A Discourse Occasion'd by an Inscription Found, about Three Years Ago, at Langchester in the Bishoprick of Durham, and Communicated to the Royal Society from Dr. Hunter by Dr. Woodward, as It is Printed in the Philosophical Transactions, No 354. By Roger Gale, Esq; R. S. S.

II. A Discourse occasion'd by an Inscription found, about Three Years ago, at Langchester in the Bishoprick of Durham, and communicated to the Royal Society from Dr. Hunter by Dr. Woodward, as it is printed in the Philosophical Transactions, No 354. By Roger Gale, Esq; R. S. S. Dr. Hunter, who communicated this Inscription, having only given us his Conjectures as to the first fortifying the Place where it was found, and the Time of its Repair after it had been destroy'd, but said nothing relating to the Explanation of the Inscription itself, tho' extremely curious; it will not, I hope, be taken amiss, if I offer some Thoughts that occur'd to me at first sight of it, and afterwards induced me to put together what follows upon that Subject. I shall not in the least dispute or call in question the Time of its Foundation, as fix'd by the Doctor, but begin with the Place where it was discover'd, namely Langchester or Lancaster, in the Bishoprick of Durham, which I am, 1 with him, fully persuaded was the Longovicus, where the Notitia Imperii places the Numerus Longovicariorum. This place is seated upon a great Military Way, about 12 Miles distance from Binchester, and 7 from Eboracum, the one the Vinovia, and the other the Vindomora of Antoninus, as the Correspondence of the Numbers may evince; Binchester being 19 Roman Miles from Eboracum, as that is 9 from Corbridge, the exact Numbers the Itinerary gives us between Vinovia, Vindomora, and Corstopitum. What is very strange is, that the Itinerary, which must go upon the great Road directly thro' this † 1 Philosop. Trans. No 266. p. 657. 2 Not. Imp. fol. 176. Town of Longovicius betwixt Vindomora and Vinovia, takes not the least Notice of it, but measures the Way at the whole Length and Number of Miles, from the first to the latter of those Stations. It Longovicius was founded, as Dr. Hunter supposes, so early as the Time of Julius Agricola, and if that Itinerary was composed by any of the Emperors that bore the Name of Antoninus, this Station might have been destroyed or deserted during the Wars with the Britains and not being repaired till the Reign of Gordian III. was pass'd over by the Author of the Itinerary, as a Camp not then in being, or of no use to the Roman Armies; and this would be no weak Argument for the Antiquity of that Work: And perhaps some Parts of it may have been described as early as the Reigns of those Emperors, or earlier, and such Names of more modern places as are found in it, may have been afterwards added as Occasion required. As a farther Confirmation of this Conjecture, I beg leave to observe, that this Place, after it was repaired by Gordian, subsisted even to the Ruine of the Roman Empire in Britain, as is evident by the Mention of it in the Notitia Imperii; so that had this Journey which carries us from Vindomora to Vinovia been composed after the Reign of Gordian, it would be very hard to account for the Omission of this remarkable Station and Town, as it appears to have been from this, and many other Inscriptions found there. Having this Opportunity of doing it I am unwilling to let it slip without rectifying a Mistake in the Essay towards the Recovery of the Roman Highways thro' Britain, printed in the 6th Volume of Mr. Hearne's Itinerary of Leland, which having brought the Ermingstreet (not the Watlingstreet, as Dr. Hunter and the Country call it) a little beyond Catterick in Yorkshire, divides it there into two Branches, Ph.Trans. N° 354 p.702. Iter. I. a Limite Prator. u.s.; P.111,114. Branches, tracing one of them to Tinmouth, and the other to arlise: but omits the main Stemm of it, that runs almost directly Northward to Piercebridge, so to Denton, Houghton, Binchester, Langchester, Ebchester, Corbridge, and through the Heart of Northumberland into Scotland, about a Mile and a half to the West of Berwick. It is in several places very intire and fair, especially between Corbridge and Binchester, the Ridge of it there being for the most part two Yards in Height above the Level of the