Page:Roman Manchester (1900) by Charles Roeder.djvu/191

 measurements it fits, we have only to look at the ground plan of the hypocaust found at Netherby and alluded to already in the text. We see from it that there the altar dedicated to the Dea Sancta Fortuna Conservatrici is exactly in the same position as found in Deansgate. A better proof could not be produced. It will also help us to form an idea of what our hypocaust probably appeared to the spectator in its original condition, and for this purpose the drawing and description as found in The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xx., p. 27, 1750, are reproduced here.

GRAFFITTI.

The graffitti may be arranged into three distinct series, first those ending in V, secondly those in X, and those scratched in in full name; we have thus:—

I may observe that all these graffitti have been obtained from the northern Roman suburb, viz., Bridgewater Street and Tonman Street; and the pottery collected here, as far as the Samian ware is concerned, on which they are scratched, refers to types of ornamentation of the second and third centuries. We also know that the soldiers at that time were quartered outside the castrum, and these graffitti occur a little outside beyond the northern wall of the station. I have only found thirteen of these initialled and inscribed pieces, but there is no doubt that there must have been many of that sort promiscuously scattered over this area, and probably pointing to different periods. Those written in full seem to have belonged to private individuals, while those issuing in V and X appear to have been the property of the mess-table of the soldiers. The constant recurrence of these signs is not accidental. I throw it out as a suggestion worth consideration that they may indicate, as in VV and XX, the possession of the Twentieth Legion and the Valeria Valens; and, in the case of single V, the abbreviation of the Sixth Legion, called the Victrix, where in one case we seem to recognise the mark of the centuria. It would be of interest to compare these graffitti in the same light with such found at other stations to see if this conjecture is borne out.