and the central ornament has become solidified and has considerably expanded in size. The small projecting peaks at each end of the base of the semi-circular ornament are a tradition of the older form, as is plain from a comparison with the Ilchester specimen. The stem and the hollow foot are unchanged. The upper part of the fibula has been filled with dark blue enamel while a triangular patch, which was probably originally red, occupies the centre. An illustration in colour is given in Plate LXXXIX., Fig. 23. Probably both Figs. 26 and 27 belong to the second century, Fig. 27 perhaps to the latter half of it.
It is difficult to trace the origin of this peculiar type with any confidence. It is not common on the Continent, although a specimen from Flossheim, illustrating the intermediate stage of evolution described above, the stem terminating in a ring, is preserved in the Wiesbaden Museum. Another occurs at Stockstadt.[1] It seems not unlikely that the brooch is a British adaptation of a type which is found in Northern France and on the Rhine. It occurs in the Andernach Cemetery in the first century, and analogous forms have heen recognised at Xanten. In England it appears at Hod Hill (Fig. 47, No. 2) and on many other sites.
Next comes a group of brooches (Figs. 28 to 32, Plate LXXXVII.) of a type common both in Britain and on the Continent. They belong to the second century, and probably made their way north in the period following the Antonine advance. Fig. 28 is perhaps the earliest. Its relation to such a brooch as Fig. 31 is obvious. Both have the same spiral spring, with its box-like cover, and the same long pin-catch. The expansion of the bow in Figs. 31 and 32 is clumsy. Fig. 28 was found in the South Annexe, Fig. 31 in the Praetentura, and Fig. 32, which shows some trace of having been plated with tin, above the inner ditch of the East Annexe. Fig 29 is clearly a variant. The bow is broadened out as in the others, but is distinguished by having its surface divided by parallel flutings; the pin-catch is awanting. This brooch, too, appears to have been overlaid with tin, which is frequently employed to replace silver in the second century. It was found about two feet from the bottom of the inner ditch of the later series in the West Annexe, where it passed through the Bath Buildings. Its connection with the later period is therefore undoubted. Fig. 30, another variant, was found within the fort close to the surface, near Block XIII. It, too, bears marks of tin-plating. The catch for the pin is awanting.
1 Der Obergermanisch-Raetische Limes, Lief. xxxiii. 'Kastell Stockstadt,' Taf. vii. Fig. 20.
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