An Account of a Roman Inscription, Found at Chichester. By Roger Gale, Esq; F. R. S.

NEPTUNO ET MINERVAE TEMPLVM PRO SALVTE DOMVS DIVINAE EX AUCTORITATE TIB CLAUD CO GIDVBNI R EC N BRIT COLEGIVM FABROR ETQVI IN EO D S D DONANTE AREAM PVDENTE PUDENTINI FIL † A. SACRS. OR HONORS. NEPTUNO ET MINERVAE TEMPLOM PRO SALVTE DOMVS DIVINAE EX AVCTORITATE TIB CLAVD CO GIDVBNI R ECVM AG N BRIT COLEGIVM FABROR ETQVI IN EO D S D DONANTE AREAM PVDENTE PUDENTINI FILI SACRS HONOR S I. An Account of a Roman Inscription, found at Chichester. By Roger Gale, Esq; F. R. S. This Inscription, Fig. 1. as curious as any that has yet been discovered in Britain, was found the Beginning of last April at Chichester, in digging a Cellar under the Corner-house of St. Martins-lane, on the North Side as it comes into North-street. It lay about four Foot under Ground, with the Face upwards, by which it had the Misfortune to receive a great deal of Damage from the Picks of the Labourers as they endeavoured to raise it; for besides the defacing of several Letters, what was here disinterred of the Stone was broke into four Pieces: The other Part of it, still wanting, is, in all Probability, bury'd under the next House, and will not be brought to light till that happens to be rebuilt. The Inscription is cut upon a grey Sussex Marble, the Length of which was six Roman Feet, as may be conjectured by measuring it from the Middle of the Word TEMP' LUM to that End of it which is entire, and is not altogether three Foot English, from the Point mentioned. The Breadth of it is two and ¼ of the same Feet, the Letters beautifully and exactly drawn, those in the two first Lines three Inches long, and the rest 2½. Being at Chichester in September last with Dr. Stukeley, we took an accurate View of this Marble, which is now fixed in the Wall under a Window within the House where it was found, and that we might be as sure of the true Reading as possible, wherever the Letters ters were defaced, we impressed a Paper with a wet Sponge into them, and by that Means found those in the fifth Line to have been as we have express'd them above, and not as in other Copies that have been handed about of this Inscription. The only Letter wanting in the first Line is an N before EPTVNO, and so no Difficulty in reading that. As to the second, though it was more usual in Inscriptions of this Nature to express the Donation by the Word SACRVM only, referring to the Temple or Altar dedicated; yet we have so many Instances in Gruter's Corpus Inscriptionum of TEMPLVM and ARAM also cut on the Stones, that there is not the least Occasion to say any Thing farther upon that Point. The third Line can be no other Way fill'd up, than as I have done it by the prick'd Letters: I must own, however, that I have had some Scruple about the Phrase of DOMVS DIVINA, the same Thing as DOMVS AVGVSTA, the Imperial Family, which I cannot say occurs, with any Certainty of the Time it was used in, before the Reign of Antoninus Pius, from whom, down to Constantine the Great, it is very frequently met with in Inscriptions. This kept me some Time in Suspense, whether this found at Chichester could be of so early a Date as the Time of Claudius: But as we find several Inscriptions in Gruter with those Words in them, or I. H. D. D. In honorem Domus Divinae, which is much the same Thing, without any Mark of the Time when they were cut, they may have been before the Reign of Antoninus Pius, and then only came into more general Use; and as the Time that Cogidunus lived in, will not let this be of a later standing, I think we may offer it as an Authority for for the use of this Piece of Flattery to the Emperors long before that excellent Prince came to the Purple. The third Line, as I believe, was EX AVCTORITATE TIB. CLAVD. and the fourth COGIDVBNI R. LEG. &c. that is, Ex Auditorate Tiberii Claudii Cogidubni Regis, Legati Augusti in Britannia; for the following Reasons: We are informed by Tacitus in Vita Agricolae, That after Britain had been reduced to a Roman Province by the successful Arms of Aulus Plautius, and Ostorius Scapula, under the Emperor Claudius, Quaedam Civitates Cogidunno Regi erant donatae, is ad nostram usque memoriam fiddimus remansit, vetere ac jam pridem recepta Populi Romani consuetudine ut haberet instrumenta servitutis & Reges. This Cogidunus seems to be the same Person as Cogidubnus in our Inscription, the Letter B in the third Syllable making little or no Difference in the Word, especially if pronounced soft, as it ought to be, like a V consonant. It is so well known to have been the Custom of the Roman Liberti and Clientes, to take the Names of their Patrons and Benefactors, that it would be wasting of Time to prove the constant Usage of that Practice. Now as this Cogidubnus, who, in all Probability, was a petty Prince of that Part of the Dobuni which had submitted to Claudius, and one that continued many Years faithful to him and the Romans, had given him the Government of some Part of the Island by that Emperor, nothing