Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/142

 INSCRIPTIONS [KOMAN. (C. I. L., vi. 1265; Henz. 6455; Wil. 8521, &c., show the boundary between the agcr publicus and privatus. With similar objects boundary-stones were erected by the emperors, or, under their authority, by magistrates, mostly military, in the rest of Italy also (as in Capua Mommsen, /. N. 3590, Orel. 3683, Wil. 858 ; at Pompeii I.N. 2314, Wil. 864) and in the provinces (as in Syria G. 1. L., iii. 183 ; in Macedonia G. I. L., iii. 594 ; in Dalmatia C. I. L., iii. 2883 ; in Africa C. I. L., viii. 7084-90, 8211, 8268, 10803, 10838, Wil. 869, 870 ; in Spain C. I. L., ii. 2349, 2916, Wil. 871 where the pratum of a legion is divided from the territory of a municipium ; in Gaul Wil. 867 ; in Germany, in the column lately found at Miltenberg on the Main, Banner Jahrbilchcr, vol. Ixiv., 1878, p. 46, &c. ). The recent attempt to combine under some boundary system the numerous stones found in Britain on military buildings, as on the wall of Hadrian and in divers castra, which indicate the ccnturias of legions and cohorts employed in the work and its measurements as executed by them, has been finally refuted by Mr Clayton (in the Archieologia JEliana, 1880). Private grounds (pcdaturee) were unfrequently marked off by terminal cippi. To this class of tituli must be added also the curious inscrip tions incised upon the steps of Roman circuses, theatres, and-amphi- theatres(see Hiibner, Annali dell Institute archeologico, vol. xxviii. , 1856, p. 52 sq., and vol. xxxi., 1859, p. 122 sq.), as, for instance, upon those of the Coliseo at Home (C.I.L., vi. 1796, 1-37; compare R. Lanciani, Bullettino archeologico municipalc, 1881). 4. We now come to the last class of tituli, viz., thost; which in the Corpus are arranged, at the end of each volume, under the head of Instrumentum. By this very comprehensive term are designated objects which vary greatly among themselves, but which are of such a character as not to fall within any of the classes of tituli described before, or the class of the instrumcnta in the proper sense of that word, the laws, &c. The tituli of the instru- mentum embrace movable objects, destined for public and private use, and illustrate almost every side of the life of the ancient Romans. As systematic treatment of them is hardly possible, a simple enu meration only of their different classes can be given, -without cit ing special examples. The first species of them is metrological, comprehending the inscriptions on measures and weights. The gold and silver plate used in the best Roman houses was also always marked with a note of its weight, as is seen, for instance, on the different objects belonging to the Hildesheim find (see Hermes, iii., 1868, p. 469 sq. ; Philologus, xxviii., 1869, p. 369), the Corbridge lanx in Northumberland House (G. I. L., vii. 1268), and many others. A second species is formed by the tcsscrse, tokens, or marks, mostly in bronze, bone, and ivory, but also earthen, of which the most interesting are the so-called tcsscrse gladiatorial, little staves of bone with holes at the top, and with names of slaves or freed- men and consxilar dates upon them, the relation of which to the muncra gladiatoria is by no means certain (see C. I. L., i. 717 sq., and Hiibner, Monatsbcrickte dcr Berl. AJcad. dcr Wisscnschaftcn. 1867, p. 747 sq., Revue archeologiquc, vol. xvi., 1868, p. 469 sq., and Ephcm., iii. 203). The other circular tcsscrse, of ivory or bone, with emblems and short inscriptions, partly Greek and Latin, may with more confidence be attributed to the ludi scasnici (see Henzen, Annali dclV Instltuto archeologico, vol. xx., 1848, p. 273 sq., and vol. xxii. , 1850, p. 357 sq.) and to other ludi ; but the uses of many of them remain very uncertain. A third species is that of inscriptions carved, inscribed, painted, or stamped upon various materials, raw or manufactured, for trade or household use. Such are, to begin with the most solid and heavy, the inscriptions carved or painted on masses of stone, mostly columns, in the quar ries, and preserved either on the rocks themselves in the quarries or on the roughly hewn blocks transported to the Roman cmp orium on the Tiber bank. Curious specimens of the first kind are pre served in Lebanon, and in the north of England, near Hadrian s Wall and elsewhere ; on the second may be consulted a learned treatise by Padre L. Bruzza (&quot; Iscrizioni dei marmi grezzi,&quot; in the Annali delV Institute archeologico, vol. xlii., 1870, p. 106-204). Of a kindred character are the inscriptions, mostly stamped or engraved in the mould, of pigs of silver, bronze, and lead (and pewter), found in the Roman mines in Spain and England (see Hiibner, &quot;Romische Bleigruben in Britannien,&quot; in Rhcinischcs Museum fur Philologic, vol. xi., 1857, p. 347 sq., and C. I. L., vii. p. 220 sq. ; A. Way, Archeelogical Journal, vol. xvi., 1859, p. 23, and vol. xxiii., 1866, p. 63). A fourth species of tituli of this class is strictly related to the military institutions of the Roman empire. Many of the weapons arc marked with the names of the bearer and of the military corps to which he belonged, so, for example, the buckles of their shields (sec Hiibner, &quot;Romische Schildbuckel,&quot; in Archaologisch-epigraphische Mitthcilungcn aus Ocstcrrcich, vol. ii., 1878, p. 105 sq. ; by far the best extant specimen is the umlio of a legionary soldier of the eighth legion found in the Tyne near South Shields, C. I. L., vii. 495), and sometimes the swords, as that of Tiberius from Mainz (now in the British Museum, see Jionncr WincTcelmannsprogramm of 1848). The leaden glandcs used by {cfumlitorcs, the slingers, in the Roman army bear curioxis historical inscriptions (sec G. L L., . 