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III. INSCRIPTIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2023

R.S.O. Tomlin
R.S.O. Tomlin*
Affiliation:
Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford [email protected]
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Roman Britain in 2022
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Britannia , Volume 54 , November 2023 , pp. 425 - 454
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

A. MONUMENTAL

1. Near Pilning (ST 553 843), South Gloucestershire (fig. 1). Limestone block resembling an altar, 0.12 by 0.178 m, 0.10 m deep, foundFootnote 2 in 2022. The capital is marked by a shallow rectangular recess (its focus) but is otherwise plain, like the slightly wider base. Between them is a shallowly recessed die which is inscribed, but the letters are inverted.Footnote 3 They are coarsely incised and now damaged: F̣VNDO | ɅT.IIMỌ | ṚIDVNO | traces. Perhaps fundo | At[t]ii Mo|riduno | […], ‘(on) the property of Attius at Moridunum …’Footnote 4

FIG. 1. Near Pilning, inscribed stone block (No. 1) (photo: Worcestershire Archaeology).

2. York (Eboracum, SE 599 521) (fig. 2). Buff sandstone slab, inscribed on one of its four sides, this face being 0.56 by 0.25 m, 0.56 m deep, foundFootnote 5 in 2017. Within a recessed panel, defined by the remains of a simple moulded border above and to the left, are three incomplete lines of text, now very worn: traces | [.]AṬṚOṆO C[…] | HEREDES FA[…], [ p ] atrono c [ … ] | heredes fa[ciendum curaverunt]. ‘[For name lost …] patron […] (his) heirs saw to the making (of this).’Footnote 6

FIG. 2. York, inscribed stone slab (No. 2) (photo: Yorkshire Museum).

3. Vindolanda (NY 769 663), Northumberland (fig. 3). Grey sandstone building-stone, 0.45 by 0.20 m, 0.20 m deep, foundFootnote 7 in 2022. It is carved with the image of a phallus, and inscribed with two lines of coarsely incised letters: SECVNDINVṢ | CɅCOR, Secundinus cacor. ‘Secundinus, I am shitted upon’.Footnote 8

FIG. 3. Vindolanda, inscribed stone with phallus (No. 3) (photo: Vindolanda Trust).

4. Birdoswald (Banna, NY 615 663), Cumbria (fig. 4). Small sandstone altar, 120 by 260 mm, 115 mm deep, foundFootnote 9 in 2021. Coarsely incised at the top of the die, 105 by 134 mm, in badly-formed letters c. 10 mm high, now much worn: .CɅ.Ʌ̣ṬỌ | […].[.]ɅS[…] | […]TE[…] | […]Footnote 10

FIG. 4 (a) and (b). Birdoswald, stone altar (No. 4) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

B. INSTRUMENTUM DOMESTICUM

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

5. Water Newton (Durobrivae, TL 123 968) (fig. 5). Triangular silver votive plaque, 51 by 71 mm, weight 5.4 g, foundFootnote 11 in 1975. Embossed within the roundel: α $\widehat{{{\rm \chi \rho}}}$ ω, ‘Alpha Chi-Rho Omega’.

FIG. 5. Water Newton, silver plaque (No. 5) (photo: Nicola Beasley).

CUMBRIA

6. Birdoswald (Banna, NY 615 663) (fig. 6). Oval lead sealing, 20 mm in diameter, foundFootnote 12 in 2022, with letters moulded in relief on both faces. Obverse: $\widehat {{{ \rm \Lambda LE}}} $ TṾ | palm branch, perhaps al(a)e Tu(ngrorum). ‘Of the ala of Tungrians.’Footnote 13 Reverse: CṬɅ̣ | D, probably C(aius) T(…) A(…) | d(ecurio). ‘Gaius T(…) A(…), decurion.’Footnote 14

FIG. 6. Birdoswald, lead sealing, both faces (No. 6) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

7. Ibid. (fig. 7). Oval lead sealing, 20 mm in diameter, with letters moulded in relief on both faces. The binding-cord has left a hole through the centre, which may have removed a letter from one or both faces. Obverse, between a ‘star’ (✻) above and below: CI[.]L, probably c(ohortis) I[I] L(ingonum). ‘Of the Second Cohort of Lingones.’Footnote 15 Reverse: ANT | C[.], probably Ant(onius) C(…) (centurio). ‘Antonius C(…), centurion.’Footnote 16

FIG. 7. Birdoswald, lead sealing, both faces (No. 7) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

8. Ibid. (fig. 8). Part of an amphora handle (Dressel 20). Neatly incised after firing: IIX, probably ‘[…] 8 (sextarii)’.Footnote 17

FIG. 8. Birdoswald, amphora handle (No. 8) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

9. Ibid. (fig. 9). Wall sherd of an amphora (Dressel 20), incised in cursive letters before firing: […]ỊɅṾPI..S, perhaps Laupi [ciu] s.Footnote 18

FIG. 9. Birdoswald, amphora graffito (No. 9) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

10. Ibid. (fig. 10). Base sherd of a samian dish (Dr. 18/31R), incised underneath after firing: […]ỊVLIVS, Iulius.Footnote 19

FIG. 10. Birdoswald, samian graffito (No. 10) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

11. Ibid. (fig. 11). Base sherd of a samian dish (probably Dr. 18). Its upper surface is entirely abraded. Underneath, coarsely incised after firing: ỊVḶɅCI, perhaps Iulaci. ‘(Property) of Iulacus.’Footnote 20

FIG. 11. Birdoswald, samian graffito (No. 11) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

12. Near Brough-under-Stainmore (Verterae, NY 794 145) (fig. 12). Fragment of a copper-alloy votive plaque, 100.7 by 70 mm, 3.04 mm thick, weight 33.72 g, foundFootnote 21 in 2021/2. The hole for attachment in the top edge confirms that the top line is the first, but the other edges are broken, and much has been lost. Incised in capitals: […]OPT + MAX̣ […] | […]T MAR ET VỊCT[…] | […].VI. Δ HEṚCVḶẠṆ[…] | […]..DI Δ COH VI[.] […] | […]A…[…]. [Iovi] Opt(imo) Max(imo) [… | … e] t Mar(ti) et Vict[oriae … | …] … Herculan [us …] | […] … coh(ortis) VI [I] […] | … ‘To Jupiter Best (and) Greatest … and to Mars and Victory … Herculanus … of the Seventh Cohort [of …] …’Footnote 22

FIG. 12. Near Brough, copper-alloy plaque (No. 12) (photo: PAS).