could be more grateful in regard to Claudius, nor more honourable to himself, after he was Romanised, than to take the Names of a Benefactor. --- a Cap. 14. b V. Tacit. ut supra. ctor to whom he was indebted for his Kingdom, and so call himself TIBERIVS CLAVDIVS COGIDVB NVS. I suppose him to have been a Regulus of the Dobuni; because we are told by Dion Cassius, that Aulus Plautius having put to flight Cataratacus and Togodumnus, Sons of Cunobelin, part of the Boduni (the same People as the Dobuni) who were subject to the Caruallani, submitted to the Romans; and the Name Cogidubnus, or Cogiduvnus, Coc a Dubn, or Duun, figuring expressly in the British Language PRINCEPS DOBVNORVM, seems to put the Matter out of all doubt. How far his Territories extended, it is impossible to define. Bishop Stillingfleet supposes them to have lain in Surrey and Sussex; Sussex certainly was Part of them, since the Temple mentioned in this Inscription was erected in it by his Authority; and it is not unlikely, that besides the Regni, who were the People of those two Counties, he might have that Part of the Dobuni which had submitted to the Romans, and seems to have been his own Principality, together with the Ancalites, Bibroci, and Segontiaci, whose Countries lay between the Dobuni and the Regni, bestowed upon him; the Words Civitates quaedam in Tacitus, not importing no more than some few Towns, but several People, the Word Civitas always signifying a People in that Historian. Before I proceed any farther, it will not be amiss to observe, that Togodumnus and Cogidubnus, tho' their Names are so much alike, were two distinct Persons: The first was Son of Cunobelin, King of the Trinobantes, --- c In lib. lx. d V. Baxteri Glossar. in verbis COGIDVMNVS & DOBVNI. e Orig. Britan. p. 63. tes, vanquished and killed in Battle by Aulus Plautius. The second a Prince that submitted to Ostorius Scapula, and continued in his Fidelity to the Romans, in nostram usque memoriam, says Tacitus, who was born at the latter End of Claudius's Reign; so that Togodunnus was probably dead before Cogidubnus had his Government conferred upon him. I call it his Government, for tho' by the Letter R standing in the Inscription with a Point both before and after it, by which it plainly denotes an entire Word of itself, it may seem that it was intended for COGIDVBNI REGIS, and I believe was so in respect of his quondam Dignity, yet it is evident, that he had condescended to take the Title of LEGATVS AVGVSTI IN BRITANNIA from Claudius; and that too must have been only over those People that he had given him the Government of, Aulus Plautius, Ostorius Scapula, Didius Gallus, Avitus Veranius, and Suetonius Paullinus, having the supreme Command successively about this Time in this Island, the second and last of which are called expressly Legati by Tacitus. The Legati Caesaris or Augusti were those, qui Caesaribus subditas regebant Provincias. The sixth Line has lost at the Beginning the Letters COLLE, but so much remains of the Word as makes it to have been indubitably, when entire, COLLEGIVM, and the following Letters are an Abbreviation of FABRORVM. These Colleges of Artificers were very ancient at Rome, as ancient as their second King Numa Pompilius, --- 1 Lib. xii. Ann. cap. 32. & Vit. Agric. cap. 15. if we may believe Plutarch\(^g\), who tells us, that the People were divided by him into what we at this Day call Companies of Tradesmen, and mentions the Téloves or Fabri among them, tho' Florus\(^h\) says, that Populus Romanus a Servio Tullio relatus fuit in Censum, digestus in Classes, Curiis atque Collegiis distributus. But as the Power of the Romans extended itself, it carry'd the Arts of that great People along with it, and improv'd the Nations that it subdued, by civilizing, and teaching them the Use of whatever was necessary or advantageous among their Conquerors, from which most wise and generous Disposition, among other beneficial Institutions, we find these Collegia to have been established in every Part of the Empire, from the frequent mention of them in the Inscriptions collected by Gruter, Spon, and other Antiquaries. Several Sorts of Workmen were included under the Name of Fabri, particularly all those that were concern'd in any kind of Building, whence we meet with the Fabri Ferrarii, Lignarii, Tignarii, Materiarii, Navales, and others; the last named may have been the Authors of dedicating this Temple to Neptune, having so near a Relation to the Sea, from which the City of Chichester is at so small a Distance, that perhaps that Arm of it which still comes up within two Miles of its Walls, might formerly have wash'd them. The rest of the Fraternity might very well pay the same Devotion to Minerva, the Goddess of all Arts and Sciences, and Patroness of the Dædalian Profession. As no less than five Letters are wanting at the Beginning of the sixth Line, there cannot be fewer lost at the Beginning of the seventh, where the Stone is more \(^g\) In vit. Numæ. \(^h\) Lib. I. cap. 6. more