igi4-i9iS-] Hadrian's Wall. 145 



shown in the similar entrance at Borcovicus. Just to the 

 right at the top of the steps is still standing a heavy stone 

 mortar and pestle. In one chamber, part of the orderly 

 rooms, 800 arrow-heads were found with portions of the 

 wooden shafts still adhering. All around are scattered 

 broken columns of various shapes and sizes, pieces of tile and 

 parts of sculptured stones ; but of course all the more valuable 

 ' finds ' have been removed to the museums. 



In one of the streets in Cilurnum can be seen the remains of 

 the barracks, where lodged the soldiers of the Spanish cavalry 

 regiment which garrisoned the station for about two hundred 

 years. The Roman system of foreign service differed from 

 ours. There is similar evidence regarding many other troops 

 in Britain — the 2nd, the 6th, and the 20th legions, for 

 example, were stationed in Britain during the greater part 

 of the Roman occupation. 



In Cilurnum you can see the gutter-stones which carried off 

 the rain from the roof, a drain on its way down to the river, 

 and the blocks of barracks on either side of the street ; while 

 another street in the barracks shows the drain in the centre 

 and fragments of pillars scattered about. 



The line of the Roman Wall, for obvious reasons, is not the 

 best place to look for specimens of Roman villa architecture, 

 but there are a few very good specimens. One is situated on 

 the west bank of the river, just outside the station at Cilurnum. 

 Many of its walls are standing to a height quite unusual in 

 these remains, and the plan of the various rooms can be 

 traced, though it is vain to attempt to state the exact use of 

 each apartment. A row of niches in the west wall of the 

 largest of the rooms is still a puzzle. They are too small for 

 full-sized altars or statues, but the substantial nature of their 

 construction is evident, whatever their use. The doorway, 

 which leads us out of the hall towards the other apartments, 

 also exhibits this thoroughly Roman solidity ; it is an interior 

 doorway, and few modern builders would make the door 

 jambs of such massive blocks of stone. The ground-level 

 has changed since the villa was occupied. The ruins have 

 actually been dug out of a bank, which is about twelve or 

 fourteen feet deep here, and the fact that they were covered 

 up is the reason that they are so complete to-day. This 



