As might be expected, many altars are dedicated to Jupiter, the king and father, as he was styled, of gods and men. The wood-cut represents a very fine one, which was found in the station at Chesterholm, and is now preserved under the piazza of the House. [Illustration: Large Altar to Jupiter] I[OVI] O[PTIMO] M[AXIMO] CETERISQUE DIIS IMMORT[ALIBVS] ET GEN[IO] PRAETOR[II] Q[VINTVS] PETRONIVS Q[VINTI] F[ILIVS] FAB[IA] VRBICVS PRAEF[ECTVS] COH[ORTIS] IIII GALLORUM EX ITALIA DOMO BRIXIA VOTVM SOLVIT PRO SE AC SVIS To Jupiter, best _and_ greatest, And to the rest of the Immortal gods, And the genius of the pretorium, Quintus Petronius Son of Quintus, of the Fabian family, _surnamed_ Urbicus. Prefect of the Fourth cohort Of the Gauls, From Italy, _and_ Of a house of Brixia, Performed a vow For himself And family. Two lines have been purposely erased, perhaps in consequence of some error committed by the sculptor. The town of Brixia, the modern Brescia, is situated on a feeder of the Po. Petronius, it would appear, still remembered, and doubtless with affection, his former home in sunny Italy. Storks adorn both sides of the altar; the object of their introduction is rather doubtful. In the Risingham slab, now at Cambridge, to which reference has already been made (_p._ 332), a cock is associated with the figure of Mars, and a stork with that of Victory. Can the stork have been the emblem of victory, as the cock was of the god of war? The powerful wing and stately motions of this bird render it a fitting emblem of the goddess whose favours Petronius must often have sought. The inscription is distinct, and strikingly displays the polytheism of the Romans. Petronius associates with Jupiter, not only all the immortal gods, but the genius of the pretorium also. [Sidenote: POLYTHEISM OF ROME.]