Rereading the Secundinus Stone from Vindolanda

Abstract Meyer, Mullen, and Vanhala analysed the inscription SECVNDINVS CACOR accompanying the carving of a phallus on a stone excavated at Vindolanda and explained CACOR as the present passive of the verb cacare ‘to shit out’. I suggest that CACOR may have been intended in abbreviation of CACORVM , the neuter genitive plural of the adjective cacus , a transliteration of the Greek κακός ‘evil’, and that the phallus is depicted ejaculating over this word to symbolise its apotropaic power over evil.