306 Inaugural Address by the President of the Society, 
and Vindogladia, on this line, at XII M.P. Sir Richard Hoare, 
recognizing the remains of a Romano-British village on Gussage 
Down, as the only likely place for a Roman station in this neigh- 
bourhood places Vindogladia at that spot. In order to make it 
tally with the Itinerary it was necessary to alter the distance from 
XII to XVI Roman miles. But if the ancient writers are to be 
relied upon at all, their statements must be taken as they are given, 
and not changed. Now the settlement at’Woodyates is as nearly 
as possible XII Roman miles from Sorbiodunum, assuming a Roman 
mile to be, as generally computed, 446ft., or nearly 150yds. less 
than the English mile, and I have little doubt that had Sir Richard 
Hoare known of the settlement that I have now discovered at 
Woodyates he would without hesitation have located it at this spot. 
At this spot the Roman Road makes its only turn of any importance 
between Sorbiodunum and Badbury Rings, showing that it must 
have been the most important point upon the line, more so than 
Gussage Down, at which place the road makes no turn, although it 
passes not far from the remains of the Roman settlement there. 
Etymological evidence may also be adduced in favour of this 
place being Vindogladia. I advocate no new theory of my own 
upon this question. But referring to Stukeley, Warne, and others 
who have followed him, I find that the word Vindogladia is assumed 
to be derived from the two Celtic words, vint—=white, and gladh=a 
ditch or rampart. Here, then, we have a distinct reference to 
Bokerly Dyke, which, viewed from the surrounding heights, must 
have been, at the time of its construction, a conspicuous white chalk 
rampart, running for miles over the green sward. It may, perhaps, 
be asked, how came a word with such a derivation to be included in 
the Itinerary of Antoninus? which is believed to have been compiled 
about the year 320, when the dyke is now proved to have been 
thrown up no earlier than the reign of Honorius, A.D. 8395—423, 
and possibly by the Romanised Britons as a defence against the 
Saxons. The reply to this-is, that the Itinerary was a Roman road- 
book, and is generally believed to have been altered from time to 
time, during subsequent reigns, and I think I am justified in saying 
that it is not known how long it may have ultimately remained in use. 
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