Soil, no less than Eight Yards broad, and all pav'd with Stones, that are as even as if new laid: as I am inform'd by the ingenious Mr. Warburton, who has often view'd it, and to whom we are obliged for the most accurate and useful Map of the County of Northumberland that was ever yet publish'd. This Digression, if it may be so call'd, I hope will be excus'd, since it not only sets right an Error, but acquaints you with a noble Roman Way, scarcely yet known or observ'd by any body. Having fix'd the Seat of this Longovicus, where the Inscription was found, let us consider next what sort of a Place it was; and upon due Enquiry it will appear to have been one of the most ancient and eminent Stations the Romans were possest of in these Parts. As to its Antiquity, Dr. Hunter has made it probable, that we ought to look for it as high as Julius Agricola's commanding under Domitian, in this Island: As to its Eminency, the Inscription that came last from him to the Society, as well as several others found there, is an undeniable Evidence of its being a Place of great Consideration; but nothing can put that more out of Dispute than the first which was some Years ago transmitted by the same Hand, which therefore I beg leave to insert here with that which came last from him, and the rather because little or nothing has ever been said upon it, and that they will give great Light one to the other. --- 6 Phil. Trans. No. 266. IMP CÆS M NT GORDIANVS PF AVG BALNEVM CVM BASILICA A LINSTRVXT PREGLANVM LEG AVG PR PR CRNT E MAVR QVIRINO PREC HILGR II. IMP CÆSAR MANTONIVS GORDIANVS PF AVG PRINCIPIA ET ARMAMENTARIA CONLAPSA RETITV IT PER MAECIUM FVSCVM LEG AVG PR PR CRANTE MAVR QVIRINO PR CH I LGOR The Stone whereon the first is cut has been broke in two, whereby some of the Letters are defaced, however, it may be very well read as follows; the Letters PRE in the fourth Line I take to be a Mistake of the Workman, having seen several Copies, where they are so transcribed; that they should be PER is evident from the fifth Line of the second Inscription. I. Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius Felix Augustus Balneum cum Basilica à solo instruxit Per Cnetum Lucilianum Legatum Augustalem Proprietorem Curante Marco Aurelio Quirino Prefecto cohortis prima Longovicariorum; or rather, Legionis Gordiana. The second can be read only after the following manner. II. Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius Felix Augustus Principia & Armamentaria Conlapsa restituit Per Macilium Fuscum Legatum Augustalem Proprietorem curante Marco Aurelio Quirino Prefecto Cohortis prima Legionis Gordiana. From these Two Inscriptions compar'd together, it will be apparent that they were not only erected under the same Emperor, but by the Care of the very same Person Aurelius Quirinus, tho' not in the same Year. The Emperor can be no other than Gordianus the youngest, or third of that Name; the two former having been slain so very soon after they had assumed the Purple, that it is improbable they should have gi- ven any Orders or Commandants for the erecting of new, and repairing of antient buildings, in so remote a Province as Britain was from Africa, where they were murder'd after a short joint Reign of scarce seven Weeks. Dr. Hunter tells us, that that which was first discover'd (and which I shall therefore always distinguish by the Name of the first) was dug up about a Hundred Yards East from a great Square, which had been fortified with a thick, strong wall, faced with hewn Stone, within which, and without, especially towards the East, are nothing but ruinous Heaps of Stone, and thinks the Lodging of the Garison only to have been included within those Walls. His Conjecture is very much confirmed by the Account he gives us of the finding the last Inscription within that square inclosure; so that there seems to have been at this Longovicus a large Town, and one of those Camps call'd Castra stativa, where the Legions lay in Quarters during the time of Peace and Quiet. The first Inscription tells us, that the Emperor Gordian built the Balneum and Basilica from the Ground, à Solo; whereas, by the second he appears to have been only the Repairer of the Principia and Armamentaria. Perhaps therefore here might be no Town, till the Romans thought fit to repair their