ee 
53 
of the Saxon shore). Under him the fleet could act effectively so 
far as the northern half of the coast was concerned, although the 
camp at the mouth of the Tyne would be a very useful auxiliary. 
If anything else were wanting to disprove this etymological 
theory, it may be found in the strange conclusions to which the 
various allocations bring us. Thus the 1st Cohort Spaniards— 
a military cohort--is placed at Drumburgh, 1.e., in a camp which 
has an area of only three-quarters of an acre. To get them 
packed in so small a space would have been a sheer impossibility. 
Besides, even if the camp had been large enough, there seems no 
reason to account for the presence of so important a cohort in 
such a cramped position. The same remark applies also to the 
Ala Herculea, also placed at Drumburgh. 
Again, the Elia Classica is placed at Stanwix merely on the 
supposition that this .place may have been a seaport in Roman 
times. Where is the proof that it was? More than this, the 
Rudge Cup and Ravenna lists clearly disprove the allocations, as 
will appear shortly. 
Speaking broadly, the third set of antiquarians, namely, those 
who favour geographical sequence, are divided into two classes :— 
(t) Those who, whilst agreeing to geographical sequence, fancy 
that the altars found at the western stations, when read by the 
light of the Notitia, seem to imply that there has been some 
inversion of the names in the Notitia list. (2) Those who agree 
that seventeen or eighteen of the stations are actually on the Wall 
itself, between Wallsend-on-Tyne and Bowness-on-Solway, the 
remaining stations being looked upon as supporting stations to the 
south of the Wall, either stretched across the county from E. to W., 
or at the western extremity. To these we might add a third set, 
namely, those who have indulged in etymological speculations, but 
we have shown such speculations to be of very doubtful character. 
Besides, arguments used during the discussion as to the views of 
the first two sets, will be useful in further deciding as to the 
strength or weakness of the contentions of this third set. We 
must first deal with those who apparently place such confidence in 
the power of the altars to unravel the mystery. 
