Note 6: — I.—POLITICAL INSCRIPTIONS AND SLAVERY. (Table-Case K.)

Roman military Life.—This is illustrated by two of the Latin inscriptions here shown. The oblong bronze tablet No. 18 (figs. 9a and 9b) is part of a Roman diploma, a document recording privileges in respect of citizenship and rights of marriage granted to a veteran soldier. The diploma derived its name from the fact that it was composed of two tablets hinged together. We have in the present instance only the left side of one of the tablets. The right side, which had two holes for the metal rings attaching it to the other tablet, has been broken away. The inscription6 is a copy of one originally engraved on bronze and set up on the wall behind the temple of Augustus ad Minervam at Rome. It is headed with the names of M. Julius Philippus, the Emperor, and of his son, who had the title of Caesar. This is followed by the grant of full matrimonial rights to the soldiers of ten cohorts and by the date, equivalent to Jan. 7th, 246 A.D. Next comes the name of the individual soldier to whom this copy of the original inscription was given, one Neb. Tullius, a veteran of the fifth praetorian cohort of Philip at Aelia Mursa in Pannonia. The grant of full matrimonial privileges was a considerable one, for it meant that the veteran's wife and children gained the privileges of Roman citizens, if, as was often the case, the wife was not possessed of citizen rights at the time of marriage. The two holes in the middle of the tablet were used for the wire thread, which was passed round the tablets three times according to the usual official custom, and had the seals of seven witnesses affixed to it. Fig. 9b is a restoration showing the original form of the document opened, the exterior of the two tablets being seen. This diploma was found in Piedmont. Parts of similar documents will be seen exhibited in the Room of Roman Britain.