Kirke White.
On proceeding to decipher the antique records, our emotions are more varied and more intense. The old Roman seems to arise from the tomb, and to reveal his modes of thought and principles of action. His breast heaves; his heart is laid bare. In lines which his own fingers have carved, the gods before whom he trembled are declared. Looking on the very altar at which he knelt, we almost seem to see ‘the mean man bowing down, and the great man humbling himself.’
LETTERED STONES.
The region of the Wall has yielded more inscribed stones of the Roman period than any other portion of the kingdom. Many of them have already been presented to the reader; a few others will here be described. The lettered stones of the mural line may be divided into three classes—altars, funereal slabs, and centurial stones.
ALTARS.
PARTS OF AN ALTAR.
The offering of such sacrifices as were supposed to be acceptable to their deities, formed an essential part of the religion of the Greeks and Romans. Very numerous are the altars which have been discovered on the line of the Wall. Many of them are small, some not larger than the palm of the hand, rough in the workmanship, and without any inscription; others are of large size,
and of ornate character. The usual form of them is shewn in the annexed cut. The inscription is on the face of the altar; the base and upper portion project a little beyond the sides. A small cavity on the top called the focus, or hearth, received the offering. The sides of the altar were frequently adorned with carvings representing the victims, the implements used in sacrifice, and insignia of the god. On the altar[[137]] before us, we have represented the præfericulum, or pitcher, which contained the wine for the offering; the patera, a round, shallow dish, generally with a handle, which was used in throwing a small portion of the wine upon the altar; the securis, or axe, with which the animal was slain; and the culter, or knife, used in flaying or dividing it. In the Chesterholm altar, figured p. 240, the sacrificial ox is represented; and on the sides of the altar to Jupiter, which is shewn on page 290, the thunder-bolt of the god, and the wheel of Nemesis— the emblem of swift vengeance—are given. The small size of the focus proves that the offerings presented to the deities occupied a very small bulk. When an animal was slain, a portion of the entrails was often all that fell to the lot of the god.
Idibus in magni castus Jovis æde sacerdos