Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/219

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DISCOVERED AT CAERLEON. ]-)*J to have formed part of a column ; it measures in height, 3 feet 8^ inches; diameter of shaft, 18 inches and two tliirds ; (hametcr of the widest part of the capital, 23 inches. The fragment of a pipe, first described, measures 27 inclies >y 9 inches, and its thickness is 6^ inches. Both aie of oolitic stone, probably taken from the inferior oolite of the opposite side of the channel, in the neighbourhood of Dundry, or some adjacent locality. During the a})])roaching visit of the Institute to Bristol, those members who are versed in the study of Romano- British vestiges wdll, doubtless, be attracted by the assemblage of ancient relics lately brought to liglit at /sea. They will thus have occasion to examine the remains now^ submitted to the notice of the society ; and for the present, all endeavour to offer any reading of these inscriptions may be deferred. Several important traces of the worship of Mithras have been discovered in other parts of Britain, the most memorable being those deposited in a cave or cell, near the station of Borcovicus, on the Roman wall, and similar relics have been found in Cumberland."* The usual formula, invicto mitheae, seems to be discernible on the Caerleon column. The first relic represented in the plate of miscellaneous Roman antiquities is a fragment of a fictile vessel, of singular construction. It is of the common red w^are, and the colour is unusually good. Small bottles of earthenware of a globulai- form, short-necked, and with one handle, are of ordinary occurrence amongst Roman remains ; they may possibly be designated by the name laguncula. The peculiarit}^ in this example consists in the partition Avhich divided the vessel into two cells, probably for the reception of distinct condi- ments, like certain twin cruets of glass, well known to travellers in Italy, with a medial partition and two necks, serving to contain both vinegar and oil in one vessel. Unfortunately the fi-agment found at Caerleon affords no evidence in regard to the general form of the vessel, in its complete state : the representation here given is of the original size. Small earthen vessels, not very unlike the niodern salt- cellar, with a partition, have been found in Germany ; ^ and

  • Of the sculptures found at House- Nortliunih., vol. iii. p. 100; Brace's Roman

steads, i?onw/oi«s, see the valuable Memoir Wail, p. 407. by Mr. Hodgson, in the Archreologia ^Eli- " Tlicv occur with two, and with tlireo ana, vol. ii., p. 2C3; Hodgson's Hist, of cells.— Vagener, Handbuch, fig. 1070.