17 



I do not propose here to enter upon the question which is the 

 more ancient, the hill or the road ; but I strongly incUne to Mr. 

 Wilkinson's view, that the line of the Roman road was run direct 

 for Silbury Hill. He says, in his letter to the Athenceum (Nov. 9), 

 " The only perfectly straight portion of the Eoman road over the 

 Downs is that which lies between West Down (2 miles west of 

 Silbury) and the hill itself." Mr. Wilkinson supposes the road to 

 have been planned from Bath, and the work to have been carried 

 out in the same direction. On this point I dare not venture an 

 opinion, except that the Iter (viz., XIV Antonine) begins -with Isca 

 (Caerleon) and ends in the CaUera (Silchester), thus marking the 

 distances in this same direction from west to east. 



We know very Uttle about the methods of Roman engineering, 

 I beheve there is no work of antiquity which treats of it. Statins 

 tells us the manner of forming the bed of a Roman road over a 

 marsh, 



" Hie primus labor inchoare sulcos," &c., &c., &c. 



Vegetius (5th century) mentions " Itineraria" in the plural, and 

 speaks of them as showing the distances between towns, and the 

 qualities of the roads, and the situations of mountains, rivers, &c. 



Mr. Reynolds, in his introduction to the Itinerary of Antoninus 

 (p. 122), observes that no proof of the existence of " Itineraria" can 

 be dra^vn from expressions such as " Itineraria Regionum quibus 

 bellum geritur plenissime debet habere prescripta," and "Solertiores 

 Duces Itineraria Provinciarum — non tuntam annotata, sed etiam 

 picta habuisse firmentur," yet I cannot but think from such ex- 

 pressions we may infer that much pains were taken in the planning 

 of roads, and that stations having been skilfully fixed upon in the 

 first instance, connecting roads soon followed as a matter of course, 

 and these were planned with as much care as in the present day. 

 Certainly, considering the condition of the country at that time, 

 they evince the greatest skill and knowledge of the art of road 

 making. 



It is much to be wished that more attention was given to the Roman 

 roads in this country, and that a regular and systematic examination 



c 



