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To the Genius of the Emperor, and of the
Standards of the first Cohort of the Varduli
And of the body of Pioneers of Bremenium,
Corignatus Lucilianus the Imperial Legate,
Proprætor, under the superintendence of
[1]Cassius Sabinianus the Tribune, erected this altar.
The value of this inscription consists in its confirmation of the pre-existing evidence of the facts, that Rochester of the present day was the Bremenium of the Romans, the first station on the first Iter of Antoninus, that it was one of the Castra Exploratorum, and that the first cohort of the Varduli garrisoned it.** Editor's Remark: Yet the question arises, was the Roman empire established at the time this altar was erected, and if not, why should it be erected to an Emperor's genius who never had existence, unless it was erected by order of Augustus Cæsar to that of his uncle Julius Cæsar, whose name would certainly not have been omitted? There is no doubt of the perfect accuracy of the reading of the two local antiquaries; the prænomen of Lucilianus the Legate seems somewhat singular: but it is taken as it stands upon the stone. Your clerical correspondent may be, and no doubt is, a scholar, but the expounder of the inscriptions which the Romans left behind them in Britain must be a scholar, and something more; he must be a conversant with the style and form of these inscriptions; he must have some knowledge of the habits of that people, and the manner of their occupation of this country, in all which particulars Dr. Surridge appears to be deficient.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant.
ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
London, September 15.
Mr. Editor,—The criticism of (as he pretends to be and signs himself) a southern Member of the Archæological Society, wasted on my explanation of the inscription on the Roman Altar at Rochester, would be
- ↑ Only think of the Tribunes superintending the Prætor—the inferior directing the superior offices.
