Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/233

 TIIK HUIJ.A AVOKN liY IIUMAN HoVS. 17 far more comnionly used tliaii the cognomen ; Uiat tlin former was almost an indispensable prefix to the nomen, and was given to boys on the ninth day after their birtli, whereas the addition of the cognomen was arbitrary and uncertain ^ Hence it appears to mo, that we may with confidence read the inscription iiosTUS iiostilius, and it is remarkable, that this was the designation of the first man of the Ilostilian name at Rome.'^ It was therefore likely to have been resumed b}' his descendants. I now beg leave to enter into a somewhat more detailed comjiarison and description of the four largest known bullas, viz., the Cliigi Bulla at Rome, and the three in London, and I shall subjoin a brief notice of two smaller ones found in Lancashire. Each of the four large bullas consists of two circular plates of pure gold, devoid of ornament, but beaten into the form of a watch-glass or meniscus. The edges of these circular plates are in close apposition, but without any perceptible means of joining them together, so as to contain securely objects placed within them. By their apposition they assume the exact form of a lentil, so as to agree with the remark of Plutarch, who describes the bulla as lentil-shaped.^ The two plates are united on one side by a third plate of the same matei-ial, which is embossed, bent double, and rivetted in three points to the two circular plates. In the bulla now preserved in the British Museum (which belonged to Sir William Hamilton's collection), and in Lady Fellows's bulla, the gold wire remains for suspending the object from the boy's neck. In the British Museum specimen the embossed plate has a style of ornament peculiar to itself.* But in the three others, viz., those belonging to Cardinal Chigi, Lady Fellows, and Mr. Rogers, the ornament is very similar, consisting of long sprigs of bay or myrtle with oval festoons ; and in both of those, wdiich are inscribed with the name of the boy, it is placed longitudinally in the middle of the embossed plate. These circumstances are shown in the annexed woodcuts, of which the one figure represents Mr. Rogers's bulla as seen in front, and the other shows the ' Smith's Diet, of Greek and Roman ^ <-aKou^s. Plutarcli. Qnast. Rom. Ant., Art. Nomen, p. 640. 514., ed. H. Stepk. Par. I.i72. 'Smith's Diet, of Greek and Roman * SeG-wooAcxit m Arch. Jovmal,Vol.VI. Biography. Art. HostiUus. jp. 113.