The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-21
pres visiting Roman roads is fact OF somo

|
historical moment
II h well known that the roads in cues
ton can be traced In almost all sections o
England. and that they penetrate int
Wales and Scotland They were not tn
first thoroughfares in the country. for the.
themselves are superimposed upon an ear
lier network Of British trackways. some OF
which may still be traced as independent
lines. while others have been taken int
the Roman system. This system has never
been completely surveyed. but there Is
partial Indicate of the ancient course OF
| the roads in the Roman document KNOWN
as the Itinerary Of Antoninus,' which gives
fifteen routes with stations and distances
through different parts Of The country
! There are roads, however. OF which the
Itinerary takes no account, but which can
Ire established by Roman -fnes' along
| their course. or by their business-likc pro-
gression from one known Roman settle
ment TO another
That the Roman roads played little or no
part In the settlement Of Britain by the
Anglo-Saxons is evident from the fact that
the chief characteristic of the impressive
highways at the present time IL their lone
line ss--their aloofness from the settle
ments and the lines of local traffic actually
In existence and USE Lincolnshire is trav-
ersed from end TO end by noteworthy
specimen. II one leave the present Great
North Road little to the north of Colster-
worth, bet ween Stamford and Grantham.
he will find himself on track which. save
for the space of a league by Lincoln, can be
followed without a break for sixty miles
rpn hfa he I'M off, h, - M
Lincoln to the Humber. and yet on its whole
course through fairly well-peopled agr
cultural districts it only traverses Two
centres of population, and both of these,
Ancastcr and Lincoln, are Roman. To
east and west of the line there are within
two miles of il about forty, and within three
miles about sixty villages, all with Saxon.
or. in a few cases, Danish names. ten Of
which have partly Saxon churches, and
not one of these lies upon the Roman road,
nor. save in one case, even touches II with
its outlying cottages.
The same phenomenon. namely, the
avoidance Of the Roman roads by the
Teutonc villages ia commonly, though not
universally. to be observed in Their parts
of the country. The so-called Stone Street
from Portus tenants Iyme) to Canter-
bury is striking example, though the main
road from Canterbury to London, IA well
as the East Anglican reads in general do
not seem to have been so much avoided by
the Anglo-Saxon settlers II is obvious
that for through travelling. az distinct from
local traffic some Of the Roman roads must
always have remained in use. For instance.
the so-called Waiting Street.-The name has
never been satisfactorily explained which
runs from Canterbury to Wroxeter Uri-
coniumD has always b,en recognized
route. From the neighborhood of London,
curately its course to near Ltchfeld, il
runs parallel to the greatest railway trunk
line in the kingdom. and. like others of the
through Roman tracks, it is at this day
largely used for road-teegraph wires.
Its ancient importance is attes ted by the
fact that for long distance it forms the
boundary of Warwickshire. and was in part
the line OF demarcation between Danish
territory and Wessax, drawn at the Peace
of Wedmorc. Like most Of the Roman
roads, it has little CONNECTION with the viii
ages, but a curious testimony to it's import
ance az highway Is to I've found where 1t
passes near Redbourne. a few miles north
Of st Alba ms, Redbourne, character
istc old English village, is built along the
skirts Of large green or common, described
in lI7s by Roger of Windover in words that
are just true to-day, as "a plain which
had lain for ages uncultivated near the high
road, with n level surface that furnished
An agreeable pasturage for cattle and rest
ing place for weary travellers at a village
call d edburn."
The primitive settlement with the church
is the best part of mile from Waiting
Street, but the high road" itself is lined
for considerable distance by double row
Of houses, showing where. in old-,ime, booths
of chapmen and vict,lallers had been erected
along the highway to catch the custom Of
passing wayfarers. In Prof. Browns
opinion. however, the most remarkable OBJ
ject lesson on Roman roads il to be gained
by opening large scale map of the centre
IF England, where the great Fosse Way,
which can be more or less clearly followed
from the borders Of Devon 70 Leicester
and Lincoln. is seen sweeping across the
in but little connection with the
present life OF its inhabitants In it's COM
parative isolation this Immensely extended
tract is very significant Of the mental atti-
tuQe OF tne SaSOH stttleTS NoWdIu NHese
monuments of the unifying influence of the
Roman rule. The attitude Of the Frank
invaders of Gaul seems to have been diff.
rerent. Some French writer's state that
the population in Gaul gathered first of all
about the Roman roads. beside which the
first rural churches were built. but that,
in later periods OF disorder and danger
the settlements were moved from the
vicinity Of the thoroughfares, There is
little or no evidence of such mutation of
iomicile in England.
To sum up, therefore. his conclusions,
Prof. Brown would say that the Teut onic
were independent, self-centred /,
little communities, and did not regard as a ,
matter OF primary Importance the means |,
of intercourse with their neighbors. Their |
Indifference to the means of intercourse
recalls the words of Tacitus about thcSI
Germans, that they avoided cities. and
,ven contiguous habitations, settling down |
in detached bodies apart from each other, !
Just as spring or field or grove offered at
fractions. All over the country tho existing +,
Roman roads passed through certain vii
ages and towns that had their origin in |
military stations. but as a rule, the seats
IF the Teutonic communities were placed |
mile or two away on either side.
III.