old deserted Camp at this Place, and then the Emperor might also build the Bath and Palace for the Residence of the Propriator, when in these Parts of Britain; the Word Basilica importing both a Palace, and an Edifice for hearing of Causes, and transacting all publick Affairs. As this eminent Building was erected by the Emperor's Command, it is an undeniable Argument of the Splendor of this Town, as are the great Heaps of Rubbish, and Ruines, where --- ¹ Phil. Trans. N° 266. p. 658. ² Phil. Trans. N° 354. this Inscription was found, of its Largeness and Extent. The second equally puts the being of the Castrum Plativum out of dispute, when it acquaints us with the Rebuilding of the Armamentaria and Principia there, that is the Arcenal and Quarters either of the Legionary Soldier, that were call'd the Principes, or the place where the Eagles and other military Ensigns were kept. It is probable they did not belong to one particular Legion, but to several, as they had occasion to be employ'd here; tho the Legio sexta Victrix seems to have the best Title to them, as being constantly quarter'd in the North; whereas, the 2 Legio Secunda, and 3 Vicissima were generally garrison'd, the first at Caerleon in Wales and Richborough in Kent, and the other at and about Chester; so that the Monuments they have left in the North were erected by them, when the Wars, and other Works, as particularly the Wall carry'd cross the Island, call'd them thither; which being finish'd, they returned home to their more Southern Quarters, and continued in them till commanded Abroad upon new Services. I will not pretend to determine when these Armamentaria and Principia first fell to ruin; perhaps it might be when Hadrian, Lollius Urbicus and Severus had carried their Conquests farther into the Enemy's Country, and having built those famous Walls, the Relicks of which we still see in the Shire of Sterling in Scotland, and in Northumberland and Cumberland in England, that this Camp might be thought useless, the Roman Forces being drawn nearer to, and quarter'd upon the Frontiers; and so this Fortrefs abandoned and suffer'd to fall into decay, as the Word conlapsa implies: and not that it --- 1 Ptol. Leg. VI. Niceph. Ebor locat. 2 Anton. Itin. XII. Not Imp. p. 161. 3 Anton. Itin. II. 4 Camd. p. 835, 920. Phil. Trans. No 269 was destroy'd by any Fire, War, or other Enemy than Age and Neglect. Tho' the Word *conlapsa* is wrote here with an *N*, there can be no doubt but the Pronunciation of it was as we usually find it spelt, *collapsa*; a certain Argument of the Letter *N* being silent in the middle of a Word, before two Consonants, especially NS, and NT, when the T was pronounced like an S. To omit what Quintilian says to this purpose, it is confirm'd by the Absence of that Letter in numberless Inscriptions in Gruter, Reinestius, &c. and no wonder, since the Workmen in those Days, as well as ours, usually wrote as they spoke their Words. I shall not trouble you with Quotations of any of them to this end, but as a Proof of what I say, only assure you from ocular Inspection and a most accurate Examination, that there is no transverse Line over the Letters *S* belonging to the Word FABRICIESIS in the Inscription of IVL. VITALI at Baib, whatever has been affirm'd to the contrary, but that the Letter N is totally omitted there. You will also pardon my Endeavours, before I leave this Subject, to explain a short Inscription belonging to some of our Countrymen, tho' found at Amerbach in Germany, since it will be a new Proof of the foregoing Assertion. ### III. | NYMPHIS | Nymphis. | |----------|---------| | N BRITTON | Numerus Brittonum | | TRIPVTIEN | Tripuviensis, or ——enus | | SVB CVRA | Sub cura | | M VLPI | Marci Ulpiae | | MALCHI | Malchi | | LEG XXII | Centurionis Leg. 22. | | PR P F | Primigeniae, Pie, Felicis. | --- 1 Quintil. Instit. Lib. I. c. 7i 2 Gruter. p. xciii. There is no Difficulty but in the Word TRIPVTIEN, and that will presently vanish if you insert the Letter N, and read it TRIPVNT, i.e. Tripontienus or Tripontiensis, the Mutation of the O and V being so frequent, that no body is ignorant of it. This will bring you to Tripontium¹ or Dowbridge in Northamptonshire; tho' that excellent Antiquary Dr. Battely², in his Antiquitates Rutupine, would read it RIPVTIEN, and