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sian, (see vol. c. ii. p. 21.) subdued the warlike native tribe, called by the Roman writers Silures, notwithstanding their difficult and mountainous country, and having once rendered himself master of Siluria, took care to secure the permanence of his conquest. Of Frontinus, Tacitus has left us, with his characteristic brevity, the following summary but comprehensive eulogy on occasion of this very transaction:"Frontinus vir magnus (quantum licebat) validamque et pugnacem Silurum gentem armis subegit, super virtutem hostium locorum quoque difficultates eluctatus."* Frontinus, on the site perhaps of some British fastness or fortress, founded the Roman Isca Silurum, the Romans contenting themselves, as in many other instances, with retaining the original British terin, denoting the situation of the place on a great river, called by the natives, by way of eminence, Isc (Usk) or the water, merely softening the termination by the addition of the final a. The second Legion Augusta had constituted the principal force by which this conquest was achieved; and, by the well-known and admirable policy of the Romans, the legionary soldiers were made the means of introducing the useful arts into the wild and savage district of Siluria, thus confirming their dominion by the strongest of social ties, participation in the comforts and intellectual intercourse of civilized life. The August Legion have left at Caerleon indelible records of their useful occupation in their quarters: numerous are the wall and roof tiles from time to time found at Caerleon, moulded by their hands, and impressed with the stamp LEGIO SECVNDA AVGUSTA, as also the inscriptions dedicated by that body to the memory of their deceased companions in arms, to the reigning Emperor, or to tutelary gods.

In the time of Giraldus Cambrensis, who wrote an account of the journey of his metropolitan Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, to preach the

Tacit. in vit. Agricol. edit. Elzevir, p. 729.

+ Usg, Uisgue, water; hence Usquebaugh (Usg bach) great or strong water, a name applied to an ardent spirit.

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crusade towards the close of the 12th Century, the City of the second Legion, long before abandoned by its founders, presented, after ages of decay, splendid vestiges of its former grandeur and importance. Passing," says the honest monk, "from thence [from Usk] to Caerleon, and leaving far on our left hand the castle of Monmouth, and noble forest of Dean, situated on the other side of the Wye and Severn, and which amply supplies Gloucester with iron and venison, we spent the night at Newport, having crossed the river Usk three times. Caerleon is called the City of Legions; Caer, in the British language, signifying a city or camp, for there the Roman legions were accustomed to winter, and from that circumstance it was called the City of Legions. This city was of undoubted antiquity, and handsomely built of brick by the Romans; many vestiges of its former splendour may still be seen. Immense palaces, ornamented with gilded roofs, in imitation of Roman magnificence, a tower of prodigious size, remarkable hot baths, relics of temples and theatres, enclosed by walls, parts of which remain standing. You will find on all sides, both within and without the circuit of the walls, subterraneous vaults and aqueducts, and, what I think worthy of notice, stoves constructed with wonderful art to transmit the heat insensibly through narrow tubes." A modern tourist in Wales has explained Giraldus's gilded roofs, by observing, that some of the Roman tiles bear marks of a metallic incrustation, with which their surface glitters and shines. I have myself seen fragments of Roman pottery of a similar description. An inscription at Vienna, in Dauphiné (the Vienna Allobrogum of the Romans) transcribed by Montfaucon in his Italian diary, shows that the ancients sometimes adorned their buildings with tiles of gilded bronze, of which the

DD. FLAMINICA VIENNAE
TECVLAS AENEAS AVRATAS
CVM CARPVSCVLIS ET
VESTITVRIS BASIVM ET SIGNA
CASTORIS ET POLLVCIS CVM EQVIS
ET SIGNA HERCVLIS ET MERCURI
D. S. D.

