FOUND IN BRITAIN. 225 



SDECEF 



ANN XXII 



FALIVN 



REHITIA 



TTCOSC 



F 



VPFIVVICT 



VINCVLV " 



When I first saw the copy of this inscription, it at once occurred to 

 me that it was the memorial of a Christian. The notice of the day 

 of the month — KAL'IVN, i.e. Kalendis Juniis — (for thus I read the 

 third line) — and the indication of the year by the consul or consuls — 

 characteristics so common in Christian, but so rare in Pagan epitaphs, 

 produced the impression that this inscription was a record of Chris- 

 tianity in Britain during the Roman occupation of the island. There 

 are also other peculiarities in it that appear to me to confirm my view, 

 bnt I am reluctant to venture on conjectures, where the reading is 

 60 uncertain, and must defer further statement of my opinion until I 

 have more accurate information relative to those letters that are still 

 legible. 



64. In the Archceologia ^liana, iii. PI. i. p. 153, an altar, found at 

 Risingham, is figured. It bears the inscription — 



FORTVNAE-REDVC 



IVLIVSSEVERINUS 



TRIB EXPLICITO 



BALINEO-V S L M 



i.e. FortuncB reduci Julius Severinus Tribunus explicifo balineo 

 votum solvit libens merito. In the Archceologia Mliana, new serieSj 

 i. p. 258, Dr. Bruce translates it thus : — 



"To Fortune the Restorer, Julius Severinus the Tribune, the Bath being 

 opened, erected this altar in discharge of a vow freely and deservedly made." 



Expliciio does not mean " opened," but " finished." Thus Scsevola, 

 Digest, xxxiv. 1, 17, eo tempore, quo templum &\^Y\c\i\3im fuerit : and 

 Orelli, n. 3817, explicito quod promiserat. 



