464 The Roman Potteries at Durobrivce. 



trident, and raises his hand to implore the mercy of the spec- 

 tators. The Secutor, with a close helmet over his head, and a 

 short sword in his hand, advances to strike the fatal blow, 

 unless arrested by the success of his adversary's appeal. Over 

 the head of the Retiarius is the inscription, valentinv legionis 

 xxx., meaning clearly, " Yalentinus, of the thirtieth legion," 

 which was doubtless the name of the individual here repre- 

 sented. A similar inscription over the head of the Secutor is 

 read without difficulty — memn.n.sac. villi., which is explained 

 by Mr. Roach Smith, who considers the A in sac as an error 

 for e, as standing for Memnius (or Memnon) numeri secutorum 

 victor ter, i. e., " Memnius, or Memnon, of the numerus (or 

 band) of secutors, conqueror thrice." There is no reason for 

 supposing that this inscription has any reference to the indi- 

 vidual whose remains were buried in the vase, but it has pro- 

 bably reference to some remarkable gladiatorial combat which 

 had created a sensation in Roman Britain, like some one of 

 the celebrated boxing matches of modern times, sufficiently so 

 to have become a popular subject of pictorial representation. 

 The drawing of the figures is so carefully minute that even 

 the well-known nails of the shoes are not forgotten, and it is 

 curious that the shield contains the figure called in the middle 

 ages a filfot, which, as Mr. Smith remarks, is often found on 

 the monuments of the -ZElian Dacians, whose quarters were at 

 Amboglanna, on the wall of Hadrian. Possibly Memnius may 

 have been one of them.* 



The third group on the Colchester vase also represents a 

 performance which was very popular among the Romans and 

 among the Saxons, and indeed throughout the Middle Ages, 

 that of a bear-tamer and disciplined bear. The bear, in this case, 

 appears inclined to be rebellious, and his keeper, whose left 

 arm bears what appears to be a shield, and his legs and right 

 arm protected by bands or thongs, is menacing the animal 

 with a whip. An assistant is approaching with what appear 

 to be two staves in his hands, for the purpose also of intimi- 

 dating the ferocious animal. Over the head of the man holding 

 the whip are the letters secvndvs maeio, the intended applica- 

 tion of which is not very clear. It has been suggested that 

 it may mean simply that the cup was a gift from Secundus to 

 Marius ; or it may be that the bear was a pet animal, to which 

 the name of Marius may have been given, and Marius and his 

 master, or controller, Secundinus, may have had a momentary 

 fame like that of Banks and his horse Morocco in the times 

 of our James I. At all events, this remarkable vase shows 

 what curious information relating to the condition and history 



* See Mr. Eoach Smith's interesting account of this rase in the Collectanea 

 Antiqua, vol. iv., pp. 82—89. 



