The masonry of the gateways at Borcovicium is particularly massive and beautiful. The north gateway opens on to such a steep slope as to render it practically useless for wheeled traffic. It has been suggested that general instructions were issued, and then carried out _au pied de la lettre_, even when inappropriate, under special conditions. Such a thing has been known to occur in more recent military works. --------------------------------------------------------------------- {121} [Illustration: Fig. 12. Plan of the Fort of Borcovicium. (After Dickie and Bosanquet.) (Reproduced, by permission, from _Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks_, by John Ward, F.S.A.)] --------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a large stone tank by the north gateway, the purpose of which is doubtful. Knives have been sharpened round the edges, giving it a scalloped {122} appearance, as shown in the picture of this gateway which faces this page. The so-called "amphitheatre" is seen on the left--a grassy hollow in the angle formed by the Wall and a field-boundary. The gateway in the Wall by the Knag Burn is also seen. In the distance are Sewingshields Crags with the Wall running along the ridge. It is probable that it was found necessary to make the gateway in the Wall by the Knag Burn because, _after_ the building of the Wall, the only access to the enemy side would otherwise have been by the almost impassable north gate. Prior to the building of the Wall the east gate was the most available route. The gateways have been all more or less filled up during some period of the Roman occupation, but the filling-up has been entirely removed. This was done in the dark ages of archæology over fifty years ago, and no records were kept at that time of the finds and the different floor-levels, by means of which it is alone possible to learn the period when the gates were blocked. At Rudchester they were filled up in the second century. The barracks were long narrow huts, about 30 feet in width, built to accommodate a hundred men. They each contained ten or eleven rooms. Here at Borcovicium they run along the length of the fort, instead of crosswise as usual. [Illustration: NORTH GATE, BORCOVICIUM. THE GREAT WALL IS SEEN RUNNING UP TOWARDS THE PLANTATION, AND THE SO-CALLED "AMPHITHEATRE" APPEARS AS A HOLLOW ON ITS LEFT. SEWINGSHIELDS CRAGS RISE IN THE DISTANCE, WITH THE WALL FOLLOWING THEIR LINE] {123} The long building by the western gateway was a workshop; part of it was a smithy; there were traces of iron and coal. The sanitary system was very complete, and is one of the chief evidences of the high level of civilization and comfort which Rome demanded for her soldiers, even at such a remote outpost of the Empire.