Northumberland Yesterday And To Day by Jean F. Terry (read aloud books .txt) 📖

Mithras, The

Persian Sun-God, Found In A Cave Near The Camp, Evidently Constructed

For The Celebration Of The Rites Connected With The Worship Of Mithras.

The Altar Shows The God Coming Out Of An Egg, And Surrounded By An Oval

On Which Are Carved The Signs Of The Zodiac.

 

The Teutonic Element In The Garrison Is Represented By The Altars To

Mars Thingsus, The Discovery Of Which Caused Great Interest In Germany,

And By The Altars To The Deae Matres--The Mother-Goddesses, Whose Carved

Figures Are Shown Seated, Fully Draped, And Holding Baskets Of Fruits On

Their Knees. They Are Generally Found In Sets Of Three; But

Unfortunately They Have Been Much Mutilated, And All The Examples

Remaining Are Headless. The Deae Matres Would Seem To Correspond In Some

Degree To The Roman Ceres And The Greek Demeter, The Bountiful Givers Of

The Fruits Of The Earth. The Majority Of The Altars Found Are, As Was To

Be Expected, Dedicated To The Deities Of Rome; Chiefly, As Shown By The

Constantly Recurring I.O.M.--_Jovi Optimo Maximo_--To "Jupiter, The Best

And Greatest." The Varying Inscriptions Which Follow As Reasons For

Their Erection As Votive Offerings Give Us Glimpses Of The Life In These

Communities Clearer Than Those Afforded By Anything Else. And As Most,

If Not All, Of Our Knowledge Concerning The Details Of The Roman

Occupation Of The North-Country Has To Be Obtained From The Inscriptions

Which The Garrisons Left Behind Them, The Inscribed Stones As Well As

The Altars Are Of The Greatest Possible Interest And Value. One Such

Stone, Found At The Borcovicus Mile-Castle, States That "The Second

Legion, The August (Erected This At The Command Of) Aulus Platorius

Nepos, Legate And Propraetor, In Honour Of The Emperor Cæsar Trajanus

Hadrianus Augustus."

 

At "Cuddy's" (Cuthbert's) Crag Near Borcovicus Is One Of The Most

Picturesque Bits Of Scenery To Be Found On The Whole Course Of The Wall.

My First Acquaintance With It Was Made On A Day Of Grey Mist And

Drizzling Rain, Which Completely Hid Any View Of The Surrounding

Country, And Of Necessity Confined Our Attention To The Stones (And Wet

Grass!) Immediately Beneath Our Feet. But Another Visit Was On A Day Of

Wind And Sunshine, And In The Company Of A Group Of Light-Hearted

Students. We Explored The Ruins Of Borcovicus, Walked Along The Broad

And Broken Top Of The Wall, And Climbed Up Hill And Down Dale With It

Under The Pleasantest Conditions, If A Trifle Breezy On The Heights.

June Was At Her Traditional Best, Which She Does Not Often Vouchsafe To

Show Us; Flowers Waved All Around, Amongst The Grass And In The Crannies

Between The Stones, And More Than Once The Lines At The Head Of This

Chapter Were Quoted By One To Another. Again And Again Our Progress Was

Stayed While We Admired The Glorious View Spread Out All Around, But

Especially Was This The Case At Cuddy's Crag. We Looked Westward Over

Crag Lough, Its Usually Dark Waters Flashing In The Afternoon Sun; The

Three Loughs Were All Within View; Away To The Southward, Beyond

Barcombe Hill, And The Site Of Vindolana, Langley Castle Could Be Seen,

"Standing Four-Square To All The Winds That Blew"; And Further Away

Again, Beyond The Valley Of The South Tyne, To The Southwest The Faint

Outlines Of Crossfell And Skiddaw. Northward It Was Quite Easy To

Imagine Oneself Looking Out Over The Picts' Country Still, So Far Do

The Moorlands Stretch, And So Few Are The Signs Of Habitation. Rolling

Ridges Stretch Northward, Wave Upon Wave, Clothed With Grass And

Heather, Amongst Which Parnesius And Pertinax Went Hunting With Little

Allo The Pict; To The Northeast The Heights Of Simonside Showed; And Far

Beyond Them, Though More To The Westward, The Rounded Summits Of The

Cheviots Lay On The Horizon.

 

A Short Distance Westward From The Crag Is Hot Bank Farmhouse, A Place

Which Most Visitors To The Wall Remember With Grateful Feelings; For

What Is More Refreshing, After A Long Tramp, Than A Farmhouse Cup Of Tea

Accompanied By That Most Appetising Of Northumbrian Dainties, Hot Girdle

Cakes! The Visitors' Book At Hot Bank Is A "Civil List" Of All The Most

Learned And Noted Names In Great Britain, And Many Outside Its Shores,

Together With Legions Of Humbler Folk. In This It Resembles The One At

Cilurnum, Which Is The Only Other Considerable Station Along The Line Of

The Wall In Northumberland.

