine Wall, but temporary camps are notably difficult to date. Consideration of the distribution of the four series, and of the relative ages of the few camps that actually overlap, as demonstrated by excavation, has gone far towards solving the problem. Excavations at three key sites are here reported: since the crucial evidence is provided by ditch-sections, these are described minutely with the aid of detailed drawings (FIGS. 3–4, 5 and 9), specially prepared by Mr. D. R. Wilson. The excavations at Stracathro took place in September 1967, those at Ythan Wells in September 1968, and those at Ardoch in September 1969.

At the end of a recent die-study of the gold coins of Cunobelin, it was suggested that there might be something to learn from a comparable die-study of the gold coinage of Cunobelin's contemporary, Verica. The index of pre-Roman coins kept by the Institute of Archaeology in Oxford now makes such a task feasible without excessive labour. Thanks are again due to Mr Robert Wilkins of the Institute, for arranging and executing the tedious photography involved.

One of the most puzzling problems of ancient geography relates to the turning of Scotland, whereby in Ptolemy's map of the British Isles Britain (or Albion) is abruptly turned to the east from approximately Ptolemy's latitude 59° north, effectively the Tyne/Solway line. As a result the area we now refer to as Scotland is shown coherently through its coefficients but overall at approximately right-angles to the southern part of the country. Ptolemy's account of the geography of ancient Britain is fundamental to any study of the province, and particularly the military campaigning in the North. It is therefore essential as a subject of study for anyone involved in the evolution of the province or, at a very different remove, the underlying problems of understanding the contribution of ancient geographers to what Ptolemy himself called ‘chorography’, the geography of a region or particular area.

Usk (Burrium) has long been considered a Roman site. Its identification as a pre-Flavian military site was made by Boon following his reassessment of material recovered in the nineteenth century. A series of excavations was undertaken subsequently between 1965 and 1976 by Professor W.H. Manning on behalf of University College, Cardiff and the Department of the Environment (later the Ancient Monuments Branch of the Welsh Office). Following the creation of the Welsh Regional Archaeological Trusts in 1975, further work in Usk has been carried out principally by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.

This paper attempts to put the Gorgon from the pediment of the Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath into a wider provincial context, by arguing for links between the Gorgon and first- and early second-century imitations in Gaul and Spain of the iconography of the Forum of Augustus in Rome. These imitations, part of what might be called a ‘visual language of empire’, served to connect the urban spaces of the provinces to Rome; by linking the Gorgon to this trend and setting aside interpretations of the Gorgon which have focused on his perceived status as a ‘Romano-Celtic’ masterpiece, we can justify more satisfactorily his position as the centrepiece of a pediment dominated by imperial imagery.