13. Carlisle (Luguvalium, NY 399 567) Cricket Club, the fourth-century Roman bath-house (fig. 13). Lead sealing foundFootnote 23 in 2017/22, with letters moulded in relief on both faces. Obverse, with a ‘star’ (+) above and below: $ \widehat {{{\rm \Lambda LE}}}$ PE, al(a)e Pe(trianae). ‘Of the ala Petriana.’Footnote 24 Reverse, with a ‘star’ (×) above and below: AXC | ∩Footnote 25

FIG. 13 (a) and (b). Carlisle, lead sealing (No. 13) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

14. Ibid. (fig. 14). Lead sealing, with letters moulded in relief on one face. The other face is not inscribed. With a ‘star’ (+) above and below: FL FẸ[.] | Ḍ, probably Fl(avius) Fe [l(ix)] | d(ecurio). ‘Flavius Felix, decurion.’Footnote 26

FIG. 14. Carlisle, lead sealing (No. 14) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

15. Carlisle, Annetwell Street (fig. 15). Two conjoining fragments, 143 by 63 mm, of a stylus writing-tablet foundFootnote 27 in 1989. One face has the broad medial groove of the second tablet of a ‘triptych’ used for writing a legal document in duplicate.Footnote 28 The panels either side would have carried the names of the witnesses, but there is no trace of them. Instead, the left-hand panel is inscribed with an unrelated text, indicating re-use. The wax is now lost, but there are good incised traces, although many letters are now incomplete because the wood has contracted across the grain. They are cursive, but for easier reference have been transcribed in capitals:

FIG. 15 (a) and (b). Carlisle, list of items sold at auction (No. 15) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

It is a list of items sold at auction, and what they sold for.Footnote 29

16. Ibid. (fig. 16). Fragment of a stylus writing-tablet, 145 by 35 mm, from the second tablet of a ‘triptych’ carrying a legal document. The wax is now lost, but the ungrooved face retains extensive traces of three lines of cursive letters, from the bottom of a ‘page’: […] | traces | SEXTO AṬṬIO ṢVBVRAN[.] II BẸNO | traces. This dates the document Sexto Attio Suburan[o] (con)s(ule) II, ‘in the second consulship of Sextus Attius Suburanus’ (a.d. 104).Footnote 30

FIG. 16. Carlisle, fragment of a dated stylus tablet (No. 16) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

17. Carlisle Cricket Club, the Severan Roman bath-house (fig. 17). Twenty-nine square hypocaust tiles, foundFootnote 31 in 2017/22. They all bear the same impressed stamp: $\widehat {{{\rm IMP}}}$, probably imp(eratoris). ‘(Property) of the Emperor.’Footnote 32

FIG. 17. Carlisle, stamped tile (No. 17) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

DEVON

18. Cowick, Exeter (SX 910 914) (fig. 18). Oblong lump of lead, 55 by 25 mm, foundFootnote 33 in 2021. Weight 145.2 g. One face is crudely incised: VIII, ‘8’.Footnote 34

FIG. 18. Cowick, lump of lead with incised numeral (No. 18) (photo: PAS).

ESSEX

19. Bures Hamlet (TL 905 340) (fig. 19). Fragment of a silver finger ring (Henig Type XI B), foundFootnote 35 in 2022, with about half of its rectangular bezel. Incised here within a dotted border: $\widehat{{{\rm M{A}}}}$[…], the abbreviated name of a god.Footnote 36

FIG. 19. Bures Hamlet, silver ring bezel (No. 19) (photo: PAS).

20. Colchester (Camulodunum, TL 99 25) (fig. 20). Base sherd of a buffware pot, foundFootnote 37 in or before 1936, scratched underneath after firing: CAT, Cat(…) Footnote 38

FIG. 20. Colchester, potsherd graffito (No. 20) (photo: Colchester Museum).

KENT

21. Bishop Saltings, Medway estuary (TQ 8196 7080) (fig. 21). Fragment of a flat tile, foundFootnote 39 in 2022 with late-first/early-second century pottery. An impressed stamp reads: S$ \widehat {{{\rm IMI}}}$$\widehat{{{\rm LI}}}$ONIS, ‘(product) of Similio’.Footnote 40

FIG. 21. Bishop Saltings, stamped tile (No. 21) (photo: M.R.I.).

LINCOLNSHIRE

22. Haconby Fen (TF 140 256) (fig. 22). Third-century silver finger ring (Henig Type VIII), foundFootnote 41 in 2022. Crudely incised on the oval bezel: TɅ̣Ʌ̣Footnote 42

FIG. 22. Haconby Fen, silver ring bezel (No. 22) (photo: PAS).

LONDON

23. Shadwell (TQ 3475 8070), East London, Tobacco Dock (fig. 23). Wall sherd of a north African amphora, foundFootnote 43 in 2010/11. It is now much abraded, but carries trace of three graffiti made after firing. (i) […]. (ii) ..X (iii) […]III X, […] iii x. Probably notes of capacity, with (iii) being ‘3 (or more) (modii), 10 (sextarii)’.Footnote 44

FIG. 23. Shadwell, amphora graffiti (No. 23) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

24. Ibid. (fig. 24). Coarseware base sherd with complete foot-ring, incised underneath after firing, the letters now shallow and worn: MARI|ANI, Mari|ani. ‘(Property) of Marianus’.Footnote 45

FIG. 24. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 24) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

25. Ibid. (fig. 25). Coarseware wall sherd, incised after firing with three letters, now incomplete: SAN[…], probably San [ctus] or San [ctinus].Footnote 46

FIG. 25. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 25) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

26. Ibid. (fig. 26). Two conjoining coarseware wall sherds, incised after firing: VỊ[…], probably Vi […] Footnote 47

FIG. 26. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 26) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

MANCHESTER

27. Manchester (Mamucium, SJ 833 977), Barton Street, in the vicus of the Roman fort (fig. 27). Base sherd of a samian dish (Dr. 18/31), foundFootnote 48 in 2003. The surface underneath is much abraded, but retains traces of a graffito coarsely incised after firing: […].OXS.[…], perhaps [PR✻]OXS[IMVS], [Pr] ox{s} [imus]. ‘Proximus.’Footnote 49

FIG. 27. Manchester, samian graffito (No. 27) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

NORTHUMBERLAND

28. Vindolanda (NY 769 663) (fig. 28). Rectangular strip from a stylus writing-tablet, 139 by 27 mm, foundFootnote 50 before 1993. It was re-used as a label by punching a hole at one end for attaching to a cord. The recessed inner face has been used many times and the traces are illegible. Incised in tall, narrow capitals on the plain outer face: PICɅTI M III S II, picati m(odii) iii (sextarii) ii. ‘Of picatum (wine), three modii, two sextarii.’Footnote 51

FIG. 28. Vindolanda, wooden wine label (No. 28) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

29. Ibid. (fig. 29). Biconical lead weight, foundFootnote 52 in 2022. Maximum diameter 50 mm, depth 30 mm. Weight 633 g. Incised on one face, two parallel lines: II, (librae) ii. ‘2 (pounds).’Footnote 53

FIG. 29. Vindolanda, lead weight (No. 29) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

30. Ibid. (fig. 30). Lead roundel, 45 mm in diameter, 9 mm thick. Weight 138 g. In the centre, a round hole, 7 mm in diameter. One face is faintly incised with zigzag lines around the hole to form a ‘star’. The other face is incised with two capital-letter graffiti, at the top and bottom. (i) At the top: CRETɅ̣ONIS, Cretaonis. (ii) At the bottom: CRẸTɅ̣ỌṆIS, Cretaonis. ‘(Property) of Cretao’.Footnote 54

FIG. 30. Vindolanda, lead roundel (No. 30) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

31. Ibid. (fig. 31). Copper-alloy tag or belt-fitting, consisting of a disc 28 mm in diameter, to the back of which is attached an open triangular tab. At the base of this tab, one arm of the triangle is incised in capitals: ˃ C̣ORNVTI, (centuria) Cornuti. ‘The century of Cornutus.’Footnote 55

FIG. 31 (a) and (b). Vindolanda, copper-alloy triangular tag (No. 31) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

