202 ROMAN BROUGH : = ANAVIO. 



Roman antiquities, and it may well be part of the site of 

 the village or town of Romano-British Buxton. In that case 

 we may reasonably suppose that our milestone stood actually 

 in this village, and was not a wayside stone, but marked 

 the point at which the road for Navio or Anavio started. If 

 we proceed to enquire what Roman site is 10 miles from 

 Buxton, we find that one site only suits — Brough — which is 

 joined to Buxton by the still traceable Roman road, called 

 Batham Gate. Brough, then, is Navio or Anavio.* 



(2) This milestone explains, and is in turn elucidated by, 

 a fragmentary inscription found long before at Foligno 

 (Fulginiae), in Italy, which mentions an official styled censitor 

 Brittonum ANAVION . . . Watkin was the first to observe 

 that this could be connected with the name on the Buxton 

 milestone, but his general interpretation of it was not satis- 

 factory. In particular, he read the names as Brittonum a 

 Navion\e\, " Britons from Navio," which is grammatically 

 impossible. The obvious completion, as Borghesi and Henzen 

 saw long ago, is Brittonum Anavion[ensium], " Anavionensian 

 Britons." The exact meaning of this phrase might be obscure 

 if we had not the Buxton milestone. That indicates that the 

 Brittones Anavwnenses are a clan or section or division of 

 Britons who lived at Anavio. In turn, this shews that on the 

 milestone we have to read Anavione, not A Navione. Thus, 

 the second of our problems, the spelling, is solved.! 



(3) Two other pieces of evidence deserve quotation. The 

 Ravennas mentions a British river, Anava (438, 4). As usual 

 with this writer, the context throws no light on the locality 

 of the river. But the river next named is Dorvantium ; there 



* C. I. L., vii., 168; Ephemeris vii., 1102. The date of the inscription 

 is unknown : I have no idea why Holder puts it b.fore A.D. 114. The stone, 

 formerly at Derby, is now in Buxton Museum. The numeral of distance 

 seems to my eyes to be X : others have read XII. 



f C. I. L., xi., 5213 ; Dessau, 1338. The official in question seems to have 

 held his post of censitor quite early in the second century. I do not know 

 whether one should connect his appearance with the development of the pro- 

 vince, of which we get indications in different directions, such as, e.g., the 

 appearance of juridici (Domaszewski, Rhein. Mas., xlvi., 599)- If s<>, it 

 helps to illuminate a dark period. 



