NOTES ON LATIN INSCRIPTIONS FOUND IN BRITAIN. 493 
however, independently of this, I am not aware of any authority for 
avadvvos or vHdvvos as an epithet of Alsculapius. 
It is difficult to arrive at any definite conclusion relative to 
the god Nodons, Nodens, or Nudens,* and the only suggestion which 
I am able to offer on the point, is that the deity is the same 
as Wodutis or Nodutus, a rural god presiding over the nodi ecul- 
morum. As but very little is known of this deity, the following 
references may be found useful: Arnobius, adversus gentes, IV, 
p- 181, (ed. Leyden, 1651)—“ Nodutis dicitur Deus, qui ad nodos 
perducit res satas.” Augustine, de civ. Dei, 1V, 8, p.94, (ed. Paris, 
1685)—“‘ Preefecerunt ergo Proserpinaom frumentis germinantibus 
geniculis nodisque culmcrum deum Nodotum.” ‘ Quando Wodotus, 
adjuvaret in bello, qui nec ad folliculum spice, sed tantum ad nodum 
geniculi pertinebat ?” Another reading of the name is Nodinus, 
which more nearly approaches that in the inscriptions. Vide also 
Tomasinus, de donar.ac tab. vot. c. 26; Voss. de Idololatria, 11, 61; 
Lexicon Htymol. in Nodus; Rhodiginus, Ant. Lect. XXV, 30, and 
Struvius, Ant. Rom. 1, p. 151. 
35. Of the three inscriptions noticed in the preceding article, the 
following seems to be the clearest :— 
D:-M:NODONTI 
FL: BLANDINVS 
ARMATVRA 
V-:'S:L:M 
which I read,—Deo Magno Nodonti Flavius Blandinus armatura 
votum solvit libens merito. The epithet Magnus suggests Mithras, 
but it is also applied to other deities. Vide Orelli, n. 3596. 
For armatura in the sense of miles, vide Muratori, 801, 8; and 
compare Steiner, i. Rhen, n. 332, and n. 473; Henzen, n. 6794; 
and Borghesi (cited by Henzen), Ann. Inst. Arch. 1839, Iser. 
Renane, p. 5. It is not easy to determine the characteristics of the 
"armature. They are mentioned by Vegetius, 1. 7, 15, 17; and 
Ammianus Marcellinus, xiv. ]1; xv. 4 and 5; and xxvii. 2. 
According to the former, they seem to have been younger sol- 
diers, lightly armed; and according to the latter, body-guardsmen. 
* The nominative may also end in on or 2s, as Nodon or Nodontis. 