broke away than above; so that probably there were six when it was perfect. What we have left of them is only the Top of an S; I will not therefore take upon me to affirm any Thing as to the reading of them, which is so entirely defaced; perhaps it was A. SACR. S. a sacris sunt; perhaps it was HONOR. S. Honorati sunt: As to the former, we find these Collegia had their Sacerdotes, therefore Qui a sacris sunt, which is found in Inscriptions\(^i\), would be no improper Term to express them; or it might have been SACER. S. Sacerdotes sunt, since we find such mentioned in the following Inscriptions\(^k\). MAVORTI SACRVM HOC SIGNVM. RESTIT------- COLL. FABR. ARI CINORVM ANTIQVISS. VETVSTATE DILAPSVM ET REFECER. CVR. L. LVCILIUS LATINVS PROC. R.P. ARIC: ET T. SEXTIVS MAGGIUS SACER. COLL. EIVSD. Mavorti sacrum hoc Signum restituit Collegium Fabrorum Aricinorum Antiquissimum, vetustate dilapsum, et refecerunt. Curabant Lucius Lucilius Latinus, Procurator Reipublica Aricinorum, et Titus Sextius Maggius Sacerdos Collegii ejusdem. \(^i\) V. Grut. Corp. xxix. 8. cxxi. l. dcccxxxii. i. \(^k\) Spon. Miscell. Erud. Antiquit. p. 58. L. TERTENI AMANTI SACER. COLL. LOTORVM HIVIR C. SARTIVS C. F. ITERINVS ET L. ALLIVS PETELINVS D. D. Lucius Tertenius Amantius Sacerdos Collegii Lotorum, Dnumviri Caius Sartius, Caui Filius, Iterinus, et Lucius Allius Petelinus Dedicaverunt. As to the latter, those Members of the College that had passed through the chief Offices of it, as that of Praefectus, or Magister quinquennalis, had the Title of HONORATI conferred upon them: You have several of these HONORATI mentioned in Gruter, particularly a long Catalogue of them in Collegio Fabrorum Tignariorum, p. CCLXVIII. 1. and in Reinesius's Syntagma there is an Inscription. EPAGATHO TVRANNO HONORATO COLLEGI FABRVM TIGNARIORVM ROMANENSIVM &c. So that the Vacuity in our Inscription may very well have been filled up with one or other of these Words, and the three next Letters that follow them D. S. D de suo dedicaverunt, will agree with either of them, and what precedes them. The 1 Ibid. p. 64. m Pag. 605. The last Line has been PVIDENTE PVIDENTINI FILIO; but there must have been a Letter or two of the Prænomen at the Beginning of it, unless it was shorter than the rest at that, as well as at the latter End of it; and from what I have said, the whole may be read as follows. Neptuno & Minerva Templum pro Salute Domus Divina, ex Auctoritate Tiberii Claudii Cogidubni Regis, Legati Augusti in Brittannia, Collegium Fabrorum, &c. Qui in eo a Sacris [or] Honorati sunt, De suo Dedica- verunt, Donante aream Pudente Pudentini Filio. Chichester, by this Inscription found at it, must have been a Town of Eminence very soon after the Romans had settled here, and in Process of Time seems to have been much frequented, by the Roman Roads, still visible, that terminate here, from Portsmouth, Midhurst, and Arundel, tho', what is very strange, we have no Roman Name now known for it. I once thought it might have put in its Claim for Anderida, which our Antiquaries have not yet agreed to fix any where, being situated, very near, both to the Sylva Anderida, and the Southern Coast of the Island, the two Properties of that City n: But Henry of Huntingdon, who lived in the Time of Henry II. telling us, that the Saxons so destroyed Andreceaster, that Nunquam postea redifi- cata fuit, & locus tantum quasi nobilissima urbis tran- seuntibus ostenditur desolatus o, it could not be Chi- chester; for that was not only rebuilt before his Time, but was a Place of such Note, that when the Bishops, soon after the Conquest p, removed their Churches --- n V. Camb. Brit. and Sonner's Roman Ports and Forts. o Pag. 312. V. Dr. Tabor's Discourse of Anderida. Philos. Transf. N. 356. p A. D. 1076. from small decay'd Towns, where several of them were then seated, in Urbes Celebriores, Stigand then Bishop of Selby settled his Episcopal Chair at that Place. I shall conclude with observing, that when this Inscription was dug up, there were also two Walls of Stone discovered close by it, three Foot thick each, one running North, the other East, and joining in an Angle, as the North-street and St. Martins-lane now turn, which, in all Probability, were Part of the Foundations of the Temple mentioned on the Marble. Octob. 31. 1723. II. De Structura Diaphragmatis. Epistola Domini Antonii van Leeuwenhoek, R. S. S. ad Societatem Regiam. Delphis, 31 Maii 1723. In epistola illa, quam ad Dominum Jurin nuper perscripsi, paucis aperueram opinionem meam de morbo, qui nuperrima hyeme me invaserat. Statuebam enim malam affectionem Diaphragmatis originem morbo praebuisse. Ut autem de hac Diaphragmatis affectione omnem mihi dubitationem eximerem, Diaphragma ovis anniculae ad me referendum curavi; partem illius Diaphragmatis in minuta frustula confectam, ope microscopii, qua potui diligentia consideravi; comperique Diaphragma ex parte compositum esse ex tenuissimis fibrillis; quae sine microscopio conspectae latum circiter capillum inter se distant. Cum