THE TOWNS 
 OF ROMAN BRITAIN 
 
 Rev. J. O. Bevan 
 
 NET 
 
 2/6 
 
 LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL. LTD. 
 
DA 
 
 OforneU Itttaetaitg ffitbrarg 
 
 Strata, New lock 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 HENRY W. SAGE 
 
 1891 
 
IMS. DUfc 
 
 
 3 1924 027 '948 "573"' 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027948573 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
Statute Miles 
 
 a 20 40 60 60 100 
 
 Roman Roads , 
 
 Roman Settlements O 
 " Military Stations x 
 
 British Trikal Names REGNI 
 Forests 
 
 Marshes Z°? a 1 
 
 Z.W over 600 feet %Z% 
 
 GEORGE PHILIP & SON L Tt 
 
 Roman Britain shewing the chief Roman Roads. 
 
THE TOWNS 
 OF ROMAN BRITAIN 
 
 By the 
 
 Rev. J. O. Erevan, 
 
 M.A., F.G.S,, Aiioc. Inak. C.E., F.S.A.; 
 Fellow of the College of Preceptor* and 
 Examiner. Sometime Prizeman. Ex- 
 hibitioner and Foundation Scholar of 
 Emmanuel College, Cambridge. 
 
 Author of 
 
 " The (jenesis and Evolution of the Individual Sou/" 
 
 " Sgyft and the Egyptian! " 
 
 " University Life in the /Middle Jges " 
 
 " Handbook of the History and 'Development of Philosophy " 
 
 " Archetological /Map of Herefordshire" 
 
 and numerous other Works. 
 
 London 
 Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 
 
 1917 
 
 [All Right. Reierredl 
 
A 4s-s-i<v 
 
 THB WSSTMINSTER PRESS 
 
 4irX HARROW ROAD 
 
 LONDON W 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE Author writes the last line of this book 
 with a sigh at the incompleteness of his work. 
 He is conscious he has touched but the fringe 
 of the mantle covering the form of the silent Muse of 
 History, but his efforts will be justified if he succeeds 
 in persuading even a single student to persevere and 
 lead the fair Clio to disclose the full story of which 
 broken whispers are here recorded. No one can doubt 
 the fascination of this page of our nation's develop- 
 ment, dealing as it does with the dawn of that day of 
 which, please God, the complete effulgence will shine 
 more and more to the perfect end. 
 
 In this brochure attention has been chiefly directed 
 to the towns of Roman Britain, as it would have 
 required a volume of stupendous size to formulate a 
 record of sites associated with isolated settlements, 
 camps, burrows, " and bowers," or grounds whereon 
 sports were conducted. Again, there are spots of interest 
 more or less connected with Roman occupation, in 
 tradition or in fact, such as Alderney,* Porchester.f 
 Glastonbury, Avebury, Arbow Low in Derbyshire, 
 Stripple Stones, on Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall, the 
 hill-fort in Parc-y-meirch Wood, Dinorben, Den- 
 bighshire. The line we have been compelled to draw 
 
 * Alderney (Aid, old ; Ey, island). This, the most northerly of 
 the four Channel Islands seems to have been known to the 
 Romans as Riduna. Remains of ancient dwellings have been 
 found there. 
 
 t To the north of Portsmouth Harbour is situated Porchester 
 Castle, a ruined Norman fortress, occupying the site of the Portus 
 Magnus of the Romans. 
 
necessarily excludes such as these. The present work 
 is intended to furnish a compendious guide to readers 
 who desire to study the fruits of the Roman occu- 
 pation, to trace out the roads they laid down, and to 
 possess themselves of the position and essential fea- 
 tures of the centres where they congregated for 
 commerce, pleasure, or defence. The Author has long 
 been attracted to the elucidation of the early history 
 of Britain, and this feeling was intensified by the 
 work he undertook some years ago in connection with 
 the compilation of an Archaeological Map of Hereford- 
 shire, on lines laid down by the Society of Antiquaries. 
 His experience at that time made him aware how such 
 an undertaking might serve to quicken the curiosity, 
 and to whet the expectation of the student of old time as 
 to the wonderful secrets which await the skilful use 
 of such humble implements as the shovel and the pick 
 in almost any quarter of our island home. 
 
 The Author desires to convey his acknowledgments 
 to Messrs. Philip and Son, Ltd., of Fleet Street, for 
 their kindness in permitting him to make use of the 
 blocks for the two Maps which appear in this volume. 
 
 Chillenden Rectory, 
 Canterbury. 
 
 Nov., 1916. 
 
 VI 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 
 
 V 
 
 Table of Contents 
 
 vii 
 
 Introduction 
 
 
 Historical Sketch 
 
 i 
 
 Early History 
 
 5 
 
 Main Divisions 
 
 6 
 
 Roman Britain 
 
 7 
 
 Remains 
 
 8 
 
 Introduction of Christianity 
 
 10 
 
 Influence of Roman Occupation 
 
 ii 
 
 Roman Roads 
 
 12 
 
 Roman Influence 
 
 H 
 
 List of Roman Towns 
 
 I? 
 
 Aldborough (Isuriwn Brigantum) 
 
 l 9 
 
 Aldeburgh 
 
 l 9 
 
 Bath (Aquae Solis, or Suits) 
 
 i9 
 
 Caerleon (Isca Siluvum) 
 
 22 
 
 Caerwent (Venta Silurum) 
 
 H 
 
 Caistor Castle (Venta) 
 
 M 
 
 Canterbury (Durovernum) 
 
 H 
 
 Cardiff 
 
 27 
 
 Chester (Caerleon Vatvr) 
 
 28 
 
 Chesterford (Iceanum) 
 
 28 
 
 Chichester (Regnum) 
 
 29 
 
 Cirencester (Corininum) 
 
 30 
 
 Colchester (Camolodunum) 
 
 3° 
 
 Corstopitum 
 
 3i 
 
 The Wall of Hadrian 
 
 32 
 
 The Wall of Antonine 
 
 34 
 
 Dorchester (Dorsetshire) (Durnovaria) 35 
 
 vii 
 
List of Roman Towns — continued page 
 
 Dorchester (Oxfordshire) (Dorcinia) 36 
 
 Dover (Dubris) 36 
 
 Exeter (Caer I sea ; I sea Damnoniorutn) 38 
 
 Gloucester (Glevum) 39 
 
 Isle of Wight (Vectis) 39 
 
 Kenchester (Magni) 39 
 
 Lancaster (Castra ad Alaunam) 40 
 
 Leicester (Ratae) 40 
 
 Lincoln (Lindum Colonia, or Lindocolina) 41 
 
 London {Augusta) 42 
 
 Lympne (Lemanae) 47 
 
 Maldon 47 
 
 Manchester 48 
 
 Portsmouth 49 
 
 Reculver (Regulbium) 49 
 
 Richborough (Rutupiae) 50 
 
 Rochester (Durobrivae) 51 
 
 Silchester (Calleva Atre-batutn) 51 
 
 St. Albans (Verulamium) 52 
 
 Winchester (Fenta Belgarum) 54 
 
 Wroxeter (Uriconium, or Viroconium) 55 
 
 York (Eboracum) 56 
 
 Appendix A 59 
 
 B 60 
 
 C 61 
 
 D 64 
 
 Table of Maps. 
 Roman Britain showing the chief Roman 
 
 Roads Frontispiece 
 
 The Roman Wall To face page 3 1 
 
 vm 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 THE earliest notice of Britain is in Herodotus 
 (b.c. 480-408) ; but he mentions the Tin Islands 
 (Scilly Islands and Cornwall), only to confess 
 his ignorance about them. More important is a pass- 
 age in Aristotle (b.c. 384-322), who (writing a century 
 later) is the earliest author who mentions the British 
 Isles by name, as he does in the following passage : 
 " Beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gib- 
 raltar) the ocean flows round the earth, and in it are 
 two very large islands (Nesoi Britannikoi), called in 
 British Albion and Ierne, lying beyond the Keltoi." 
 The application of the name Britannia to denote the 
 larger island, is due to Julius Caesar (b.c. 100-44), wno 
 is the first Roman writer to mention Britain. The 
 name itself may be derived from Welsh, brith, mottled, 
 tattooed, or from brithyn, cloth, cloth-clad, as opposed 
 to the skin-clad Celts. 
 
 The history of Britain would be a very long one if we 
 only knew it. It is clear that a considerable interchange of 
 commerce was carried on between the south-eastern 
 parts of the island and Gaul, and that even the remoter 
 regions of the Mediterranean were largely dependent 
 upon Britain for their supplies of tin from the Cornish 
 mines, of lead from Somerset, and of iron from North- 
 umberland and the Forest of Dean. 
 Politically, Britain consisted of a number of 
 
The Towns ot Roman Britain 
 
 independent bodies, united in a federation of the loosest 
 kind, in which the lead was taken by that tribe which 
 happened at the time to be the most powerful or to 
 have the bravest or most astute leader. 
 
 About B.C. 56 Caius Volusenus was sent to this 
 country by Julius Caesar to examine the coast 
 preparatory to an invasion. The step was threatened, 
 because it was alleged that the Britons had aided 
 and abetted some of the Gaulish tribes in their resist- 
 ance to the Roman domination. On August 26th, 
 B.C. 55, Caesar himself set sail from Portus Itius, near 
 Boulogne, with two legions, and effected a landing, 
 presumably near Deal. A good deal of discussion has 
 taken place relative to this point, and much has been 
 said as to the action of the winds and tides in deter- 
 mining his landing place. Probably he would have 
 made a feint at Dover and one or two other places, 
 under cover of which the main body would land at a 
 spot weakly defended. At all events, the resistance 
 offered by the British was soon overcome, easy terms 
 being imposed on their submission. Soon after, Caesar 
 left, but early in the following summer he again in- 
 vaded these shores with five legions and two thousand 
 cavalry. He landed in the same neighbourhood as 
 before, and advanced 12 miles inland to the river 
 Stour before meeting with the islanders. Ultimately 
 he decisively defeated Cassivelaunus, the leader, 
 either near London or his capital, Verulamium. The 
 conqueror departed at the fall of the year, without 
 leaving behind any garrison, but, at the same time, 
 taking away hostages to ensure the carrying out of the 
 terms imposed. 
 
Historical Sketch 
 
 Then ensues a period during which direct Roman 
 influence of a dominant or military character fell into 
 abeyance, so that one is required to take up the tale at 
 a much later period, viz., the accession of Claudius, 
 in a.d. 41. That emperor determined to carry out the 
 intention of Augustus to exact the promised tribute 
 from Britain. In 43 he despatched Aulus Plautius 
 with four legions, who obtained an easy victory. 
 Claudius himself received the submission of the 
 tribes. In 42, Vespasian also — who afterwards became 
 emperor in 69 — was warring against the Silurian 
 chief, Caradog, or Caractacus (a son of Cunobelin). 
 The latter was defeated in 50 by P. Ostorius Scapula, 
 and found refuge in the country of Cartismandua, 
 queen of the Brigantes, who, however, ultimately gave 
 up her prisoner. 
 
 There is a tradition embodied in the Welsh Triads 
 that Caradog and his wife were taken to Rome, and 
 that three hostages accompanied them, by name 
 Bran, Llin, and Claudia, respectively the father, son, 
 and daughter of the brave British chieftain. It is fur- 
 ther surmised that Llin and Claudia were the Linus 
 and Claudia referred to by St. Paul in 2 Tim. iv, 21, 
 and that Bran, after seven years banishment at Rome 
 — where he embraced Christianity under the influ- 
 ence of the great Apostle of the Gentiles — returned 
 to his native land to proclaim the new religion to the 
 people. 
 
