194 



HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



constitute the debris of one of the most considerable 

 establishnrients the Romans founded in this region. Many 

 ancient thoroughfares, still known to the peasantry as 

 pagan roads, abut on these ruins. The archseologists, from 

 various proofs, but chiefly those derived from the pre- 

 sence of coins, attribute the final destruction of this 

 important villa to the barbarian hordes under Attila, 

 about A.D. 450. It has proved particularly rich in an- 

 tiquities, which have been referred to the interval be- 

 tween Augustus and the fall of the Roman empire, and 

 for many years excavations on its site have been carried 

 out with great care. 



In 1 85 1, this camp commenced to be intersected by 

 a new public road, and the excavations instituted by the 

 Board of Public Works were placed under the direction 

 and surveillance of the Archaeological Society of the 

 Grand-Duchy. Among other objects, evidently Roman, 

 recovered from these remains, were four horse-shoes of a 

 comparatively modern form — that is, more of the Bur- 

 gundian than the Gaulish or Celtic shape. They were 

 not all of the same dimensions. Figures 60 and 61, de- 

 lineated by M. Fischer, a veterin- 

 ary surgeon of Cessingen,' represent 

 the smallest and largest of the four. 

 The former is about the usual size 

 of the early period to which they 

 are supposed to belong, but the 

 \9 latter is large. All had been worn, 



U and bent nails yet remained in the 



fig. 60 



holes. They were very much cor- 

 Annales de Med. Veterinaire, p. 28. Bruxelles, 1853. 



