DACERD for SACERD, ELEGAT for ELEGAB.' Greater, but by no means perfect accuracy will be found in the English translation of the Roman Castellum Saalburg by Col. Cohausen and Mr. Jacobi, 1882, to which an introduction by Mr. Thomas Hodgkin is prefixed. It would be desirable, however, to consult the original German, of which an edition with a good plan, "Uebersichtsplan der Saalburg und Umgebung," has appeared subsequently to the Catalogue. Cohausen being a Colonel of Engineers, and Jacobi an architect, they both brought to the investigation of the fortress, exceptional qualifications, derived from their professional studies and experience. Mr. Hodgkin published an elaborate paper on the Pfahlgraben in the Archæologia Eliana, 1882, which is, I believe, the most important contribution to a knowledge of the Wall made by our own countrymen, since the late Mr James Yates wrote his memoir "On the Limes Rhæticus and Limes Transrhenanus," 1852. Preceding authors-such as Steiner, Paulus and Herzog-had written on portions of this rampart, but Cohausen has treated the subject in its whole extent, from Regensburg (Ratisbon) to Andernach ; his work, fully illustrated by an atlas of plates, is entitled "Der Römische Grenzwall in Deutschland. Militärische und technische Beschreibung desselben. 1884." Saalburg is the best known among the castella on the Limes, and the excavations there have yielded a rich harvest of antiquities. They have been lodged and care 1 The English catalogue referred to above is entitled, "The Museum, Hombourg V-d H." i.e. Vor der Höhe, thus distinguished from other places of the same name-an der Rossel (Oberhomburg) and in der Pfalz. This anonymous publication bears no date; it was printed by C. Langhorne, at Stoke. 2 Ratisbon, though not mentioned by Roman authors, is proved to have been an important fortress under the Empire by inscriptions found there, and, above all, by the Gate recently laid open die Bloslegung der Porta praetoria des MarkAurel'schen Castrums im Bischofshofe. See p. i, Rechenschaftsbericht des historischen Vereines von Oberpfalz und Regensburg für das Jahr 1885, which forms an Appendix to the Transactions (Verhandlungen) for the same year. In the Table of Peutinger, Segmentum iii, C. Regino (sic.) is marked opposite the Marcomanni, who are North of the Danube; two towers are drawn on the site, which indicates an important place, as in the case of Mantua, Verona etc. Aquileia, a city of much greater consequence, has eight towers. These buildings are coloured, red in the upper part and yellow in the lower : Dr. Konrad Müller's edition of the Table "in den Farben des Originals herausgegeben." It should be observed that Reginum (Castra Regina) has the penultima short, and is only a Latinized form of the name of the river Regen, which joins the Danube near Regensburg. Lamartinière explains Ratisbonne as coming from bona ratis, "i.e., endroit propre pour l'abord des bateaux : v, Charnock's Local Etymology, a derivative Dictionary. fully arranged in a hall of the Kurhaus at Homburg; they have thus been not only preserved, but rendered very accessible. It is half a day's work to make the excursion to Saalburg, but the visitor finds in this collection everything that was portable deposited close to his own door. The articles disinterred are very miscellaneous; I was struck by the number and variety of utensils in iron and bronze-tools of trades, field and garden implements, and especially locks and keys, the construction of which is well explained by Cohausen and Jacobi in the brochure cited above, page 29. On the wall of the Museum is suspended a large plan of Saalburg, showing not only the fortress, but also the adjoining Villa, civil settlements and burial place (Buergerliche Niederlassungen und Begraebnisstaette).1 A classical tourist accustomed to admire the vast structures built by the Romans-triumphal arches, baths, aqueducts and temples-magnificent even in ruins, can scarcely avoid feeling some disappointment when he sees here on the slope of the Taunus only foundations or walls rising a few feet above the soil. This state of things is easily accounted for. During the first century of our era Artaunum, as Ptolemy calls the place, was repeatedly