Part 5

In the passages alluded to, there is at _y_, a square pit, somewhat like what might be a cess-pool, of very good and substantial masonry, at the bottom of which runs north and south a very well formed drain, the bed of which is formed of large roof-tiles. To the south of this is a hypocaust, A, which differs from the other hypocausts yet opened in being partly formed of low parallel walls instead of rows of pillars. On the wall of the passage leading to this hypocaust from the east was found the inscription mentioned at page 45. Westward from the hypocaust A, but without any apparent communication between them, was another hypocaust, B, which had been constructed in the usual manner, the floor supported by rows of low columns formed of square thin bricks. It was in this hypocaust that the three skeletons mentioned before (_p._ 41,) were found, the man who possessed the money crouching in the north-west corner, and the two persons supposed to be women, extended along the side of the northern wall. The opening into this hypocaust was through its southern wall, from the interior court, so that the fugitives must have crept along the whole length of the hypocaust to reach their place of concealment. The part of this interior court, immediately adjacent to this hypocaust, which has been excavated to some extent, presents several interesting features. A breach in the eastern boundary wall had been newly repaired with much inferior masonry at the time when the city of Uriconium was taken and destroyed; and it is a curious circumstance that some large pieces of stone lie here on the floor of the court, unfinished by the masons, as though repairs and alterations in the buildings were going on at the very moment of the final catastrophe. Adjoining to this hypocaust, at its north-west corner, is a square room, c, with the herring-bone pavement, exactly like that at _u_ in character and dimensions, which had opened into the room above the hypocaust B, much in the same manner as _u_ opened in the room _v_. Separated from this room by a wall, but apparently without any communication with it, is an interesting staircase D, leading down, to the entrance to a larger and apparently more important series of hypocausts. This staircase descended from a square room, about the same size as the room C, which had a smooth pavement of cement. It is composed of three steps each formed of a large squared stone. A part of the space at the bottom, the north-eastern corner, appears to have been used by the later Roman inhabitants of this building as a receptacle for the sweeping of the floors, and when it was first opened the earth, to the height of about sixteen or eighteen inches from the floor, was filled with all kinds of objects, such as coins, hair-pins, fibulæ, needles in bone, nails, various articles in iron, bronze, and lead, glass, broken pottery, bones of edible animals and birds, stags’ horns, tusks and hoofs of wild boars, oyster shells, in one of which lay the shell of a large nut, &c. A large shaft of a column lay across the steps. The Roman masonry here is very good. To the right hand, towards the south, a rather large arch, turned in Roman bricks, led into the hypocaust E, a doorway in the southern wall of which formed the communication between this hypocaust and the still larger hypocaust F. The latter had supported what must have been a handsome room, which was about fifty feet long, including the semicircular northern end, by thirty-five feet in breadth. When first opened, this hypocaust was in a state of preservation in which such buildings are seldom found in this country. A hundred and twenty columns of bricks were counted, most of them at their original height of rather more than three feet. At the north-eastern corner, the columns supported a small portion of the floor in its original position. It is a mass of cement, eight inches thick, with the upper surface, which no doubt had formed the floor, perfectly smooth. During the time that the Excavation Committee were excluded from the field, all the pillars of this interesting hypocaust were thrown to the ground, and a great part of the bricks which formed the supporting columns were broken to pieces—even the piece of the floor and its supports at the north-east corner were overthrown. A very exact drawing of the latter, however, had been preserved, which served as a pattern for restoring it; and it is to the ingenuity and labour of Dr. Henry Johnson that the public owes the restoration of this hypocaust as far as it was possible to restore it.

Returning to the steps by which these hypocausts were entered, at D, the floor from which we descended appears to have an opening of some kind to the west, which looked down upon a court outside the semicircular end of the hypocaust F, which from this point presents to the view an imposing mass of masonry. In the corner just under this opening the remains of a very young child were found, which we might almost imagine to have been slaughtered in the room above, and thrown out into the court. This court, or open space, seems to have been continued to the wall _a a_, and to have been entered by a doorway in that wall at _g_, which was approached from the passage to the north by a step formed by a large squared stone. On the outside of the semicircular end of the hypocaust F, lay, as if it had fallen or been thrown down, an immense stone, carefully worked into the shape of the arc of a circle, and no doubt forming one of a course at some unknown elevation in the wall. On the outward side of it, a large iron pin was soldered into it with lead, evidently for the purpose of attaching some weighty object on the outer side of the building.

Another step and doorway in the wall _a a_ was found at _h_, which must have been much more frequented than the other, for the stone which formed the step was worn in an extraordinary degree by the rubbing of footsteps. It led to an inclosure P, which presents the appearance of having formed public _latrinæ_; and which is separated by a long narrow inclosure from the room already described as apparently the shop of a worker in metals.