32. Ibid. (fig. 32). Fragment of a flat tile 23 mm thick, much worn, incised in capitals before firing: […]NVC̣IC̣[…]. Perhaps [Mi] nuci C […], ‘(the work) of Minucius C[…]’.Footnote 56

FIG. 32. Vindolanda, tile with graffito (No. 32) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

33. Ibid. (fig. 33). Wall sherd of an amphora (Dressel 20), incised after firing in large capitals: AḌ[…], probably AD for Ad(…).Footnote 57

FIG. 33. Vindolanda, amphora graffito (No. 33) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

34. Ibid. (fig. 34). Samian base sherd, incised underneath after firing: VI, probably ‘6’.Footnote 58

FIG. 34. Vindolanda, samian graffito (No. 34) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

35. Ibid. (fig. 35). Samian base sherd, incised underneath after firing: […]ḄIɅ̣, probably […] bia Footnote 59

FIG. 35. Vindolanda, samian graffito (No. 35) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

SHROPSHIRE

36. Pentrehyling Roman fort, Brompton (SO 245 931) (fig. 36). Fourth-century silver spoon, foundFootnote 60 in c. 1990. Incised across the bowl in neat capitals: VTEREFELISVIV, utere feli<x> viv<as>.Footnote 61 ‘Use (this and be) happy. (Long) life to you.’

FIG. 36. Pentrehyling, inscribed silver spoon (No. 36) (photo: Shropshire Museums).

SUFFOLK

37. Near Campsea Ashe (TM 325 557) (fig. 37). Copper-alloy ‘knee’ brooch, foundFootnote 62 in 2022, complete with spring mechanism and bow. The bow is triangular in section with two recessed panels, each c. 32 by 10 mm, once inlaid with enamel (now lost), with letters moulded in relief: FIBV$ \widehat {{{\rm L \Lambda E}}}$XR$ \widehat{{{\rm EG}}}$ | LɅGITI$\widehat{{{\rm EN}}}$SE, fibula ex reg(ione) Lagitiense. ‘Brooch from the Regio Lagitiensis.’Footnote 63

FIG. 37 (a) and (b). Near Campsea Ashe, copper-alloy brooch (No. 37) (photos: TimeLine Auctions).

38. Westerfield (ΤΜ 170 472) (fig. 38). Incomplete late-Roman silver finger ring (Brancaster Henig Type XV), foundFootnote 64 in 2022. Incised on the rectangular bezel within a dotted border: ω $\widehat{{{\rm \chi \rho}}}$ α, ‘Omega Chi-Rho Alpha’.Footnote 65

FIG. 38. Westerfield, silver ring (No. 38) (photo: PAS).

WEST SUSSEX

39. Near Bosham (SU 804 038) (fig. 39). Fragment of a polygonal silver finger ring, third- or fourth-century, foundFootnote 66 in 2022. Incised in each facet, a capital letter with exaggerated serifs: […].ɅGR.[…]Footnote 67

FIG. 39. Near Bosham, silver ring fragment (No. 39) (photo: PAS).

WILTSHIRE

40. Heddington (ST 997 663) (fig. 40). Oval bezel of a fourth-century silver finger ring, foundFootnote 68 in 2022. With a ‘star’ above, and a ‘crescent’ below, probably the sun and moon, it shows the head and shoulders in profile of a woman facing a man, each with one hand raised as if to address the other. To the left and right: VIVA|TIS, ‘(Long) life to you (both)’.Footnote 69

FIG. 40. Heddington, silver ring bezel (No. 40) (photo: PAS).

WALES

DYFED

41. Freshwater East (SS 01 98) (fig. 41). Greyware rim sherd, foundFootnote 70 in 2019. Inscribed on the inner face, in crude capitals: […]ELEPHANTA[…]Footnote 71

FIG. 41. Freshwater East, coarseware graffito (No. 41) (photo: PAS).

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

(a) RIB II.7, 2501.233 and 875 (Camelon). These two entries refer to the same sherd of samian (Dr. 31, early Antonine), variously read as […]IɅN[…] and […]INV[…], but probably […] inu [s] Footnote 72

(b) Britannia 39 (2008), 381–4, No. 18, the Brompton diploma. In the list of military units cohort (31), restored in the conflated text on p. 382, should be IV Ling(onum).Footnote 73

(c) Britannia 19 (1988), 504, No. 97 (fig. 42). This lead sealing from Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum) has been re-examined.Footnote 74 It is evidently from the same die as RIB II.1, 2411.34 (Felixstowe), since both sealings depict a bull facing right, with the letters P B in relief above: p(rovinciae) B(ritanniae), ‘(seal) of the province of Britain’.Footnote 75

FIG. 42 (a) and (b). Aldborough, lead sealing (Add. (c)) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

(d) Britannia 23 (1992), 146–50, with PL. III(A) (fig. 43). Upper half of a stylus writing-tablet, 144 by 63 mm, found in 1990 at Tullie House, Carlisle (Luguvalium). Its recessed face carries good traces of the first seven lines of a dated loan-note: imp(eratore) Domitiano VIIII co(n)s(ule) | VII Idus Novembres. Q(uintus) Cassius | Secundus, miles leg(ionis) XX (centuria) Calvi | Prisci, scribsi me debere | G(aio) Geminio Mansueto, militi | leg(ionis) eiusdem (centuria) Vetti Proculi, denarios centum quos … | […] ‘In the ninth consulship of the Emperor Domitian, on the 7th day before the Ides of November [7 November 83]. I, Quintus Cassius Secundus, soldier of the Twentieth Legion, century of Calvius Priscus, have written that I owe Gaius Geminius Mansuetus, soldier of the same legion, century of Vettius Proculus, one hundred denarii which [I will repay … date due and interest]’. It was published with full commentary in 1992, but illustrated only with a photograph that printed rather dark; it has now been drawn from the original.Footnote 76

FIG. 43. Carlisle, writing-tablet (Add. (d)) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Footnotes

1

Inscriptions on STONE (‘Monumental’) have been arranged as in the order followed by R.G. Collingwood and R.P. Wright in The Roman Inscriptions of Britain Vol. i (Oxford, 1965) and (slightly modified) by R.S.O. Tomlin, R.P. Wright and M.W.C. Hassall, in The Roman Inscriptions of Britain Vol. iii (Oxford, 2009), which are henceforth cited respectively as RIB (1–2400) and RIB III (3001–3550). Citation is by item and not page number. Inscriptions on PERSONAL BELONGINGS and the like (instrumentum domesticum) have been arranged alphabetically by site under their counties. For each site they have been ordered as in RIB, pp. xiii–xiv. The items of instrumentum domesticum published in the eight fascicules of RIB II (Gloucester and Stroud, 1990–95), edited by S.S. Frere and R.S.O. Tomlin, are cited by fascicule, by the number of their category (RIB 2401–2505) and by their sub-number within it (e.g. RIB II.2, 2415.53). Non-literate graffiti and graffiti with fewer than three complete letters have generally been excluded. When measurements are quoted, the width precedes the height.

References

2 During excavation by Worcestershire Archaeology directed by Jamie Wilkins. Derek Hurst sent details and photographs, including an RTI scan.

3 The altar would have to be turned upside-down (as in fig. 1) to read the text, meaning that a blank, uninscribed altar has been re-used for a different purpose: see the next note.

