306 NOTES ON LATIN INSCRIPTIONS 



fled to Vitellius, when Emperor, and that he appointed * e prcBsentibus 

 Vettius Bolanus in his place, furnish satisfactory evidence that both 

 these events took place in A.D. 69. 



The next date, of which we are certain, is the commencement of 

 the government of Agricola, for it is plain, from Tacitus, Agricola, 9, 

 that it was in the year after his consulship, i.e. A.D. 7B ; and we 

 have, also, decisive testimony, in the same biography, that he was in 

 the island in 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, and 84. 



The positive evidence, then, which we have relative to the beginning 

 and the end of the administration of the first eleven governors, may 

 be stated thus : — 



A.D. 43. Beginning of the government of Aulus Plautius. 



A.D. 47. End of the government of Aulus Plautius ; and succes- 

 sion of Ostorius Scapula. 



A.D. 50. Ostorius Scapula victorious in Britain. 



A.D. 62. End of the government of Suetonius Paulinus, and begin- 

 ning of that of Petronius Turpilianus. 



A.D. 69. End of the government of Trebellius Maxim us, and 

 beginning of that of Vettius Bolanus. 



A.D. 78. End of the government of Julius Frontinus, and beginning 

 of that of Cn. Julius Agricola, whose expeditions extend to A.D. 84. 



Horsley, Britannia Romana, pp. 37, 38, 46, 47, 48, gives the cer- 

 tain dates as I have stated them, with the exception that he places 

 the end of the government of Plautius, and the commencement of 

 that of Ostorius Scapula, in A.D. 50 ; whilst the following are the 

 results of his enquiry on the doubtful points : — 



A.D. 53. Death of Ostorius Scapula, and succession of Didius 

 Gallus.f 



A.D. 57. Didius succeeded by Veranius. 



A.D. 58. Death of Veranius ; and succession of Suetonius Paulinus, 

 in this or, more probably, the following year. 



• Mr. Merivale, Hist, of th« Romans under the Empire, vii.„ p. 80, remarks : " Trebellius 

 had repaired to Rome, where Vitellius was clutching at the purple; but the tottering 

 Emperor could give him no support. The soldiers rallied together for their own security, 

 and the peace of the province did not suffer by the paralysis of the capital. On the restora- 

 tion of authority at Rome, Vettius Bolanus was sent to take command, and their recent 

 excesses seem to have been prudently overlooked." These statements are not correct. 

 Trebellius fled to Vitellius in Gaul, and Vettius Bolanus was appointed, cerrainly not at 

 Rome, but probably between Lugdunum and Augusta Taurinorum, 



t His name is given by Horsley, whom Mr. Wright follows, as Avitus Didius Gallus; 

 but the pranomen was really Aulus. In Tacitus, Ann. siv., 29, the old reading was Havitus 

 or Avitus Didius ; but this reading was corrected by Lipsius, and his emendation. A. Didim, 

 is now generally accepted. 