fix'd the Place whence this Numerus took its Appellation at Richburrow in Kent. But to return where we left the Camp at Longovicus, it will be as difficult to assign a Reason for its being repaired, as it was for its being deserted; unless that the Proprietors might judge it advisable about the Time of Gordian III. to fix their Residence there, and consequently refortify the old Camp for their State and Security. And that it was not refortify'd upon any sudden Emergency, but for Time and Duration, is evident both from the strong Stone-Works that encompass'd it, and a Body of Forces lying here, even at the Expiration of the Roman Empire and Authority in this Island, which from its Continuance in the same Station, had got the Name of the Longovicarii³. The Person that under the Emperor gave Direction for these Repairs, was Macilius Fuscus: as Macilius is a Diminutive of Macius, it is not unlikely that he was the Son of Macius Fuscus, who was Consul with Turpilius Dexter, A.D. 225, in the Reign of Alexander Severus: By this Inscription it appears that this Macilius was the Emperor Gordian's Lieutenant here and Proprietor; For tho' in Phil. Transact. No. 354, by the Inadvertency of the Engraver, we read only PR. instead of PR. PR; it is right in the Original, and in the Transcript ¹ Antonin. Itin. VI, ² p. 21, ³ Notit. Imp. fol. 176. b. script sent up by Dr. Hunter, and accordingly in pag. 826, the fault is amended. And as the Name of Fuscus stands in the same Place in the second as that of Lucilianus does in the first, and with the same Adjuncts both before and after, we may fairly conclude he was either his Predecessor or Successor, but which, it is impossible to determin. And here, perhaps, it may not be amiss to remark, we never meet with a Legatus Augustalis in any Inscription in this Island, without the joint Title of Propreter; and Tacitus himself either makes them the same Office, or at least unites them in the same Person, when he tells us, In Britannia P. Ostorium Propreterum turvide res excere; and having presently after related the manner of the Fight with the Iceni, styles him Legatus, Quà pugna filius Legati, M. Ostorius, servati civis decus meruit; and a little after he gives both the same Titles to A. Didius the Successor of Ostorius. We are indebted therefore to these two Monuments, not only for the Account they have preserved of the Roman Arms and Magnificence at Longovicus, but for the indisputable Records of the Names of two Legates and Propreters of Britain, that would otherwise have been buried in Oblivion, viz. Cneius Lucilianus and Macilius Fuscus: For from Virius Lupus (who was Propreter and Legate here about the Year 208, under Severus, and just before that Emperor's coming into this Island repaired a Bath burnt down at Lavatré, or Bowes, in Yorkshire) we have no where extant the Name of one of those Officers, till we come to Nonnius Philippus, whom I take to have succeeded the last of these; the Stone which was found at Old Carlisle in --- 1 Tac. Lib. Ann. xii. c. 32. 2 Ibid. c. 39. 3 Camd. p. 762. Edit. 1695. 4 Camd. Britan. p. 830. in Cumberland, and has preserv'd his Memory, setting forth that he was Legate and Proprator when Atticus and Prætextatus were Consuls, which was A.D. 242, the very Year that our Gordian went upon his Persian Expedition, from which he never return'd. And as that Emperor left Nonnius Philippus in that Post, when he march'd into the East, where he was murder'd about two Years after, it is highly probable that he was the last Proprator of his appointing, and consequently, that Macilius Fuscus was his Predecessor, and the Repairs begun at Longovicius before the Year 243. I would not have troubled you with this Inscription, but that it is faultily transcribed in Camden, and that I shall have occasion by-and-by to refer to it again, upon a material Point, which therefore I hope will plead my Pardon. IV. I. O. M. PRO. SALVTF. IMPERATORIS M. ANTONI. GORDIANI. P. F. INVICTI. AVG. ET. SABINAE. FvR IE. TRANQVILE. CONIVGI. EIVS. TO TAQVE. DOMV. DIVIN. EORVM. A LA. AVG. GORDIA. OB ViRTVTEM APPELLAT. POSVIT. CVI. PRAEEST AIMILIUS. CRISPINVS. PREF EQO. NATVS. IN. PRO. AFRICA DE TVSDRO. SVB. CVR. NONNII. PHI LIPI. LEG. AVG. PROPRETO. ATTICO. ET. PRETEXTATO COSS. Oooooo *Philos. Transact.