4 Line 1: the first letter looks like a square ‘C’, but there is trace of a downward extension for F, making it taller than the succeeding letters. The names IVCVNDO or SECVNDO cannot be read, nor is there any hint of a religious dedication. Line 2: the cross-stroke of T extends shallowly to the right, and is cut by a vertical stroke. This can be read as TT, but the form is unusual and complicated by a possible diagonal below, as if for ‘L’. But the sequence ɅTLII would be difficult, whereas names in Att– such as Attius are common. Also possible is ɅTIII for Atei, but the name Ateius is less common. Lines 2 and 3: despite the two incomplete letters, which look most like V (or O) and R, Mo|riduno is an attractive reading since it is a well-attested place-name. Rivet and Smith identify Moridunum with Carmarthen and perhaps Sidford (Devon), but the sense of ‘sea-fort’ would also suit Pilning, since it adjoins the Severn Estuary at its crossing-place. This altar-like stone may then be a boundary marker, identifying the ‘farm’ or ‘estate’ of Attius/Ateius (for fundus in this sense, compare Tab. Lond. Bloomberg 50.6, with note), but a good parallel for the wording has not been found.

5 In the garden of the Yorkshire Museum, from where Emily North sent details and photographs. It is now YORYM : 2017.312, but when and where it was found originally is not known.

6 Line 3 is much the best preserved, its letters except for H having lost only their very bottom. It can be restored as the funerary formula heredes faciendum curaverunt which, since it would have completed the text, not only establishes the width of the original but shows that it consisted of only three lines, even though the lower moulded border has been lost entirely (and was presumably part of an adjoining slab). Line 1 would have carried the name of the deceased, but the traces here are faint and ambiguous. Line 2 is less badly worn, and its traces accord with [.]ATRONOC, with just enough room for a narrow P at the beginning. This word [p]atrono is followed by quite a good C, but the next word cannot be restored. Most likely is c[arissimo], for a dedication to their ‘dearest patron’ by his freedmen and heirs: at York compare RIB 680, … here[edes et lib(erti)] patrono [bene mer]enti fecerunt. But he might have been ‘patron’ of the colonia Eboracensis or an ‘association’ (collegium) within it: a collegium of beneficiarii is attested at York by RIB III, 3193.

There is an incomplete lewis hole in the top of the slab, in the right-hand edge above the end of the surviving text, which would suggest there were originally two such sockets, used to lower the complete slab into place. It may thus have been a sarcophagus lid, but it is not shaped accordingly, and a sarcophagus would have been inscribed, not on its lid (except for the initial D M), but on its front. So this slab, which is certainly not a free-standing tombstone, was perhaps once part of a funerary structure, a mausoleum.

7 During excavation by the Vindolanda Trust directed by Andrew Birley, who made it available. It is fully published in this volume of Britannia by Alexander Meyer, Alex Mullen and Joonas Vanhala.

8 Meyer, Mullen and Vanhala (see previous note) collect parallels for the phallus and its inscription, and examine cacor: not a mis-cut of the noun cacator (‘shitter’), but a new form of the verb caco (‘I shit’), its first-person singular present passive cacor (‘I am shitted upon’). They discuss what was meant by this obscenity, and whether the phallus is addressing Secundinus or is even identified with him.

9 With Nos. 6–11 below during excavation by Newcastle University School of History, Classics and Archaeology, and the Historic England Archaeological Projects Team under the direction of Tony Wilmott and Ian Haynes, by whom and Diana Blumenberg they were made available for study at Vindolanda. For the excavation, see Britannia 53 (2022), 410–12, where Fig. 6 shows the altar in situ. Also found was a miniature sandstone altar, only 62 by 150 mm, 45 mm deep, but it was not inscribed.

10 The original text was probably more than three lines long, but there is no good trace of lettering below; nor any trace on the capital above. In line 1, only the top survives of the first letter: to judge by the C which follows, it might be C or G. The letter after CɅ might be a cramped N or M. The line is completed by quite good trace of Ʌ, T and O, which would suggest a dative (or ablative) termination in –ato. This might be a dedication ‘to’ a god, but there is no D for deo, and the initial CC / GC is inexplicable. If the first letter were G, it might be for g(enio), but dedication to the ‘genius’ – of a century perhaps, centuriae – would have been followed by a genitive. Lines 2 and 3 are too fragmentary to suggest anything, and S apart from a bold diagonal is very faint.

11 In unknown circumstances, but with the location and date deduced from its exact similarity to the eight plaques in the Water Newton Treasure now RIB II.3, 2431.4–11. The property of a deceased estate, it was auctioned by Mallams (Abingdon) in August 2022, where it was noticed by David Ganz. By courtesy of Mallams it was then examined by Anni Byard, Martin Henig and myself, and adjudged to be genuine (BM Treasure No. 2022 T789).

12 With the next five items in the same excavation as the altar (No. 4 above, with note). This sealing is <31057>, the next is <31986>.

13 The letters Ʌ, L and E are ligatured together for al(a)e, as in sealings of the ala II Asturum and the ala Sebosiana (RIB II.1, 2411.83 and 87 respectively). D for d(ecurio) in the reverse confirms the reference to an ala, but which ala is uncertain. The expansion offered here follows that of sealings of the ala Tungrorum found at Papcastle (Britannia 36 (2005), 487–8, Nos. 23–26) which read $ \widehat {{{\rm \Lambda LE}}}$ TV|NG. But in this Birdoswald sealing, V is incomplete and rather shallow, and even if TV can be read, it is not continued by NG below. Another difficulty is that this obverse resembles the reverse of a sealing of ala I Asturum (RIB II.1, 2411.82) which reads $\widehat{{{\rm \Lambda E}}}$TVD, likewise above a palm branch. This is the only instance of TVD on the sealing of an ala, and it does not identify the ala; its meaning is uncertain (perhaps t(ut)ud(it) for ‘struck’ or ‘stamped’), but it is frequent on the sealings of cohors VII Thracum (RIB II.1, 2411.213, with note). But the Birdoswald sealing has no D after TV, so Tu(ngrorum) is still quite possible.

14 The format is like the reverse of the ala II Asturum and the ala Tungrorum sealings cited in the previous note, the decurion's three initials above D for d(ecurio). But the two letters to the right of C are incomplete and confused by surface irregularities. They look more like T Ʌ than I T, even though C I T is an attractive reading, given the frequency of C(aius) I(ulius) in Roman nomenclature. For another instance of C T Ʌ, compare RIB II.7, 2501.150 (York), where it is an ownership-graffito on samian.

15 The obverse is less well-defined than the reverse. The vertical stroke of ‘I’ is continued by a second vertical stroke below, with nothing to its right. It may have been intended as a second digit, unless this was lost in the hole; a space here, between CI and L, seems unlikely. The cohort might thus be numbered I or II, but I[I] seems more likely: both cohorts were in Britain, but only the Second is already attested by a sealing (RIB II.1, 2411.108).

16 The hole makes it uncertain whether the centurion abbreviated his cognomen to one letter or two, but one would have been sufficient, since he used three letters to make his nomen explicit, ANT for Ant(onius).