Such is a brief and general description of the ruins of Uriconium, at present open to the visitor. The real character of the buildings we have been describing appeared for a while very doubtful. The first discoveries led to the belief that it was a great mansion, perhaps the principal mansion in the Roman city, the residence of the chief municipal officer; but in this case we might have expected to find some very fine Mosaic or tessellated pavement, specimens of which had been met with in other parts of the area of the town. On the contrary, all the floors yet discovered to the south of the Old Wall, with the exception of those of herring-bone brickwork, and that of a supposed bath, seemed to have been of mere smoothed cement. This led us to suppose that we were still exploring buildings erected for some public purpose. A comparison of the character of these various buildings leaves no room for doubting that they belonged to the public baths of Uriconium; and further excavations to the south and west shewed that they formed an extensive square (_k_, _k_, _k_, _k_), the northern side of which was formed by the Old Wall and its continuation westward; and the southern side of which bordered upon the other street running east and west, the pavement of which, similar to that of the street at _l_, has been uncovered in its whole extent along the line, L L. The western and southern sides of the square were formed by a wide gallery or cloister (_k_, _k_, _k_), no doubt the ambulatory, which was considered as an important part of the public baths of the Romans. The ground to the eastward, in which no buildings could be traced, may have been gardens, which were also usually attached to the baths of the Romans.

Having once decided that the building we have thus explored, is the public baths, another equally interesting question arises out of it. The public baths of the Roman towns in Britain are not unfrequently mentioned in inscriptions commemorating the repairing or rebuilding of them; but it is a circumstance of some importance that this building is combined with the basilica, or town hall. Both seem to have participated in the same accidents, and to have undergone decay together. Thus an inscription found at Lanchester in Cumberland (supposed to be the Roman town of Epiacum) speaks of the baths and basilica (BALNEVM CVM BASILICA); and at Ribchester, in Lancashire, the baths and basilica (BALINEVM ET BASILICAM) were rebuilt after having fallen into ruin through age. We are therefore, I think, justified in concluding that the two great public buildings, the baths and the basilica, usually joined each other; and I think we may venture further to assume that the large building to the north of the Old Wall, the remains of which are now covered up, was the basilica of Uriconium. The proportions of this building are rather extraordinary, and cannot be easily explained; but it is probable that in a provincial town the basilica served a variety of purposes. An inscription found at Netherby in Cumberland, speaks of a basilica for practice in riding (BASILICAM EQVESTREM EXERCITATORIAM.)

We may now proceed a little further in identifying the topography of the ancient town. The line of the buildings we have traced parallel to the Watling Street Road is at some distance within the hedge of the field; and I believe that, when the farm buildings were erected on the opposite side of the road, what appeared to be the front of buildings facing the opposite direction, were found likewise at some distance within the field. This, with the road, would make a very wide space; very much wider than either of the two transverse streets. Moreover, a glance at the plan will shew that, beyond the transverse street to the south, this wide space became considerably narrowed; and in fact it seems to have been reduced to the width of an ordinary street. It is my belief that this wide space was the forum of Uriconium; and in that case it is rather remarkable that the basilica held here exactly the same place, in regard to the forum, as at Pompeii.

We have thus already brought to light a very interesting portion of the ancient Roman town, and have learnt something more than we knew before of the character and economy of the Roman towns in Britain. The basilica, as we have seen, came up to the front of the street, and formed the side of a transverse street; but this was not the case with the baths, for a space of some width between them and the forum was occupied by other buildings, which I have already described.

Other apartments surrounding the metal-worker’s shop are in course of exploration, and will, I think, make us better acquainted with the character of the whole of this line of buildings which looked upon the open space which I have supposed to be the forum. I have already said that this open space contracts to the south of the transverse street L L, in what has been no more than the breadth of an ordinary street, which ran down towards the river. A gutter, very well made, of carefully squared stones, and remarkably well preserved, runs near the houses on the eastern side of the street; the only side which at present can be explored, as it is near the hedge of the Watling Street Road. It runs very near the walls of the houses, is a foot wide, and about a foot deep, and from place to place square stones are laid in lozenge-fashion, apparently intended for stepping stones, but they must have stopped the current of water down the channel. The buildings at this corner consist of small rooms, and were probably private houses. The existence of walls running parallel and transverse to the street L L has been ascertained along the whole length of its southern side; but they have not yet been sufficiently explored even to be laid down in the plan.