 In 61, Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, revolted 
 against the Roman yoke, sacked London and Colches- 
 ter, but was defeated near the former city, and took 
 poison rather than fall into the hands of the victors. 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Agricola became governor in 78, and subjected to his 
 rule the Ordovices Nivales. Not long after, he attacked 
 the Brigantes and Galgacus. In 120, Hadrian was 
 engaged in building the Roman or Pict wall between 
 the Tyne and Solway Frith, which has for so long 
 borne his name. Nineteen years later, Tollius Urbicus 
 constructed the rampart, called the Wall of Antonine 
 (Antoninus Pius 86-161), along the line of Agricola's 
 forts, built between the Forth and the Clyde, to over- 
 awe the wild tribes to the north. This wall is now 
 known by the name of Graeme's Dyke. In 207 on- 
 wards, Severus built a new wall along the line of 
 Hadrian's rampart, He died at York in 211. The years 
 287, 288, saw the reigns of Carausius and Allectus. In 
 296, Constantius Chlorus regained Britain for Rome. 
 He also died at York in 306. In 307 the Picts and Scots 
 overran the country as far as London. The General 
 Theodosius was sent to oppose them, and drove them 
 back beyond Valentia, the fifth Roman division north- 
 wards. The title of Emperor was assumed by Maximus 
 in 383, but he was put to death in 388. Stilicho, the 
 general of Honorius, transferred one legion from 
 Britain into Gaul. This weakened the defence of the 
 land against the northern tribes, as the legion never 
 returned. At this epoch ever-growing confusion and 
 division manifested themselves within the Roman 
 Empire, whereupon its hold on distant provinces 
 grew weaker and weaker. At one period there were 
 as many as six Emperors contending with one 
 another for the sole authority ; and in 410, the 
 year in which Rome was sacked by the Goths 
 under Alaric, the Roman occupation was terminated 
 
Main Divisions 
 
 according to the terms of a letter addressed by 
 Honorius to the cities of Britain. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 Nothing very specific can be said about the settle- 
 ments of the Celtic inhabitants of these islands before 
 the coming of Caesar. The country must have been 
 largely covered by forests and intersected by fens. 
 Different tribes occupied different centres and were 
 nomadic according to the season of the year. Barter 
 was common, and there must have been facilities for 
 the distribution of those goods which had their origin 
 in Gaul. An export trade, too, was actively carried on 
 in regard to such metals as tin, which were borne in 
 rude conveyances along well-defined trackways 
 wrought out along the sheltered sides of hills. 
 
 Certain spots — woods, hills, wells — from their size, 
 shape, position, or some accidental association, were 
 regarded as sacred, and became the centres of re- 
 ligious worship, of sacrifice, and of schools of priests. 
 Thus we have — then, or in somewhat later times — 
 Bangor, Mona, or the Isle of Augury, Stonehenge, 
 Avebury, etc. 
 
 The coming of the Romans led to the opening up 
 of new roads, and caused the building of walls of 
 defence against predatory tribes. It also accentuated 
 the position of many of the camps, centres of popu- 
 lation, and strategic posts. 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 MAIN DIVISIONS. 
 
 In the reign of Claudius (b.c. 41-A.D. 54), the 
 country south of the Solway Frith and the mouth of 
 the Tyne formed one Roman province under a con- 
 sular legate and a procurator. Ptolemy (fl. 139-162) 
 (who flourished at Alexandria, and was one of the 
 greatest of ancient geographers) mentions 17 native 
 tribes as inhabiting this district. The Emperor Severus 
 (146-21 1) divided the whole into two parts, Britannia 
 Inferior, the south, and Britannia Superior, the north. 
 In the division of the country under Diocletian, 
 Britain was made a diocese in the prefecture of Gaul, 
 and was governed by a vicarius, residing at York. It 
 was split up into five provinces, of which the bound- 
 aries, though somewhat uncertain, are supposed to 
 have been as follows : 
 
 Britannia Prima — the country south of the Thames 
 
 and of the Bristol Channel . 
 Britannia Secunda — Wales. 
 Flavia Caesariensis — the country between the rivers 
 
 Thames, Severn, Mersey, and Humber. 
 Maxima Caesariensis — the rest of England, up to the 
 
 wall of Hadrian. 
 Valentia (soon abandoned by the Romans), Scotland 
 
 south of the Wall of Antoninus. 
 
 To ensure the obedience of the natives, various 
 Roman legions, composed of Gauls, Germans, Iber- 
 ians, rather than of pure Romans, were stationed in 
 Britain, viz., at such places as Eboracum (York), Deva 
 
 6 
 
Roman bntain 
 
 (Chester), Isca (Caerleon). and Magni, or Magna 
 (Kenchester).* 
 
 ROMAN BRITAIN 
 
 The population of Roman Britain was, in the main 
 Celtic ; the Cymric division predominating in the 
 south and east, the Gaidhelic in the north and west. 
 There existed, besides these, remnants of two earlier 
 races — a small dark-haired race, akin to the Basques, 
 or Euskarian (found in S.W. England, S. Wales, -f and 
 parts of the Scotch Highlands), and a tall, fairhaired 
 race. 
 
 Under the Romans, many towns (coloniae and 
 municipia) were founded. In several cases their position 
 had been occupied, as winter or summer quarters, by 
 the aboriginal inhabitants ; the choice of the site 
 being determined by the contour of the hills, the con- 
 vergence of trackways, or the proximity to the sea or 
 rivers^/Fifty-six Roman towns are enumerated by 
 ^Claudius Ptolemy (fl. a.d. 139-162). They formed 
 centres of Roman authority, law, commerce, and civi- 
 lization ; the conquerors, to a very limited extent, were 
 able to introduce their own literature. Amongst others, 
 the free inhabitants of Eboracum and Verulamium 
 enjoyed the coveted rights of Roman citizenship. The 
 Ravenna Geographer gives a list of towns — the names 
 of some of which being difficult to identify. Principally 
 to ensure military dominance, the conquerors made 
 
 * In the Itinerary, as in the Ravenna Geographer, we have 
 only the form Magnis, presumably from a nominative Magni, or 
 Magna. 
 
 f See Appendices A & B. 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 many main roads, mostly centering in London. They 
 also developed the land into a corn-growing country. 
 
 The history of the towns that became Roman is known 
 to us very imperfectly and unevenly, in respect of 
 elements earlier than the conquest of a.d. 43 ; of the be- 
 ginnings, whether official or personal ; of their size, 
 original planning, character and composition of the 
 buildings of the language, degree of civilization, and 
 comparative wealth of the inhabitants ; of the relation 
 of the town-life to the life of the adjacent country-side. 
 Further, great mystery shrouds the particulars of 
 their overthrow when the aegis of the Roman authority 
 was withdrawn. There are but few survivals of towns 
 to the present day, and parallels must be sought 
 rather in Pannonia* and North Africa than in the 
 Western European Empire. 
 
 REMAINS. 
 The site of a Roman town always occupied a com- 
 manding position as to elevation, the confluence of 
 roads, or the proximity of rivers. It was surrounded 
 with walls, which were pierced with gates defended 
 by towers and bastions. The houses of the well-off 
 were unpretentious outside, but were fitted inside 
 with comfort and even elegance. The rooms were 
 built around a courtyard. In the villas at Brading and 
 Chedworth tesselated pavements have been found, 
 and traces of baths. Each city was furnished with a 
 Forum, a Basilica, a Temple, and a series of Public 
 Baths. Outside the walls were a Theatre, an Amphi- 
 theatre, and a Cemetery. 
 
 * Now Illy ria, a part of Hungary ; finally subdued by Tiberius, 
 a.d. 8. 
 
 8 
 
Remains 
 
 A goodly proportion of articles recovered constitute 
 treasure-trove in its purest form — objects buried, 
 perhaps, by the owners in expectation of a raid, and 
 never recovered owing to the incidence of death. 
 Many finds have been simply fortuitous, but tombs 
 have been the most valuable repositories. The objects 
 recovered therefrom are in very different states of 
 preservation. Fashioned iron implements have suffered 
 the greatest from natural decay, often merely suggest- 
 ing the fine smith's work lavished upon them ; bronze 
 articles are the less corroded. Gold, the purest of 
 metals, has defied the ravages of time, and ornaments 
 can be reproduced in the form and semblance they 
 possessed when they left the hands of the maker. It 
 is tolerably certain that women formed a part of the 
 early Saxon and Danish raiders ; and it is no less 
 certain that a few women, at various times, came over 
 with Roman soldiers or immigrants. To the graves 
 of women especially we look for the recovery of num- 
 berless articles of use and adornment. Probably, at the 
 first, there were also surface memorials over the 
 graves so closely jumbled together in the cemeteries, 
 but the violence of man and the inroads of the weather 
 would combine to sweep them away at an early 
 period. 
 
 The Baths at Bath furnish the best example of the kind 
 in England ; London also has the remains of a Bath of 
 Roman times in the Strand. It is stated that the church 
 of St. Mary the Virgin at Dover is built on the site of 
 a Roman bath, and that the market square there occu- 
 pies the position of the Roman Agora. Pits used for 
 tanning or dyeing are to be seen at Silchester, and 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 various other industrial occupations are indicated 
 from what may be seen at that city, at Wroxeter, and 
 at various other centres. 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Before Christianity was planted in Britain, the 
 religion of its inhabitants was Druidism. Julius Caesar 
 described this form of devotion as it existed in Gaul. 
 The history of the beginnings of Christianity in this 
 country is obscure. Most likely the faith was originally 
 proclaimed in Britain by various independent agents, 
 in different parts of the island. There are indistinct 
 echoes of apostolic origin — of contact with the East 
 and with Spain ; but probably the new doctrine was 
 introduced by merchants from Gaul or by soldiers in 
 the Roman legions who were sent into the island by 
 Claudius Cassar under Aulus Plautius in the year 43 
 a.d. In the following pages mention will be made of 
 the martyrdom of certain of these early saints at St. 
 Albans and Caerleon. 
 
 It may be said that the first Christian institution in 
 Britain, i.e., the church of the garrison towns, was 
 Roman in its origin and atmosphere ; and that the 
 second was founded by the followers of S. Germanus 
 of Vienne, in France, whose Christianity was probably 
 derived from Ephesus. Also that the origins of Celtic 
 Christendom contained distinctively Greek elements. 
 In the Romances,* too, there are various obscure but 
 significant indications of certain influences derivable 
 
 * Compiled by such men as Robert of Gloucester {temp. 
 Henry III). 
 
 10 
 
Influence of Roman Occupation 
 
 from Egyptian Christianity ; but, vitally and essent- 
 ially, the Celtic Church constituted itself. Like that 
 of Ireland, it was tribal and monastic, not diocesan ; 
 and, in both cases, this loose organization proved to 
 be a source of great weakness. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF ROMAN OCCUPATION 
 
 Roman remains found in different parts of the 
 island include foundations of towns (such as Silches- 
 ter, Wroxeter), streets, milliaria, parts of walls and 
 gates ; baths, furnaces, flues, wooden and leaden 
 water-pipes (London, Bath) ; villas with mosaic 
 pavements, painted walls (London, Chedworth, 
 near Cheltenham, Brading, Carisbrooke) ; altars, 
 votive inscriptions, sculptures, bridges, weapons, 
 tools, implements, pottery, domestic utensils, gold, 
 silver, and bronze ornaments and toilet articles, and 
 coins. 
 
 The Romans laboured to render permanent their 
 conquest of Britain. They introduced their native 
 refinement, and greatly improved British arts. To this 
 fact testimony is furnished by the tumuli, barrows, 
 earthworks, monoliths, cromlechs, cairns, and such 
 like remains, which are continually revealing secrets 
 concealed ever since the debacle which followed the 
 departure of the Roman hosts from our shores. Even 
 as these words were being written, the Author read 
 in The Times of the day an account of Nonsuch Palace 
 at Ye Well, or Ewell, in Surrey, in which it was stated 
 that in the course of recent excavations for the creation 
 of a Japanese garden and lakes, Roman silver coins 
 and pottery were found, testifying to the fact that 
 
 ii 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Ewell was a Roman settlement, being, in fact, identi- 
 fied with Noviomagus.* 
 
 So true is it that below us on every side there have 
 been hidden for centuries by the dull, heavy soil, 
 innumerable traces of the life, working, and death of 
 the different races of men successively inhabiting this 
 island. What a wonderful story would not these re- 
 mains be able to disclose if each claimant were granted 
 a voice, and if each voice could unfold its own nar- 
 rative ! 
 
 ROMAN ROADS. 
 
 The method of the construction of the Roman 
 roads largely varied with the nature of the country 
 traversed ; but they were uniformly raised above the 
 surface of the neighbouring land, and ran from station 
 to station in a straight course, almost regardless of 
 hills. The more important lines were elaborately con- 
 structed with a foundation of hard earth, a bed of 
 large stones, sometimes two more layers of rough 
 stones and mortar, then gravel, lime, and clay ; and, 
 above all, the causeway was paved with flat stones. The 
 width was generally about fifteen feet, and at regular 
 intervals were posting stations. The distance was 
 regularly marked off by milestones (milk passuum — a 
 thousand paces). The principal roads were four in 
 number, viz., Watling Street, the Fosse Way, Icknield 
 Street, and Ermine Street. 
 
 Originally, Watling Street probably ran from 
 
 * About the same time, the discovery of a Roman pavement 
 was recorded at Filey, and of coins and a Roman bath at Temple- 
 borough Camp, Yorkshire. 
 
 12 
 
Roman Roads 
 
 London to Wroxeter. Its northward and westward 
 continuations proceeded from Wroxeter into Wales ; 
 its southern continuations between London, Canter- 
 bury and the parts about Dover seem also to have 
 received the same name. 
 
 Drayton, in his Polyolbion, XIII (1613), says : 
 
 " Those two mighty ways, the Watling and the Fosse 
 .... the first doth hold her way 
 From Dover to the furth'st of fruitful Anglesey ; 
 The second, north and south, from Michael's utmost 
 
 mount, 
 To Caithness, which the farth'st of Scotland we 
 account." 
 
