The famous Roman Wall, which, in former times, protected southern Britain from the ravages of the northern tribes, exhibits, at this day, remains more entire, and forms a subject of study more interesting than is generally supposed. Two authors of great learning have treated of this renowned structure—Horsley, in the Britannia Romana, and Hodgson, in the last volume of his History of Northumberland. Both are treatises of considerable size, and both are, to a certain extent, rare. The Britannia R

IN no country of the world are there such evident traces of the march of Roman legions as in Britain. In the northern parts of England especially, the footprints of the Empire are very distinct. Northumberland, as Wallis long ago remarked, is Roman ground. Every other monument in Britain yields in importance to The Wall . As this work, in grandeur of conception, is worthy of the Mistress of Nations, so, in durability of structure, is it the becoming offspring of the Eternal City. A dead wall may

Numerous are the appellations which the Great Barrier of the Lower Isthmus has obtained. 'It was called by ancient writers vallum barbaricum , prætentura and clusura ; by Dion διατειχισμα; by Herodian χωμα; by Antoninus and others vallum ; by some of the Latin historians murus ; by the English the Picts’-wall, or the WALL ; and by the Britons gual Sever , gal Sever , and mur Sever . The names prætentura and clusura are given to it upon account of its being stretched out against, and excluding th

Little did the Romans dream, when they fixed the eastern termination of their Wall at Segedunum , of the world-wide celebrity which its subsequent cognomen—Wallsend—would attain. Even Horsley, writing in 1731, and in what he lovingly terms 'my own county,' [54] did not foresee the extensive mining operations which shortly after his day were to take place in its immediate vicinity. In order to mark the site of the station, he fixes upon Cousin’s House, which is at some distance from the spot, whe

Altho’ we have now traversed the line of the mural Barrier from one extremity to the other, and examined all the camps that lie upon its track, we have met with but seventeen or eighteen of the twenty-three that are mentioned in the Notitia as stations per lineam Valli . According to Horsley, five remain to be accounted for, and according to Hodgson, who rejects Watch-cross, six. These must be sought for among the stations which support the great Barrier on its northern or southern side. As the

Our course hitherto has been a detail of facts; now we enter upon the region of speculation. In the former Parts of this work, the history of the Roman occupation of Britain has been briefly told and an attempt made to depict the present condition of the Vallum and Wall, with their camps, castles, and outworks; now the question must be put—Is the Barrier the Work of one master-mind, or are its several parts the productions of different periods, and of different persons? Had the statements of the

The offering of such sacrifices as were supposed to be acceptable to their deities, formed an essential part of the religion of the Greeks and Romans. Very numerous are the altars which have been discovered on the line of the Wall. Many of them are small, some not larger than the palm of the hand, rough in the workmanship, and without any inscription; others are of large size, and of ornate character. The usual form of them is shewn in the annexed cut. The inscription is on the face of the altar

Extreme importance was attached by both Greeks and Romans to the due discharge of the rites of sepulture. Until earth had been three times sprinkled over the body of the departed, his spirit was conceived to be denied admission into the Elysian fields. The practice of burning the dead became common at Rome about the latter period of the republic. The inconvenience and expense of the process would necessarily restrict it to persons of some wealth. After the pile was consumed, the ashes of the dec

Next in importance to the inscribed stones found on the line of the Wall, the student of history will reckon the coins which the spade and plough of the husbandman turn up in considerable numbers in the mural region. In a rude state of society the commercial transactions of the residents of a district are almost entirely confined to an interchange of the commodities produced by each. A body of soldiery, however, liable to be removed from place to place, and compelled to expend their energies in

In nearly all the stations of the line, the ashes of mineral fuel have been found; in some, a store of unconsumed coal has been met with, which, though intended to give warmth to the primeval occupants of the isthmus, has been burnt in the grates of the modern English. In several places the source whence the mineral was procured can be pointed out; but the most extensive workings that I have heard of, are in the neighbourhood of Grindon Lough, near Sewingshields. Not long ago, a shaft was sunk,

Notwithstanding the tendency of iron to oxidize, several weapons made of this material, and used by the Romans, have come down to our day. Their general character and form can be better learnt from an inspection of the drawings which depict them than by verbal description. On Plate X. are shewn two spear or javelin heads, and on Plate XVII . the iron points of some arrows. Vessels of cast-metal, fitted for domestic use, are occasionally met with. On Plate XVII . fig. 2, is a specimen of a pot or

Few subjects possess more interest than the pottery of the Romans. Whether we regard the shape of the vessels, the beauty of their ornaments, or the excellence of the material of which they are composed, they are worthy of our admiration. Fortunately for the present writer, so much has recently been published upon the subject, as to justify him in dismissing it with a brief notice. Among the earthenware vessels found in the mural region are some of coarse structure, such as amphoræ , mortaria ,