306 Inaugural Address by the President of the Society, 



and Vindogladia, on this line, at XII M.P. Sir Richard Hoare, 

 recognizing* the remains of a Romano -British village on Gussage 

 Down, as the only likely place for a Roman station in this neigh- 

 bourhood places Vindogladia at that spot. In order to make it 

 tally with the Itinerary it was necessary to alter the distance from 

 XII to XVI Roman miles. But if the ancient writers are to be 

 relied upon at all, their statements must be taken as they are given, 

 and not changed. Now the settlement at Woodyates is as nearly 

 as possible XII Roman miles from Sorbiodunum, assuming a Roman 

 mile to be, as generally computed, 446ft., or nearly 150yds. less 

 than the English mile, and I have little doubt that had Sir Richard 

 Hoare known of the settlement that I have now discovered at 

 Woodyates he would without hesitation have located it at this spot. 

 At this spot the Roman Road makes its only turn of any importance 

 between Sorbiodunum and Badbury Rings, showing that it must 

 have been the most important point upon the line, more so than 

 Gussage Down, at which place the road makes no turn, although it 

 passes not far from the remains of the Roman settlement there. 



Etymological evidence may also be adduced in favour of this 

 place being Vindogladia. I advocate no new theory of my own 

 upon this question. But referring to Stukeley, Warne, and others 

 who have followed him, I find that the word Vindogladia is assumed 

 to be derived from the two Celtic words, wW=white, and glad/t=a. 

 ditch or rampart. Here, then, we have a distinct reference to 

 Bokerly Dyke, which, viewed from the surrounding heights, must 

 have been, at the time of its construction, a conspicuous white chalk 

 rampart, running for miles over the green sward. It may, perhaps, 

 be asked, how came a word with such a derivation to be included in 

 the Itinerary of Antoninus ? which is believed to have been compiled 

 about the year 320, when the dyke is now proved to have been 

 thrown up no earlier than the reign of Honorius, A.D. 395 — 423, 

 and possibly by the Romanised Britons as a defence against the 

 Saxons. The reply to this is, that the Itinerary was a Roman road- 

 book, and is generally believed to have been altered from time to 

 time, during subsequent reigns, and I think I am justified in saying 

 that it is not known how long it may have ultimately remained in use. 



