A Roman Altar from on the Antonine Wall by R. P. Wright

The altar here illustrated (PI. 23a) was found3 in ploughing in the spring of 1963 perhaps within r moro , e likel fore f Westerwoowesth e o ty , th jus of to t tAntonine th n do e Walle Th . precise spot could not be determined, but as the altar was unofficial it is more likely to have lain outsiddragges fortboundare e wa aree th th t I ef .fieldth e o d a o t th f ,y o wherrecognise s wa t ei d two days later by Master James Walker and was transferred to Dollar Park Museum. The altar4 is of buff sandstone, 10 in. wide by 25 in. high by 9£ in. thick, and has a rosette with recessed centr focus e plac n stonei e th severas f Th eo .e ha l plough-score bace d th kan n so right side, and was slightly chipped when being hauled off the field, fortunately without any dam- age to the inscription. Much of the lettering was at first obscured by a dark and apparently ferrous concretion, but after some weeks of slow drying this could be brushed off, leaving a slight reddish staininscriptioe Th . n reads: SILVANIS [ET] | QUADRVIS CA[E]|LESTIB-SACR | VIBIA PACATA | FL-VERECV[ND]I | D LEG-VI-VIC | CUM SVIS | V-S-L-M Silvanis Quadr(i)viset Caelestib(us) sacr(wri) Vibia Pacata Fl(avi) Verecundi (uxor) c(enturionis) leg(ionis) VI Vic(tricis) cum suis v(ptum) s(olvii) l(ibens) m(erito) 'Sacred to the Silvanae Quadriviae Caelestes: Vibia Pacata, wife of Flavius Verecundus, centurion Sixte oth f h Legion Victrix, wit r familhhe y willingl deservedld yan y fulfille r vow.he d ' Dedications expressed to Silvanus in the singular are fairly common in Britain,5 as in other provinces. Three have occurred on the Antonine Wall, at Bar Hill,6 Auchendavy7 and .8 The deity is in the singular and the dedicators appear to be soldiers. Two inscriptions from the Continent may perhaps be set beside them. One at Cologne9 was erected to the Deae Malvisiae Silvanud an Aureliuy sb s Verecundus, centurio numerusa f no Britonnum, anothed an Deutzt ra 1y 0b a veteran of another such unit. The Quadriviae11 presided over the junction of four roads but are much less widespread than ' ibid., 214 112; Wright, Durham University Journal, XL (1948), ' ibid., xcvi (1962-3), 152. 56. s i regrette t I 3 d that various circumstances have « RIB, 2167. delayed this report. Mis . HunteD s r kindly gave 7 RIB, 2178. detailmadsite d th ealtaan e f eth so r availablr efo ' RIB, 2187. studcontributeand y d referencthe som of e e '.CIL, XIH, 8208 (1LS, 4762). material incorporated here Kr Stee. .D A . r furnished »« CIL, xm, 8492 (ILS, 4630) e tex damages Th i t. t dbu detaildiscoverye th f so provided an , dphotograpa h includes Hercules Magusanus, Silvanus, Genius which has been reproduced here by the courtesy of Loci, Mercuriu 'ald lsan other god goddesses'd san - e Royath l Commissio n Ancieno n t Monuments, 11 . Although Huebner conjectured QVADRIVIAE on 4 an altar from Chester-le-Street (CIL, vn, 454, additr Wright, JUS, uv (1964), 178, PI. XVI. 1 , p. 309) the more likely solution advanced in RIB, ' Over twenty instances, mainly in the north. See 104 thas 8obscuri e th t e letters concea dedicae th l - JRS, xxxvi (1946), 147: Richmon d Wrightan d , tor's outlandish name. Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, xxxvn (1948), SHORTER3 NOTE19 | S Triviae th r Biviaeeo , guardian f triplo s r doubleo e junctions, with whose dedications thee yar sometimes linked Mainzt A . 1 ther dedicatioa s ei n 'Lares Competales sive Quadriviae'. Thee yar distributed mainly in the north, particularly in the German provinces, but in Upper Pannonia there is an unusual group2 of shrines and altars in which they are linked with Silvanus. Otherwise their association wite othee sar hth r deitiecross-roadse th f so , apart from one with Genius Loci and one4 with a local goddess, Abnoba. 3 Whe Silvan(ae?e nth ) were linked wit t likelQuadriviaface i e hf th th eo y n o tha e s i tth t e i name should be expanded in the feminine plural, and this is certainly the case on four dedications5 at Campona, Carnuntum and Aquincum (two instances, one with sculptured figures). On CIL, HI 1046 texe 0th t Sil(vano t Silvani)e surmountes si sculptura y db Silvanuf eo san g wit dtriado a ha d f Silvanaeo . Ther e sculpturear e d nymph anothen altarse o s th d Klotz f an o r, 6 claims that Silvanus 'is often associated with Nymphscallee ar o d Silvanawh , Illyria'n ei . Doniaszewski states7 that the Greeks on the Dalmatian coast identified Silvanus with Pan and the Nymphs. Consideratio alss ni o neede thira f do d feature epithee th , t Caelestibus. Thigives swa o nt several deities8 besides Juno Caelestis of Carthage, and occurs on an altar9 at Corbridge to Jupiter Aeternus Dolichenus, Caelestis Brigantia and Salus. 'Silvano Caelesti' occurs on a dedication by a poet in Rome.10 But this epithet is rare in the Danubian provinces. The centre of the cult seems to have been Carthage and the majority of the instances belong to North Africa. As the names Vibia and Pacata are well attested in North Africa it seems likely that at least the wife of the centurion had some connection with North Africa and from there added an epithet to this composite dedica- tion. As Professor E. Birley suggested, this centurion may well be identical with the T. Flavius Verecundus from Claudia Savaria, centurio11 Legif no o XIIH G.M.V dedicateo wh . altan da o t r Mithras at Carnuntum (CIL, in, 4416). He could have been transferred to Legio VI Victrix in Britain. cleat no rs i wha t I t command Flavius Verecundus hel Westerwoot da s whethehi r do d an e rh wife were on a temporary visit. He may have commanded an auxiliary contingent at that fort, as Flavius Betto did12 at Rough Castle. Or he may have had a detachment of his own legion, VI Victrix, unde commands time hi r on e t similaa r fo , r detachments manne adjacene dth t fortf o s Crod 13an y Hill. composite 1Th 4 e natur thif eo s dedication suggests that Verecundus had seen service in North Africa as well as in Pannonia and perhaps the Rhineland. As an alternative explanatio inclusioe nth dedicatioe th n teri e th m f n o Caelestes frequeno ,s Nortn i t h Africa, may have been due to Vibia Pacata, whose two names are well attested there.