122 



Zbc probable Bate of tbe IRoman ©ccupation 

 of flDelanbra. 



In the absence of any literary record or of any explicit 

 epigraphical evidence found on the spot, oiir strongest 

 clue, in attempting to fix tlie date of tlie construction 

 or occupation of a Roman fort, is to be sougbt in the 

 characteristic features, if any such present themselves, 

 of the plan and design of the fort. Two such features 

 demand attention in the case of Melandra. The first is 

 the position occupied by the four corner towers relatively 

 to the line of the rampart : they are all internal,^ as in 

 the very similar fort of Hardknott Castle in Cumberland, 

 not projecting beyond the line of the walls, as they do in 

 forts of third century construction, such as Richborough 

 and Pevensey. The second piece of evidence of the kind 

 is the wide gateway with its double arch. In forts of 

 later date the gateway is single and narrower. Here 

 again, as at the corners, the towers are wholly internal, in 

 contrast with the projecting gate-towers of the later type. 

 Both these features mark Melandra as belonging to a type 

 of fort which reached its perfection under Antoninus 

 (138 — 161 A.D.).2 The conclusion to be drawn, then, from 

 the evidence of constructive design is that the fort is not 

 later than the early part of the second century, possibly 

 as early as the latter part of the first century. 



The most precise evidence for the date is the centurial 

 stone found in the camp in 1771, and here photographed, 



1. Cf. the plan and pp. 35 f., 53 f. 



2. Garstang, " On some Features of Roman Military Defensive 

 Works": Transactions of the Historic Society' of Lancashire and 

 Cheshire, vol. iii. 



