^8 NOTES ON LATIN INSCRIPTIONS 



*N. (1) BRITANNIC** AVG II 

 Mr. Way, who was the first that noticed this pig, refers the inscrip- 

 tion to Britannicus, the son of Claudius, and assigns the date " about 

 AD. 44-48." In confirmation of this reference it is stated by Mr. 

 Way that " Mr. Franks, [who had opportunities of examining the 

 block in the British ^luseum] informed him that the inscription may 

 be read BRITANNIC:: :: AVGF:: (Augusti filius)." Mr. Yates, 

 p. 17, remarks : "On examining the object itself, I was satisfied that 

 the last letters are FIL, which is the reading adopted by Mr. Roach 

 Smith, and not II, or IMP*, as other antiquaries have supposed. 

 Hence, I conclude that the inscription, which is of unusual histori- 

 cal interest, may be thus restored : 



BRITANNICI CLAVDII AVGVSTI FILII." 



As the wood-cut, illustrating Mr. Way's remarks, presents II* 

 after AVG", I have so represented those letters in the copy which I 

 have given, but I concur in Mr. Yates's reading and expansion. 



N. (9) CAESAR***** VADON. 



Mr. Smith, Journal of Archceol. Assoc, v, p, 556, observes : 



" Unfortunately the inscription, -which originally had been well cut, has sa 

 perished from oxidation, that its restoration cannot with safety be proposed, 

 especially as it exhibits a reading different from those of a similar description, 

 which are yet preserved or on record. Camden mentions, that several of these 

 pigs of lead had been found in Cheshire, inscribed IMP-DOMIT-AYG-GER- 

 DE-CEANG-, and IMP-CAES-DOMITIAN-AVG-COS-VII-BRIG' One si- 

 milar to the latter of these was found, in the last century, at Hayshaw Moor, in 

 Yorkshire, and one on Hints Mooi', near TamAvortb, reading IMP-VESP-VII'T* 

 IMP-Y-COS-DE-CEANG- The specimen [bearing CAESAR***** VADON] 

 was most probably inscribed to Domitian." 



Mr. Smith justly regarded the restoration of the fragment as 

 hazardous. In addition to its imperfection, it has peculiarities which 

 are not found in the other extant inscriptions on pigs of lead. But 

 there are no ground;, so far as I can see, for his reference of it to 

 Domitian. The absence of IMP • and AVG • would certainly suit his 

 position at one period of his life, but it is impossible to make out his 

 name from the extant letters. DO are the first two letters, but they 



* On the side of this pi:; arc the loiters V-EIP • or, as they are otherwise read, V'ETP-C 

 or V-FTP-C, which, Mr. Way observes, probably denote its weight. The only ground for 

 this opinion seems to be the ocourrciice o: P, which may stand for Pondo. Can it be that 

 the letters are V-EID-0, markiuij the time, soil, quinto {ante) iJus Octohresl 



