Page:VCH London 1.djvu/45

 ROMANO-BRITISH LONDON in London, and one is still to be seen in working order. Tessellated pavements, another Roman feature, are plentiful in the City, but archi- tectural fragments of any artistic value are singularly rare. Foundations and a few fragments show that important buildings were erected, but these have evidently been quarried in succeeding centuries, and many inscribed stones of public and private import must have met a similar fate. Public indifference and unscientific excavation have rendered most of the spoil from the City worthless for archaeological purposes ; but on the other hand references to Roman London by the early historians are compara- tively numerous, and enable us to present its history in outline. The two centuries that followed the rising of Boudicca seem to have brought peace and prosperity to London, but towards the close of the third century new foes appeared, and in 297 the City was in the grasp of a band of Franks who had been in the service of the usurper Allectus. The opportune arrival of a portion of the fleet of Constantius in the Thames saved the City from the worst," but seventy years later another assault was made by the Franks in company with Picts and Scots, who had already given trouble in the north, and with Saxons, who had by this time appeared on the opposite coast of Gaul. Once more aid from the Roman arm was prompt and efficient, and Theodosius, then in command of the forces of Valentinian I, not only saved the City from destruction, but seems to have set about its fortification.^' It is recorded that he restored towns and military posts, nor is it likely that he neglected the defences of a town that he had succoured with such alacrity and which had now become a tempting prize for piratical bands at large in the Channel. The events of 367 would in themselves have afforded the strongest inducement to surround the town with a wall, if such a means of defence had not been previously adopted ; but though the historical evidence is in favour of its fortification by Theodosius, London had clearly been in need of permanent defences since the close of the third century. Some such turning point in the history of the City was evidently marked by the bestowal of the title Augusta,^* which apparently dates from the Constan- tine period. Before any conclusions are drawn from the distribution of the various kinds of burials over the area of Roman London, it will be necessary to classify them according to their character and with regard to associated objects. To judge from the number of ' cinerary urns ' recorded, the inhabitants of London buried their dead anywhere and everywhere, heedless of the Roman law against burials in the town ; but the term cinerary has been very loosely used without reference to contents of the vessels, and cases in which there is no evidence of cremation will be disregarded in this summary. An attempt will now be made to separate the burnt and unburnt interments into two distinct periods ; and as evidence for such a distinction has not yet been collected to any great extent, it will be best to begin the survey with an enumeration of burials after cremation of the dead, and of this number, those associated with coins will naturally be of the greatest " Eumenius, Hist. Mart. Brit. p. Ixviii. " Ammianus Marcellinus, Hist, xxviii, 3 = Hist. Men. Brit. p. Ixxiv. " Ammianus Marcellinus, Hist, xxvii, 9 : 'ad Lundinium vetus oppidum, quod Augustam posteritas appellavit ' (368). 5