 The Fosse ran from the sea-coast at Seaton, in 
 Devonshire, (R. Maridunum) to Leicester, with a 
 continuation known as High Street, to the Humber. 
 
 The Icknield Way seems to have extended from 
 east to west from Icilgham, or Icklingham, near Bury 
 St. Edmunds, underneath the chalk ridge of the 
 Chilterns and Berkshire Downs, to the neighbourhood 
 of Wantage, thence to Cirencester and Gloucester. 
 
 The Ermine Street ran north and south through the 
 Fenland from London to Lincoln. 
 
 Besides the four great lines there were many scarcely 
 subordinate ones. There were, e.g., several Icknield 
 Streets. Akeman Street ran from Bath, north-east by 
 Cirencester, through Wych-wood Forest and Blen- 
 heim to Alcester and Watling Street. A high-road ran 
 from Exeter to the Land's End in continuation of the 
 Fosse. Another route ran from Venta Silurum to St. 
 David's Head ; another to the Sarn Helen up the 
 
 n 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 western Welsh coast to Carnarvon (Welsh, sarn — a 
 road). 
 
 ROMAN INFLUENCE . 
 
 To a certain extent the conqueror enters into the 
 entail of the conquered. Nevertheless he must obey 
 the conditions of life which the natural features, or 
 the climate of the country of which he has possessed 
 himself, have compelled the aborigines to adopt. 
 Occasionally, as in the case of Greece and Rome, the 
 conquered enslave their masters in regard, at all 
 events, to literature and art ; but this did not obtain 
 in the case before us, for the Roman occupation of 
 Britain was largely military, and the Britons had little 
 enough to impart either in literature or art. It is 
 observable, however, that the Romans either did not 
 seek to impose, or were unable to impose, their re- 
 ligious ideas on the Britons. In this connection it 
 must be remembered that the composition of the 
 Roman legions was largely cosmopolitan. 
 
 The moral and religious influence brought to bear 
 upon the native Britons by reason of the Roman occu- 
 pation of close on four centuries can easily be over- 
 estimated. A section of the people in the vicinity of 
 Roman towns were humanized and civilized, but the 
 sequel proved that (to a certain extent) the fibre of 
 the hardy and courageous Briton deteriorated and his 
 faculty of resource and fighting diminished ; so that 
 when he was deserted by his Roman masters and 
 deprived of his leading strings, he fell a prey — though 
 not until after a protracted and sanguinary struggle — 
 
 H 
 
Roman Influence 
 
 to the Pict and Scot and Saxon, who were able to 
 combine for the attack, and who were regardless of ease 
 and privation and love of life. Although the days of 
 this old time are far away, and the face of the land has 
 changed, this lesson is not without warning to the 
 ignorant, indifferent, pleasure-loving sections of our 
 England of the twentieth century, and this lesson is 
 even now being brought home to us in no uncertain 
 way in our death-grip with a cruel and relentless foe. 
 
 »5 
 
LIST OF TOWNS 
 
 Here follows an alphabetical list of the Roman 
 towns described in the following pages : 
 
 Aldborough (Yorkshire), Aldborough (Suffolk), 
 Bath, Caerleon, Caerwent, Caistor, Canterbury, Cardiff, 
 Chester, Chesterford, Chichester, Cirencester, Cor- 
 stopitum, Dorchester, Dover, Exeter, Gloucester, 
 Isle of Wight, Kenchester, Lancaster, Leicester, 
 Lincoln, London, Lympne, Maldon, Manchester, 
 Portsmouth, Reculver, Richborough, Rochester, Sil- 
 chester, St. Albans, Winchester, Wroxeter, York. 
 
LIST OF TOWNS 
 
 ALDBOROUGH— (A.S. burh, buruh, byrig— an 
 earthwork) is situated in the West Riding of 
 Yorkshire, 16 miles W.N.W. of York. It is now 
 remarkable only for its numerous ancient remains. 
 
 It was the Isurium Brigantum (the capital of the 
 Brigantes) of the Romans, and here and there in the 
 neighbourhood the remains of aqueducts, spacious 
 buildings, and tesselated pavements have been found, 
 as well as numerous implements, coins and urns. The 
 Museum Isurianum is in the grounds of the Manor 
 House. 
 
 ALDEBURGH, or ALDBOROUGH— is situated 
 in the county of Suffolk, 25 miles E.N.E. of 
 Ipswich. 
 
 The borough was incorporated by a charter of 
 Edward VI, and in former times was a place of 
 considerable extent, but the old town known to the 
 Romans was gradually submerged by the encroach- 
 ments of the sea. 
 
 BATH.— 107$ miles W. by S. of London. On the 
 banks of the Avon. 
 
 Aquae Solis, corrupted by the Anglo-Saxons to 
 
 x 9 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Akemannes-ceaster — the invalids' city — reached by 
 the Akemannes Way. 
 
 For many centuries it has been known by its truly 
 descriptive name of Bath. 
 
 Tradition says it was founded by the British King 
 Bladud, 863 B.C. ; but there is no real evidence of an 
 early British settlement, though the hot springs must 
 have been known from the beginning. However, the 
 name of Aquae Solis is thought to point to a British 
 goddess, Sol or Solis, somewhat equivalent to the 
 Roman Minerva. It was never a Roman military 
 station, being used apparently solely as a Spa. 
 
 The remains of the Roman Baths were first un- 
 covered in 1755, when the Duke of Kingston pulled 
 down the old priory to form the Kingston Baths. The 
 remains disclosed included a bath, hypocaust, channels 
 and pipes for the passage of water and hot air, and 
 tesselated pavements. But very little use was made of 
 the discovery for, though some antiquaries took an 
 interest in it, and a few relics were removed and pre- 
 served, the spot was filled in and the site covered with 
 buildings for another 120 years. In 1878, however, 
 public interest was aroused, a number of houses were 
 removed, and a large area (of which that opened in 
 1755 was only a small part) was cleared, with the 
 result that an extensive system of baths in a remark- 
 able state of preservation was laid bare. 
 
 The great bath, some 70 feet long and 28 feet wide, 
 was found to be floored with lead two-thirds of an 
 inch thick, in a perfectly sound condition. The service- 
 pipe being cleared out, the bath still held water as it 
 had done 1,500 years before. 
 
 20 
 
List of Towns 
 
 What a find this lead floor would have been to the 
 builders of the houses above it had they but laid their 
 foundations a few inches deeper ! It would have gone 
 the same way as Alfred's coffin at Winchester. 
 
 Several other baths — one circular — and hypocausts 
 were opened out, and — perhaps as interesting as any- 
 thing — the culvert was discovered for drawing off the 
 waste water, an excellent piece of masonry, and high 
 enough for a man to stand upright in it. The remains 
 of these old Baths of the Romans are not mere traces 
 of walls, intelligible only to the antiquary, but are the 
 actual basins, capable still of use, and one can ascend 
 by the same steps and tread the same pavement as 
 did the Roman bather of old. 
 
 On the Romans leaving Britain, the baths were for 
 a long time deserted, and were soon buried under 
 alluvium by the flooding of the river ; but the hot 
 springs never ceased to pour forth their abundant 
 stream. The waters are impregnated with calcium 
 and sodium sulphates and sodium and magnesium 
 chlorides, and we must not forget the metal which 
 called forth Mr. Weller's description : " I thought 
 they'd a very strong flavour o' warm flat-irons." They 
 are in greater vogue than ever now that radium has 
 been found to be one of the constituents. 
 
 Bath was a place of resort even in Saxon times ; for 
 our forefathers — before the days of goloshes, mackin- 
 toshes and umbrellas — must have been sad sufferers 
 from rheumatic affections. 
 
 It is also clear that the brine-springs, or wyches, of 
 Droitwich, in Worcestershire, were also known to 
 the Romans, as well as Spas in other parts of the 
 
 31 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 country. That there was a Roman station at Droit- 
 wich is evidenced by the remains of a villa, containing 
 interesting and valuable relics, discovered some years 
 ago during the construction of the Oxford and Wol- 
 verhampton Railway. 
 
 CAERLEON, in Monmouthshire. 
 
 This is the Isca Silurum of the Romans. It is situ- 
 ated on the right bank of the Usk, and is the Old Port, 
 in contradistinction to the New Port, some 3 \ miles 
 distant, lower down the river. Caerleon seems to be a 
 corruption of Castrum Legionis. The place was one of 
 the great fortresses of Roman Britain, and constituted 
 the station of the Second Augustan Legion in the 
 first century a.d. It ranked as a Colony, and as the 
 capital of Britannia Secunda during the period of 
 Roman domination. Its position was favourable for 
 the coercion of the wild Silures. No civil life or muni- 
 cipality seems to have grown up outside its boundaries ; 
 like Chester, it remained purely military. There re- 
 main fragments of the walls, and outside these limits 
 there is a grass-grown amphitheatre, 222 ft. by 192 ft., 
 in which the tiers of seats are distinctly visible. The 
 hamlet on the opposite bank preserves in a modified 
 form the Roman name of Ultra Pontem. It is probable 
 that the connecting bridge was a pontoon similar in 
 character to that which survived to the close of the 
 last century. The local Museum is rich in objects of 
 archaeological interest. 
 
 On the hill-side, which formed the burial place of 
 
 22 
 
List of Towns 
 
 the ancient city, fragments of slabs and memorial urns 
 are even now often exhumed. Giraldus Cambrensis, 
 or Gerald de Barry, Archdeacon of Brecknock (1147- 
 1220), borrowing from Geoffrey of Monmouth (1130- 
 1140), Bishop of St. Asaph, author of Chronicon sive 
 Historia Britonum), says that " its splendid palaces, 
 with their gilded roofs, once emulated the grandeur 
 of Rome," which testimony we receive with a certain 
 amount of incredulity ; nevertheless, it bears witness 
 to the reputation it enjoyed in his day. 
 
 The city is connected with the romance of King 
 Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is said 
 that hither Arthur came at Pentecost to be crowned, 
 and that here he often took council with Dubric, or 
 Dubritius, " the high saint." 
 
 The keep of a castle is mentioned in Domesday 
 Book, the ruins of which, now limited to a solitary 
 bastion on the river's side, were very extensive, even 
 in Leland's time (1506-1552). Caerleon was a place 
 of great ecclesiastical importance and the seat of an 
 archbishopric. It is noticeable as the place of martyr- 
 dom, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, of two saints, 
 Aaron and Julius. Their bodies were buried in the 
 city, each afterwards having a church dedicated to 
 him. There is good reason for regarding these as 
 historical personages, but as Caerleon-upon-Dee was 
 also called " the City of the Legions," there is some 
 doubt whether their martyrdom occurred at the 
 former, now called Chester, or at the latter, which still 
 retains its British name. 
 
 Around the church of S. Cadoc there are abundant 
 remains to show the important centre Caerleon- 
 
 23 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 upon-Usk constituted in Roman times. There is a 
 tradition that its bishop was one of three who attended 
 the Council held at Aries, in 314, to discuss the 
 validity of ecclesiastical orders conferred by such 
 bishops as in time of persecution had delivered up to 
 be burnt their sacred writings. 
 
 CAERWENT.— This place is on the Chepstow side 
 of Caerleon, near Severn Tunnel Junction. 
 
 It was a military station, and important discoveries 
 of Roman remains have been made here. 
 
 CAISTOR CASTLE, or VENTA.— 4^ miles from 
 Yarmouth. Caistor Village is 3 miles distant. 
 
 This place occupies the site of a Roman camp, 
 which, in conjunction with Burgh Castle, guarded 
 this part of the coast. No remains of the camp now 
 exist, but Roman urns, pottery, and coins have been 
 found in and near the village. A field west of the 
 church, styled " East Bloody Furlong " has been fixed 
 upon as the site of the Castrum. 
 
 CANTERBURY.— Cant-wara-byrig— the burgh of 
 the men of the headland. (Hence, Archepiscopus 
 Cantuariensis). 
 
 Before the invasion of Caesar, a tribe of the Belgae 
 from Gaul had taken possession of a large portion of 
 South Britain, including Kent. 
 
 24 
 
List of Towns 
 
 The principal Roman road was the Watling Street, 
 between Dover and London, which followed much 
 the same course as the modern highway. This road 
 was joined at Canterbury by two others, proceeding 
 respectively from Lympne and Reculver. Two other 
 important Roman stations may be distinguished, 
 Durolevum and Vagniacae, the one probably by 
 Faversham, the other by Springhead, near Gravesend. 
 The important position of modern Canterbury is 
 affirmed by the fact that no fewer than 16 roads and 
 railway routes now converge upon the city. So, too, 
 in the olden time, it was a great nerve-centre, and the 
 mid-point of the important Roman fortresses of Dover, 
 Richborough, Reculver, and Lympne. 
 