17 <92001> The numeral could be read the other way up as ‘12’, but was probably meant to be read down the handle. It would have complemented another numeral, now lost, at the top of the handle or perhaps on the lip or other handle. This would have given the capacity of the amphora in modii, most likely ‘6’ or ‘7’. There were sixteen sextarii to the modius, which was equivalent to 8.754 litres. Such two-part notes of capacity, in modii and sextarii, are frequent on Dressel 20: see RIB II.6, pp. 33–4; and for examples, 2494.3–88.

18 <91031> The potter's signature, whether written by himself or a literate supervisor. The first letter is apparently I, but the slight curve at top and bottom would allow L. The two strokes of V do not meet, so they might be LI or even II. P is ligatured to I, which extends downward. The incomplete final letter, marked as such by its exaggerated descender, is certainly S; but because of the break above, it is unclear whether this S was preceded by a cramped V or CI, or even by CIV, if the (lost) V were formed by a shallow loop linked to the top of the long S. The name might thus have ended in –PIVS or –PICIS (genitive), or even –PICIVS. Despite the uncertainty of L and V, a possible reading is Laupi[ciu]s. But this name is attested only once, as the cognomen (perhaps Celtic) of Valerius Laupicius, who commemorated his brother just north of Rome (CIL xi 4085), his brother being a legionary in Legio II Italica. It is not an obvious name for a south-Spanish potter, but is worth considering until a better instance of his signature is found.

19 <32031> The first I is broken by the edge, but cannot be part of N: Anulius is found as a (rare) nomen, but would have been followed by a cognomen. The second V was made with an initial vertical stroke, which was corrected to a diagonal. Iulius is very frequent as a nomen, but is often used by itself as a cognomen. On samian, for example, see RIB II.7, 2501.265, 266 and 267.

20 <34608> The graffito is much abraded. Its first two letters descend from an apparent cross-stroke, but this is probably casual, since the downstroke of T would have been made first. The third letter is now only a patch of abrasion, but the horizontal lower edge and the spacing suggest L. Apart from this L, the graffito resembles RIB II.7, 2501.254 (York), IVIɅCI, ‘presumably Iviaci’. But the name Iviacus is not otherwise attested, nor is Iulacus. Around the circumference below, but still more coarsely incised and very much abraded, is another clockwise series of letters which also ends in CI. Its final I is much larger than the initial I of IVLɅCI to its right, and is separated from it by a space. The letters before CI are too abraded to be legible, but in view of the repeated CI they may well be another attempt at the same name.

21 By metal-detector, PAS ref. LANCUM-A1CA02. It is being kept at the Museum of Lancashire until a local museum can buy it from the finder. Cleaning and conservation may then make it possible to improve this reading from a photograph (see fig. 12), to which John Pearce has contributed.

22 The restoration of IOVI is certain, and the text would have begun with Jupiter, so the width lost to the left can be estimated. To the right is much less certain. Jupiter would have been followed by Juno and Minerva, to make the Capitoline triad, and Victory might have been followed by a formula referring to ‘the other gods and goddesses’ as in RIB III, 3460 (Carlisle), but the formula of dedication and the dedicator(s) are unclear. In line 3, Herculan[us] is surely the name of a dedicator, not a reference to Hercules. It is preceded by what might be ]VIT, a verbal ending, but the third letter (‘T’) looks more like a damaged P or R. To the left of this V may be a distorted S, making the restoration still more difficult. In line 4, COH is preceded by DI, which would suggest a genitive termination, perhaps that of the century to which the dedicator(s) belonged. But the preceding letter looks like a damaged E, and a (genitive) name in –edi would be un-Roman, especially since the next letter to the left may be an incomplete M, raising the possibility that the dedicator was medi(cus), the ‘medical officer’. The numeral of the cohort is more like VII than VI, to judge by the length of the suprascript bar and the possible trace of a digit in the broken edge, which would suggest that the cohort was the Seventh Thracians. They probably garrisoned Brough, since many of their lead sealings have been found there.

23 With the next item in a demolition layer during excavation by Wardell Armstrong Archaeology directed by Frank Giecco, who sent details and photographs. For the site and excavation see Britannia 53 (2022), 412–15, where this sealing is Fig. 9.

24 The letters A, L and E are ligatured together as in the Birdoswald sealing (No. 6 above, with note), but one horizontal stroke is now incomplete. The ala Petriana was the only milliary ala in Britain, but has produced just two sealings, the other being RIB II.1, 2411.84 (Stanwix), both dies of which are different.

25 The reverse should identify the decurion responsible (compare the next item and No. 6 above, with note), but its interpretation is uncertain. The central X may be a large ‘cross’ or ‘star’ separating the initials of his nomen and cognomen, A(…) and C(…). The ‘crescent’ below (which looks like C tilted forward ninety degrees) may represent the usual D for d(ecurio). Such a symbol is not attested, but in the other sealing of this ala (see previous note) there is a crescent and two stars below H R D, the decurion's two initials followed by d(ecurio).

26 D is now incomplete, but its position mid-way confirms the reading of d(ecurio), the decurion whose initials are in the line above. Here, to the right of the second F, trace of two horizontal strokes can be read as E. It was probably ligatured to L. The decurion is otherwise unknown, and (unusually) there is no obverse to identify his ala, but in view of where the sealing was found, it is likely to have been the ala Petriana again.

27 With the next item during excavation by Carlisle Archaeological Unit, and summarised in Britannia 23 (1992), 148; partly published in J.J. Wilkes (ed.), Documenting the Roman Army: Essays in Honour of Margaret Roxan (2003), 183. Both items are now in Tullie House, Carlisle, with a fuller description of their content.

28 The other face was used more than once and the extensive traces are now illegible, but four vertical lines were drawn across its middle portion, and there are long sinuous lines elsewhere, which suggest that a loan-note was being ‘cancelled’.

29 Notes line-by-line:

  1. 1, ex auctione. This phrase occurs in Pompeian stylus tablets to refer to ‘my’ auction or that ‘of’ the person named, meaning the sale of property belonging to them; for example, TPSulp. 81, ex auctione P(ubli) Servili Narcissi.

  2. 2, Senticae. This feminine name is not common, but is well attested in north-west Britain by the ornate tombstone of Aelia Sentica (RIB III, 3217) at Low Borrow Bridge.

  3. 3–4. These two entries have been written so close together that their letters overlap. At the end of each line is a note of the price, the denarius sign followed by a numeral, confirming that they are two entries, not one. But none of the other entries overlap in this way, and the likely explanation is that one entry was written to correct the other: the first would have been erased in the wax, and the second written in its place. One item is a neuter noun ending in –ium, which cost ‘5 denarii’. The other, which cost ‘7½ denarii’ (with s(emis) for ‘half’), looks like horreum (‘granary’), but this is inherently unlikely since the other entries relate to clothes.

  4. 5, sintosem. There is a just a hint of the cross-bar of T, but the next letter is apparently a cramped O, not the E which might have been expected, if the word is a variant spelling of synthesim. This word is Greek, and i for y and t for th are frequent in transliteration. It is likely that the accusative of synthesis was intended, since the other entries relate to clothes and synthesis means an ‘outfit’ or set of clothing: compare Tab. Vindol. II, 196.4, where its meaning is discussed by the editors. The numeral after the denarius sign might end in II for ‘22’, but the two incomplete strokes look more like the ‘V’ in numerals below.

