In taking a cursory survey of the supporting stations of the line, it may be well, first, to examine those which defended its eastern extremity: next, those which are upon Watling-street—the great channel of communication between the northern and southern sections of Britain on the east side of the summit level: afterwards, those which are on the Maiden-way—the road on the west of the summit level: and reserve to the last, the important stations which strengthened the works on the northern and southern shores of the Solway. _TYNEMOUTH._—The Castle and Priory stand upon a peninsula so strong and so easily defended, that it could not have escaped the attention either of the aboriginal Britons or the Romans. The altar, which was erected by the fourth cohort of the Lingones, [Illustration: Tablet, Gyrum Cumbas] has been already described (_p._ 109). Another lettered stone, found along with it, is here represented. GYRVM CVMBAS ET TEMPLVM FECIT C IV MAXIMINVS LEG VI VI EX VOTO About the reading of the first line of this inscription, which Brand translates, ‘a circular harbour for the shipping,’ there is some uncertainty; but there is no doubt about the other lines, which import that— Caius Julius Maximinus, _of_ the Sixth Legion, victorious, in the performance of a vow, erected _this_ temple. The mere circumstance of its selection as the site of a temple, proves this to have been a place of some importance in the Roman age. The name of the builder of the temple fixes, with a near approach to precision, the date of its dedication. Caius Julius Verus Maximinus was a Thracian shepherd of great personal strength; he attracted at an early period of his life the notice of Septimius Severus, and under Caracalla attained to the rank of centurion. On the assassination of Alexander Severus, in 235, he assumed the purple, and was himself assassinated in 238. He probably accompanied Septimius Severus into Britain, and on this occasion erected the temple commemorated by this inscription. The following amusing account of the personal qualifications of Maximinus, is given in Dr. William Smith’s admirable Dictionary of Biography and Mythology.