The morning call., 1891-04-26
THE BURIED CITY
OF SILCHEOTER.
What the Excavations That Are Being
Made Will Bring to Light
Reason to Believe That 1t Was a Fortified
Camp at Very Early Period. Perhaps
in the Days Of Claudius.

But Wlbn regard TO SllcneSter, we nave
every reason to believe that ii became
Roman fortified camp at very early period,
perhaps in the reign of Claudius, and that
by degrees it grew into town of some i'm
portanee. lying as it did on the great high
way from south to north. Its name under
Roman occupation was Calleva; it is so
called in the Antonine itineraries 1t was a
city of the Atrebates, a Gaulish tribe
of Cells who had gradually dispos-
sessed the earlier British inhabitants.
tile Segontil, driving them into the
Businesses of the forests and hills,
and, perhaps, to the far distant
"West Wales" or Cornwall. The
Atrebatian chief, or king. was COmmins,
Caesars friend, specimens of whose coinage
are still in existence, as well as those OF his
sons Eppillus, TincOmmiuS and Verica. SO
Caer Sagont became Calleva, and Calleva
in due time became Silchester. With re-
gard to the origin of the latter name, anti
quarian opinion is greatly at variance; and
indeed the controversy wakes as hot as ola
that of Monk barns and Sir Edward War
dour over the origin of the Picts. 1t Is said
on the one hand that Silchester is derived
from Sui !" or Sol" the enchorial
god after whom Auue Soils or Bath was
named; and this opinion is supported by
the frequent occurrence of the word Sui.
But one would suppose that the worship of
Baal, or the Sun God had died out when
the modern time name was given, and that It's
source is to be sought rather IN Saxon than
In Roman times. Inls would make the ETY.
mology of Silchester "Sel Cestre," or the
camp in the woods. And whatsoever has
visited the place, hemmed in ON one side by
the dark pine forests of Tadley, and on the
other by the broad oaks and
NOBLE ELMs OF sTRATHFIELDsAYE.
Now glorious in their autumnaI dress, will
acknowledge the appropriateness Of the
names bestowed by our Teutonic fore
fathers.
The visitor to the buried city will find
that it is interseced by two principal
streets, at the junction of which stood the
Forum. with its noble baslllca. This Forum
was, of course the chief building of every
Roman town, being court house and
market-place in one the center of gov
eminent, business and traffic From the
foundations which have been laid bare
of the Forum at SilchPster, it must
have been a large and stately p 6uii d.
ing - a parallelogram, surrounded by
an ambulatory. At one end it was adj
Joined by the hasilica, or hall of judgment,
with IFS apsinal termination. This judg-
ment hall had evidently been lined
with precious Italian marbles, and must
have been noble edifee. In it all eases of
common and criminal law were heard. In
it, probably, Christian martyrs have pleaded
for their lives during one or other of the
imperial prosecutions. We know that
Claudia, the daughter of British King,
Cogidunus, in the neighbUring city of Chi
chester, was a Christian. and probably
others were to be found in every rank: of
life in Romano-British city. Outside the
wallS-there is a street leading directly
from the FOrum-lieS the Roman amphi-
theater, where those who pleaded In vain
and refused TO sacrifice to Caesar were sent
to glut the wild beasts or fight with the
gladiators-"butchered to make Roman
holiday"
Around the Forum are the remains of va
rious shops-a tsbeTna, wiDe-Shop-for the
Roman was not satisfied to drink the methe-
Gin or native beer of the country; fish
mOnger's, where are found plentiful shells
Of the precious biyalve OF Britain, always
dear to the Roman epicure; a butcher stall,
in whose foundations were discovered iron
hooks and steelYard. But II we would re-
alize the life of the period we must betake
ourSelyeS-Jo
LITTLE MUSEUM
Close by, erected by the late Duke Of Well
ington, who took d great interest in the
discovery made under his direction. Here
are gathered together many small OBJ
jects-" for tri1es make the sum of
human things"-frag mPnts OF red Samian
ware, quarrieS of glass for windows, finger
rings. and keys for locks, some of them
resembling Mr.. Chubb's ingenious inven-
IlOue, buG ltk-o vi SaihV-OhNnNob ohAii bChllI5
their steel spurs; children's toys; tile on
which some lOve-luTn potter, which made
rhymes &c his mistress eyebrows, and
scratched, while the clay was still moist, the
last dactyl and spondee of his Latin hexa-
meter, "Phellam," my lassl All these
small objects enable us to realize the kind of
life which was led in Rnmano-B British city
1900 years ago; that life which then. as now.
contained the elements of tragedy and COM
edy-the comedy TO those who think, the
tragedy to those who feel.
On the whole, it must have been sim
gularly peaceful and uneyentful time, the
last 200 years of the Roman occupation
of Britain. We judge so simply from
the fact that, scattered all over the country
that is to say, along the lines of the great
Roman highways-are the remains of nu-
merOus villas, many OF them rich with mar
bles and mosacs, and with silken stuffS
from Eastern looms; the habitation of the
old Romano-British country gentleman who
only wished to live his life in peace. and to
be left alone with his dogs and horses, and
with slaves enough 10 till his farm and keep
the hypocaust, or stove-fue, in full blast
during the winter. These villas, scattered
up midtown the country. were apparently
quite unprotected. and had not even the de-
lenses of an English country house in the
Middle Ages. Doubtless the iron rule of
Rome was protection enough while it lasted,
but the time came when that protection had
to be withdrawn, and
THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN
Woke up to the reality that the old peace
full life was thing of the past, and
that he must be prepared to hold
with strong hand the possessions
of his fathers. for in the fifth GEN.
| tury about AID the last of the Roman
legions was Withdrawn from Britain.
Rome, in fact, needed all her soldiers athome.
| The Goth was upon her track, and as an
| empire she was even hard at deaths door
! The departure of the legions left Britain
! defenseless. The Brit0ns knew nothing of
| self-government. All authority had been
| centralized at Rome, and all local vigor had
been depressed and crushed out. No doubt
| kind of militia was organized for the de-
Tense of the cities in Britain, but these
| forces were undlseiplined and useless. Then
came the end. Hlla. with his savage horde
of Saxons, marked his way from the coast
through Venta Belgarum. OF Winchester.
| TO Silchesier by smoking homeSteads and
| desecrated hearths and affairs, and by long
! line of miserable captves chained to-
gether. He was probably joined by
the native British races, who were nlto-
| gether a different people from. The
Romano British inhabitants of the towns,
| and with them the slaves would make COM
mon cause. A careless garrison, a vigorous
! assault of multitudes, and Silehester was
taken and sacked, and its goodly buildings
| given to the flames. The Roman eagle, still
kept as symbol of victory, was no longer
terrible in the eyes of these fierce invaders,
| but was thrown aside and buried among
| the smoking ruins of the city, to be recovered
| again in the nineteenth century, and cher
| ished as an Interesting antiquarian relic.
| Other relics of no less interest may vet be
disinterred as the excavations go on, for
| to-day the laborers are busy at their task,
while the curlews scream overhead and the