Montfaucon's Italian Diary,
by Henley, p. 2

gilded tiles of baked clay were probably imitative. The tower of prodigious size, mentioned by Giraldus, is now only marked out by the lofty mount on which it was erected: it stands on the river side, without the lines of the Roman circumvallation, and might, perhaps, be the fort origiginally erected by the Britons. The theatre, or rather ampitheatre, may still be distinguished by a spacious hollow a few yards distant from the city wall. The situation of the Vomitories, Mr. Brown tells me, may be distinctly traced. The columns of a Roman temple are said, to this day, to support the market house at Caerleon. The subterranean ruins of hypocausts, and the tessellated floors of villas, are discovered occasionally in the surrounding country, and thus the topographical veracity of the venerable Giraldus is completely borne out. I proceed to detail the inscriptions communicated to me by Mr. Brown. The first was found in a field N. W. of Caerleon, near a place called Merrylands, which he suggests is a corruption of Murilands, being adjacent to the city wall. The inscription is on tablet of stone, 19 inches by 14. Mr. Brown transcribes it thus:D. M.

Q. IVLI. SEVERI DINIA. VETERANI L.G. II. AVG. C°NJVX F. C. Between the D and M is sculptured the pointed leaf of ivy, with which Roman altars and sacred vessels are so commonly adorned; probably every object distinguished by this mark was of a sacred character. The inscription may be read at length :-" Diis Manibus Quinti Julii Severi Dinia veterani Legionis secundæ Augustæ conjux fieri curavit." The sepulchral memorial was therefore erected by Dinia, or Diana, to her husband Quintus Julius Severus, a veteran of the Second Legion. The second stone, about four inches in length, is in the possession of Mr. Pritchard, of Caerleon: its characters are certainly more difficult of solution; they stand thus:

CHOR VI HAS ERRK

.. RO F S MODER which I read Cohors Sexta Hastata erexerunt caro fratri suo Moderato,-a GENT. MAG. VOL. III.

monument of the spearmen of the Legion to a companion in arms. The third tablet is thus inscribed:

COH. II.

VALENTI. FL AVV

If this be a sepulchral memorial, we must read the last letters, annos vixit quinque, and consider it the monument of Valens Flavius, a child of that age. Some years since, several large cubic altar stones, inscribed, were found in the N. W. corner of Caerleon

church-yard. On the face of one of these was the legend* N. N. AVG. GENIO. LEG. II. AVG. on the back D. D. VIII. KAL. OCTR, which I suppose may be read Nostrorum Augustorum Genio Legio secunda Augusta dedicaverunt, &c.

The handle of a vessel of Samian ware, examined by Mr. Brown, is interesting, as it belonged probably to one of the sacred vessels of a temple of Jupiter. It was stamped D. O. M. S. Deo Optimo Maximo Sacrum; and the above assertion is corroborated by the fact, that a few years since, an altar of reddish stone, brought from Caerleon, was sold at Thomas's Auction Rooms, on which I read the initials 1. O. M. (Jovi Optimo Maximo). That there was also a temple of Diana at Caerleon, a statue of that goddess discovered in 1602, and the following inscription preserved by Camden, will

show

F. FLAVIUS POSTUMIUS VARUS V. C. LEG. TEMPL. DIANÆ RESTITUIT.

We

implying that the fifth cohort of the Legion prepared her temple. have, in the inscriptions detailed, notice of three cohorts of the abovenamed Legion, styled, in addition to its August title, Britannica, for its eminent services in our island. In the

reigns of Hadrian, Antoninus, and Severus, it was quartered in the North, and was employed in constructing the well-known barriers against the Picts. During the latter period of its sojourning in Britain, it was quartered at Rhutupa (Richborough, in Kent), whence, on the decline of the Roman

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power, it embarked for the Continent. If the above additions to the memorials, contemporaneous with its presence in Siluria, should be found acceptable for your Magazine, so long

distinguished as a storehouse of his-
torical, topographical, and antiquarian
information, I shall feel pleasure in
having had the opportunity of com-
municating them.
A. J. K.

