4 



VoLANTiUM is not a name met with in any of the Hsts that have 

 come down to us. It has been inferred merely from the words 

 " Volaiiti Vivas" on the back of the altar by Marcus Censorius 

 Cornelianus. So very unlikely is this name, unsupported as it is 

 by evidence of any kind, that we may at once dismiss it from 

 further consideration. 



Thus no name meets with universal approval. Why should this 

 state of things exist? for even living authorities are not agreed 

 Apparently it is because antiquarians are not decided as to the 

 method by which they shall allocate the names ; at any rate, so 

 far as the twenty-three stations '■'■per lineam valli" are concerned. 

 One has one theory, another has a different one. One decides by 

 etymology, another by the resemblance of sounds, a third by 

 probability ; whilst others consider that the matter is decided by 

 the altars found at any of these twenty-three stations, in so far as 

 they agree with the list in the Notitia. 



Can any agreement be made out of such a chaos? or shall we 

 strike out on a fresh line? Etymology is far from being a safe 

 guide ; in fact, it has been stated to be the least satisfactory method 

 by which an allocation can be made, though, under certain con- 

 ditions, it may be of more use than we are likely at present to 

 allow. The mere similarity of sounds is no criterion. But, when 

 we come to the finding of altars, this is a different matter, and will 

 require careful consideration. 



The Notitia, of which I have already spoken, was the Military 

 and Civil Service List of the Roman Empire. Its full title is : — 

 " Notitia Dignitatum et Administrationum omnium lam civilium 

 quam mihtarium in partibus orientis et occidentis." 



In this list we have in Chapter 63 a list of twenty-three stations 

 in connection with what is usually called the Roman Wall. Prob- 

 ably the ierm per lineafn valli does not apply merely to the Roman 

 Wall itself, for it apparently includes not only the stations actually 

 on the line of the Wall, but also others in its immediate neighbour- 

 hood, and necessary for its proper defence. 



That the Maryport Camp, under whatever name it was known, 

 was one of these Notitia stations, is pretty generally admitted, 



