The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-21

dant in all the parts Of the country tina
had been Romanized. monk Of st. AL
bans in the twelfth century has left us
weird description Of an internal theatr
seen in vision. wherein tormented soul
played over again their evil acts for thu
delectation of demons: and what he tell
us of the rings Of seats and other arrange
ments seems drawn from the then exposed
ruins of the old Roman theatre at Verulam
ium. The Roman buildings Of Veruamiun
have now disappeared. but in late Saxor
times enough still remained visible above
! the ground to furnish building materials
| for the great church Of st. Alban. In fact
even at this day, when We compare English
| cities that were once Roman and have
| remained urban centres to this day. with
| similar towns on the Continent. We find
| that. as a rule. the former have. in proper
ton to their size nearly az many Roman
features to show az are to he found on the
southern side Of the British Channel 1t Is
true that some exceptional mainland cities.
like Turin, may have preserved with curious
exactness the classical arrangement Of
their streets. while in others. such as Traves.
masonry may still dominate the scene;
g'' 'iieie d't HldiS great lHoNiHNldi eatita'S
of the Romanized West IA for example.
Cologne. or Milan, or Toulouse. that are
to-day in their superficial aspects not
more Roman than York or London.
In the majority Of cases, the urban to-
Biography, though it may be recognized
as Roman in the general plan, is found to
have been a good deal altered in the inter-
vening centuries. Thus. in England.
though Durovernum Canterbury was
situated in the most Roman part of the
country. its medieval and modern to-
Biography does not correspond to that of
its classical epoch. while it completely lost
its Roman name. Prof. Brown points
out in footnote that the fact last men
toned has been adduced as proof that the
Roman town of Durovernum practically
passed out Of existence.
He holds the change of the towns name,
however, TO be only an instance. rare in
England, of what was common in Gaul.
to wit. the dropping of an artificial Roman
name, and the substitution for it of one
form fromed the tribal appellation of the
pre-Roman inhabitants, Thus, Paris re-
mains the city of the PARISH, Bourges of
the Bituriges, and Canterbury OF the men
and Durovernum having dropped out of
use. Our author can find no reason to
suppose that Canterbury ever ceased to
be town, 1t is certain that at the end
of the sixth century it was the capital
of the powerful Ethelberht OF Kent Re-
turning to the change of topography since
Roman times, we learn that in Colchester,
the principal Roman gate, though it still
exists on the London side of the town,
has no longer any street leading to it, while
at Leicester, the Saxon Church of st.
Nicholas is built right across the access
to what seems to be the western portal of
the Roman city known as the Jewry Wall.
At Exeter and elsewhere it has been proved
that the four streets that meet in the centre
OF such towns do not always lie on the lines
of the old Roman thoroughfares, while
the Roman gates of London that corre-
spond to Newgate and Bishopseate have
been found TO lie some little distance away
from the actual lines OF the medieval and
modern outlets On the other hand. the
four streets just mentioned. conspicuous
at Chester. Gloucester, Chichester and
other places, though they may not all be
actually on the lines of the Roman thor
are yet distinctly Roman sur
viva!s; they would not be there had not |
the -A0rtmensores" planned out upon the
site Ca rdo" and "decumdnus" for COLONY,
or camp. At Gloucester, indeed, the st reefs !
are said to correspond accurately to the |
Roman ones though at Canterbury the |
main Roman thoroughfare, still called |
Waiting street, ends now abruptly on the |
western side of the town at the river bank.
While the line of the present High street
Is medieval. At Lincoln the ancient main !,
st rect OF the upper city still runs pretty
evenly between the existing Roman North |
Gate and the fragments of that gate which |
stood on the south, though the correspond !
ing street east and west can hardly be !
recognized. The So called Newport" arch
at Lincoln, under which the citizens pass
and repass continually. is perhaps the most
striking Of the Roman survivals in modern |
English cities.
The whole question of the Roman towns
in Britain is briefly summarized in the |
book before us as follows: "a Some of |
the more prominent persisted at the Con-
quest, or. at any rate. passed out of i'm /
portance, II not actually out of existence;
(2) this destruction was not systematic |
over the whole country, but sporadic, and |
conditioned probably by local circum-
stances Of campaign or foray: (3) the |
towns which have endured exhibit on the |
whole. in proportion to their size and |
wealth, about as many Roman survivals |
in topography and monuments as similar
cities on the Continent; a. this shows |
that in architecture and the decorative |
arts classical models were accessible in |
abundance to the Teutonic settlers, though |
they may not have cared to profit by them;
(5) In spite Of these survivals, the con- !
querors de- Romanized the country to a |
far greater extent than was the case abroad,
so that the towns of Roman origin we're |
non. as SUCH factors Of any moment in the |
general life OF the country in early Saxon
times.
As for the English town proper. which
might or might not have Roman tradition
at ts back, il only came gradually into
existence as fresh element in the national |
polity, during the period between the
descent OF the Danes and the Norman
Conquest. and did not affect the general
of the population, which was
independent Of urban influences.
Ignoring, therefore. for the moment, tho