taken and burnt2; in the thirteenth it suffered the same misfortune as the Aqueduct at Mainz, having supplied building materials for the Convent Maria-Thron in the neighbourhood; subsequently, it was used by peasants and miners as a convenient quarry. Even after public 1 Comp. the Plates at the end of "The Roman Castellum Saalburg," op. citat., translated by F. C. Fischer; i, fig. 1, map of the Saalburg and environs; fig. 2, Profile of the Vallum and Ditches of the Castellum, now and formerly; ii, Plan of Camp; iii, The time of reign of the Roman Emperors and number of their coins found in this locality. See also the lithographs inserted in Mr. Hodgkin's Memoir at pp. 62, 64. Subur ban settlement, Porta Decumana looking North, Praetorium from the West, Porta Praetoria from within the camp. An important work, by Cohausen and Jacobi, on the Saalburg was promised some years ago; but when I was at Homburg in the Autumn of 1888, it had not appeared. 2Ptolemy, ii, 11, 14, Germania Magna, edit, Car. Müller, vol. i, p. 272, VOL. XLVII. *Аρктаνvоv: with the following note, *Αρταύνον, supra scripto κ, Φ, Αρταύνον cett. Nomen ex latino arx Tauni ortum esse conjicit Ukertus....Tacitus, Annals, i, 56 (speaking of Germanicus), posito castello super vestigia paterni praesidii in monte Tauno, expeditum exercitum in Chattos rapit. The form "Aрkтavνov obviously supports Ukert's conjecture. 3 The convent of Dahlheim, which itself has disappeared, stood near the piers of the Roman aqueduct still remaining at Zahlbach, a suburb of Mainz. Brambach, Corpus Inscrr. Rhenanarum, No. 1,139, "mutilus arae lapis, quem in Dahlheimensi virginum monasterio inter murorum ruinas erui feci." Fuchs. Cf. 1,149, "mutilum hunc lapidem in parthenone Dahlheimensi inveni." Id. 3 B attention had been directed to the spot and excavations were made, the walls discovered, for want of adequate protection, crumbled away. However, not to speak of the delightful prospect which the site commands, in spite of all these dilapidations, enough remains to indicate the dimensions and arrangement of a Roman camp, the General's head-quarters (Prætorium), the four gates (Prætoria, Decumana, Principalis dextra and Principalis sinistra) and the roads that led to them. The baths and the storehouse are also ascertained. Darmstadt, capital of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, is usually described as a dull, uninteresting place, where there is little to see or do; and it is so in comparison with Frankfort, one of the busiest cities in Germany. The collection of Antiquities at the Schloss scarcely offers more attractions than the streets in the town, with one exception, which I proceed to notice-a great mosaic, twelve paces long and eight broad (about ten yards by seven yards) from a Roman bath excavated near Vilbel, in April, 1849. Hitherto, as far as I am aware, no English traveller has published an account of it. Vilbel, a market-town, about four miles north of Frankfort, is situated on the River Nidda, a tributary of the Main; and it is also a station on the railway from Frankfort to Giessen. Considering the natural advantages of the place surrounded by hills gently rising above the valley, and sheltered from north winds by the Taunus—and that it was defended against barbarian enemies by the Grenzwall, we might expect to find here a villa in which the Romans would seek to reproduce the luxuries and enjoyments of their own country, as far as a Transalpine climate would allow. The name seemed to harmonize with this view, for it was generally explained as equivalent to the Latin villa bella. But there is reason to doubt the etymology, because the geography of interior Germany would very rarely furnish us with examples of nomina propria similarly derived. Another interpretation has been proposed. Various forms of the word occur in the records from the eighth century downwards'-Felwile, The earliest instance is mentioned by Dr. Bossler, Die Römerstätte bei Vilbel und der im Jahre 1849 daselbst entdeckte Mosaikboden. Aus dem Archiv für Hessische Geschichte und Alterthums. kunde (x Bd. i Heft Nr. 1) besonders abgedruckt. P. 1 in einer Lorscher Urkunde vom 30. Mai 774 und zwar unter dem Namen Felwile im Nitachgowe vorkommt. |