The Washington times., 1901-06-30
AN ENGLISH ROMAN CITY.
Some Interesting Discoveries Mad,
i'm the SfIchesfer Excayatious.

in the Sifchesfer Excayations
Few Of rs realize for how long a period
the Roman occupation of Britain lasted
1t win presently be 300 years since the
| death OF Queen Elizabeth, and how great
a part that time seems of our national
! story But from the landing of Caesar
! TO the recall of the troops by Honorfus
was half as long again-over 450 years.
/ That was the time OF which Cowper
! wrote:
| The Romans taught thy stubborn knee to bow,
But twice a Caesar could not bend thee now.
It was a bright time for Britain, II
one may believe the orator Eumenius'
] paDegyric on Constantine: oh fortu-
nate Britannia" I" he exclaims, thee hath
/ nature deservedly enriched with the
! choicest blessings of heaven and earth
| Thou feelest neither the excessive cold of
! winter nor the scorching heat of sum-
mer. Thy harvests supply thy tables
| with bread and thy cellars with liquor
| Innumerable are thy herds of cattle and
| thy fioeks of sheep which feed thee pien-
| tifully and clothe thee richly" Well said,
| Eumenius; Britain's good fortune had
| already begun. Those fifteen generations
| of Roman governors and settlers built
| cities and made roads, introduced civil
| lization and Law, the arts of peace and
war. and became one of the factors Of
this nation. Whose cares TO look behind
| the scenes Of that spacious time-and who
| cares not?-let him go to the rooms of
the Society OF Antiquaries, Burlington
House, during the next fortnight and see
the free exhibition of remains which dill
gent explorers have disentombed from
the old buried British-Roman town of
CaIleva, or Calleva Attrebatum.
1t is wonder-provoking story. that of
Calleva. Al this day the place is a por-
tion of farm in Berkshire part of the
Strathfield estate. In the parish of Sill
chester, some ten miles southwest OF
Reading, and three miles from Mortimer
Station of the Great Northern Railway.
Possibly 1900 years ago it was a Roman
town, with wall round 1t two miles in
circuit. Then the Romans left: fierce Sax
on times follow ed and soon Calleva per-
ished. 1t was deserted town. Next for
hundreds of years it was buried, pastures
grew. and corn crops ripened. where there
had been basilica, and forum, and shrine.
Yet the covered city would not be ig
nored for faithful old Leland. in the
reign of Henry VIII, tells US that the
lines of streets were noticed thro' differ
ences in the color of the crops growing
over lIItul. Isftii III Jul cSiltS INN liltAi
wonted fires. Then in 1854. at the expense
of the Duke of Wellington, regular ex-
plorations began, and the Rev. J. G.
Joyce, rector of Strathfieldsaye, unearth-
ed two large and two small houses. cir
cular temple great town hall or basiH
ca a marketplace, or forum. and a large
building, with baths attached, which was
believed to have been inn or hospitium
Since 1890 the work has been carried on
by the Silchester Excavation Fund. and
there have been found forty-four addi-
tional complete houses, parts of thirteen
others a private building establishment,
two square temples, a small shrine a
Christian church-probably of the fourth
century, and one of the oldest relics of
Christianity in EurOpe-and series OF
buildings in an Industrial quarter which
were perhaps dyeworls, besides a singu-
lar system of drains and a small water
gate. Here is no military camp, but
civil township, and no Roman military
camp is half the size of the Silchester
area In no other Roman-B -BritisS site
have there been brought to light SO many
houses temples, or public buildings; and
no other place has yielded a forum or
Christian church. The objects now shown
are of the civil type-Smiths and carpen-
ters' tools r. shoemaker's anvil ploW
couiters. huge paddock, copper and
bronze cooking pans, vases, vessels of
various patterns, panel of mosaic pave
ment, and coins from the republican days
of Marc Antony through the imperial
domination down to the withdrawal. They
are mostly OF bronze. Many of silver have
been found but gold coins are very rare.
II may be added that gold coins of the
reign OF King Edward VII, to the value
of f9 900 are also lacking-wanted to
complete these most interesting explora-
tions. The whole area covers 100 acres
OF these seventy-three have been exca-
waited and planned hut a considerable
portion of the city still remains to be
explored ." Beneath there may yet be
buried priceless memorials of that distant
ast.-Ilondon Daily Telegraph.