NOTES ON LATIN INSCRIPTIONS FOUND IN BRITAIN. 495 
Mr. Lysons (Romans in Gloucestershire, p. 54) reads and explains 
the words thus : 
7 
] 
“Divo Nodenti Silvianus annulum perdidit dimidiam partem donavit Nodenti : 
Inter quibus nomen Seneciani nullis permitias sanitatem donee perferant usque 
templum Nodentis. It is, in short, nothing more or less than a hand-bill,* issued by 
a certain Silvianus, for the recovery of a ring which he had lost. He promises to 
give half its value, on recovery, to the god Nodens, and seems rather to insinuate 
that a certain Senecianus must know something about it, and threatens him with 
the loss of health until he shall bring it back to the temple of Nodens; thus 
identifying that deity with power over the diseases of the body.” 
To the reading of Mr. Lysons I see no objection, but his explana- 
tion does not at all satisfy me; nor can I understand what con- 
struction or translation he proposes for the words inter quibus nomen 
Seniciant. I am inclined to think that the circumstances under 
which this tablet was placed were these: Silvianus made a bet with 
Senecianus—whether it was a law-wager or not does not appear— 
he put down his ring, as was usual, as his stake, in lieu of the amount 
that he had bet, and vowed to the deity one-half of the sum that he 
expected to win, or one-half of the value of the ring. Senecianus won 
the bet, and, refusing to be bound by the vow of Silvianus, left the 
performance of it to him. Silvianus, to avert the anger of the god, 
erected this tablet in performance of his vow. 
Let us now examine the inscription in detail. 
DIVO NODONTI. Divus instead of Deus is unusual, but not 
unprecedented. ANVLVM PERDEDIT. The orthography of these 
words is not rare. Both anxnulus and anulus are written, and the use 
of E for liscommon. As to the meaning, there can, I think, be 
but little doubt that the sense, which would at once suggest 
itself, is, threw away a ring, 1.e., lost it, not accidentally but 
through his own fault. I do not mean to say that perdo is not some- 
times used with the signification of amtto, but merely that that is 
not the sense which would first present itself on reading the words. 
If then the meaning be threw away a ring, the question is—in what 
way? ‘The probable answer seems to be, by making a foolish bet. The 
ancient custom of using the ring in bets or wagers may be illustrated 
* The only example which I have seen of a Latin advertisement of this kind is amongst 
the graffiti of Pompeii, and it does not at all resemble this inscription. Vide Words- 
worth’s Jnxscr. Pomp., p. 26. 
