Bene debet esse povero (sc. puero) qui discit bene[[2533]];
and on others names such as Tertius, Kandidus, Verna, were incised.[[2534]] Idle boys in the brickfields often seem to have scratched the alphabet or other words in the soft clay, and complete Roman alphabets are found at Hooldorn[[2535]] and Stein on the Anger[[2536]]; the letters I K L M on one at Winchester[[2537]]; on another at Silchester is ... E PVELLAM.[[2538]] On a tile in the Guildhall Museum (Fig. [195]), found in Warwick Square, E.C., are the words AVSTALIS | DIBVS · III | VAGATVRSIB | COTIDIM, of which no satisfactory translation has been given, but it has been usually regarded as the gibe of a fellow-workman at a devout individual.[[2539]] On another, now at Madrid, the first two lines of the Aeneid are written in excellent cursive characters of the first century after Christ.[[2540]]
The Roman tiles, if rightly used, are found very useful for judging the dates of buildings. For instance, a study of those in the Pantheon showed that the walls were neither the original ones nor those built by Agrippa in 27 B.C., but were restored in the second century or supplied then with new brickwork. On the other hand, the stamps from the Flavian amphitheatre and Thermae Antoninianae confirm the dates of those buildings. Those tiles which bear the name M. Aurelius Antoninus as consul[[2541]] seem to be the Emperor Caracalla’s. In the time of Diocletian the dates cannot be definitely ascertained, but before his time the shape of the stamp is a good criterion. Rectangular stamps are found in the best period, and in the first century B.C. only one line of inscription is usual. Two lines denote the period 50–100 A.D. or later; semicircular or lunate forms came into use under Claudius, and lasted to the end of the first century; perfect circles belong to the same period. The type with the cut-out orbiculus came in about Nero’s reign, and the size of the orbiculus gradually diminishes down to that of Severus, while the inscriptions gradually increase in length.[[2542]]
A considerable number of the Roman tiles are inscribed with the names of the consuls of the current year in which they were made, presenting a long and interesting series, from the consulship of L. Licinius Sura and C. Sosius Senecio (A.D. 107) to that of Severus Alexander (A.D. 222). Many of these consulships do not, however, appear to have been recorded in the regular fasti consulares or official lists, and they were probably suffecti, whose names were not recorded after their temporary elevation. It seems likely that the occurrence of consuls’ names implies that such tiles were destined for public buildings, and were so marked to prevent their being stolen with impunity. They are fewer in number than those which have merely the names of praedia or potteries, but are yet sufficiently numerous to be an invaluable aid in tracing the succession for upwards of sixty years. Inscriptions of this class are only found on opus doliare, and chiefly in Italy. Their appearance is probably due to some law passed by the Senate about the reign of Trajan to regulate the potteries. As an example may be given a tile from Hooldorn in the Netherlands, inscribed SVB · DIDIO · IVLIANO · COSS[[2543]]; the date is A.D. 179, the name being that of the future emperor (COSS is a mistake for COS).
The following examples are taken from Dr. Dressel’s scheme of the chronological order of the stamps,[[2544]] and show the style of inscription characteristic of the different periods:
I. First century after Christ.
1. (a) With name of master only (either of praedia or figlinae):
Asini Pollionis.
(b) With name of officinator or potter:
C. Cosconi.