CRYPT AT ST. SAVIOUR'S, SOUTHWARK. Mr. URBAN, May 12, DURING the last six weeks the monastic buildings adjacent to the north side of the ancient Priory Church of St. Mary Overy (now St. Saviour's Church) have been in progress of demolition, and now scarcely one stone remains upon another. A description of these relics, with a plan from recent measurements, will, I trust, be acceptable to the readers of the Gentleman's Magazine.

The remains were visited by the indefatigable John Carter in 1797, and again in 1808; the results he communicated to the Gentleman's Magazine.* Within the two periods much had been destroyed, but since the latter date, until the present final destruction, little change occurred, and the remains were nearly, or quite, in the same state as they are described to be by that excellent antiquary, and to whose brief but accurate survey I beg to refer your readers. I have been able to render a more particular and minute description, in consequence of having readier access to the buildings than could have been afforded at a period when they were occupied as warehouses.

The principal portion of these remains was a crypt, placed at a right angle with the Church, and constituting the basement story to a hall or gallery of equal extent. It apparently formed the western side of a court or quadrangle, surrounded on three sides by buildings, having the present vestry and the Church to the south, an ancient range to the north, and a wall, as the eastern boundary. An old foundation, at a short distance from the eastern extremity of the church, was brought to light upon the demolition of the houses for the approach to the Bridge, and which may be considered as the boundary of the monastic buildings in that direction. The western side of the crypt partly abutted on the cloisters and partly on a range

* Vol. LXXVIII. part ii. p. 606,

of buildings of an earlier date, extending to the west. The north frout was open to the water. The south wall was situated at the distance of 21 feet 5 inches from the north wall of the transept; the intervening space, used as a stable, was divided transversely by an ancient wall of brick, three feet in thickness, shewing the remains of two lofty arches turned in the same material, of the age of Edward IV. The exterior features of the crypt and its superior edifice were much injured by modern repairs and alterations of a mean and inconsistent character. In the east front was a small window, nearly square, with a pointed head enclosed in a square label, No. 1 in plan, and near it, an ancient doorway, No. 2 in the plan, similar in its character to the south door of Eltham Hall, of the time of Edward IV.; the other openings, if there were any, in the original work, had been enlarged into modern doorways. In the superstructure, two windows existed in the same front, one of which was walled up; the remainder of the upright of the walls exhibited a mass of deformity, in consequence of the ancient work having been repaired with brick, and defaced with many windows, broke out without regard to taste or architectural effect.

The north wall, when visited by Mr. Carter, was concealed by the Crown public-house,† on the removal of which a door and window were discovered; the door, like that in the east wall, had a low pointed arch, (No. 5) and was of the same period. It was situated rather singularly at the corner of the front, and was evidently an enlargement of an older opening effected in all probability at the same time as the principal entrance to the court on the eastern side of the remains. Of

The sign of this house (a crown) was carved in stone, and the form, as well as the eight bars, showed it to be anterior, at least, to the great Rebellion.

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this entrance, the pier of the arch existed, attached to the adjacent angle; the archivolt having been destroyed; but on the removal of the buildings, a fine square-headed label belonging to this entrance was brought to light, the pier (No. 4) alone being visible when it was seen by Mr. Carter. The window, in the north front (No. 6) though much defaced, shewed the remains of a square-headed weather cornice, and though at first sight it might be mistaken for an insertion of the Tudor period, was of a much earlier date; it was nearly square, and divided by a single mullion. Above had been originally a large window. The wall had been rebuilt at some period, and it only shewed vestiges of jambs, some disjoined, and other in their places, so as to defy any attempt at restoration. Against the west side, the earth had b been raised to a height nearly equal to the crown of the vault; the point of the arch of a window or doorway in the crypt, might be seen above the surface of the earth which obscured the remainder, and in the upper wall, just above it, the arch of a window remained perfect, the weather cornice resting on busts greatly defaced: the tracery had been destroyed, and the opening bricked up. It was at least as early as the reign of Edward III.

