The view of Housesteads in the accompanying lithograph, is taken from beside the eastern gateway, and gives a general idea of the scene of desolation which it presents.[[103]] The only habitation near is a shepherd’s cottage to the south of the station. A peculiarity in the upper division of the eastern gateway requires attention; the lower division, as seen in the lithograph, has been walled up at an early period. A rut, nearly nine inches deep, appears in the threshold, on each side of the central stone against which the gates closed. Grooves, similar in character, are seen in the gateways of the camps at Birdoswald and Maryport. Were it not for the central stone, which presents an impediment to the passage of chariots, no one would doubt that these hollows have been occasioned by the action of their wheels. The following extract, explanatory of the condition of the city of Pompeii, will probably throw light upon this and other things belonging to the camp.

H. Burdon Richardson, Delt.John Storey, Lith.
HOUSESTEADS (BORCOVICUS) FROM THE EAST.
Printed by W Monkhouse, York

RUTS IN THE GATEWAY.

The Domitian way which led to it was narrow, the carriage-way seldom exceeding ten feet in width. The streets of the city itself are paved with large irregular pieces of lava, joined neatly together, in which the chariot wheels have worn ruts, still discernible; in some places they are an inch and a half deep, and in narrow streets follow one track.... In most places, the streets are so narrow, that they may be crossed at one stride; where they are wider, a raised stepping-stone has been placed in the centre of the crossing. This, though in the middle of the carriage-way, did not much inconvenience those who drove about in the biga, or two-horsed chariot, because the width of these streets being only sufficient to admit the carriage, the wheels passed freely in the spaces left between the curb on either side, and the stone in the centre.[[104]]

The stone in the centre of the doorway would not be a greater impediment than the stepping stones in the streets of Pompeii.

The remains of the gateways of Borcovicus shew that in plan and construction they must have resembled the Roman Gateway which, under the name of the ‘Porta nera,’ is preserved entire at Treves, AUGUSTA TREVIRORUM, once the seat of government of the Western Empire.

In examining this and other Roman camps, the spectator will, perhaps, be struck with the narrowness of the streets, and the very small capacity of the the dwellings. It is well to recollect that in their encampments the Romans studiously avoided occupying a larger space than was absolutely necessary. Gibbon observes that a modern army would present to the enemy a front three times as extended as a Roman one of the same force. In the field, ten men were apportioned to a tent, ten feet square;[[105]] a similar proportion would without doubt be followed in the stationary camp.

BORCOVICUS.

It is not easy to ascertain the precise character of the dwellings of the soldiers; the more perfect of the ruins in this and other forts, induce the belief that they were dark, bare, and cheerless. The roofs were probably formed of free-stone slate. Several thin slabs of this kind, with nail-holes in them, as well as some of the nails themselves, have been found in this and other stations.[[106]] On [Plate XIII], figs. 1, 7, are drawn some door or window heads, found here; these most likely belonged to buildings of a superior class. The entrance into a chamber at Habitancum, recently excavated, was found to be only fourteen inches wide; it was rudely ‘stepped over’ at the top. Fragments of a sort of window glass are frequently found in some of the stations; this would probably be a rare luxury.[[107]]