The Teutonic element in the garrison is represented by the altars to Mars Thingsus, the discovery of which caused great interest in Germany, and by the altars to the Deae Matres—the mother-goddesses, whose carved figures are shown seated, fully draped, and holding baskets of fruits on their knees. They are generally found in sets of three; but unfortunately they have been much mutilated, and all the examples remaining are headless. The Deae Matres would seem to correspond in some degree to the Roman Ceres and the Greek Demeter, the bountiful givers of the fruits of the earth. The majority of the altars found are, as was to be expected, dedicated to the deities of Rome; chiefly, as shown by the constantly recurring I.O.M.—_Jovi optimo maximo_—to “Jupiter, the best and greatest.” The varying inscriptions which follow as reasons for their erection as votive offerings give us glimpses of the life in these communities clearer than those afforded by anything else. And as most, if not all, of our knowledge concerning the details of the Roman occupation of the north-country has to be obtained from the inscriptions which the garrisons left behind them, the inscribed stones as well as the altars are of the greatest possible interest and value. One such stone, found at the Borcovicus mile-castle, states that “the Second Legion, the August (erected this at the command of) Aulus Platorius Nepos, Legate and Propraetor, in honour of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus.”