Milecastle 38 (Hotbank) was a

milecastle A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

in the vicinity of Hotbank Farm, (). It is notable for the joint inscription bearing the names of the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

and

Aulus Platorius Nepos Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman senator who held a number of appointments in the imperial service, including the governorship of Britain. He was suffect consul succeeding the ''consul posterior'' Publius Dasumius Rusticus as the colleague of t ...

, the governor of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

at the time the Wall was built.

Description

The site of Milecastle 38 is in the vicinity of Hotbank Farm, Little remains of the milecastle except rubble walls outlined by robber trenches.MILECASTLE 38
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013

Excavations

The milecastle was excavated in 1935 and found to be east–west by north–south. It was found to have a short axis, with a Type I gateway. Pottery finds indicated an occupation of the 4th century. There was a rectangular building in the south-west corner and a causeway, wide, to the east. A tombstone was found, inscribed "...us.. xit annis... mensibus du...ebus quinque", re-used as a pivot stone in the south gateway.MONUMENT NO. 1004316
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013

Inscription

Milecastle 38 is notable for the joint inscription bearing the names of the emperor

and

, the governor of

at the time the Wall was built.Roger J.A.Wilson "A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain" 2002 Constable, London p467 The left-hand part was found c. 1715 and the right-hand part was found in 1829.MONUMENT NO. 15229
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 The stone reads: ::IMP CAES TRAIAN ::HADRIANI AVG ::LEG II AVG ::APLATORIONEPOTELEGPRPR The first two lines identifies the emperor Hadrian, the third the Legion – Legio secunda Augusta (Second Augustan Legion) which erected the plaque, and the fourth the governor Aulus Platorius Nepos.

Associated turrets

Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

structures. These turrets were positioned approximately one-third and two-thirds of a

Roman mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

to the west of the Milecastle, and would probably have been manned by part of the milecastle's garrison. The turrets associated with Milecastle 38 are known as Turret 38A and Turret 38B.

Turret 38A

Turret 38A (Milking Gap) () was located by exploratory excavation in 1911.TURRET 38A
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 There are no visible remains.

Turret 38B

Turret 38B (Highshield Crag) () was also located by exploratory excavation in 1911.TURRET 38B
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 The turret is only visible as an earthwork platform.

Public access

The milecastle, and the sites of both turrets, are accessible via the

Hadrian's Wall Path Hadrian's Wall Path is a long-distance footpath in the north of England, which became the 15th National Trail in 2003. It runs for , from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. For most of its length it ...

References

External links

{{Milecastles 38