On an Inscribed Roman Tile recently found in Leicester. 177 



■ --Frae-t/flirecl— 



ON AN INSCRIBED EOMAN TILE RECENTLY FOUND 

 IN LEICESTER. 



BY THOMAS WEIGHT, F.S.A. 



In the course of excavations made in the year 1854 in Bath 

 Lane, in Leicester, the workmen found, among other relics of - 

 the Roman town of Rata?, a broken Roman tile, which presented 

 in itself no particular interest. It was an ordinary roof-tile, 

 flanged at the sides, measuring in breadth fifteen inches and a 

 half, and in its present condition, for it is broken at one end, 

 twelve inches on one side and thirteen on the other in length. 

 When perfect, it perhaps formed nearly a square. On exami- 

 nation, however, this tile was found to bear stamped on its sur- 

 face a legionary mark of considerable interest in regard to the 

 history of our island under the Romans ; considerable, I may 

 state, only on account of the very faint glimpses history has 

 spared us of the events which occurred in Britain from the 

 second to the fourth century. It may be taken, indeed, as a 

 very good example how relics of apparently little importance 

 may often throw great light on our primeval antiquities, and 

 how cautious we ought to be in despising or rejecting anything. 

 To explain the interest of this old broken tile, it will be ne- 

 cessary to review briefly the history of the Roman legions 

 employed in conquering and retaining this distant province of 

 the empire. 



It is hardly necessary to state that the military force ot 

 Rome was originally divided into a certain number of legions, 

 the strength of each varying at different periods from four 

 thousand to six thousand infantry, with about three hundred 

 cavalry. In Caesar's first expedition to Britain, he brought with 