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THE objects of antiquity found in the course of the excavations have been so often alluded to, that the visitor will no doubt expect at least a brief and general description of them. I have already described those which illustrate the building and construction of a house, and we naturally continue the description by turning to those articles which belong especially to domestic life. Of this class, the most numerous division, and that which strikes us first, is the pottery,—of which certainly the most remarkable to the general observer is the ware resembling in colour and general appearance bright red sealing wax, known commonly as Samian ware, a name the propriety of which has been disputed. The Roman writers speak of an earthenware much used at table, and said to have received its name from having been originally made at Samos. It is described as being of a red colour, as being of more value than the common pottery, and as being proverbial for its brittleness, all which characteristics belonged to the red ware found in this country, which was covered with tasteful subjects of all kinds in relief, and was evidently much valued, as we often find vessels in this ware which had been carefully mended, and the brittleness of which was such that we seldom find a specimen unbroken. Such mendings, chiefly by means of metal rivets, are exhibited in specimens of Samian ware found in the excavations at Wroxeter, and deposited in the Museum at Shrewsbury, where there are also several pieces of this pottery, presenting subjects which are interesting and by no means of common occurrence. It may be further observed that the Samian ware in this country resembles a Roman ware of which the potteries have been found at Aretium, the modern Arezzo, in Tuscany, but this ware was much superior, especially in the degree of artistic talent displayed in its ornamentation, to that which was in use in this island, and which no doubt was imported from Gaul, where, especially on the banks of the Rhine, the potteries in which it was made have been found.

Extensive potteries have also been found in this island, especially at Castor, in Northamptonshire, where there was a Roman town named Durobrivæ, and on the banks of the Medway, at Upchurch, in Kent. The ware from both these potteries is of a blue or slate colour, produced by imperfect firing in what is called a _smother-kiln_; that is, the air being excluded and the heat being insufficient thoroughly to bake the pottery, it retains so much carbonaceous matter as to give it a black colour. The pottery of these two establishments is distinguished by the difference of shapes. The ornamentation of the Upchurch ware is in general of a very simple character; that of the pottery from Castor is much more elaborate, and often consists of hunting scenes and other subjects, laid on in a white substance after the pottery had been baked. Specimens of both these wares are found at Wroxeter.

The excavations at Wroxeter have brought to light at least two new classes of Roman pottery, both evidently made in Shropshire. The first is a white ware, made of what is known as the Broseley clay, and consisting chiefly of very elegantly formed jugs, with narrow necks; mortaria, or vessels for rubbing or pounding objects in cookery, the interior surface of which is covered with grains of hard stone; and bowls, which are often painted with stripes of red and yellow. The other Romano-Salopian pottery is a red ware, differing in shade from the red Roman wares usually found, and also made from one of the clays of the Severn valley. Among the vessels in this ware are bowls pierced all over with small holes, so as to have served the purpose of colanders. We find also some very curious specimens of an imitation of the Samian ware; but we have as yet no means of ascertaining where it was made.

Many very interesting fragments of glass vessels have also been found in the excavations at Wroxeter. Two or three other objects intended for domestic purposes have been met with, such as a small bowl or cup made of lead, and what appears to have been the handle of some larger vessel, made of block tin, neither of which metals, used for such purpose, are of common occurrence among Roman remains in this country. A ladle and several knives have also been found, and a handle of a knife made of stone, as well as several whet-stones.

Of personal ornaments the most numerous are the hair-pins, most of which are made of bone, though there are a few of bronze, and one of wood. Their use was to hold together the knot into which the Roman women rolled up their hair behind the head, and through which the pin was thrust. They are, on an average, about three inches long, with a large head rudely ornamented; and it will be remarked that the shank is thicker in the middle, and that it becomes generally thinner near the head, no doubt to prevent the pin from slipping out of the hair. Some of these pins had evidently been saturated with an oily substance, which shews that the ladies in Roman Britain applied oil to their hair. Several fibulæ of the common Roman forms, have been met with; they are all of bronze, of superior workmanship to the hair pins, and most of those hitherto found at Wroxeter are, or have been, enamelled. Their use was to fasten the mantle and other parts of the clothing. Among the personal ornaments found already in the excavations are a number of buttons, finger rings, bracelets, glass beads, and other objects, of which it is not necessary here to give a particular description. Of two combs, both of bone, one is remarkably neat in its form and make. Several bone needles may also be mentioned, and a pair of bronze tweezers for eradicating superfluous hairs.

Roman coins are found in considerable numbers, but many of them are so worn and defaced that it is no longer possible to decide to what emperor they belonged. The earliest met with during the present excavations is of the emperor Domitian. A great number are small coins of the Constantine family of emperors. Only two silver coins have yet been found, the others are of bronze or brass. The peasantry call them _dinders_, a name which, though it represents the Latin _denarius_, was no doubt derived from the Anglo-Norman _denier_.