 The Roman remains found throughout Kent are 
 numerous and important. There were potteries of 
 purple or black ware at Upchurch, on the S. bank of 
 the Medway. Leaden coffins, elaborately ornamented 
 glass and bronze vessels, and gold and silver orna- 
 ments, have been found in Roman cemeteries. The 
 city itself occupies the site of the Roman Durover- 
 num (Celtic, dwr- — water), and was established upon 
 that ford of the Stour at which the roads from the 
 four harbour-fortresses before mentioned became 
 united into the one great military way through Britain, 
 which became known as Watling Street in later times. 
 The Romans do not seem (at least towards the end of 
 their occupation) to have made the city a military 
 centre, or given it a permanent garrison, but rather to 
 have used it as a halting place for troops on the march. 
 In a commercial sense (lying, as it did, in the direct 
 path of all the south-eastern continental traffic of 
 
 25 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Britain) its importance at this epoch must have been 
 considerable. The Cathedral stands on the site of a 
 church founded in Roman times, and given by King 
 Ethelbert (together with his own palace adjacent) to 
 Augustine and his monks. St. Pancras (the found- 
 ations of which have now been uncovered) was origin- 
 ally Ethelbert's " Idol-house " ; and St. Martin's, 
 the sanctuary where the King's christian queen, 
 Bertha, worshipped under the tutelage of Bishop 
 Luithard. The structures existing in Ethelbert's day 
 were destroyed, and ultimately the cathedral was 
 entirely rebuilt by Lanfranc (1005 -1089) ; to this 
 additions were made by Anselm (1033- 1 109), and by 
 succeeding builders even as late as 1495, when the 
 addition of Goldstone's Central Tower left the 
 Cathedral as we have it to-day. 
 
 St. Martin's Church cannot be dismissed in a 
 summary manner. It is said by Bede to have been 
 built whilst the Romans still occupied Britain. It is 
 dedicated to the well-known Bishop of Tours (371- 
 397). Certainly the nave shows evidences of Roman 
 workmanship and plaster. A high arch has recently 
 been discovered in the west wall, on each side of 
 which is a window, apparently Roman in its origin, 
 but which has been subsequently lengthened out by 
 Saxon or Norman builders. The chancel, originally 
 but 20 feet long, is variously conjectured to be Roman 
 work or to have been built by St. Augustine. 
 There is a square-headed Roman doorway and a 
 round-headed Saxon one, in the south wall ; also an 
 early English sedile, bordered by Roman tiles on the 
 same side, eastward. 
 
 26 
 
List of Towns 
 
 The writer, the present Rector of Chillenden, feels 
 a peculiar pleasure in recalling the fact that two of 
 the Priors took their names from his parish, viz., 
 Adam de Chillenden (d. 1274) an( ^ Thomas de Chil- 
 lenden^. 1411). The name of the latter, in the Diocesan 
 Calendar, is distinguished by bold type, by reason of 
 the fact that between 1370 and 1410, the present nave 
 and transepts of Canterbury Cathedral, with the 
 middle part of the present central tower, were built 
 upon Lanfranc's old foundations by the Convent 
 under his superintendence, assisted as he was by 
 King Richard II and Archbishops Courtenay and 
 Arundel. The Chapel of St. Michael, the Warriors' 
 Chapel, was also added to by him. Moreover to him 
 is due the building of most of the cloisters, the great 
 Dormitory windows, the vaulting here and along the 
 north alley, as also the foliated window-like screens in 
 the latter alley. 
 
 The house in the precincts, known as Chillenden 
 Chambers, was used in mediaeval times for the re- 
 ception of pilgrims. It has been occupied for some 
 years by Dr. Walsh, Bishop of Dover. 
 
 CARDIFF.— Castle on the Taff, in the County of 
 Glamorgan. 
 
 The position between the rivers Taff and Rhymney, 
 as also between the mountains and the sea, marked 
 out this site, probably to the Romans, certainly to the 
 Normans, as a favourable position for a fortified 
 station. The remains of the Keep of the Castle still 
 
 27 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 exist, and the church of St. John has venerable mem- 
 ories. The buildings of the BlacEfriars and Greyfriars 
 have long ago disappeared. The old church of St, 
 Maryj too, was washed away by the sea. To the west, 
 beyond the suburb of Canton, the foundations of 
 Roman buildings have been uncovered and various 
 objects of interest found and lodged in the National 
 Museum. 
 
 CHESTER.— Otherwise Caerleon Vawr, or Caer- 
 lleon ar Dyfyrdwy. 
 
 Here was situated the great camp of the renowned 
 Twentieth Legion on the Dee, the Deva of the Roman 
 Itinerary. It stood at the head of the then most im- 
 portant estuary on this part of the coast, and at a point 
 where several Roman roads converged. It is doubtful 
 whether the city constituted a Colonia. It boasted a 
 fine Basilica. There may still be seen the remains of a 
 Roman arch impinging upon the Keep, or Caesar's 
 Tower, in the Castle. 
 
 CHESTERFORD— In Esse*, 47 J miles N. of 
 London. 
 
 To-day the Great Eastern Railway crosses the Cam, 
 or Granta, near a Roman station. Great Chesterford 
 is the ancient Iceanum, once thought to be Cambori- 
 cum. The foundations of walls enclosing about 50 
 acres are known to have existed a century and a half 
 
 28 
 
List of Towns 
 
 ago. The site was thoroughly explored between 1846 
 and 1848, under the superintendence of the Hon. R. 
 C. Neville, afterwards Lord Braybrooke. Many Roman 
 remains were recovered and are preserved at his seat, 
 Audley End — one of the finest examples of Jacobean 
 architecture now remaining in England. In this neigh- 
 bourhood, at Heydon, two miles N.W. of Chrishall, 
 and in the extreme angle of Essex, there was 
 discovered, in 1848, a chamber cut in the chalk. It 
 contained a sort of altar and an abundance of 
 Roman fibulae. Its purpose has not been clearly made 
 out. 
 
 CHICHESTER. 
 
 This city is built on a Roman site, near a line of 
 road now known as Stane Street. It is usually identi- 
 fied with Regnum, a town of the Belgae, mentioned 
 in the Antonine Itinerary. A slab of grey Sussex 
 marble, now at Goodwood, discovered in 1713, on 
 the site of the present Council House, bears an in- 
 scription which gives rise to an hypothesis which 
 represents Chichester as the seat of the native king, 
 Cogidubnus, mentioned by Tacitus as possessing 
 independent authority. It is further conjectured that 
 this king was the father of Claudia (2 Tim. iv, 21), 
 whose husband seems to have been Pudens, men- 
 tioned in the same verse (traditionally said to have 
 been a Roman Senator, who became a Governor of 
 Britain). Cogidubnus appears to have taken to himself 
 the more euphonious name of his imperial patron, 
 
 29 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Tiberius Claudius, hence, too, Claudia. It would 
 appear from this slab that Chichester was the abode 
 of a considerable number of craftsmen, and that they 
 erected a temple to Neptune and Minerva under the 
 patronage of a certain Pudens — in his unregenerate 
 days, doubtless, if this be the same as St. Paul's 
 Pudens. In the early Saxon occupation, the town 
 was destroyed by one Ella, but restored by Cissa, 
 hence Cissa's Castra, or Chichester ; hence, also, 
 the Bishop's signature, Cicestriensis. 
 
 CIRENCESTER, or CORININUM.— In Glouces- 
 tershire, 93 miles W.N.W. of London, on the 
 river Churn, a tributary of the Thames. 
 
 This was a nourishing Romano-British town, a 
 cavalry post, also a civilian city. At Chedworth, 7 
 miles, N.E., there has been unearthed one of the most 
 interesting Roman villas in England. 
 
 COLCHESTER— 51 miles, N.E. of London, on 
 the right bank of the Colne, 12 miles from the 
 sea. 
 
 Colonia Victricensis, Camolodunum, or Camulo- 
 dunum. (This colony is on the River Colne, even 
 as another stream of the same name flows by the 
 colony of Verulamium). 
 
 Before the Roman conquest it was the royal town 
 of Cunobelin, the Cymbeline of Shakespeare. When 
 
 3° 
 
Statute Mile s t 
 
 — Roman Wall 
 
 Vallum 
 
 • Roman Camps 
 
 Ouer 1200 feet 
 
 600 - 1200 feet 
 
 300 - 600 feet 
 
 , Under 300 feet 
 
 Wallsendi 
 
 CCOnCE PHILIP & SON, LTO. 
 
 The Roman Wall. 
 
List of Towns 
 
 Claudius had conquered the south-eastern part of the 
 island, he founded a colonia here, which may be said to 
 be the first in time of the Roman towns of Britain. 
 Even now, the walls of Colchester are the most perfect 
 Roman walls in England. There are other remains, 
 including the guard-room at the principal gate. A 
 large cemetery has been disclosed along the main road 
 leading out of the town. A valuable collection of 
 sepulchral remains has been made and placed in the 
 local museum. The city was refounded and ultimately 
 developed into a municipality, with discharged Roman 
 soldiers as citizens, to assist the Roman dominion and 
 spread Roman civilization. 
 
 Under Boadicea, the Iceni burnt the town and 
 massacred the colonists. 
 
 CORSTOPITUM, or CORCHESTER.— In North- 
 umberland. 
 
 This important station lies half a mile west of the 
 little town of Corbridge, at the junction of the Cor 
 with the Tyne, which is here crossed by a fine bridge 
 of seven arches, dating from 1674. It has been sug- 
 gested that the name Cor is associated with the Brig- 
 antian tribe of Corionototae. In regard to building 
 operations hereabouts extensive use has been made 
 of materials derived from Corstopitum. This — in its 
 day — occupied a commanding position as a Roman 
 Station, inasmuch as it furnished a storehouse for grain 
 and a basis for the northward operations carried on 
 about the time of Antoninus Pius. When these oper- 
 ations became unsuccessful, Corstopitum ceased to be 
 
 3 1 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 a military centre, though it still furnished a basis of 
 civilian occupation. The town was brought to desolation 
 early in the fifth century, and was never again occupied. 
 It was only to be expected that valuable finds should 
 be unearthed from the remains. Many have been 
 found by accident, as e.g., in 1734, a silver dish was 
 dug up weighing 148 oz.,and ornamented with figures 
 of deities. Again, much later, in 1908, there was re- 
 covered a hoard of gold coins, wrapped in leadfoil, 
 and thrust into the chink of a wall by a fugitive who 
 was fated never to return and recover his treasure. 
 The first-rate importance of the city in its relation to 
 the Roman Wall, and military operations based on 
 Corstopitum as a centre, was only fully revealed by 
 systematic investigations begun in 1907. There were 
 then uncovered, the foundations of several structures 
 fronting a broad thoroughfare, one of which is the 
 largest Roman building found to the present in 
 England, with the exception of the Baths at Bath. 
 Two of these warehouses were evidently granaries. 
 All testified to the importance attached to Corstopitum 
 as a storehouse and distributing centre. 
 
 The Wall of Hadrian. 
 
 It may be of interest to insert here a few directions 
 for any investigator who wishes to track out the Roman 
 Wall. Such a traveller might profitably visit first the 
 Museum at Newcastle, where many memorials are 
 preserved. There might be included the Castle Keep 
 and Chapel, with its richly-moulded Norman 
 arches and the Black Gate, with the collection 
 
 32 
 
List of Towns 
 
 of Roman inscribed and sculptured stones from the 
 eastern fortresses on the Wall between Bowness and 
 Wallsend. The numerous carved altars are especially 
 noticeable. From Newcastle the road can be taken 
 alongside the Wall to Chollerford, by way of Denton 
 Burn, Wallbottle, Heddon on the Wall, Vindobala, 
 Harlow Hill, Wallhouses, Halton Shields Hunnum, 
 Stagshaw Bank, and so, by a steep descent, into 
 Chollerford. If the train be taken, it is expedient to 
 break the journey at Prudhoe to view the ruins of the 
 Castle, built in the reign of Henry II. The curious 
 old bridge over a ravine is one of the oldest in the 
 North. From Prudhoe to Corbridge is twenty minutes 
 or so by rail. The buried city of Corstopitum lies to 
 the west of Corbridge. There can be traced the Forum, 
 streets, granaries, baths, and fountain. The excava- 
 tions conducted during 1908 and the two follow ng 
 years are deeply interesting There are Roman altars 
 and monuments to be seen at Hexham. Close to Choller- 
 ford are the remains of the remarkable Roman bridge 
 over the Tyne. Cilurnum (Chesters), the largest station 
 on the Wall, lies on the river bank. In the Museum 
 by the gates are deposited sculptured stones, vases, 
 etc., discovered hereabouts. Journeying from Brunton 
 to Limestone Bank, one finds the fosses and vallum ex- 
 ceptionally perfect. On the whole there are said to have 
 been about 23 important stations on the Wall, named 
 as follows : — Segedunum (Wallsend), Pons JElii 
 (Newcastle), Condercum (Benwell Hill), Vindobala 
 (Rutchester), Hunnum (Halton Chester), Cilurnum 
 (Chesters), Procolitia (Carrawburgh), Borcovicus 
 (House-steads), Vindolana (ChesterholmJ./Esica (Great 
 
 33 D 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Chesters), Magna (Carvoran), Amboglanna (Birdos- 
 wald), Petriana, Aballaba, Congovata, Axelodunum, 
 Gabrosentum, Tunocelum, Glannibanta, Alionis, 
 Bremetenracum, Olenacum, and Virosidum. It is 
 noteworthy that not a trace of the original names 
 survives in the local nomenclature of to-day, though 
 the exact position of most of the stations has been 
 made out from other indications. 
 
