FOUND IN BRITAIN. 41 



the year should begin with the month of December, in honor of his 

 birthday — the 15th of December. Tacitus Ann. xiii. 10, notices this 

 fact : — " Qtiamquam censuissent patres ut principium anni inciperet 

 tnense Becembri, quo ortus erat, veterem reliyionem Kalendarum 

 Januariarum inchoando anno retinuit." 



Such forms as IIII • COS •, instead of COS ■ llll- — a transposition 

 which Mr, Smith notices — are rare : but both forms seem to have 

 been used. 



In Henzen, n. 67/0, we have ;— DOMITIANOTi- COS', VESPAS* 

 X • COS •, DOMIT • Vllir- COS •, DOMIT • XTIII • COS •, NER- 

 VA • II ■ COS . It may, however, be inferred, as I think, when the 

 numeral is placed before instead of after COS •, that the date of the 

 inscription is not during but after the expiration of the consulship. 



BRIT • I regard as standing for BRIT[ANNICVM], as is common, 

 and agreeing with lutum or it may be metallum understood. The pig 

 was, most probably, thus marked to distinguish it as the product 

 of Britain, from others manufactured elsewhere, as in Spain. 



We now proceed to consider the lateral inscriptions. Mr. Smith 

 reads these marks as HULPMCOS • on one side, and EX ARGENT • 

 and CAPASCAS • with the numerals XXX on the other ; and thus 

 they were also read by the writer in the Gentleman s Magazine^ 

 liii. p. 936. In the Monum. Hist. Brit, they are given ; — 



HUL P M CO, EX ARGE N 



CAPA OC? IV 

 XXX 



and from the wood-cut it seems probable that some letters are effaced 

 before IVIiPMCOS. In such uncertainty regarding the true read- 

 ings, it might, perhaps, be more judicious for me to follow Mr. 

 Smith's example in the Journal, and leave them as I found them. But 

 as in such cases even an attempt may be useful, I venture to offer 

 some suggestions. From IVL and COS • , I draw the conjecture, that 

 there may be a reference to the circumstance, that Nero held his 

 fourth consulship only for six months. His colleague in tbat year 

 (A.D. CO) was Cornelius Lentulus, and in their places Velleius Pater- 

 culus and Pedanius Salinator were svffecti on the Calends of July. 

 See Borghesi, jBm/^. Inst. Archceol. 1846, p. l?'!, and Henzen, 5407. 

 This conjecture leads to another, that the date mentioned here indi- 

 cates the end, as eoe Kalendis Januariils denoted the beginning of the 



