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ROMAN GOLD COINS FOUND AT CORBRIDGE. 273a fugitive preparing to make off with his cash. Discussion2 has turned round the question whether the jugand its contents do or do not constitute " treasure trove,"and the same question in another form whether thejug of coins was purposely buried or was accidentallydropped on or near the spot where it was found. Whateverbe the answer, it is indubitable that we have to dealwith a hoard that had formany years been accumulatingand been safely guarded and therefore concealed ; thoughwhether the place of its original concealment was theplace of its recent discovery is incapable of strict proof.The historical importance of the hoard lies in the factthat its successive owners continued to add to it down tothe year 160-162, and that at that time savings ceasedto be added to it and the hoard was itself abandoned.Whether the jugwas leftwhere it had stood below thefloor of a house and the house above it destroyed, orwhether it was taken up from its hiding-place and droppedin a hurried flight, matters little. In either case itfurnishes evidence of danger threatening Corstopitum in160-162 A.D. That troubles at this time overshadowedNorthern Britain is well known. Literary allusions tothe province, other discoveries made at Corstopitum, andother coin-finds made in the Mural district, and variousinscriptions, show that clearly enough.(1) There occurred at some time during the reign ofPius (138-161) a revolt of the Brigantes. The geographerPausanias states that Pius took away a large portion of theirterritory because they had begun to invade the territoryof the Grenunians, who were tributary to the Eomans. 32 See below, p. 277.3'A7T6Te/i6TO 5e Kal r