 It will be seen that one Wall extended from Wall- 
 send on the Tyne to Bowness on the Solway Firth, a 
 distance of 73 miles. It would have been about 12 feet 
 high and 6 feet thick, in parts 9J feet thick. Probably 
 about 10 years were expended in the building. About 
 10,000 men would be required adequately to garrison 
 its stations. It is difficult to believe that it was con- 
 structed de novo, or all at one time. Probably a line of 
 stations, suggested by the lie of the country, existed 
 here before Roman times, which line was extended 
 and consolidated by successive Roman generals and 
 emperors. 
 
 The Wall now bears the name of Hadrian, Emperor 
 from 1 17 to 138, but other names associated with it are 
 Agricola (37-93), Severus (193-211), Theodosius (346- 
 395) and Stilicho (d. 408). 
 
 To complete, or, rather round off, our account, a 
 few words ought to be added as to the Northern Wall. 
 The Wall of Antoninus, or Graham's Dyke (perhaps 
 from C. greim — a place of strength, and that which is 
 dug — a rampart) extends across the island from the 
 Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth — a distance of 
 about 36 miles. It consisted of an immense ditch, be- 
 hind which was raised a rampart of intermingled stone 
 
 34 
 
List of Towns 
 
 and earth, surmounted by a parapet, behind which ran 
 a level platform for the accommodation of the defenders. 
 South of the whole ran the military way — a regular 
 causeway about 20 feet wide. Commencing in the west 
 on a height called Chapel Hill, near the village of Old 
 Kilpatrick, in Dumbartonshire, it ran eastwards, 
 passing in succession Kirkintilloch, Crory, Castle- 
 cary, and Falkirk, terminating at Bridgeness, a rocky 
 promontory that projects into the Firth of Forth, 
 south of Borrowstonness in Linlithgowshire. A writer 
 of the life of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (13 8- 161) 
 states that Lollius Urbicus, a legate of that sovereign, 
 erected, after several victories over the Britons, 
 " another rampart of turf " to check their incursions, 
 but what has been said with reference to the builders 
 of Hadrian's Wall may be repeated with reference to 
 that of Antonine.* 
 
 DORCHESTER (Dorsetshire).— 130 miles S.W. 
 from London. On the right bank of the Frome. 
 Dorcestre (Dwr — a portion of the name of the 
 Durotriges, or dwellers upon he dwr or water). 
 
 Dorchester was a Romano-British town of con- 
 siderable size, probably successor to the British tribal 
 centre of the Durotriges. The walls can be traced in 
 part, and many mosaics and other remains of houses 
 have been found. Near Dorchester may be seen at 
 Maumbury Rings remains of an amphitheatre. Maiden 
 Castle, 2 milea S.W. of the town, is a vast earth- 
 work, considered to have been a stronghold of the 
 
 Appendix C. 
 
 35 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Durotriges.* Many other such remains are traceable 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 DORCHESTER (Oxfordshire). — Situated at the 
 junction of the Thames and the Thame. 
 
 There is a Roman station near the present village, 
 and (across the Thames) the double isolated mound 
 known as Wittenham Hills (Sinodum), on the summit 
 of which are strong early earthworks. In 655, this place 
 was the seat of a bishopric, the largest in England, 
 including the whole of Wessex and Mercia. In 1086, 
 William the First and Bishop Remigius removed the 
 bishop's stool to Lincoln. 
 
 DOVER. — Roman Dubris, on the Dour (dwr — water), 
 the principal Cinque port, is situated close to the 
 South Foreland, and is 72 miles from London. 
 
 It is the eye of England, looking over to the nearest 
 part of the continent. It is also the gate of England, 
 through which have come and gone in all historic 
 ages kings and queens and lesser folk on all kinds of 
 missions, relating both to war and peace. Geologically 
 
 * Mai-den = Mai Dun = the stronghold of the plain. It is 
 clearly originally the work of men of the latest Stone Age — men 
 who lived their lives in round barrows, and who raised this 
 entrenchment with merely their primitive picks or "celts" as 
 tools, for a defence against their finally successful invaders, the 
 Durotriges. In their turn, the latter used the forts against the 
 Romans— unless, as is more probable, they submitted without 
 fighting. 
 
 36 
 
List of Towns 
 
 it is knit to the French shore, by the existence both of 
 white and black rocks, i.e., chalk and coal. At a time 
 when Britain was joined to what is now Europe, when 
 the cave bear devoured his prey in Kent's cavern, and 
 the monkey gambolled in the lofty trees, when the 
 Thames was a tributary of some great eastern stream, 
 the Dour might have been a considerable river, as it 
 has worked for itself a deep erosive valley. Even in 
 early historic times its estuary must have occupied a 
 great part of the land on which stands modern Dover. 
 Originally wood fires were lighted on corresponding 
 sites on the E. and W. cliffs to guide vessels into the 
 intermediate beach and natural harbour during the 
 darkness of a winter's night. Even when the Pharos 
 was reared, the primitive mode of illumination by 
 means of wood or coal was employed. The modern 
 form of lighthouse, with glass or metal reflectors, 
 dates but from 1758, when the first Eddys tone light- 
 house was built. A common coal fire-light was con- 
 tinued at St. Bees Head, in Cumberland, as late as 
 1820. Architecturally, the Dover Pharos (so called 
 from one erected at Pharos, Alexandria, in 285, B.C. — 
 550 ft. high — said to have been visible 42 miles away) 
 is interesting from the fact that the stones from which 
 it is built are not native, but are supposed to have 
 been brought over as ballast in Roman galleys. In 
 some places it would appear that they were built up 
 wall-shape, liquid cement being poured into the in- 
 terstices. That the ubiquitous King Arthur built the 
 first castle on the cliffs, 300 ft. above the sea, is a 
 tradition — one we should like to believe. His name is 
 also associated with sites on the Western Heights and 
 
 37 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Barham Downs. It is certain that the Roman invaders 
 early took advantage of the position of this " key " of 
 the island, and that amongst their five coast castles, 
 under the control of " the Count of the Saxon Shore," 
 Dover held a position second only to Richborough. 
 In the Watling Street, the baths, now destroyed, the 
 church within the Castle, the Pharos, the Romans 
 have left clear evidence of their occupation. St. Mary's 
 may be the first Christian church in Britain. To the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century it was used for 
 worship ; it was then dismantled, and, after being 
 filled with stores, at last became a coal cellar. With the 
 greatest difficulty it was saved from destruction in 
 i860, and restored by Sir Gilbert Scott. 
 
 EXETER— 172 miles, W.S.W. from London. 
 
 Caer Isca of the Britons (Keltic, esk — exe — uisge 
 — water). In Camden's time (1 551-1623), the 
 name was written Ex-cester. 
 
 Exeter is situated on a broad ridge of land, rising 
 steeply from the left bank of the Exe. At the head of 
 the ridge is the Castle, occupying the site of a strong 
 British earth-work. Exeter was the Romano- British 
 country town of Isca Damnoniorum, the most westerly 
 town in the government of Roman Britain. Traces of 
 Roman walls survive in mediaeval walls, all the gates 
 of which, however, have disappeared. Exeter is the 
 nexus of a considerable number of roads. 
 
 38 
 
List of Towns 
 
 GLOUCESTER.— 114 miles W.N.W. of London. 
 On the east bank of the Severn. 
 
 It is doubtful if it were a British settlement. The 
 Roman municipality, or colonia, of Glevum was 
 founded by Nerva between 96 and 98. Part of the 
 original walls of the town may still be traced. 
 
 ISLE OF WIGHT.— Called by the Romans, Vectis ; 
 Wight being a corruption of this word. 
 
 This island was known in early times to the ancients, 
 and appears to have been used as a summer or sea- 
 bathing resort. There are interesting remains of 
 Roman villas at Brading and Carisbrooke.j 
 
 KENCHESTER, or Magni, or Magna, sometimes 
 Magnis, is situated on the Wye, about 4 miles 
 west of the city of Hereford. 
 
 Discoveries of coins and other objects suggest that 
 British villages existed here. The Watling Street 
 running from Wroxeter to Caerleon passes near, 
 communicating with Stoney Street, south of the 
 Wye. The site has yielded considerable evidence of 
 Roman occupation. Kenchester appears to have been 
 a small town, in shape an irregular hexagon, with an 
 area of some seventeen acres, surrounded by a stone 
 wall pierced by four gates. The principal street, 15 ft. 
 wide, ran from east to west ; the houses contained 
 
 39 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 tesselated pavements, hypocausts, leaden and tile 
 drains ; coins of various periods ; fibulae (some of 
 silver), glass, pottery, and the like, abound ; while 
 two inscriptions (one dated a.d. 283), lend a dis- 
 tinctive Roman colouring. Suburbs lay outside ; and 
 there was a villa a mile to the west at Bishopstone. 
 The town, though small, had pretensions to comfort 
 and civilization ; it is the only important Romano- 
 British site in Herefordshire. A legion was stationed 
 here. 
 
 LANCASTER. — Castra ad alaunam — camp on the 
 Lune, from Gaelic all — white. Therefore we have 
 al — white ; avn, or a/on — water ; which the 
 Romans latinized into Alauna. 
 
 LEICESTER. 
 
 Before the Roman invasion, Leicester was inhabited 
 by the Coritani. Under the Romans it formed part of 
 the province of Flavia Caesariensis. Watling Street,* 
 the Fosse Way and Via Devana converge on Leicester. 
 
 The principal Roman stations near were : 
 
 Ratae — Leicester ; 
 
 Verometum — Borough Hill ; 
 Manducosedum — Mancetter ; 
 Benones — High Cross. 
 
 * This does not actually pass through Leicester, but is twelve 
 miles away at nearest. 
 
 40 
 
List of Towns 
 
 In this region Roman remains have been found at : 
 Leicester, f Rothley, Wanlip, Hasby, Bottesfold, 
 Hinckley, Sapcote, and Melton Mowbray. In 1771 a 
 Roman milestone of the time of Hadrian (76-138) 
 was discovered at a spot two miles from Leicester. 
 Near Blaby, over the Soar, is a bridge locally known 
 as the Roman Bridge. 
 
 LINCOLN. — Llyn — a deep pool, and Colonia. The 
 Britons called it Lind-coit. The name Linn-dun, 
 of which Lindum is the Romanised version, 
 means The hill-fort of the pool. 
 
 The territory hereabouts was first settled by Belgae ; 
 who, however, at the time of Caesar's invasion, had 
 become a mixed race with the real Britons. The 
 country was conquered by the Romans about 70 A.D., 
 and formed part of the province of Flavia Caesariensis. 
 The tribe which occupied Lincolnshire were the 
 Coritani, who had Lindum and Ratae for their tribal 
 centres. In this territory remains of British camps 
 are found at Barrow, Folkingham, Ingoldsby, Revesby, 
 and Wells. Also traces of Roman camps are discover- 
 able at Alkborough, Caistor, Gainsborough, Gadney 
 Hill, near Holbeach, Honington, near Grantham, 
 South Ormsby, and Yarborough. The Roman roads 
 in this neighbourhood are nearly perfect. There is 
 Ermine Street on the eastern side of the Cliff Hills and 
 the Fosse Way, running S.W. from Lincoln. There is 
 
 t There is to be seen in situ beneath the Great Central Station 
 here a beautiful and almost perfect tesselated pavement. 
 
 4 1 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 a famous arch — the Newport — at Lincoln. It is one 
 of the most perfect specimens of Roman architecture 
 in England. It is sunk fully eleven feet below the 
 present level of the street, and has two smaller arches 
 on" each side, the one to the west being concealed by 
 an adjoining house. The Ermine Street passes through 
 this gate, running north from it for eleven or twelve 
 miles as straight as an arrow. Many Roman coins and 
 ornaments have been found in the immediate vicinity 
 of this gate. In the Cloister garden of the Cathedral 
 are preserved a tesselated pavement and the sepul- 
 chral slab of a Roman warrior. 
 
