B;/ J. 11. Powell, M.A. 285 



roads, Roman legions, and Konian civilization in the West of 

 England, we must, at the risk of leaving Wilts, draw out its signifi- 

 cance more fully. For these nnneral roads give the clue to the 

 position occupied by the district in Ivoman times. The difficulties 

 beyond are perhaps even greater than tliose on this side, although 

 Hoare^ maps the course with some confidence along the Mendips. 

 If the whole road is to stand, we must regard it as the "Lead" road 

 from the Mendips to Old Sarum.- The lead mines of the Mendips 

 were developed by the Romans earlier than those in Derbyshire, 

 and at various places in the neiglibourhood of the road Roman 

 pigs of lead have been found ; one, dated as early as 49 A.D. at 

 Charterhouse-on-Mendip, whicli is on the line of its course ; at 

 Bruton ; ^ at Wookey Hole, which lies to the south of it ; and at 

 Blagdon, which lies to the north of it ; and one has been found at 

 Bossington near Horsebridge,'* on the same line of road, bearing a 

 stamp of the date of 60 A.D. This last pig is probably Mendip 

 lead.'^ Mr. Gowland thinks it is from Flintshire or Shropshire, 

 but part of liis argument is based on a wrong reading of the in- 

 scription on it.^ Anyhow it was found on the Mendip Road, and 

 was probably on its way to be shipped at the new port of Clausentum, 

 which is the nearest port to Winchester and the Mendip Road. 

 The probability of Clausentum being the port is increased by the 

 fact that the four pigs found at Pulborough, in Sussex, are on a 

 road leading in that direction ; and also by a pig of Mendip lead 



' Hoare, Anr.ieyit Wilts, Roman JEra, 38, sq. 



° For the probable disposition of the Roman legions in the South-West of 

 England between 43 and 72 A.D. see B. W. Henderson, in English Historical 

 Rei'iew for Jan., 1903, vol. xviii., p. 1, sq., which summarises and criticises 

 recent writings on the subject, and arrives at conclusions different from 

 Hiibner andMommsen. It is not probable that either Bath or Silchester were 

 garrison towns, but Gloucester may have been. 



•* Corp. Jnscr. Lat. vii. 1211. 



* Codrington, Roman Roads, p. 299. 



^ Haverfield, Victoria Hist, of Hampshire, 2,2^. Qov/\a.ndi'\n Archceologia, 

 Ivii.,, 369. The Early Metallurgij of silver and lead. 



* Haverfield, supra. 