  5. 6, auctione. The reading is guaranteed by its repetition in 1 and 9, each time followed by a personal name. The letters after AVC have lost their upper part, but their traces are consistent with TIONE. The name is apparently Alcimi (genitive), although surface corrugation has removed the tip of A, and most of L and C. This is the first instance of Alcimus in Britain, but although Greek by origin, it is often found in the Latin West.

  6. 7, tossiam. The cross-stroke of T has been lost in the wood-grain. The word is rare, but is well attested in the list of clothing (etc.) sent from Britain by its governor, Claudius Paulinus (CIL xiii 3162), which includes a ‘British rug’, tossiam Brit(annicam). Three such rugs, in the variant spelling tosseas iii, are listed in Tab. Vindol. II, 192.6, followed by a ‘cloak’ (sagum) in 192.8; and the word probably recurs in 439.10.

  7. 8, sagum. ‘Ten military cloaks’ are mentioned in an ink tablet from Carlisle (Tab. Luguval. 24), decem saga m[i]litaria. At Vindolanda, as well as the tablet just quoted, there are ‘three cloaks’ in Tab. Vindol. 207.2; ‘cloaks’ in a letter listing clothing (uestem) (255.9); and sagum (singular) in a long list of items with their price (App. 184.back 6).

  8. 8, (denarii). The numeral, as in line 5, ends in two incomplete strokes which look more like V (‘5’) in the line above than II (‘2’).

  9. 9, auct[ione]. A is complete, and T retains its cross-bar. After A, the scribe wrote C by mistake, but corrected it by writing V over it. There is only faint trace of N and E, but the restoration is certain in view of lines 1 and 6, where again auctione is followed by a personal name in the genitive.

  10. 10, Accauni. Like Alcimi (6), this name too is damaged by the contraction of the surface across the middle of the letters, but the traces suit this reading. The name is rare, but is attested at Bordeaux as Acaunus (CIL xiii 685).

  11. 11–12. The entry for Accaunus’ auction is too damaged to be legible. In line 11, dolabram was suggested in Wilkes 2003, 183 (see n. 27 above): the word certainly seems to have ended in –RAM, with quite good traces of O and L, but an ‘entrenching tool’ is unlikely in what seems to be a list of clothing. Line 12 may end with a numeral and s(emis), as in 4, but even the denarius sign has been lost in the damage.

30 As with the previous item, the cursive has been transcribed in capitals and words separated where possible. TT of Attio is oddly formed, probably because the stylus was not lifted between strokes, and the final O of Suburano has been lost in a medley of strokes. These include a very large S which spans all three lines; it apparently represents the expected COS for co(n)s(ule), since there is no trace of C and O nor even space for them. Attius Suburanus was suffect consul in a.d. 101, but his second consulship in 104 was ‘ordinary’ and used to date the whole year. His colleague is not named, probably to save space, just as in Tab. Vindol. III, 581.20, where their consulship is used as a date-heading but only Suburanus is actually named. In the line above, there would have been a day/month date, but this is now illegible. Immediately after the consular date is BENO or BVNO, or perhaps QVINO, but this is unexplained: perhaps the place of execution, but no such place-name is known, and it would surely have been preceded by actum (‘executed’).

31 During the same series of excavations as the two lead sealings (Nos. 13 and 14 above, with note). The tiles are noted in Britannia 53 (2022), 414, with Fig. 8.

32 This stamp has been found at other sites in Carlisle: see RIB II.5, 2483 (vi–li), where its expansion and interpretation are discussed.

33 By metal-detector, PAS ref. PUBLIC-A895F7. Sally Worrell sent details of this item and other inscribed Portable Antiquities.

34 What this numeral refers to is unknown. According to the standard of 327.45 g assumed for the Roman libra (RIB II.2, 2412, p. 1), eight ounces (unciae) would be 218.30 g. But this lump does not appear to have been cut down from a larger piece of about that weight. Nor can the V be read as the ‘ounces’ symbol followed by III (compare RIB II.2, 2412.70); and in any case, three ounces would be only 81.86 g.

35 By metal-detector, PAS ref. SF-7B3489.

36 The third diagonal of M is cut by a short cross-stroke which might be casual, but probably indicates the letter A ligatured within it. The god would then be Mars or the Matres, not Mercury or Minerva.

37 In circumstances unrecorded, but now in Colchester Museum (COLEM: 1936.654.1), on whose website it was seen by Scott Vanderbilt.

38 An abbreviated personal name, perhaps Cat(us), since the feminine form Cata occurs on samian at Colchester (RIB II.7, 2501.131). Otherwise a cognate name or Catullus (etc.). The Museum cannot be sure ‘without more context’ that the graffito is Roman like the sherd, and not an excavator's joking reference to Colchester Archaeological Trust, but it does not look modern and the letter-forms are acceptably Roman.

39 By Mechanical Removals and Installations, Gravesend (M.R.I.), from where Steve Trim sent details and a photograph. It was found eroding from the foreshore with pottery, salt-making briquetage and animal bones.

40 The name is uncommon, but must derive from Similis. This is the first instance of his stamp.

41 By metal-detector, PAS ref. LIN-1958BA.

42 Reading and interpretation are uncertain, but this is perhaps a personal name abbreviated to its three initials, T(itus) A(…) A(…). PAS reads it the other way up as M, perhaps M(ercurio), but the cross-bar of T is evident, being made with two short strokes; and the next letter is Ʌ rather than (if inverted) V, since its second diagonal cuts into the first. There is little trace of the fourth diagonal of ɅɅ, and these two letters might be a crude M, but TM would be more difficult to interpret.

43 With the next three items during excavation (Britannia 43 (2012), 336) by Pre-Construct Archaeology, from where Eniko Hudak and Jon Butler made them available with other graffiti, still more fragmentary, which will all be published in the final excavation report being prepared by A. Douglas for Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeology Society.

44 Since they both end in X, graffito (iii) may repeat (ii). Its first numeral, three incomplete diagonals, is either ‘3’ if complete (III), or if incomplete, either ‘4’ ([I]III) or ‘8’ ([V]III). One modius (sixteen sextarii) was equivalent to 8.754 litres, making these possibilities 31.73 litres, or 40.47 litres, or 70.75 litres. This sherd was found with two others, but they do not conjoin, and the exact amphora-type has not been identified. But according to the Southampton University (2014) website, Roman Amphorae: a digital resource, the average capacity of the Africana 2A Grande was 60–65 litres, of the Africana 1 Piccolo 39–42 litres, which would suggest [I]III X (40.47 litres) as the only match.

45 Marianus is quite a common name, already found twice in Britain: on a tombstone from Old Carlisle (Britannia 45 (2014), 432, No. 2) with the cognate name Marinus, and on a samian platter from Vindolanda (Britannia 36 (2005), 493, No. 42).

46 S is scratched over a small ‘star’ (✻), perhaps a previous ownership-mark. Like the cross-stroke of A, the third stroke of N was made twice. S is certainly the first letter, but to the right, it is uncertain whether the name continued after N, or was abbreviated to SAN. Probably it was written in full, whether Sanctus or its derivative Sanctinus. Both names are quite common, and they occur together in the London Bridge curse tablet (Britannia 18 (1987), 360, No. 1), where they are written as Santinus and Santus with omission of the velar [k], which may indeed have been the case here.

47 A personal name, whether or not abbreviated. Although such a short fragment, it is included here since two coarseware sherds were found at Tobacco Dock in 2002, inscribed VI and […]VIC[…] (Britannia 42 (2011), 449, Nos. 13 and 14). Names such as Victor and Vitalis are very common, but perhaps it is the same owner.