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The entire length was 95 feet 6 inches; the breadth 33 feet 6 inches; these measurements include the walls, which were 4 feet in thickness to the vaulting, where there was a break and a decrease in thickness; in the remainder of the elevation the walls were only three feet thick, they were formed f of rubble, and faced with Kentish rag in irregular courses, except in one part of the division (c) which shewed in the interior a portion of ashlar work. The interior, in its original state, must have presented a very interesting appearance. It contained in length, seven divisions; and in breadth, was made into two aisles by a central range of columns 5 feet 3 inches in height, octangular in plan, with a plinth of the same form, divided from the shaft by a chamfer, and the caps had a torus as a crowning member. The entire design was vaulted with arches and cross springers resting on the columns, and on corbels attached to the side walls. The transverse ribs alone were

h

7

pointed; these were sprung immediately from the points of support, the arches, which were round-headed, appearing to grow from the other conjoined ribs, and in consequence, a portion of their height was carried up perpendicularly. The ribs were semi-octangular, of a bold character, the spandrils filled in with chalk, repaired at different times, and in some instances with bricks, with the form of which the pieces composing the vault very well agreed. When the whole interior was divested of the more recent partition walls, the perspective must have been very grand; it then presented two uniform aisles of about 80 feet in extent, forming a covered walk or cloister for exercise during foul weather in winter, and affording shelter from the sun's rays in the summer season. The accompanying plan will assist the more complete understanding of the ensuing description of the interior.

At the south end (vide a in plan) was a passage leading from the cloister to the crypt; the extremity being closed with brick, shewed it to have been an entrance. This entrance led into a small groined porch formed at the extremity of the eastern aisle, being narrower than the rest of the aisle, and separated from it by a break in the wall; and here appeared the most important alteration which the design had sustained. The first division (b) was partitioned by two stone walls, which had the effect of converting the easternmost portion with the porch into a small room, the arch of entrance to which, in the northern wall, was of the same period and in the same style as the doorcases before described; this portion retained its groins, which were singularly accommodated to meet the irregularity in the plan occasioned by the porch; the effect of the alteration was to give a very picturesque effect to the apartment, the light streaming in from the small window on the eastern wall, and the seclusion of the place when the door was closed, might almost create the idea of its being the cell of some holy recluse. This portion forms the first subject in the engraving, for the drawing of which I am indebted to the friendship of Mr. G. Buckler.

In the division running parallel with this, the groins had been destroyed

and a modern cellar arch of brick substituted. The south wall was original. A pier at three feet from the east, would seem, by its quoins, to have once flanked an opening; against it abutted a segment arch rising 3 feet 8 inches from the floor, the utility or design of which must be a matter of speculation; the succeeding division (c) was unaltered. This division had a doorway opposite to that in the east wall, as appeared by the jamb and other remains of a more ancient period than the present entrances. Northwards a brick wall, with a doorway having a flat arch turned in the same material and walled up, bounded that portion of the crypt, and made it into a passage from the cloister to the court; the third division (d) was unaltered, it had a modern opening in the east wall, and was bounded on the north by a stone partition wall, with a doorway, almost a copy of that in the small room; through this doorway the next two divisions (e, f) were ap proached; they were vacant, and had only a modern opening in the east wall. A brick wall of a more recent date than the previous one was the northern boundary; it had an arch in the eastern aisle which appeared never to have been used as a doorway. The two succeeding divisions (g and h) were open, and presented the most curious portion of the structure. A modern door opened into h from the east, and an acute pointed door opposite to it once formed a communication from some adjacent building; the style of this doorway proving it to be coæval with the crypt. A window or door, for it is difficult to say which, existed in the division g; it was much altered and had more the appearance of a door, though it may have been originally a window. The groining of the seventh division h was singularly disposed at the northern extremity; the wall was made into four irregular portions; in the one towards the west was a circular-headed niche, the second and fourth had the window and door which are described with the exterior.

The vaulting, which had hitherto been uniform, was here accommodated most singularly to the openings. The

It is questionable whether this doorway was ever open.

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