History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 2 (of 2) by Walters et al.
3. (_a_) _Ex figlinis_ (vel _praedis_) _Caepionianis Plotiae
899 words | Chapter 147
Isauricae, fornace Peculiaris servi._
(_b_) _Opus doliare ex praedis duorum Augustorum nostrorum,
figlinis Domitianis minoribus, Fulvi Primitivi._
During the greater part of the third century chronological indications
are absent, but about the time of Diocletian the practice of signatures
is revived. The inscriptions, however, differ now from the earlier
ones, not only in the forms of the letters and of the stamp, but also
in style; they are less regular in form, and present several
peculiarities. The expressions _opus doliare_ and _ex figlinis_ are now
no longer found, and in place of the latter _officina_ is invariable.
Many of the _officinae_ are the same as in the former period, but new
ones, such as the Britannica, Claudia, Gemella, and Jobia, occur, the
latter with the _cognomen_ Diocletiana. _Officina_ is sometimes used
twice over, for the pottery and for the workshop. In place of _praedia_
we have such expressions as _statio_, _rationes_, or _possessiones_.
Formulae are introduced in an abbreviated form which give the method of
administration or character of the estates: as R · S · P, _ratio summae
patrimonii or privatae_; S · P · C, _stationis patrimonii Caesaris_; S
· R for _summae rei or stationis Romanae_; S · P for _summae privatae_
or _stationis patrimonii_; S · R · F for _sacrae rationis fisci_; or
simply S for _stationis_ or _summarum_.[2545] Apparently several
_stationes_ might be united in one _officina_, or several _officinae_
in one _administratio_; the number of the _statio_ is given in some
instances. The name of the _statio_ may be replaced by that of the
potter; or merely the _administratio_ is given, as OFF · PRIVATA.
Besides the names of master, lessee, and potter, that of the
_negotiator_ is sometimes mentioned. We also find the _portus_ or depôt
in which the _tegulae_ were stored for distribution, as PORTU
LICINI,[2546] or the name of the building for which they were destined,
as PORTVS AVGVSTI,[2547] CASTRIS PRAETORI(_s_) AVG(_usti_) N(_ostri_),
HORREIS POSTVMIANIS.[2548] Some tiles dug up in Lambeth Hill, London,
on the site of the Post Office, now in the British and Guildhall
Museums,[2549] were impressed with the letters P · P · BR · LON or PR ·
BR · LON (Fig. 196), which have been interpreted as _publicani
provinciae Britanniae Londinienses_.[2550]
[Illustration: FIG. 196. INSCRIBED TILE FROM LONDON.]
Tiles made for military purposes are exceedingly common in the later
period, and the stamps probably had a double use. In the first place,
they show that they were made by the soldiers, from which we learn that
in the legions, as in a modern army, there were many men acquainted
with handicrafts. Secondly, they prevented theft or removal of the
tiles, and served as a “broad arrow” to denote public property. They
are not, of course, found in Rome, where there was no necessity for the
legions to make bricks or tiles; here the camp seems to have been
supplied by private individuals.
Of special interest are the inscriptions stamped on tiles which relate
to the military divisions stationed throughout the provinces of the
vast empire. These are found in soldiers’ graves (see above, p. 351),
as well as in their camps and quarters; they contain the names and
titles of the legions, and mark the extent of Roman conquest. Thus the
route of the thirty legions through Germany has been traced; and in
Britain an examination and comparison of such tiles shows the
distribution of military force and the migrations of different legions
from one quarter to another. The stamps are in the form of long labels
(_tesserae_), circles, or crescents, occasionally surrounded by a
wreath, or else in the shape of a foot, an ivy-leaf, or a vase; the
letters are in relief, sharply impressed, as if from a metal die. The
names and titles of the legions are given either in initials or in
contractions, as LEG · II · P(_arthicae_), and so on (see above, p.
351); sometimes the potter’s name is added, with FIGVLVS or FECIT.[2551]
The tiles of the first legion have been found at Mainz and Nimeguen;
those of the second, or Parthian, at Darmstadt, Ems, Hooldorn,
Caerleon, and the Lake of Nemi[2552]; of the third, in Scotland; of the
fourth, at Mainz; of the fifth, in Scotland, and at Baden, Cleves,
Xanten, and Nimeguen; of the sixth, at Nimeguen, Neuss,
Aix-la-Chapelle, Darmstadt, and Windisch; the seventh, at
Aix-la-Chapelle and Xanten; the eighth, at Mainz, Baden, and elsewhere;
the ninth, at Baden and York; the tenth, at Nimeguen, Hooldorn, Vienna,
and Jerusalem; the twentieth, at Chester[2553]; and so on down to the
thirtieth.[2554] At Bonn tiles have been found of the _Legio
Cisrhenana_ on the left bank of the Rhine, and of the _Legio
Transrhenana_ on the right bank. Cohorts have also left their names on
tiles: the second Asturian at Acsica on the Roman Wall[2555]; the
fourth (_Breucorum_), at Huddersfield[2556]; the fourth Vindelician, at
Frankfurt, Mainz, and Wiesbaden[2557]; the Ulpian Pannonian at
Buda-Pesth.[2558] The _vexillationes_, whose main body was at Nimeguen,
are similarly recorded; a British _vexillatio_ was attached to the army
at Hooldorn[2559] and Nismes, and another to that of Lower Germany, as
instanced by tiles inscribed VEX · EX · G · INF (_vexillatio exercitus
Germaniae inferioris_), found at Utrecht and Nimeguen in the
Netherlands, and at Xanten in Germany.[2560] Tiles of the British
fleet, CL(_assis_) BR(_itannica_), have been found at Boulogne, Lympne,
and Dover.[2561]
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