 LONDON. — Londonum, Londinium, the Augusta 
 of the Romans. Llyn Din — the Black Llyn or 
 Lake, or perhaps from Celto-Saxon dun, or don — 
 a hill fort. This fort may have been situated 
 whereabouts St. Paul's now stands, or, in a more 
 extended form, it may have been constituted by 
 Tower Hill, Cornhill, and Ludgate Hill ; bounded 
 thus by the Thames on the South, the Fleet on 
 the West, and the Fen of Moorfields and Finsbury 
 (afterwards by Hounsditch and the Tower) on 
 the East. 
 
 It must be premised that the course of the Thames, 
 the containing bounds, the depth of the stream, the 
 character of the rivulets — such as the Lea, the Fleet, 
 Wall-brook, West-Bourne, Tye-Bourne — presented 
 marked differences in early historic days from the 
 appearance they show to-day. The sites north and 
 
 42 
 
List of Towns 
 
 south of the line where London Bridge now stands 
 constituted firm ground, with a tendency to an eleva- 
 tion in the north. These facts determined the position 
 of the British settlement. At that part of the river the 
 Britons had, if not a ford, at least a ferry, and finally 
 a rough bridge — perhaps of coracles or boats — the 
 progenitor of the noble structure now existing. The 
 ferry went from what is now Dowgate to a similar 
 opening still existing to the west of St. Saviour's, 
 Southwark. 
 
 A British settlement of an early date would not now 
 be thought to deserve the name of town. No less an 
 authority than Julius Csesar tells us that it was nothing 
 more than a thick wood, fortified with a ditch and 
 rampart, to serve as a place of retreat from the inroads 
 of enemies. At that time, we may, therefore, imagine 
 a clearing carved out of the forest, extending probably 
 from the site of St. Paul's Cathedral to that of the 
 Bank of England, the dwellings of the Britons being 
 spread about the higher ground looking down upon 
 the river, including Tower Hill. At the time of the 
 revolt of the Iceni, the Roman governor, Paulinus 
 Suetonius, being unable to make a stand, abandoned 
 London to Boadicea, who entirely destroyed the city, 
 after having massacred the inhabitants. We find 
 London holding an important place in the Antonine 
 Itinerary, Londinium being a starting point for 
 nearly half the routes described in the portion devoted 
 to Britain. Traditionally, Constantine the Great 
 walled the city, at the request of his mother Helena, 
 who is said to have been a native of Britain. Probably 
 we should place the northern wall somewhere along 
 
 43 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 the course of Cornhill* and Leadenhall Street ; the 
 eastern in the direction of Billiter Street and Mark 
 Lane ; the southern in the line of Upper and Lower 
 Thames Streets ; the western on the S.W. side of 
 Walbrook. About the centre of each side might be 
 placed the four main gates, corresponding with 
 Bridge Gate, Ludgate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate. 
 
 The vision of Geoffrey of Monmouth of a great 
 British city, Troy Novant, founded by Brut, a de- 
 scendant of i*Eneas, must be relegated to the limbo of 
 myths. A more probable story is that one Belinus 
 formed a port or haven on the site of the present 
 Billingsgate, though it does not follow that he built a 
 gate of wonderful structure, still less that he built over 
 it — as the story goes — a prodigiously large tower. It 
 should be noted that " gate " may not mean a gate at 
 all in the modern sense of the word, but only an open- 
 ing or an entrance, even as the " Yats " leading to the 
 harbour of Yarmouth .f Mayhap this settlement con- 
 stituted the headquarters of Cassivellaunus, which 
 were taken and sacked by Julius Caesar. At all events, 
 Tacitus (61-117 a.d.) the first Roman author who 
 mentions London by name, speaks of it as an im- 
 portant commercial centre. It had not, up to a.d. 61 , 
 been dignified by the name of a Colony. A temple, 
 dedicated to Diana, appears to have stood on the site 
 of our Eastminster, S. Paul's, and another, to Apollo, 
 
 * Perhaps somewhat to the north of the modern street. A 
 portion is to be seen in the churchyard of St. Giles, Cripplegate. 
 
 t In like manner we have Margate, Kingsgate, Westgate, 
 Ramsgate, Sandgate, &c, indicating probably sites where a 
 passage has been cut through the cliff by a stream or human 
 agency. 
 
 44 
 
List of Towns 
 
 at Westminster. When Tacitus wrote, Verulamium 
 and Camulodunum possessed mints, whilst London 
 did not. The earliest Roman London must have 
 been a comparatively small place, with a fort to com- 
 mand the passage of the Thames. Perhaps to the 
 Romans are due the primitive embankments which 
 were designed to restrain the vagaries of the river at 
 the times of tide and flood. London Stone, built into 
 another stone in Cannon Street, outside the wall of 
 St. Swithin's Church, is generally considered to be a 
 milliarium (to mark so many thousand paces) or central 
 station from which to measure distances, but it may 
 conceivably have had some more ancient and peculiar 
 designation in connection with a public or sacred 
 building. Old London lies 20 feet or so below the 
 present street level, so that, when excavations are 
 made for any purpose, Roman remains are frequently 
 found and parts of the Roman wall uncovered. 
 
 Remains — pavements, etc. — are to be seen in 
 abundance in the Guildhall Museum. 
 
 When the old General Post Office in St. Martin's- 
 le-Grand was demolished a large series of Roman 
 rubbish pits was disclosed. The lowest portions of 120 
 of these were carefully excavated. The " finds " in- 
 cluded a few whole pots and many thousands of 
 fragments of Samian and coarse pottery, besides build- 
 ing materials, whetstones, beads, knives, coins, and 
 other small articles. It has been possible to assign dates 
 to most of the holes — between a.d. 50 and 200. By 
 the association in the same hole of datable with un- 
 datable pottery, light has been thrown upon manv 
 types of the latter. 
 
 45 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 Not long ago, while the buildings 3-6 King William 
 Street were being demolished, another series of five 
 large Roman pits was uncovered. From the fragments 
 obtained therefrom nine Samian vessels of the first 
 century have been pieced together, and are now in 
 the Guildhall Museum. These include a decorated 
 vessel, finer than any previously found in London, 
 and two specimens of a shape unknown hitherto in 
 England. A lamp, two coins, and other objects of 
 pottery and bronze were also obtained from this 
 source.* 
 
 It is a moot point whether the Saxon migration 
 along the Thames waterway was checked by the 
 presence of London, which remained a city stronghold 
 since Roman times, but it is evident that a gap was 
 made in the history of the city just after the departure 
 of the Romans, and the theory of continuous occu- 
 pation can hardly be maintained in face of the fact 
 that the mediaeval City streets in no case follow the 
 Roman roads, traces of which lie beneath the mediaeval 
 
 •i 
 
 * Besant's London and his Westminster convey a fascinating 
 account of what was c labour of love on the part of the author 
 to compile. All sorts of unexpected pleasures await the wan- 
 derer in London's highways and byeways. One of these may be 
 noticed in respect of the Roman bath in the Strand. Turning 
 down Strand Lane (a narrow passage between King's College 
 and Surrey Street), a few yards bring one to the baths. The lane 
 itself is as ancient as anything in London, inasmuch as it must 
 have been in very early times a path by the side of the stream 
 fed by the bath spring, and perhaps by the Holy Well, which 
 afterwards gave its name to the notorious Holywell Street, this 
 tti'Mm finally flowing into the Thames. 
 
 46 
 
List of Towns 
 
 LYMPNE, or Lemanae. — Pevensey District Anderida. 
 
 It is considered that Reculver was the earliest 
 Roman coast-fortress in Kent, that Richborough was 
 founded somewhat later, and that Lympne and 
 Pevensey constituted the latest stations ; also, that 
 (probably even before the time of Constantine) a 
 division of the Romano-British fleet was stationed at 
 Lympne and a series of buildings erected by their 
 crews. When Romney Marshes were covered by an 
 inland sea, and many streams drained this eastern 
 side of the Andred Forest, the Romans established 
 the military station Lemanae, at the estuary of the 
 chief of those streams, and defended it by the cas- 
 trum, the ruins of which are now known as Stutfall 
 Castle. Some of the stones of this castrum were used 
 by Archbishop Lanfranc in the construction of a 
 church at Lympne. 
 
 MALDON, Essex. — Situated on an acclivity rising 
 from the south side of the Blackwater — 44 miles 
 E.N.E. of London, and 16 S.W. from Colchester 
 or Camulodunum, with which it has sometimes 
 been identified, or rather, confounded. 
 
 It is supposed to have received its name* (Cross 
 Hill) from a cross erected, on the eminence. A large 
 number of Roman remains have been found in the 
 neighbourhood, testifying to the importance of the 
 
 * Maldon may be a shortened form of a second Camu/odmium. 
 Dun would be a hill-fortress, and a cross being erected thereon 
 would give rise to the appellation Cross Hill. 
 
 47 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 place during the time of their occupation. On the West 
 side of the town there are also traces of a large camp, 
 which was doubtless utilized by different bodies of 
 invaders and settlers. The oldest historical mention 
 of Maldon is in 913, when Edward the Elder en- 
 camped near it to oppose an incursion of the Danes. 
 
 MANCHESTER.— 180 miles N.W. of London. 
 (Celtic man — a district). 
 
 It is situated in the neighbourhood of four rivers, 
 viz., the Irwell, Medlock, Irk, and Tib. It has been 
 conjectured that at Castlefield there stood a British 
 fortress, which was afterwards taken possession of by 
 the soldiers of Agricola ; at all events, it would appear 
 to be certain that a Roman Station of some importance 
 existed in this locality, as a fragment of a wall still 
 exists. Even up to the end of the eighteenth century 
 considerable evidences of Roman occupation were 
 visible in and around Manchester, and from time to 
 time in the course of excavation (especially during 
 the digging for the Bridgewater Canal) old-time 
 remains have been found. The coins recovered were 
 those of Vespasian, Antoninus Pius, Trajan, Hadrian, 
 Nero, Domitian, Vitellius, and even as late as the 
 time of Constantine. The period immediately suc- 
 ceeding the Roman occupation is largely legendary ; 
 but up to the seventeenth century there was a float- 
 ing tradition that Tarquin, an enemy of Arthur, kept 
 the castle of Manchester, but was subsequently killed 
 by Launcelot of the Lake. The town was probably one 
 
 48 
 
List of Towns 
 
 of the scenes of the preaching of Paulinus, the cele- 
 brated Bishop of York and of Rochester (597-644), 
 and is said to have been the residence of Ina, King of 
 Wessex, and his queen, Ethelburga, after he had 
 defeated Ivor, in the year 689. It suffered greatly from 
 the ravages of the Danes. In Domesday Book, Man- 
 chester, Salford, Rochdale, and Radcliffe are the only 
 places named in South-east Lancashire. 
 
 PORTSMOUTH.— 74 miles S.W. of London. 
 
 To the north of the harbour is situated Porchester 
 Castle, a ruined Norman fortress occupying the site 
 of the Partus Magnus of the Romans. Portsmouth and 
 Southampton must have been used by the Romans as 
 a passage way to the Isle of Wight, where the remains 
 of villas show that the island furnished a place of 
 residence for rich and distinguished Romans. 
 
 RECULVER. 
 
 At the time of the Roman occupation Thanet was 
 an island, and to guard the north-west end of the 
 important channel of the " Wantsume," which separ- 
 ated the island from the main part of Kent, the 
 Romans built Regulbium, corresponding to the 
 greater Rutupiae of the southern outlet,* The Roman 
 
 * It is possible that works now proceeding 1 , necessitated by the 
 Great War, may result in the regulation of the waterways close 
 to Sandwich and in its neighbourhood in such wise as to open up 
 again this channel, and constitute Thanet once more an island in 
 fact as well as in name. 
 
 49 e 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 fort was probably one of the earliest in the country. 
 It must have covered about eighty acres, and 
 was garrisoned by the first cohort of Vetasii from 
 Brabant. In 670, Bassa, a priest, erected a monastery 
 and church here, which, nearly three hundred years 
 later, were annexed by the monks of Christ Church, 
 Canterbury. The greater part of these buildings was 
 ruthlessly destroyed by the villagers in 1809, but the 
 intervention of the Trinity House authorities in the 
 following year saved the towers of the church, to serve 
 as landmarks to the mariner. The churchyard is being 
 slowly eroded by the sea. 
 
 RICHBOROUGH.— Rutupiae. 
 
