Page:VCH London 1.djvu/196

 A HISTORY OF LONDON long and flowing ; the locks over the forehead are treated in a manner that a little suggests horns. . . . The material is white marble of a foreign origin; height, 13 in.'' M. Cumont explains the figure as Oceanus, but Profs. Haverfieid and P, Gardner rightly point out that a river-god must be intended. The other is a ' headless male figure, erect, draped from the waist downwards in common fashion, and also wearing part of a cloak (r) round the neck. In the right hand is a patera held over a burning altar, and a snake seems to encircle the wrist. The left hand holds up a well-filled cornucopia against the left shoulder. Near the left foot is a vessel's prow, and round it conventional indications of waves. The material is foreign white marble, the height 20 in.' Though undoubtedly male (not Fortune, as M. Cumont thought), it is uncertain whether it represents Bonus Eventus or a Genius. 1 'The river-god in particular,' says Prof. Haverfieid, 'would take a high place, by what- ever standard it were judged. The mild dignity which characterizes the face and head is indicated with real effectiveness. The hair and beard, though treated somewhat plainly, are easy and free from any serious stiffness, and the modelling of the shoulder and breast show the true sculptor. . . The Bonus Eventus is more conventional. Yet, here again, the shape of the body is given with truth and grace ; the pose is easy and natural ; the drapery falls lightly, and the whole, when complete, must have been a very satisfactory work.' The head, he points out, is typical rather than individualistic, and this is more in keeping with the traditions of Greek than Roman art. Again, any late Celtic or Romano-British elements are entirely absent, and even the advanced art of the Igel and Neumagen sculptures has no affinities with these figures. It is possible that they were actually made in Ital)', and not even in Gaul. The third sculpture is of a very different character. It is a slab of white sandstone, 17 in. by 2ii in. by 3y in., with a relief representing the Mithraic Sacrifice, 'a very good example of the ordinary type, well preserved and well executed,' but in no way remarkable. In the centre is a medallion encircled with the signs of the Zodiac, within which is Mithras slaying a bull, which he stabs with his right hand ; below are the usual attendant animals, a dog, serpent, and scorpion (or crab), a basket, and two torch-bearers, one with torch erect, the others inverted. In the upper corners are, on the left the Sun-God in a four-horse chariot, on the right the Moon in a chariot drawn by two bulls ; in the lower corners, on the left a male bearded head with wings on the forehead, on the right a similar female head. These two probably represent wind-gods. On either side and below is the inscription VLPI EMERI VS TVS. LEG SILVA n. AVG NVS VOTVM SOLVIT FAC ARAV TVS SIONE charged ' {sc. factus emeritui)^ at Arausio ' (Orange). It is quite impossible thztfactus here can mean ' made,' referring to the sculpture. The second Legion was stationed at Isca Silurum (Caerleon) in the Romano-British period ; and Prof. Haverfieid (following_Mommsen) suggest that Ulpius, when on a journey, heard of his discharge at Orange, and set up the monument out of gratitude on his return. The sandstone of which it is composed is said to resemble a stone found near Orange ; on the other hand, it may quite possibly have come from the Wealden beds of Kent or Sussex, and it is most natural to suppose that the monument is local British work. It is the only Mithraic monument found in London, and seems to imply the existence of a Mithraeum or shrine cf that deity on the Walbrook, but we cannot tell whether the other two sculptures have any connexion with it. Prof. Haverfieid dates it about the middle of the second century [Arch. Ix, pis. 8-10, p. 43 ff. ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. xx (1905), 341 ; Arch. Journ. xlvii, 234 ; Antiq. xxiv, 168 ; Ephem. Ep'igr. vii, 276, No. 816 ; Cumont, Mystiresde Mithra, ii (1896), 389, No. 267, figs. 304-6. On the cult of Mithra, sec Cumont, op. cit. (Engl, trans.) ; also Dill, Roman Soc. from Nero to M. Aurelius, Bk. iv, chap. 6]. Fragments of a fine Rutenian bowl (form 30) with panel-decoration in British Museum (Loftus Brock Collection). In the Guildhall, ear-picks, shoes, harness, a bowl of red ware -with ' slip ' decoration [Cat. 5 1 5], and a jar of New Forest ware. In the Mayhew Collection a white marble bust of a girl found in 1887, which 'lay some 2ft. beneath the surface, '' The description of this and the following are taken from Prof. Haverfield's paper in Arch, bt, 43 ff. 132
 * Ulpius Silvanus, discharged soldier of the Second Legion (Augusta), pays his vow. Dis-