Many objects of a more miscellaneous character have also been found during the present excavations; or have found their way into the Museum from former discoveries. Among these are three artists’ pallettes, for using colour; several weights, some marked with Roman numerals; a steelyard; several keys; portions of iron chains; styli, for writing on wax tablets; an iron trident, which may perhaps have been the head of a staff of office or authority; one or two spear heads; a strigil for scraping the skin in the sweating baths; a portion of an iron horse-shoe; and two or three very nice statuettes in bronze. The most curious, however, of these miscellaneous objects is a medicine stamp, intended to mark packets or bottles of what, in modern times, would be called patent medicines. A certain number of these Roman medicine stamps have been found in Britain and on the Continent, and they are all, like this stamp found at Wroxeter, for salves or washes for the eyes, diseases of the eyes having been apparently very common among the inhabitants of the western provinces of the Roman empire. The Wroxeter stamp, intended for a collyrium or salve for the eyes called _dialebanum_ or _dialibanum_, gives us in all probability the name of a physician resident in Uriconium. The inscription may be read as follows, filling up the abbreviations:—TIB_erii_ CL_audii_ M_edici_ DIALIBA_num_ AD OMNE VIT_ium_ O_culorum_ EX O_vo_, _i.e._, the dialebanum of Tiberius Claudius the physician, for all complaints of the eyes, to be used with egg.

A few stones, with Roman inscriptions, chiefly of a sepulchral character, have been dug up at Wroxeter in the course of accidental excavations. Three of these were found in 1752, and are preserved in the library of Shrewsbury School. The first inscription may be read thus:—

C. MANNIVS C. F. POL . SECV NDVS . POLLEN MIL . LEG . XX ANORV . LII STIP . XXXI BEN . LEG . PR H . S . E.

intimating that it marked the grave of a soldier of the twentieth legion (which was stationed at Chester, the Roman Deva) named Caius Mannius, of the Pollian tribe. Another commemorated a soldier of the fourteenth legion, and has been supposed to belong to a very early period, as that legion was withdrawn from Britain before A.D. 68. It was the legion which suffered so much in the war against Boadicea, and this soldier may perhaps have been engaged in that war, although his having died in Britain does not necessarily imply that the legion to which he had belonged was there at the time, or indeed that it had ever been there, unless we had some other reasons for supposing that it had been there. His name was Marcus Petronius, the son of Lucius, of the Menenian tribe, and the inscription may be read as follows:—

M. PETRONIVS L. F. MEN VIC . ANN XXXVIII MIL. LEG XIIII . GEM MILITAVIT ANN. XVIII SIGN . FVIT H . S . E.

The third of these inscribed monuments was divided into three columns or tables, commemorating three members of the family of a citizen of Uriconium, named Deuccus. The inscription on the third column is entirely erased, but the two others may be read as follows:

D. M D. M PLACIDA DEVCCV AN . LV S . AN . XV CVR . AG CVR . AG CONI . A RATRE XXX

Another sepulchral stone, also preserved in the Library of Shrewsbury School, was found in 1810, and bore an inscription commemorative of Tiberius Claudius Terentius, a soldier of the cohort of Thracian cavalry, which may be read as follows:—

TIB . CLAVD . TRE NTIVS . EQ . COH THRACVM . AN ORVM . LVII. STIP ENDIORVM H . S.

In the excavations on the site of the cemetery, in the autumn of 1862, a sepulchral stone was found, which had not improbably been placed over the door of a sepulchral chamber of masonry. There had been a figure above, the lower part of the legs and feet of which alone remain. The slab bears the following inscription, which from the damage the stone has sustained is very difficult to decipher, but I owe this reading to the knowledge and acuteness of my friend Mr. Roach Smith. I may add that some of the letters are extremely doubtful

AMINIVS . T . POL . F . A NORVMXXXXVSTIPXXII . MIL . LEG. IIGEM . MILITAVITAQNVNC HIC SII LEGITE . ET . FELICES . VITA . FLVS . MINV IVSTAVINIERAQVATIEGIIIE . INTV TANARA . DITIS . VIVITE . DVMSPI . . . VITAE . DAT . TEMPVS . HONESTE.

It is clear, at a glance, that the latter part of this inscription contains three lines in hexameter verse; unfortunately they are the lines most rubbed and most difficult to make out. Dr. Mc. Caul, president of the University of Toronto, in Canada, in his recent work on “Britanno-Romano Inscriptions,” suggests that they may be—

Perlegite et felices vitâ plus minus jutâ; Omnibus æqua lege iter est ad Tænara Ditis. Vivite, dum Stygius vitæ dat tempus, honeste.

The two last words of the first line are extremely doubtful, and I confess that I do not believe in Dr. Mc Caul’s reading, which, of course is but conjectural. The second does not appear at all to answer to what remains of the original, with the exception of the last words Tænara Ditis. But of the last line, Mr. Smith’s reading is much the best, and indeed appears to me to be the correct one,—

Vivite, dum spatium vitæ dat tempus, honeste.

The part preceding the verses may be read—