Gents Mag 1860 part 1 p.347
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Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 1 p.347
[Banks]burn, near Lanercost, was discovered, which also mentions the Ala Petriana. The inscription may be read:- I[VNIVS] BRVTVS DEC[VRIO] AL[AE] PET[RIANAE]. 'Junius Brutus, a decurion (commander of ten men) of the Petriana cavalry.' Lastly, we have in the Notitia list, after the mention of the Tribune of the first AElian Cohort of Dacians at Amboglanna, the following entry:- Praefectus Alae Petrianae Petrianis.From this circumstance it has been inferred that Walton House, the station next west from Amboglanna, is the Petriana of the Notitia. Unfortunately we have met with no stony record of Ala Petriana at Walton House, though we have three of the Second Cohort of the Tungri, and one of the Fourth Cohort of the Gauls. By comparing the stones found at the various stations with the Notitia list, the names of the stations on the Wall between Wallsend and Birdoswald have been ascertained with certainty; westward of this, all is involved in comparative doubt. Had this stone been found at Walton House, it would have gone far to confirm the reasonings of antiquaries that this was Petriana. In all probablity this ala had not then taken up its position upon the Wall. The Wall at the time this slab was cut was probably only in the process of erection. The letters are clearly cut and well formed; no ligatures are introduced; even the letters composing the diphthongs are not tied together. The style of the lettering indicates an early date, probably not later than the Riveling rescript in the time of Hadrian. If, as it seems probable from the size and character of the slab, it was attached to a building erected by the Prefect of the Ala, we may infer that this body of troops were at this time resident in Roman Carlisle. Had the inscription occurred on an altar, it might have been made when they were only resting there for a brief space. list, In no other inscription found in Britain except this are we informed that the Ala Petriana was entitled to the epithet of Augustus; that it consisted of a thousand men; that it was composed solely of Roman citizens; and for the first time the epithet Torquata occurs, as applied either to this body of troops or any other in Britain. As the troop was in Britain when Hadrian was, it may have received the epithet of Augusta for some deed of valour done in his presence. It seems too, to have consisted of 1,000 strong. It must have been much reduced in size before it took up its qtrs in the Walton House station, which has an area of only 2 3/4 acres. It was at this time only recruited from the ranks of persons who, like the Apostle Paul, could boast of being Roman citizens. In the lower periods of the Empire this rule was probably departed from; though, indeed, the privilege was then so widely diffused as to become of little value. The epithet torquatus has not before been found in Britain as applied to any body of troops. It was a distinction of great rarity. In Ortelius's collection of Roman inscriptions the term only once occurs, and then, strangely enouigh, it occurs as applied to this same body of troops. It is an inscription which was found in Italy, and was erected to commemorate the merits of Caius Camurius Clemens, who, along with several other important commands, is said to have been "Prefect for the Administration of Justice of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Augustus, and Prefect of the Ala Petriana, a military troop, consisting of Roman citizens, and twice |
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