Introduction
This group mainly comprises centurial stones, as might be expected from a length of curtain wall.
Inventory
RIB 1438: leg(io) VI Vi(ctrix) f(ecit) ‘The Sixth Legion Victrix built this’. Building stone found before 1732. Now lost. Source: RIB I p.465
RIB 1439: coh(ortis) VI / c(enturia) Statil[i] / Solonis ‘Sixth cohort, the century of Statilius Solon (constructed this)’. Centurial stone found before 1732. Now lost. Source: RIB I p.465
RIB 1440: c(o)ho(rtis) VIII / c(enturia) Caecili / Cleme(ntis) (‘Eighth cohort, the century of Caecilius Clemens (built this)’). Centurial stone found 1863. Built into St Oswald’s farmhouse. Source: RIB I p.465
RIB 1441: coh(ortis) III / c(enturia) Volusia(na) (‘Third cohort, the Volusian century (built this)’). Centurial stone found near St Oswald’s chapel before 1789. Now lost. Source: RIB I p.466
RIB 1442: Petra Flavi Carantini (‘The rock of Flavius Carantinus’). Quarry inscription found at Fallowfield Fell in 1813. Source: RIB I p.466
RIB 1443: leg(io) / II / Aug(usta) (‘Second Legion Augusta’). Building stone found before 1789 near Brunton. Source: RIB I p.466
RIB 1444: coh(ortis) IX c(enturia) / Pau(li) Apri (‘Ninth cohort, the century of Paulius Aper (built this)’). Centurial stone found 30yds west of Turret 26b. Source: RIB I p.466
RIB 1445: t(urma) L(uci) A(…) F(ani) / p(er) val(lum) / p(edes) CXIII (left end) and turm(a) / L(uci) A(…) Fani (‘the troop of A(…) Fanus (constructed) 113 feet along the Wall’ and ‘the troop of A(…) Fanus’). Found 1882 50yds west of Turret 26b. Source: RIB I pp.466-7
RIB 1446: …vi]/xi[t annos] / XX […] / m[enses…] / c[… (‘lived 20 (or more) years… months…’). Tombstone found 1889 at Wall school. Now lost. Source: RIB I p.467
RIB 1447: centuria Pompe[i] / Rufi (‘century of Pompeius Rufus (built this)’). Found before 1873 at Chollerton vicarage stables. Source: RIB I p.467
RIB 3296: coh(ortis) VIII / c(enturia) Helleni (‘Eighth cohort, century of Hellenius (built this)’). Found 1999 during roadworks. Source: RIB III p.293
RIB 3297: c(o)h(ortis) I Cl(audia) c(centuria) Augu(stani) (‘First Claudian cohort, the century of Augustanus (built this)’). Centurial stone found 1986. Source: RIB III p.294
Analysis
Mostly consisting of centurial stones, as might be expected, there are nevertheless one or two surprises in here. Since such stones usually eschew naming the legion, RIB 1438 stands out, not least as it names the Sixth Legion in a sector where the Second Legion are thought to have been building. This raises the question of whether it was, as in earlier sectors, engaged in reconstruction work. RIB 1445 is interesting for different reasons: bearing an inscription recording construction work by cavalrymen on two of its faces, it has been suggested that it may well come from a merlon on the crenellated curtain wall (where else could two faces be seen to be inscribed without a turret or milecastle to provide a handy corner?). To add further to the mix, there is a quarry inscription from Fallowfield Fell (RIB 1442) and a tombstone fragment from Wall (RIB 1446) may have derived from the nearest milecastle (Milecastle 27) or even from across the river at Chesters.
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