* No. 354, p. 762. The Person who had the Care of these Repairs both in Town and Camp, was Marcus Aurelius Quirinus, Prefect or Commander of a Company of Foot; another Argument for the Propriators Lucilianus and Fusius succeeding immediately one the other, he serving in the same Post under both. I must observe however, that altho' the two first Inscriptions have been cut very near the same time, and by the same Hand, as appears by the Form of the Letters, and Manner of the Abbreviations in each of them, yet the Office that this Quirinus bore is something differently express'd in the first from what it is in the second, if they have been accurately transcribed; the First shewing, after QVIRINO the Letters PRE.CH.I.LG.R, which, before I had seen the Latter, I was induced to read Prefecto Cohortis primae Longovicariorum, the Notitia Imperii placing the Prefectus numeri Longovicariorum Longovico. That Numerus and Cohors were the same thing, Pancirollus, in his Notes upon that Book, quotes St. Chrysostome to prove, and some others, Cohors erat qui vocatur Numerus; but I rather take it to be an indefinite Number of Men, which might comprize several Companies, independent of any Legion. Vegetius, speaking of the Legati Imperatoris, says, in quorum locum nunc illustres viros constat Magistros Militum substitutos, à quibus non tantum binæ Legiones, sed plures Numeri gubernantur; by which it is plain, the Numeri were no Legionary Cohorts. Neither was the Name so modern as from the Notitia Imperii and Chrysostome it might appear to be; for we meet with a Numerus Britonum upon an Altar found in Transylvania, dedicated to the Nymphs, when the Emperor Commodus and Glabrio were Consuls, A.D. 186. And another Numerus upon an Altar erected to Hercules for the Prosperity of --- 1 fol.166.b 2 fol.161.b 3 Lib. II. c.9. 4 Gruter, p.94. 5 id.46.9. of Septimius Severus, when Lateranus and Rufinus were Consuls, A.D. 197. But after I had review'd the Letters at the end of the second Inscription, which are plainly transcribed PR. CoH. I. L. GOR. I could read them no otherwise than Praefecto Cohortis prima Legionis Gordiana. Gordian III. was so beloved of the Soldiery, that several Legions complimented him by honouring themselves with his Name, as the ¹ Legio tertia Italica, which took the Addition of Gordiana; and the ² Legio decima gemina, and ³ Decima tertia gemina did both give themselves the same Appellation. But which of the Legions quartered in this Island so stiled itself is not determined by this Inscription or any other that I know of. However, as the Legio sexta Victrix was all along quarter'd in the Northern parts of this Kingdom (as I observed before) where these Inscriptions were erected, I make no doubt but it was that which call'd it self Gordiana, tho' the numeral Distinction of VI is omitted, only perhaps for want of Room on the Stone. We find by several Inscriptions in Camden, that there was an Ala in those Parts which prided it self upon its Valour, and was therefore call'd the Ala Augusta; of the many Memorials it has left us of its Title, I shall only mention ⁴ one found at Old Carlisle, and which is the ancientest of them all, by any certainty of Date. I. O. M. AL. AVG. OB ... RTVT. APPEL. CVI PRAEEST. TIB. CL. TIB. F. P. LING N IVSTINVS. PRAEF. FVSCIANO. II. SILANO. II. COS. that ¹ Velf. Monum. Augustae Vindel. p. 431. ² Grut. p. 80. ³ Gruter. p. 433. ⁴ Camd. p. 827. that is, Jovi Optimo Maximo, Ala Augusta ob Virtu- tem appellata, cui praefest Tiberius Claudius Tiberii filius, provinci Lingonensi, Justinus praefectus, Fusciano secundo, Silano secundo Consulibus. This Altar was dedicated when Fuscianus and Silva- nus were the second time Consuls, that is, in the Year 188. under the Reign of Commodus, and Fifty Years before our Gordian came to the Empire. At the same place was also discover'd the Fourth Inscription by me quoted, where we find this same Ala Augusta stiling itself also Gordiana; from whence I think it is not a little probable that the Legion to which this Wing ap- pertain'd was the Legio Gordiana mention'd in the Inscrip- tions found at Langchester; and that Legion to have been the Legio sexta Victrix, from the long Continu- ation of this Ala Augusta in these Northern parts of the Nation, the constant Quarters of that Legion. July 10. 1718.