Milecastle 38 is a milecastle

Milecastle

A milecastle was a small fort , a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain , hence the name.Along Hadrian's Wall, milecastles were...

 fortlet (small fort) on Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...

 in the vicinity of Hotbank Farm. It is notable for the joint inscription bearing the names of the emperor Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

 and Aulus Platorius Nepos

Aulus Platorius Nepos

Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman politician of the early 2nd century.Platorius Nepos was governor of Germania Inferior. He was a close friend and possible kinsman of the Emperor Hadrian and may have accompanied Hadrian on his visit to Britain in 122. In this year he was made governor of Roman...

, the governor of Brittania at the time the Wall was built.

The stone reads:

IMP CAES TRAIAN

HADRIANI AVG

LEG II AVG

APLATORIONEPOTELEGPRPR

The first two lines identifies the emperor Hadrian, the third the Legion - Legio secunda Augusta

Legio II Augusta

Legio secunda Augusta , was a Roman legion, levied by Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus in 43 BC, and still operative in Britannia in the 4th century...

(Second Augustan Legion) which erected the plaque , and the fourth the governor Aulus Platorius Nepos.

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