 This furnishes one of the finest remaining relics of 
 Roman Britain. Built somewhat later than Reculver — 
 about the middle of the third century a.d. — the castle 
 guarded the principal and oldest port of entry into 
 Britain in the Roman period. The rectangular enclosure 
 still existing was the fortress of a considerable Roman 
 settlement which lay to the south and south-west. At 
 a little distance is an amphitheatre with three entrances . 
 Out of the West or Decuman Gate, the Roman road 
 to London and the North started. In the centre of the 
 North wall is the opening of the Postern Gate, and 
 there were probably central gates on the east and south. 
 The feature of greatest interest remaining is the sub- 
 terranean structure in the centre. This consists of an 
 overhanging platform on a concrete foundation. There 
 are traces of an encircling wall, and projecting up- 
 wards from the centre is an extraordinary cruciform 
 
 5° 
 
List of Towns 
 
 platform. An underground passage runs round the 
 whole. Some antiquaries consider that all this formed 
 part of some temporary or substitutional building 
 raised in lieu of an original more ambitious design ; 
 others think it may have been a signal tower combined 
 with a lighthouse. In the Liverpool Museum are to 
 be found many objects discovered here, including 
 mural paintings, pottery, toys, dice, a steelyard with 
 weights, and bone spurs, used for cock-fighting. 
 
 ROCHESTER— Durobrivae ; Horfcester. 33 miles 
 E.S.E. of London. 
 
 Its situation on the Roman Way from the Kentish 
 ports to the metropolis, as well as its strategical position 
 on the bend of the Medway, gave Rochester and the 
 adjacent places on the river early importance. It was a 
 walled Romano-British town, though of no great size. 
 The original bridge across the Medway to Strood 
 probably dates from the Roman period, taking the 
 place of a ferry. 
 
 SILCHESTER.— In North Hampshire— Calleva, 10 
 miles South of Reading. 
 
 A Romano-British town, which was thoroughly 
 explored under the auspices of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries between 1890 and 1909. The whole plan of 
 the ancient town within the walls was disclosed as 
 successive portions were uncovered. The suburbs, 
 and the cemeteries, which, as usual, were located 
 
 5* 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 without the gates, have not yet been excavated The 
 ruins of the Town Hall still remain. The Duke of 
 Wellington, whose residence is at Strathfieldsaye, is 
 the owner of the site. He has arranged that most of 
 the objects found at Silchester shall be deposited in 
 the Museum at Reading. 
 
 ST. ALBANS.— Verulamium. 
 
 Originally within the limits of the territory of the 
 tribe of which Cassivellaunus was, at one time, the 
 head, Before the Roman Conquest it was a British 
 capital. In Roman times it received the dignity of a 
 municipium — implying municipal status and Roman 
 citizenship for its free inhabitants. Tacitus informs 
 us that the town was burnt by Boadicea in 61 a.d., 
 but it soon rose again to prosperity. The site is still 
 easily recognisable, its walls, of flint rubble, sur- 
 viving in stately fragments, enclosing an area of well- 
 nigh 200 acres. Of the buildings formerly occupying 
 this area but little is now known. The theatre was 
 excavated in 1847, and parts of the forum in 1898. 
 The tower of the famous Abbey is largely built of 
 bricks taken from the Roman buildings ! 
 
 During the first three centuries ten distinct general 
 persecutions swept over the nascent Christian Church. 
 Owing to the remote position of Britain, it appears to 
 have escaped these fiery trials until the time of the 
 Emperor Diocletian, about 304. Several names among 
 the Britons have been traditionally handed down to 
 us as having received the honour of martyrdom, but 
 
 52 
 
List of Towns 
 
 the premier place among them has always been 
 accorded to a young soldier who was stationed at 
 Verulam. It appears that he was converted by an 
 evangelist named Amphibalus, to whom, when the 
 trial came, he gave shelter, and even facilitated his 
 escape by an exchange of garments. When brought 
 before the judges and charged with concealing " a 
 blasphemer of the Roman gods," Alban avowed 
 himself a convert to the proscribed religion and refused, 
 in spite of torture, to burn incense upon the heathen 
 altars. He was therefore beheaded outside the city 
 about the year 285 (although the precise date is un- 
 certain).* About a.d. 785, Offa, king of that part of 
 Britain which we call the Midland Counties, caused 
 search to be made for the bones of the proto-martyr, 
 and built a noble monastery and church where they 
 were found, which possibly may be identified with 
 the older parts of the present structure.! Eventually 
 his shrine was reared up in the South transept of the 
 Cathedral. Behind and just above the shrine is the 
 Watching Gallery, where devotees offered continual 
 prayer and guarded the relics from fire and robbery. 
 Close by is another shrine in memory of S. Amphi- 
 balus. The monastery attained to great eminence — 
 its head was the premier Abbot of England — and the 
 shrine was loaded with ornaments of enormous value. 
 The glory departed at the time of the Dissolution 
 under Henry VIII. The Monastic Church is now 
 
 * Appendix D. 
 
 t These words are written within a mile of a site in Kent which 
 bears the name of St. Albans, inasmuch as a small daughter- 
 house was established there. 
 
 53 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 admitted to the rank of a Cathedral. The building 
 was restored (or deformed ?) at great cost by the first 
 Lord Grimthorpe, who did things with all his right, 
 but, as in this case, as some say, with all his wrong. 
 
 The church in the neighbourhood of old St. Albans, 
 on the North side of the chancel, contains a monu- 
 ment to the memory of Francis Bacon, Viscount St. 
 Albans, a great lawyer, an incisive thinker, the founder 
 of the school of inductive philosophers — a man who, 
 unhappily, was cast from his exalted legal position by 
 the malice of his foes. How far he himself contributed 
 to his disgrace we will not say. 
 
 WINCHESTER.— Wynton, otherwise, Venta Bel- 
 garum (Venta, a Latin form of Win, which i9 
 derived from the Celtic, gtvent, a plain ; hence 
 also Venta Silurum, and Bennaventa=Daventry) ; 
 66£ miles S.W. London. 
 
 The city is situated in and above the valley of the 
 Itchen, mainly on the left bank. Tradition ascribes 
 its foundation to Tudor Rous Hudibras, and dates it 
 99 years before the first building of Rome ! Earth- 
 works and relics testify that the Itchen Valley was 
 originally occupied by Celts, and it is certain from its 
 position at the centre of six Roman roads, and from 
 the relics found there, that the Caer Gwent (White 
 City of the Celts — Ghwin — white*) under the name 
 
 * The two words gwent and ghwin probably look to each other 
 in a common meaning'. Givent, that which is extended, as a 
 plain ; ghwin, that which presents a uniform lightish tint, such as 
 a plain or a lake, as contrasted with dark patches or morass. 
 
 54 
 
List of Towns 
 
 of Venta Belgarum, was an important Romano-British 
 country town. Legends accumulate here around the 
 persons of Arthur and his knights. After the conquest 
 of Hampshire by Gervisus, the place became the 
 capital of Wessex, then of England, when the Kings 
 of Wessex consolidated the kingdom. Alfred and 
 Canute resided here, amongst other English sover- 
 eigns ; and here were laid to rest Alfred's remains, 
 until — at the close of the eighteenth century — the 
 coffin that contained them was sold by a mercenary 
 municipality for the sake of the lead in which they 
 were enclosed ! Egbert, Edmund the Elder, and 
 Canute were also buried here. Edward the Confessor 
 was crowned in the Minster in 1043. Be;ng near the 
 New Forest, and only 12 miles from Southampton, 
 Winchester was much frequented by the Norman 
 Kings. William I wore the crown there at Easter, even 
 as at Westminster at Whitsuntide, and at Gloucester 
 at Christmas. 
 
 WROXETER.— (Towards the Welsh border the c. 
 or ch. of Chester becomes an x, and the tendency 
 to elision is very strong.) The equivalent is Uri- 
 conium, properly Viroconium. The original 
 Celtic name survives in Wroxeter and Wrekin, it 
 being derived from Celtic rhos — a moor). Wrox- 
 eter is situated on the Severn, 5 miles E. of 
 Shrewsbury. 
 
 It was a large Romano- British town* originally the 
 chief town of the Cornovii. At first (perhaps about 
 
 55 
 
The Towns of Roman Britain 
 
 45-55 a.d.) it constituted a Roman legionary fortress, 
 held by Legio XIV (Gemina) against the Welsh hill 
 tribes. However, its garrison was soon removed, and 
 it became a flourishing town with stately Town Hall, 
 Baths and other appurtenances of a thoroughly Roman 
 and civilised city. It was larger and probably richer 
 than Silchester. The lines of its walls can still be 
 traced, enclosing about 170 acres. Parts of important 
 public buildings have been disclosed by the excav- 
 ations, which are still progressing. They are carried 
 on under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries.* 
 
 YORK. — (Celtic, contracted from eure-zvic ; wic, 
 from L. vicus), otherwise Eboracum. 
 
 It lies in a plain watered by the Ouse, at the junction 
 of the Foss stream with the main river. 188 miles N. 
 by W. of London. 
 
 In British times the city bore the name of Caer- 
 Ebroc. It was chosen by the Romans as an important 
 depSt after the conquest of the Brigantes by Agricola 
 in 79. Ultimately it became the most important Roman 
 centre in North Britain. The fortress of Legio VI 
 (Victrix) was situated near the site of the present 
 Minster, and a municipality or colonia sprang up 
 where now stands the railway station on the opposite 
 side of the Ouse. There is a large collection of remains 
 to be found in the hospitium of St. Mary's Abbey, 
 derived from the cemetery and the site of the railway 
 station. The base of the Multangular Tower, N.W. 
 of the walls, is Roman, of mingled brick and stone 
 
 * See Appendix D. 
 56 
 
List of Towns 
 
 work. The present names of the Bars are Mickle- 
 gate, Bootham, Monk (Goodrum), and Walmgate. 
 Of the Norman fortress erected by William the Con- 
 queror in 1068 some portions were probably incor- 
 porated in Clifford's Tower, which was partly de- 
 stroyed by fire in 1684. The Cathedral, or Minster of 
 St. Peter, if surpassed by some other English fanes in 
 certain special features, is on the whole the most 
 striking and imposing specimen of ecclesiastical 
 architecture in Britain. 
 
 The Emperor Hadrian visited York in 120. The 
 Emperor Severus died in this city in 211, and his body 
 was probably burnt on the hill which now bears his 
 name. After the death of Constantius Chlorus at York, 
 his son, Constantine the Great (who, according to an 
 ancient but incorrect tradition, was born at York), 
 was inaugurated in this imperial centre. The Romans 
 withdrew in 410, and after that, scarcely is anything 
 known of the state of things hereabouts until 627, when 
 King Edwin was baptized and Paulinus consecrated in 
 what then constituted the metropolitan church. 
 
 57 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 Of late years measurements and records in regard to 
 racial characters have been made more or less thoroughly 
 throughout Europe, partly by individual enterprise, partly 
 by Government officials, who have mainly taken children 
 and soldiers as the material of observation. It is thus estab- 
 lished that there is along the Mediterranean, throughout 
 the Spanish Peninsula, extending into the western borders 
 of France, and as far north as the West of England, parts 
 of Wales and of Scotland, and of Ireland (where dwell the 
 descendants in the British Isles of the ancient Picts or 
 long-barrow men), a predominating race which is called 
 " the Mediterranean " or " Iberian " race, characterized 
 by a narrow, long, skull, dark colour of the hair, eyes, and 
 skin, and short stature. 
 
 Fringing the north and north-west border of Europe, 
 occupying Scandinavia, and largely dominating Great 
 Britain and Ireland (where it has overrun the earlier Iberian, 
 or Pictish people) is the second great European race — the 
 Nordic. It was formerly called the " Teutonic," but, as 
 this term has been misapplied in Germany for political 
 reasons, so as to include a large body of the last, or third, 
 race, it is better to use the word " Nordic." The Nordic 
 race is, like the Iberian, long-headed, but in contrast it is 
 blond and very tall. 
 
 The third great European race occupies a vast wedge 
 intruding between the areas occupied by the Iberian race 
 to the South and the Nordic people to the North. It fills 
 all but the northern border of Russia and occupies Hun- 
 gary (where there are also intrusive Huns of Mongolian 
 origin), Austria, Roumania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. It 
 also populates Germany (except its northernmost pro- 
 vinces) and occupies the north and north-west of Italy, 
 the west and centre of France and half of Belgium. It is 
 characterized by the round head, sturdy size, and a colour- 
 ation intermediate between that of the Iberians and Nordics, 
 
 59 
 
Appendix A 
 
 a colouration which may tend to brunette or blond accord- 
 ing as either of these races is mixed with it. It is best called 
 the Alpine race, but is also styled the Celtic, on account 
 of its association with the Celtic culture and language ; 
 though it never occupied Ireland, and does not exist at the 
 present day in Cornwall and Scotland, and is hardly 
 recognisable in Wales. 
 
