THE ROMANS IN SCOTLAND.* WE have in this very handsome
volume a full account of a great investigation of Roman remains in North Britain. It is the most recent of these explorations—it was not begun till February, 1905, and it is not yet fully completed—it has yielded very valuable results, and it has certainly found in Mr. Curie a most industrious and competent chronicler. The site of the discovery is Newstead, a hamlet, as it would be called in England, in the parish of Melrose. We speak of it as a discovery, although Newstead has for many years
• A Boman Frontier Post and its People. By James Carle, F.S.A. Glasgow : James idaeLeliose and Son& [42s. net.] been known in connexion with its Roman remains. Bartholo- mew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (edition of 1887) says " numerous Roman remains have been found here." The earliest find, an altar dedicated to the Di Campestres, belongs to the year 1783. Another altar was discovered in 1830; and the construction of the North British Railway sixteen years later led to the unearthing of various objects. On this last occasion a paper was published by the then secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. But the real nature of the remains has only now been revealed. To put this briefly, two great objects have been discovered: a temporary camp covering an area of forty-nine acres, and a fort which seems to have been occupied for a considerable space of time, probably with one or more interruptions. The camp, as might be expected, has yielded very few objects of interest. Its chief importance consists in its outlines and the plan of defence which it indicates. It makes, however, a strong appeal to the historical imagination of the reader, for there can be little doubt that it was constructed by the famous general Agricola during one or other of his Caledonian campaigns (83, 84 A.D.) The fort, though considerably smaller—not quite half the size—has yielded a great treasure; and it is the description of the building itself, so far as it can be traced, for all the elevations have long since disappeared, and of the varied relics of its occupants, that has furnished Mr. Curle with a congenial subject.
It is quite impossible to give here any idea of the place. A few minutes spent on the plans supplied will do more than a column of description. Generally, it may be said that though there is nothing materially different from what we know of the matter from books and from other similar remains, there are some local peculiarities. The most obvious question occurring—how high were the walls P—it is impossible to answer. We know, however, the breadth of the founda- tions, and this gives some help to conjecture. The figure of seven feet seven inches can hardly mean less than a height of fifteen feet, and may probably mean more. Whether there were towers elsewhere than at the gates, for of these there are indications, it is impossible to say.
After the fortifications come the interior buildings, all of them, it need scarcely be said, to be traced by their founda- tions only ; in some cases these also have been removed. The most important is, of course, the Principia, the Head- quarters. This is made up of an inner and an outer court, measuring in all 131 ft. by 104 ft., dimensions exceeding those found elsewhere in Britain. Adjoining the outer court was an entrance hall (160 ft. by 50 ft.) This feature is not found elsewhere in this country, though it is not uncommon in Germany. Of other details we may mention that there was an ambulatory, ten feet wide, round three sides the outer court, and at the back of the inner court a chapel (sacellum). Outside the .Principia may be traced other buildings, of which the most important were the granaries, the Commandant's house, and the soldiers' quarters. The house was a very spacious dwelling, occupying an area of 130 ft. by 120 ft. It will be remembered, however, that much of this area is accounted for by an open court. The baths were constructed without the fortifications.
The period of occupation is a question of some difficulty. Doubtless the best guide in the answering of it is to be found in the details of the coins discovered. These numbered in all 249, of which all but 15 pieces were capable of identifica- tion. To these must be added 27 others (5 of gold, 16 of silver, and 16 of brass and copper) which had been picked up at various times in the nineteenth century. The five gold coins may be left out of account, except that the latest, one of Antoninus Pius, 152 A.D., indicates an occupation at least as late as that year. Of the silver coins 17 are pre- Augustine (9 being Republican and 8 minted by Mark Antony), 45 belong to the " Twelve Caesars," 52 to the " Five Good Emperors," while Commodus is represented by a solitary specimen of his wife Crispina (divorced by him very soon after his accession). To the fifty-two the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian contribute together 37. The 142 brass coins give much the same results. The Flavian Emperors and Trajan and Hadrian claim between them 116. Three belong to Faustina. The occupation seems therefore to have come to an end early in the reign of Commodus. In Dr. Smith's paper, indeed, mention is made of coins of much later date, one of Constantine among them. But he does not specify
the localities, and nothing of the kind turned up in the recent explorations. These may fairly be left out of account.
The miscellaneous discoveries were made for the most part in a number of wells and rubbish-pits, one hundred and seven in all, which were found and explored in the course of the research. And most important and productive of all was the deep pit (26 ft.) discovered within the enclosure of the Principia. Arms and armour—among the latter some curious vizors evidently intended for tournaments—articles of cloth- ing including some shoes (one worn by a woman, another by a. child), a great collection of pottery of much chronological value (including some fine specimens of what is commonly called "Saurian " ware), vessels of glass and bronze, tools (some of them evidently used for agriculture, and so indicating a settled occupation), and ornaments of various kinds, are described at length. The pottery section alone occupies more than eighty pages, and will be found of special interest,— pottery is a common ground in all these efforts to realise tho past. The element of tragedy is not wanting. Skulle indented with blows, broken and twisted swords, and other indications of struggle have been discovered. It is easy to imagine the details. The Caledonians, whom the Newstead fort was intended to overawe, found an opportunity of over- powering or surprising the invader. The volume is amply, indeed magnificently, illustrated.
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