 

This Station Of Cilurnum, Or Chesters, Is A Little Over Five Acres In

Extent, And Is Quite Near To Chollerford Station On The North British

Railway. To Describe Cilurnum In Detail, And The Interesting Museum

Connected With It, Filled With A Wonderful Collection Of Objects Found

On The Line Of The Wall, Would Require A Book To Deal With That Alone.

The General Plan Is The Same As That Which We Have Already Seen At

Borcovicus, With The Same Rounded Corners, And Double Gateway With

Guard-Chambers At Each Side; The Western And Eastern Walls At Chesters,

However, Have Each An Additional Single Gateway To The South Of The

Larger Portals. We Must Content Ourselves With A Short Survey Of The

Camp, With Its Two Wide Streets At Right Angles To Each Other As At

Borcovicus, And The Rest Of Them Very Narrow--Indeed, Little More Than

Two Feet In Width; The Remains Of Its Forum And Market, Its Barracks

And Houses, Its Open Shops And Colonnades, The Bases Of The Pillars Yet

In Position; Its Baths, With Pipes, Cistern, And Flues; And A Vaulted

Chamber Which Was Thought, On Its Being First Excavated, To Lead To

Underground Stables, For A Local Tradition Held That Such Were In

Existence, And Would Be Found, With A Troop Of Five Hundred Horses. The

Vault, However, Did Not Lead Further, So That The Tradition Remained

Unproven. Notwithstanding This, There Was A Grain Of Fact In It; For

Chesters Was A Cavalry Station, And Five Hundred Was The Full Complement

Of The _Ala_, Or Troop (_Ala_ Being A "Wing," And Cavalry Forming The

"Wing" Of An Army In Position).

 

Outside The Walls Of Cilurnum Are Traces Of The Usual Suburban

Dwellings; And Here, Near The River, Stood The Villa Of The Officer In

Command Of The Station. The Excavation Of All These Buildings And Many

Others Took Place In The Forties And Fifties Of Last Century, And Were

Due To The Energy Of Mr. John Clayton, The Learned And Zealous

Antiquary, In The Possession Of Whose Family The Estate Still Remains.

To Mr. N.G. Clayton We Owe The Museum At The Lodge Gate, Which He Built

For The Reception Of The Notable Collection It Contains Of Antiquities

Gathered From All The Various Stations In Northumberland. A Very Fine

Altar Brought From Vindolana At Once Strikes The Eye, And May Be Taken

As A Type Of Many Others, Though Not Many Are So Perfect. The Gravestone

Of A Standard-Bearer, From The Neighbouring Station Of Procolitia, Shows

A Full-Length Carving Of The Dead Warrior. Other Inscribed Stones Are Of

Great Interest, Though Unfortunately Most Of Them Are But Fragments;

Still These Fragments Not Infrequently Contain A Few Words Which Enable

Students Of Them To Confirm A Date Or A Fact Concerning The Garrisons,

Which Must Otherwise Have Been A Matter Of Pure Conjecture. For

Instance, It Might Seem Very Improbable That The Same Regiments Should

Have Been Quartered In Certain Stations For Over Two Hundred Years; Yet

One Of The Inscribed Stones Proves That Such Was The Case At Cilurnum.

The Inscription States That The Second _Ala_ Of The Asturians Repaired

The Temple During The Consulate Of Certain Persons, Which Is Found To Be

About The Year 221. In The _Notitia_, Which Was Not Compiled Until The

Beginning Of The Fifth Century, The Second _Ala_ Of The Asturians Is

Given As The Garrison Of Cilurnum.

 

Another Thing Which Strikes The Imagination Is The Sight, After The

Lapse Of So Many Centuries, Of The Erasures On Various Inscribed

Stones--Erasures Of Some Emperor's Or Caesar's Name After His Death By

The Chisel Of A Soldier In One Of His Legions On This Far-Away Post Of

His Empire. It Is One Thing To Read One's Gibbon, And Learn Of The

Murder Of Geta, Son Of Severus, By Order Of His Brother Caracalla, And

Another To See The Youth's Name Roughly Scratched Out On A Stone In

Hexham Abbey Crypt; And To Read Of The Assassination Of Elagabalus Does

Not Move Us One Whit, But To See His Name Erased From A Stone In

Chesters Museum Brings The Tumultuous Happenings In Ancient Rome Very

Closely Home To Us.

