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Archaeological Notes and Queries.

ROMAN INSCRIPTIONS AT CHESTER.-It will be in the recollection of your readers that in the year 1887, in carrying out some necessary repairs in the upper part of the north wall of the city of Chester, an examination was made of the lower part of the wall, when it was found to be full of Roman remains. No fewer than thirteen monumental and other inscribed stones were taken out of the small portion then examined, together with a number of other stones, which had formerly belonged to large and important Roman buildings. The interest excited by this find was very great, and as a result a Sub-Committee of the Chester Archæological and Historical Society collected nearly £100, and further excavations in the wall were carried out. These resulted in the finding of fourteen more inscribed and sculptured stones, together with many architectural fragments, etc., belonging to Roman buildings.

In 1888 I was authorised by the Council of the Chester Archeological Society, as their Editorial Secretary, to issue an illustrated account of these discoveries under the title of "The Recent Discoveries of Roman Remains found in Repairing the North Wall of the City of Chester" (Manchester, Ireland and Co.), in which the Official Report of the City Surveyor (Mr. I. Matthews Jones), and various papers by the late Mr. Thompson Watkin, Mr. W. de Gray Birch, F.S.A., and Mr. G. W. Shrubsole, were printed in full; together with the discussion on the age of the north wall, in which the late Sir James A. Picton, Prof. McKenny Hughes, Mr. T. Hodgkin, and others took part. All the more important of the inscribed and sculptured stones were carefully and accurately drawn, and were illustrated in some thirteen full-page plates. In the Introduction to this volume I ventured to urge upon the Chester authorities the importance of making further excavations in the north wall as time and opportunity permitted; but the expense being necessarily great, the question of funds was somewhat of a stumbling-block.

In the early part of this year Mr. F. Haverfield, M. A., of Lancing College, Shoreham, Sussex, issued an appeal, in connection with Prof. Pelham of Oxford, Prof. Middleton of Cambridge, Dr. John Evans, and other authorities on Roman remains, in order to raise funds for further excavations in the north wall. The consent of the Chester Town Council was willingly granted under certain conditions, and had it not been for unexpected difficulties of a special kind, the examination of the remainder of the north wall, to the

east of the Northgate, would ere this have been resumed with, no doubt, most important results.

During the last month, however, the City Surveyor, finding that a portion of the north wall, to the west of the Northgate, wanted repair, obtained the consent of the Town Council to do the work. It was soon apparent that, just as was the case on the other side of the Northgate, the wall was full of Roman remains, consisting of inscribed and sculptured monuments, portions of Roman buildings, etc. On being informed of this, Mr. Haverfield at once forwarded a sum of money to enable the excavations to be carried down into the lower portion of the wall, with the result that no fewer than seven inscribed stones (either whole or fragmentary) have already been unearthed, together with four pieces of sculpture. Of these, two are particularly noteworthy, and it is strange that they should have been found so close together. It has hitherto been considered somewhat remarkable that only one sepulchral monument of any equites, or Roman horse-soldiers, belonging to the Twentieth Legion, stationed at Deva (Chester), should have been found; but here two monuments to soldiers of this class have been discovered, in one of which the soldier is shown on horseback. One of these has the inscription still perfect, whilst in the other it is at present missing.

Mr. Haverfield has sent the following account of them, which I have now much pleasure, with the sanction of the Mayor and Corporation of Chester, in sending to you for publication. The excavations will be continued if sufficient funds can be raised, and I venture to appeal to the generosity of those of your readers who are interested in the past history of Roman England to enable them to be properly carried on. Any sums sent to Mr. Haverfield, to the City Surveyor, or to myself, will be gratefully received and duly acknowledged. The excavations are under the personal superintendence of the City Surveyor, who is most careful and painstaking in every way; and his foreman and the men under him are most keenly alert for the traces of any fragment of Roman work, however small.

Pensarn, Abergele, North Wales.
Dec. 3, 1890.

J. P. EARWAKER.

"Provisional Account of Roman Inscriptions found at Chester
(North Wall).

"1. Tombstone, 20 in. wide, with two-inch letters, surmounted by fragment of a relief representing a horseman. Lines 3, 4, 5, are fractured, but fairly certain :

D. M

C. IVL. SEVERVS

EQ. LEG. XXVV

VIXIT. AN

XXXX

"D(is) (anibus) C. IUL(ius) SEVERUS EQ(ues) LEG(ionis) XX v(aleriæ) v(ictricis) VIXIT AN(nos) xxxx.-To C. Julius Severus, horseman of the Twentieth Legion, who died at the age of forty.

"As the stone is broken off in line 5, it is impossible to say if the inscription was originally any longer. Each legion (about 5,000 men) had 120 riders attached to it under the Empire.

"2. Relief of a horseman riding over a fallen enemy, well preserved; underneath an inscription, of which only the first line, D. M (Dis Manibus) is left.

"3. Tombstone, 30 in. wide, two-inch letters, surmounted by fragments of two figures,-one certainly, the other probably, female. The whole is much broken :—

VOCON AE C. VA VICTOR NIGRINA

VOCONIÆ C. VA(lerius ?) VICTOR NIGRINA.

Possibly C. Va(1). Victor was husband of Voconia; but the inscription appears never to have been completed. Certainly no more is visible.

"4. Tombstone, 32 in. high, 26 in. wide; letters, one inch and seven-eighths; surmounted by the lower part of a funeral banquet relief. Line 4 is much broken. Of line 5 only the top of an s at the end survives ::

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D'M

RESTITAE. V

AN. VII. ET. M
AR...NE. V. AN III

D(is) M(anibus) RESTITAE V(ixit) AN(nos) VII, ET MAR... .(?) v(ixit) AN(nos) III...

"The name MAR... is not quite certain. Possibly it is Martiæ. "5. Fragment of tombstone with fine letters three inches and five-eighths long. Part only of the м is preserved :—

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"...MILES (legionis xx. v) v(ixit annos...).

"6. Fragment, 27 in. by 20 in., with four-inch letters :—

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"(Dis Manibus...) L(i)US (......) GAL (eria triba) (......)NITVS.

"7. Fragment, 3 in. by 8 in., with the letters NI. Es apparently. "Besides these inscribed relics, some pieces of sculpture (all seemingly sepulchral) have been found, and some coping stones and other hewn work. All but two or three pieces are of red sandstone;

the exceptions are of a whiter stone, resembling that used for the monument of M. Aurelius Nepos and his wife, now in the Grosvenor Museum. It appears, therefore, that the part of the north wall from which these stones come has contents very similar to the part examined some three years ago. The lettering of Nos. 1 and 4 seems to be later than that of the majority of the previous finds; but arguments based on lettering are at all times to be used with caution. "I have myself seen all the inscriptions given above, and have also had the advantage of excellent squeezes of 1, 3, and 4, sent me by the City Surveyor, Mr. I. Matthews Jones, who has charge of the work.

"Lancing College, Nov. 30, 1890. -Athenæum, Dec. 13, 1890."

F. HAVERFIELD."

MEETING OF THE CAMBRIAN ARCHEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION IN IRELAND.

By invitation of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland it has been decided to hold the next Annual Meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association at Killarney during the second week in August.

The office of President has been accepted by Prof. RHYS of Oxford.

Erratum.-Arch. Camb., Ser. V, vol. vii, p. 335, line 15, for Norman read Roman.

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