48 During excavation by the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit (Britannia 36 (2005), 419), for which see R.A. Gregory, Roman Manchester: The University of Manchester excavations within the Vicus 2001–05 (2007). Richard Gregory made it available.

49 The first and last surviving letters are now incomplete. The first might be a large K, but looks more like the right-hand half of a six-pointed ‘star’ (✻), whether this was a previous ownership-mark or (as it would appear) deliberately incorporated into the owner's name. The last letter is either I or V, but the sequence would suggest I. The graffito is too incomplete to be certain, but seems to be an elaboration of Proximus, the owner's name, with s reinforcing the [ks] of x, a frequent ‘Vulgarism’. Compare the dedicator of RIB III, 3180, Q(uintus) Nerat(ius) Proxsimus.

50 During excavation by the Vindolanda Trust directed by Robin Birley. It is now in the British Museum, where it was photographed by Alex Meyer, Alex Mullen and myself, with thirteen other tablets, nine of which are noticed in E. Birley, R. Birley and A. Birley, Vindolanda Research Reports II, The Early Wooden Forts (1993), where this tablet is illustrated on p. 26 as fig. 6.1 (Inv. 532), but not transcribed. We hope to publish them all in due course.

51 The downstrokes begin with a short upstroke like a serif. C is a long gentle curve, not a semi-circle. The cross-stroke of T is an upward diagonal. S is crossed with a medial line, the usual symbol for sextarii (compare RIB II.6, 2494.10). This is an improvised pittacium, the term used by Petronius (Satyricon 34) for the label attached to an amphora identifying its wine. The Vindolanda label also notes the quantity, for which compare a dipinto from Newstead (RIB II.6, 2492.7) and a graffito from Chester (RIB II.6, 2494.10). picatum (‘tasting of pitch’) was a premium wine from the Rhone valley, attested by amphora dipinti such as AE 1988, 864 (j), pic(atum) exc(ellens), and 865, pic(atum) uet(us). It is also noted by Pliny (Nat. Hist. xiv.3.18, 4.26, 6.57; xxiii.24.47) and Martial (xiii.107), and a ‘motto’ beaker ironically compares it with Aminean, which Pliny (xiv.3.21) regards as the best wine of all: parce picatum da amineum (CIL xiii 10018, 135), ‘go easy on the picatum, serve amineum’.

52 With the next six items during excavation by the Vindolanda Trust directed by Andrew Birley, who made them available at Vindolanda.

53 SF 23138 is complete, but the surface is corroded. Like many weights, it is under-weight according to the standard of 327.45 g assumed for the Roman libra (RIB II.2, 2412, p. 1), but it coincides with three other two-pound weights found in Britain: RIB II.2, 2412.42 at 638 g, 105 at 632 g and 106 at 639 g.

54 SF 23237. The graffiti are inverted as to each other. The lettering of (i) is larger and better-formed: C is almost circular, R stylishly made with an exaggerated bottom-serif. But despite some difference in style and appearance, the two graffiti record the same name. The first two letters of (ii) are certainly CR, the fourth letter T; and what remains of the others is quite compatible with those of (i). The only difficulty in them both is the fifth letter (see below).

Nothing identifies this roundel as a weight, but it is two or three times as thick as the other three lead roundels with central hole found at military sites: RIB I, 2410.4 (Caerleon), naming a century and identified as a label; II.3, 2435.4 (Caerleon) and 2435.7 (Binchester), said to ‘resemble spindle-whorls’, but apparently inscribed with a name and numeral. There is no trace of a centurial sign before the name, unlike the Caerleon roundel, so this must be an assertion of ownership, not a centurial ‘label’. The name Cretao is not attested, but Cretionis (the genitive of Cretio) cannot be read: there are two strokes between T and O, the first straight as if I, but the second a diagonal; taken together, they suggest a poorly made ‘open’ A.

55 SF 23086. The first letter is incomplete, only a short diagonal stroke, but was evidently an angular C since the cognomen Cornutus is quite common. But this is its first occurrence in Britain, and the century is otherwise unattested.

56 SF 23443. This sequence does not suit a cognomen on its own, even by taking IC as an incomplete R: Nucrinus is very rare. More likely is a nomen and cognomen in the genitive case, written without a break. Minucius is quite a common nomen.

57 SF 23389. The second letter is incomplete, but enough remains of both horizontal strokes to make D almost certain. Although less than three letters, the graffito is included here because it probably consisted of two letters only: compare the almost complete Dressel 20 from Vindolanda incised after firing with the same two letters, AD (Britannia 36 (2005), 495, No. 69); also the handmill from Vindolanda (RIB II.4, 2449.2) which reads AD, (centuria) Ad(…). They abbreviate a personal name to its first two letters, the most likely being Adiutor, since it is a frequent cognomen already found in the Vindolanda tablets (Tab. Vindol. 199 and 588, and compare 214).

58 SF 23312. The graffito is complete, and unlikely to be an abbreviated personal name, since a third letter would surely have been added. For numerals on samian, compare RIB II.7, 2501.837–870, but their purpose is not stated.

59 SF 23411. The letters are incomplete, and the first might be R, but its incomplete lower loop suits B. The third letter might be T, but this would surely have been tilted further to the right, to align its vertical with the diameter of the base; it is much more like Ʌ, ending a word. The graffito thus seems to be a woman's name ending in –bia, but with only a few possibilities such as the nomina Fabia and Vibia treated as cognomina. To read […]ria would suggest more possibilities such as Maria or Valeria, but R (as already said) is difficult.

60 During excavation by the Central Marches Archaeological Research Group directed by John Allen, published by him in Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society 88 (2013). For the spoon and its inscription, see pp. 71–2, where they are illustrated with reading and full commentary by Catherine Johns. Its discovery was noted in Britannia 22 (1991), 250 and 27 (1996), 451 n. 46, but the reading was quoted as utere felix vivas. Now in Shrewsbury Museum (SHRMS: 2019.00205), from where Emma-Kate Lanyon sent photographs.

61 The reduction of [ks] to [s] is a trivial ‘Vulgarism’, but this seems to be the only instance of felis for felix in the stock phrase utere felix. It is followed by only three letters, VIV, since there was not enough room to complete vivas.

62 By metal-detector, PAS ref. SF-F57791 with information from David Brear. Sold by TimeLine Auctions, 21 February 2023 (Lot 136). It is the third example known, the others being RIB II.3, 2421.44 and Britannia 32 (2001), 396, No. 39.

63 The brooch was made in the ‘region’ of Lagitium (Castleford): see Britannia 32 (2001), 396, n. 53. The local museum, Wakefield Museum, tried to buy it but was outbid.

64 By metal-detector, PAS ref. SF-813507.

65 Omega is inverted and to the left of Chi-Rho, Alpha to the right. But Rho is rectograde. If a retrograde inscription were intended, it was evidently bungled.

66 By metal-detector, PAS ref. SUSS-687D22.

67 The full inscription would have invoked long life (etc.) for the person named, using vivas for example, as in RIB II.3, 2422.14 and 70. The sequence –AGR– suggests his name was Agricola or Agrippa, or perhaps Syagrius.