 

Here Are Also Several Roman Milestones, With Their Lengthy And Sonorous

Inscriptions, From Various Points On The Wall; And A Miscellaneous And

Deeply Interesting Collection Of Smaller Articles, Such As Ornaments Of

Bronze, Jet, Or Gold, Fibulae (Brooches Or Clasps), Coins Of Many

Reigns, Samian-Ware, Terra-Cotta And Glass, Parts Of Harness, Etc., Etc.

 

Of Carven Figures There Are Several Besides The Standard Bearer Already

Mentioned. The Best Is A Figure Of Cybele, With Elaborate Draperies,

But Unfortunately Headless; Another, Of Victory, Holds A Palm Branch In

The Left Hand, But The Right Arm Is Missing. A Soldier Is Shown With

Spear, Shield, And Ornate Head-Piece; And A Representation Of A

River-God, The Genius Of The Tyne, Is Worthy Of Notice. He Is A Bearded

Figure, After The Style Of The Figures Of Nilus, Or The Representations

In Old Prints Of Father Thames. From Procolitia Comes An Altar To The

Goddess Coventina, A Name Not Met With Elsewhere, The Presiding Genius

Of The Well In That Station. She Is Shown Reclining On A Water-Lily

Leaf, Holding In One Hand A Water-Plant, And In The Other A Goblet From

Which A Stream Of Water Runs. An Elaborate Carving Of Three Water

Nymphs, Most Probably Meant To Be In Attendance On The Goddess, Is One

Of The Few Pieces Of Sculpture That Are Not Greatly Mutilated.

 

Centurial Stones Are Numerous, Having Been Put Up At All Parts Of The

Wall To Record The Building Of Such And Such Parts By Various Centurions

And Their Companies. The Mark >, Which Dr. Hodgkin Supposes To Be A

Representation Of The Vine Rod, A Centurion's Symbol Of Authority, And

The Sign C Or Q, Are Used To Signify A Century. Thus A Stone Inscribed Q

Val. Maxi. States That The Century Of Valerius Maximus Built That Part

Of The Wall. Two Or Three Small Altars Are Inscribed Dibvs

Veteribvs--"To The Old Gods"; And Mars Thingsus Is Well Represented.

 

A Very Important Relic Of Roman Times Found At Cilurnum Was A Bronze

Tablet Of Citizenship, Giving This Coveted Privilege To A Number Of

Soldiers Who Had Served In Twenty-Five Campaigns And Received Honourable

Discharge. There Have Been Only Three Specimens Of This Diploma Found In

Britain, And All Are Preserved In The British Museum. There Are Many

Memorial Tablets Erected By Wives To Their Husbands, And Husbands To

Their Wives, Which Leads To Much Speculation As To How These Ladies,

High-Born Roman, Native Briton, Or Freed-Woman, Liked Their Sojourn In A

Small Garrison Town On The Breezy Heights Of A Northumbrian Moorland.

Those Ladies Who Dwelt At Cilurnum, However, Had Not So Much Cause To

Complain, For Such Natural Advantages As Were To Be Had Were Certainly

Theirs, In That Sheltered Spot. The Scenery Round About Cilurnum Is

Quiet, Peaceful And Pastoral, Altogether Different From The Wild Beauty

Of Cuddy's Crag, Limestone Corner, Or Whinshields.

 

Having Now Noticed The Two Chief Stations On The Line Of The Wall, It

Will Be Interesting To Follow The Course Of The Rampart Itself

Throughout Its Journey Across Northumberland, Though To Do So In Detail

Is Impossible Within The Limits Of So Small A Volume As The Present One.

Neither Would It Be Necessary, Or Desirable, For The Last Word In

Detailed Description Has Been Said Long Ago In The Two Wonderfully

Exhaustive Treatises On The Subject By Dr. Bruce.

 

A List Of Roman Officials, Civil And Military, Throughout The Empire Has

Come Down To Us; In This List--_Notitia Dignitatem Et Administratem, Tam

Civilium Quam Militarium In Partibus Orientis Et Occidentis_--The

Portion Which Relates To The Wall Is Headed, _Item Per Lineam

Valli_--"Also Along The Line Of The Wall." The Following Is A Copy Of

This Portion, As Given By Dr. Bruce In His _Handbook To The Roman Wall_.

 

  The Tribune Of The Fourth Cohort Of The Lingones At Segedunum.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of Cornovii At Pons Aelii.

 

  The Prefect Of The First _Ala_ Of The Asturians At Condercum. The

  Tribune Of The First Cohort Of The Frixagi (Frisii) At Vindobala.

 

  The Prefect Of The Savinian _Ala_ At Hunnum.

 

  The Prefect Of The Second _Ala_ Of The Asturians At Cilurnum.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of The Batavians At Procolitia.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of The Tungrians At Borcovicus.

 

  The Tribune Of The Fourth Cohort Of The Gauls At Vindolana.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of Asturians At Aesica.

 

  The Tribune Of The Second Cohort