642 sq., and, on the question of the authenticity of many of them, much discussed of late, Bergk, Banner Jahrbiichcr, vols. Iv., Ivi., 1875, p. 1 sq. , and Zangemeister, Monatsberichte dcr Berliner Akadcmie dcr Wissenschaftcn, 1875, p. 465, 1876, p. 65 sq. ; Bullettino dell Institute archeologico, 1877, p. 172, 1879, p. 190 sq.). Special mention must.be made also of the leaden seals or marks, evidently of military origin (perhaps to be borne by the soldiers as a countersign), which have been found in many parts of England, but nowhere else as vet (G. I. L., vii. 1269; Ephcm. cpigr., iii. p. 144, 318, iv. p. 209).&quot; Of the highest interest are the manifold productions of the Roman tile and brick kilns. Next to the tiles with consular dates made at Veleia (G. I.L., i. 777 foil.), those signed with the name of legions or other military corps, and employed in the various military build ings of these, are especially worthy of mention ; they form an im portant chapter in every geographical part of the Corpus. But private persons, too, especially the rich landed proprietors, and afterwards the emperors and their kinsmen, kept large jiyulinse, and their manufactures tiles of every description and other earthenware were spread over the Roman empire. The different sorts of earthen vessels and lamps, the fragments of which are found in great quantities wherever Roman settlements occurred, are arranged at the end of each volume of the Corpus. But a scientific inquiry into their origin, age, and employment, difficult 011 account of the enormous and always increasing mass of the extant remains, has not yet been undertaken, the small works of Froehner (Inscrlp- tioncs terras coctse, vasorum, Gottingen, 185S) and Schuermans (Siglcs figulins, Brussels, 1867) being by no means satisfactory. On Roman lamps and their inscriptions the accurate catalogue of the Vienna collection by Kenner (&quot;Die antikeu Thonlampen des K. K. Miinz- und Antiken-Cabinetes und der K. K. Ambraser Sammlung,&quot; in the Archiv fur Kunde oslcrreichischcr Geschichts- quellcn, vol. xx., Vienna, 1858) may be consulted with advantage. But a good beginning to a thorough treatment of the question has been made by an accurate exploration of the chief deposit of those fragments, the Monte tcstaccio at Rome, by Dressel (&quot;Riccrche sul Monte testaccio,&quot; in the Annali dell Institute archeologico, vol. i., 1878, p. 118-192). Inscriptions are found on various classes of vessels, painted (as the consular dates on the large dolin for wine oil, &c., see Schiine C. I. L., iv. p. 171 sq., and Ephem-. cpigr., i. p. 160 sq.), stamped on the clay when still wet or in the mould, and scratched in the clay when dry, like those on the walls of ancient buildings in Pompeii, Rome, and other places of anti quity. Like the corresponding Greek ware, they contain chiefly names of the makers or the merchants or the owners, and can be treated in a satisfactory manner only when brought together in one large collection, inasmuch as, besides being made in many local potteries, they Avere exported principally from some places in Italy (e.g., Arezzo) and Spain, in nearly every direction throughout northern and western Europe, the countries outside the Roman frontiers not excluded. Vessels and utensils of glass and of metal (gold, silver, and especially bronze) were also exported from Italy on a large scale, as is being more and more readily recognized even by those antiquaries who formerly were wont to assume a local origin for all bronze finds made in the north of Europe. These utensils, ornaments, and other objects made of precious metals (such as cups, spoons, mirrors, fibulas, rings, gems), not unfrcquently bear Latin inscriptions. On the very ancient silver and bronze caskets, for holding valuable articles of the female toilet, which have been found at Prseneste, are inscribed, in addition to the names of the artist and of the donor, occurring once, the names of the persons in the mythical representations engraved upon them (C. I. L., i. 54-60, 1500, 1501 ; Jordan, Kritische Bcitrcigc zur Gcschichte dcr lateinischen Sprachc, Berlin, 1879, p. 3 sq.). In the ancient well of ic Aquae. Apollinarcs, nearVicarello in Tuscany, three silver cups have been found with circumstantial itineraries &quot;. Gadcs (sic) usque Romam&quot; engraved upon them, evidently gifts to the divinity of the bath for recovered health presented by travellers from the remote city -named (Henzen 5210). Similar is the Rudge Cup, found in Wiltshire and preserved at Alnwick Castle, which contains, engraved in bronze, an itinerary along some Roman sta tions in the north of England (C. I. L., vii. 1291). The inscriptions of the Hildesheim silver find and others of a similar character have been already mentioned ; and many examples might be enume rated besides. On the ancient glass ware and the inscriptions on it the splendid works of Deville (Ilistoire de I art de la verrcric dans Vantiquite, Paris, 1873) and Froehner (La vcrrcrie antique, description de la collection Charvct, Paris, 1879) may be consulted ; on the Christian glasses that of Garrucci (Vctri ornati di figure in oro trovati nci cimiteri dci cristiani jmmilivi di Roma, Rome, 1 858). The last species of tituli is formed by the stamps them selves with which the inscriptions on many of the objects already named are produced. They are mostly of bronze, and contain names ; but it is not easy to say what sort of objects were marked with them, as scarcely any article stamped with a still existing stamp has been found. Amongst the materials stamped leather also is to be mentioned. One class only of stamps differs widely from the rest, the oculists stamps, engraved mostly on steatite