68 By metal-detector, PAS ref. WILT-A646EC.

69 The letters are made with exaggerated serifs. Martin Henig comments that the hair-style is fourth-century, and that the ring is related to ‘Brancaster’ rings with square bezels, especially RIB II.3, 2422.15, a ‘betrothal ring’ with facing busts and the legend VIVAS IN DEO. He also compares 2422.25 and 42, with a single bust and IVL BELLATOR VIVAS and VIVAS respectively. This type of bezel with facing busts is widespread: see J. Spier, Late Antique and Early Christian Gems (2007), Nos. 25–66, and especially 35, inscribed SEPTIMI ELIA VIVATIS.

70 In circumstances unstated, PAS ref. DYFED-12602A. It is ‘thought to have been scratched in while the clay was wet’, but from the photograph it looks as if the surface was already hard and brittle. After firing does seem more likely, especially since it would have been difficult to inscribe the receding inner face (see the profile in fig. 41) when the pot was unfired and entire. But it is hardly an assertion of ownership: ownership-names are usually scratched on the outer wall of a vessel or underneath it. The broken edge to left and right makes it uncertain that the graffito is complete, but since the word is neatly centred between them, it does look as if the writing-medium was already a sherd.

71 elephantus (usually masculine) means ‘elephant’ and (by extension) ‘ivory’, but is not attested as a personal name. The graffito does not look modern, but its reference and purpose are unknown.

72 Falkirk Museum acc. no. 2008-010-453, the photograph on whose website was seen by Scott Vanderbilt. Either reading is possible, but the gap between the successive diagonals favours NV rather than ɅN.

73 And not IV Gall(orum), which was repeated by mistake. The correct restoration is noted there in n. 43, as seen by Scott Vanderbilt and made without comment in AE 2008, 800.

74 Before its return to the site museum at Aldborough, where it now is. Published in Britannia since it was found a few months after the closing date for RIB II.1, where it is noticed in the note to 2411.36 (Binchester).

75 The Aldborough sealing has lost the first letter, P, except for its very foot, in the hole made by the binding-cord; but it can be restored from the Felixstowe sealing. Both sealings were first read as P B I, p(rovinciae) B(ritanniae) I(nferioris), by comparing them with two others, RIB II.1, 2411.35 (York) and 36 (Binchester), which depict a bull facing right with the letters P B I in relief above. This was the badge of Lower Britain, as confirmed by 2411.37 (Coombe Down), which depicts Upper Britain (P B R S) with a stag. The commentary to 2411.34 (Felixstowe) notes that it ‘is now more damaged than when drawn by Roach Smith. What now appears as the lower half of the I is there illustrated as the right horn of the bull.’ But the Aldborough sealing (see fig. 42) confirms that the bull did indeed have two curving horns, its right horn just to the right of B. There is no sign of I for I(nferioris) here, so this letter was probably overlooked by the die-maker when he cut the horns where it should have been as well.

76 Before its return to Tullie House, Carlisle, where it now is (CAR 89 ABB B (3) W <19>). Also noted in Wilkes 2003, 180–81 (see n. 27 above). The letters have become less legible than they were thirty years ago because the wood has contracted slightly, which has both accentuated the wood-grain with its horizontal ribbing and coarsened the incisions. There is no longer trace of quos towards the end of line 7, but otherwise the letters can still be distinguished from the extensive traces of a previous text which have been drawn in outline. This text also seems to have begun with a consulship-date of Domitian, and is likely to have been another such loan-note.

Figure 0

FIG. 1. Near Pilning, inscribed stone block (No. 1) (photo: Worcestershire Archaeology).

Figure 1

FIG. 2. York, inscribed stone slab (No. 2) (photo: Yorkshire Museum).

Figure 2

FIG. 3. Vindolanda, inscribed stone with phallus (No. 3) (photo: Vindolanda Trust).

Figure 3

FIG. 4 (a) and (b). Birdoswald, stone altar (No. 4) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 4

FIG. 5. Water Newton, silver plaque (No. 5) (photo: Nicola Beasley).

Figure 5

FIG. 6. Birdoswald, lead sealing, both faces (No. 6) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 6

FIG. 7. Birdoswald, lead sealing, both faces (No. 7) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 7

FIG. 8. Birdoswald, amphora handle (No. 8) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 8

FIG. 9. Birdoswald, amphora graffito (No. 9) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 9

FIG. 10. Birdoswald, samian graffito (No. 10) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 10

FIG. 11. Birdoswald, samian graffito (No. 11) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 11

FIG. 12. Near Brough, copper-alloy plaque (No. 12) (photo: PAS).

Figure 12

FIG. 13 (a) and (b). Carlisle, lead sealing (No. 13) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

Figure 13

FIG. 14. Carlisle, lead sealing (No. 14) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

Figure 14

FIG. 15 (a) and (b). Carlisle, list of items sold at auction (No. 15) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 15

FIG. 16. Carlisle, fragment of a dated stylus tablet (No. 16) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 16

FIG. 17. Carlisle, stamped tile (No. 17) (photo: Wardell Armstrong).

Figure 17

FIG. 18. Cowick, lump of lead with incised numeral (No. 18) (photo: PAS).

Figure 18

FIG. 19. Bures Hamlet, silver ring bezel (No. 19) (photo: PAS).

Figure 19

FIG. 20. Colchester, potsherd graffito (No. 20) (photo: Colchester Museum).

Figure 20

FIG. 21. Bishop Saltings, stamped tile (No. 21) (photo: M.R.I.).

Figure 21

FIG. 22. Haconby Fen, silver ring bezel (No. 22) (photo: PAS).

Figure 22

FIG. 23. Shadwell, amphora graffiti (No. 23) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 23

FIG. 24. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 24) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 24

FIG. 25. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 25) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 25

FIG. 26. Shadwell, coarseware graffito (No. 26) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 26

FIG. 27. Manchester, samian graffito (No. 27) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 27

FIG. 28. Vindolanda, wooden wine label (No. 28) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 28

FIG. 29. Vindolanda, lead weight (No. 29) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 29

FIG. 30. Vindolanda, lead roundel (No. 30) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 30

FIG. 31 (a) and (b). Vindolanda, copper-alloy triangular tag (No. 31) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 31

FIG. 32. Vindolanda, tile with graffito (No. 32) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 32

FIG. 33. Vindolanda, amphora graffito (No. 33) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 33

FIG. 34. Vindolanda, samian graffito (No. 34) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 34

FIG. 35. Vindolanda, samian graffito (No. 35) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 35

FIG. 36. Pentrehyling, inscribed silver spoon (No. 36) (photo: Shropshire Museums).

Figure 36

FIG. 37 (a) and (b). Near Campsea Ashe, copper-alloy brooch (No. 37) (photos: TimeLine Auctions).

Figure 37

FIG. 38. Westerfield, silver ring (No. 38) (photo: PAS).

Figure 38

FIG. 39. Near Bosham, silver ring fragment (No. 39) (photo: PAS).

Figure 39

FIG. 40. Heddington, silver ring bezel (No. 40) (photo: PAS).

Figure 40

FIG. 41. Freshwater East, coarseware graffito (No. 41) (photo: PAS).

Figure 41

FIG. 42 (a) and (b). Aldborough, lead sealing (Add. (c)) (photographed and drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).

Figure 42

FIG. 43. Carlisle, writing-tablet (Add. (d)) (drawn by R.S.O. Tomlin).