 The Nordic element is predominant in Great Britain 
 and Ireland, associated with the earlier and partly absorbed 
 Iberian, with hardly a trace of the Alpine or Celtic race, 
 in spite of the talk about Celtic fringes and the ancient 
 introduction and prevalence of Celtic language and culture 
 due to the influence of small groups of Celtic immigrants 
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 In the course of an enquiry in Australia, having for its 
 object the fostering a love of the country districts and 
 stemming the exodus to the cities, which is a disquieting 
 feature of life in the Commonwealth, medical inspectors 
 in the schools of Victoria have come to the conclusion that 
 blue-eyed people seek the land, and that the city popu- 
 lations are recruited largely from the brown-eyed. If this 
 conclusion could be generally supported, it opens up in- 
 teresting questions as to the connection of eye-pigmentation 
 with race, and its possible modification by inter-marriage. 
 From the uncertainty of our knowledge as to the immediate 
 cause of eye and hair pigmentation one cannot but be 
 faced with the alternative — either that little formal attention 
 has been paid to the subject, or that the elements of in- 
 vestigation are uncertain and conflicting. What would 
 Mendel have said to this problem ? 
 
 60 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 In the course of the compilation of this History, the 
 Author re-perused the Handbook to the Roman Wall, in 
 the fifth edition, put forth by Mr. Robert Blair, many 
 years after the death of the original compiler, Dr. Bruce. 
 In the light of succeeding events it is curious to note what 
 is said of Corstopitum, a site noted in the text as being 
 near Hadrian's great line of wall and its defences. Thus 
 the record runs : 
 
 This site, which lost its military importance with the 
 retreat of the Romans, apparently became a commercial 
 emporium, and underwent very various fortunes, cul- 
 minating in its destruction by barbarians ; so that, from 
 the fifth century, it ceased to be from that day to this ; 
 no man dwelling on the site. 
 
 Mr. Blair says of the place itself : 
 
 Its form and extent gave it the aspect of a city rather 
 than of a camp. Remains of a bridge across the Tyne 
 are to be seen when the river is low. Excavations were 
 made in the summer of 1906. Nothing of account was 
 found except a few walls, an intaglio, some fragments 
 of pottery and a few coins. 
 
 How frigid and disappointing is not this record ! But 
 
 listen to the story which Sir Arthur Evans related to the 
 
 British Association for the Advancement of Science in 
 
 his Presidential address at Newcastle last September : 
 
 The work at Corbridge, the ancient Corstopitum, 
 
 begun in 1906, and continued down to the autumn of 
 
 1914, has already uncovered throughout a great part 
 
 of its area the largest urban centre — civil as well as 
 
 military in character — on the line of the Wall, and the 
 
 principal store-house of its stations. Here (together with 
 
 well-built granaries, workshops, and barracks, and other 
 
 records of river life as are supplied by sculptured stones 
 
 and inscriptions, and the double discovery of hoards 
 
 61 
 
Appendix C 
 
 of gold coins) has come to light a spacious and massively 
 constructed stone building, apparently a military store- 
 house, worthy to rank besides the bridge-piers of the 
 North Tyne among the most important monuments of 
 Roman Britain. There is much here, indeed, to carry 
 our thoughts far beyond our insular Hmits. On this, as 
 on so many other sites along the Wall, the inscriptions 
 and reliefs take us very far afield. We mark the 
 gravestone of a man of Palmyra, an altar of the Tyrian 
 Hercules — its Phoenician Baal — a dedication to a panthe- 
 istic goddess of Syrian religion and the raised effigy of 
 the Persian Mithra. So, too, in the neighbourhood of 
 Newcastle itself, as elsewhere on the Wall, there was 
 found an altar of Jupiter Dolichenus, the old Anatolian 
 God of the Double Axe, the male form of the divinity 
 once worshipped in the prehistoric Labyrinth of Crete. 
 Nowhere are we more struck than in this remote ex- 
 tremity of the Empire with the heterogeneous religious 
 elements, often drawn from its far Eastern borders, that 
 before the days of the final advent of Christianity 
 Roman dominion had been instrumental in diffusing. 
 The Orontes may be said to have flowed into the Tyne 
 as well as the Tiber. 
 
 This quotation has been given at length in order to 
 sustain the contention — put forth more than once in this 
 book — that treasures associated with the Roman epoch lie 
 around us in every part of our island, and that all sorts of 
 novel surprises mutely await the advent and quest of the 
 diligent investigator. 
 
 But to return for a moment to Corstopitum. It has been 
 realised that the city was a centre of iron-work and pottery- 
 making to supply the needs of the troops. It furnished a 
 base for the invasion of Caledonia by Lollius Urbicus in 
 A.D. 140, and for the great expedition of Septimius Severus 
 in a.d. 208. Much of the area excavated during 1906 and 
 the following years has been filled in, but the most im- 
 portant buildings remain open — two large granaries, the 
 fountain or public water-pant, and a large unfinished 
 
 6a 
 
Appendix C 
 
 building, which may have been designed as a military 
 storehouse, or as the praetorium of a legionary fortress 
 which never came into being. The most remarkable finds 
 made here have been the Corbridge lion in stone, which 
 now enjoys an European reputation, and two hoards of 
 gold coins, now in the British Museum.* 
 
 The Map on page 31 gives the line of Hadrian's Wall 
 through the two counties of Northumberland and Cum- 
 berland, viz., from Wallsend to Bowness, and indicates 
 the principal places on the route. For further details of 
 this absorbing subject the reader is referred to such works 
 as the Proceedings and Transactions of learned societies, 
 such as the Archaologia JEhana, or the Lapidariwn Sep- 
 tentrionale. The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Vol. vii 
 gives a full rendering of the inscriptions. 
 
 * Vide Official Handbook to Newcastle and District, put forth 
 on the occasion of the last visit ot the British Association to that 
 city. 
 
 63 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 " The Society of Antiquaries, in conjunction with the 
 Shropshire Archaeological Society, carried on extensive 
 excavations at Wroxeter during the years 1912, 1913, and 
 
 " Wroxeter, the ancient Viroconium or Uriconium, is 
 situated on the east bank of the Severn, between five and 
 six miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The lines of its walls 
 can still be traced, enclosing an area of about 170 acres, 
 and the town must have been an important centre in 
 Roman-Britain, as it stood at the junction of two of the 
 main roads, viz., the Watling Street from London and 
 the south-east, and the road from the legionary fortress 
 of Caerleon in South Wales. There were also other roads 
 running from it into Wales and to Chester. The town is 
 referred to by the Ravenna Geographer as Viroconium 
 Cornoviorum, and was probably the chief town of that 
 tribe which inhabited a district including both Wroxeter 
 and Chester. 
 
 " That the site was inhabited soon after the invasion 
 under Claudius in 43 A.D. is evident. Coins and other 
 objects of pre-Flavian date have been met with in some 
 quantities, and there are tombstones of soldiers of the 
 XIV Legion from the cemetery. This legion came over 
 with Claudius, and left Britain for good in the year 70 A.D. 
 Wroxeter, situated on the edge of the Welsh hills and 
 protected from attack on that side by the river Severn, 
 would have formed an admirable base for operations 
 against the turbulent tribes of Wales, and it is more than 
 likely that it was used as such in the campaigns undertaken 
 by Ostorius Scapula in 50 a.d. and by Suetonius Paulinus 
 in 60 a.d. 
 
 " The Welsh tribes were finally subdued before the end 
 of the reign of Vespasian, and the country became more 
 settled. Wroxeter appears to have ceased to be a military 
 centre and to have grown into a large and prosperous town. 
 It is in this period — namely, the last quarter of the first 
 century a.d. — that the occupation began on the part of the 
 site recently excavated. Very little of the earlier buildings 
 
 64 
 
Appendix D 
 
 remained, as they all appear to have been built of wood 
 and wattle-and-daub. 
 
 " In the second century more substantial houses were 
 erected, and in the course of the excavations the following 
 buildings were uncovered. In 1912, four long shops, with 
 rooms at the back and open fronts with porticoes on the 
 street. In 1913, a temple, which must have been of some 
 architectural pretensions, and contained life-sized statues, 
 of which several fragments were discovered. In 1914, a 
 large dwelling house, consisting of a number of rooms with 
 a large portico on the street and a small bath-house on the 
 south side. The porticoes of all these buildings formed a 
 continuous colonnade by the side of the street. At the back 
 of the large dwelling-house another structure was dis- 
 covered. Unfortunately it could not be entirely explored, 
 as its west part was beyond the reserved area. It consisted 
 of two parallel walls, 13 ft. apart, which enclosed an oblong 
 space with rounded corners 144 ft. wide and 188 ft. long 
 to the furthest point excavated. No other building of this 
 form appears to have been found elsewhere, and it is 
 difficult to say for what purpose it was used, especially as 
 part of it is still unexcavated. It is possible, however, that 
 it may have been a place of amusement for games, bull- 
 baiting, etc., and that the two parallel walls held tiers of 
 wooden seats. 
 
 " The buildings that faced the street had been altered 
 and rebuilt several times, the mixed soil being from 8 ft. 
 to 10 ft. deep in places, making the work of excavation very 
 slow and laborious. For instance, in 1914 there was 
 evidence of at least four different periods of buildings on the 
 same site. In the early period there were wood and wattle- 
 and-daub houses. Over the remains of these in the first 
 half of the second century three long buildings were 
 erected with open fronts or porticoes similar to those found 
 in 1912. About the middle of the second century these 
 three buildings were incorporated in one large house with 
 corridors, two courtyards, many rooms, some with mosaic 
 floors, and others fitted with hypocausts. A bath-house, 
 
 65 F 
 
Appendix D 
 
 with cold baths and hot rooms, was situated at the south- 
 west corner. At a later period this dwelling was consider- 
 ably altered, several of the rooms being swept away, and 
 the central part of the building turned into one large court- 
 yard with corridors on three sides. Two new hypocausts 
 were inserted and extra rooms and a long corridor or 
 verandah built at the back. Water was supplied to the 
 houses by a water main at the side of the road. By shutting 
 sluice-gates it was possible to divert the water into side 
 channels which ran through the houses, flushing their 
 drains, and discharging at the back into the river. Eleven 
 wells were found during the excavations, varying from 
 i o ft. to 12 ft. in depth and stone-lined. 
 
 " A number of crucibles and some unfinished bronze 
 castings, etc., have been met with, showing that metal- 
 working was carried on on the site. There was also evidence 
 of other industrial processes, such as enamelling and work- 
 ing in bone. A very large number of small objects has been 
 discovered during the excavations, such as cameos and 
 engraved gems (some still set in finger rings), many brooches 
 of different metals, enamelled ornaments, and a quantity 
 of interesting articles in different metals, bone, glass, etc. 
 
 " The great quantity of pottery found may be judged by 
 the fact that upwards of 900 potters' stamps on Samian 
 ware have been recorded. The coins number between 
 1,200 and 1,300, among them being a few British varieties. 
 No coins later than the end of the fourth century have been, 
 as yet, met with, and the town does not appear to have 
 been inhabited after that date. What was the cause of its 
 destruction or desertion is, as yet, uncertain, but it is 
 hoped that future excavations will solve the problem. 
 
 " Detailed accounts of the excavations are printed in 
 the Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of 
 Antiquaries of London, Nos. 1, 2. and 4." 
 
 The above has been extracted, by kind permission of 
 the Council, from the proceedings of the British Associ- 
 ation for the Advancement of Science for 191 5 ; and is 
 taken from the Report of the Committee on " Excavations 
 on Roman Sites in Britain," comprising the Special 
 Return made by J. P. Bii9he-Fox, F.S.A. 
 
WORKS BY REV. J. O. BE VAN, 
 
 M.A., F.G.S., F.S.A. 
 
 (Rector of Chittenden, Canterbury ; Sometime 
 Prizeman, Exhibitioner, and Foundation 
 Scholar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge). 
 
 THE GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF 
 THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL 2/6 
 
 Williams & Norgate 
 
 EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIANS (With 
 
 Preface by Sir George Darwin) 5/- 
 
 BIRTH AND GROWTH OF TOLER- 
 ATION, AND OTHER ESSAYS 5/- 
 EXPOSITION OF THE COLLECTS, 
 
 EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS 2/6 
 
 THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF RELIGION 1/6 
 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE 6d. 
 
 WITS AND THEIR HUMOURS 2/6 
 
 WOOING AND WEDDING 1/- 
 
 WOOED AND WEDDED (Sequel to the 
 above) 1/- 
 
 Allen & Unviin 
 
 CHAUCER AND HIS TALES 3d. 
 
 Goulden, Canterbury 
 
 ST. PAUL IN THE LIGHT OF TO-DAY 1/6 
 Allenson & Co. 
 
 UNIVERSITY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE 
 AGES 5/- 
 
 HANDBOOK OF THE HISTORY AND 
 DEVELOPMENT OF PHILOSOPHY 5/- 
 Chapman & Hall