[757]. “Creberrima aedificia, fere Gallicis consimilia.” Bell. Gall. v. 12.
[758]. Ptolemy at the commencement of the second century (i. e. about A.D. 120) mentions the following πόλεις, which surely are towns:—
| District. | Towns. | District. | Towns. |
| Novantae | Loucopibia. | Parisi | Petuaria. |
| Rhetigonium. | Ordovices | Mediolanium. | |
| Selgovae | Carbantorigum. | Brannogenium. | |
| Uxelum. | Cornabii | Deuana. | |
| Corda. | Viroconium. | ||
| Trimontium. | Coritavi | Lindum. | |
| Damnii | Colania. | Rhage. | |
| Vanduara. | Catyeuchlani | Salenae. | |
| Coria. | Urolanium. | ||
| Alauna. | Simeni | Venta. | |
| Lindum. | Trinoantes | Camudolanum. | |
| Victoria. | Demetae | Luentinium. | |
| Otadeni | Curia. | Maridunum. | |
| Bremenium. | Silures | Bullaeum. | |
| Vacomagi | Banatia. | Dobuni | Corinium. |
| Tameia. | Atrebatii | Nalkua. | |
| The Winged Camp. | Cantii | Londinium. | |
| Tuesis. | Darvenum. | ||
| Venicontes | Orrhea. | Rhutupiae. | |
| Texali | Devana. | Rhegni | Naeomagus. |
| Brigantes | Epeiacum. | Belgae | Ischalis. |
| Vinnovium. | The Hot Springs. | ||
| Caturhactonium. | Venta. | ||
| Calatum. | Durotriges | Dunium. | |
| Isurium. | Dumnonii | Voliba. | |
| Rhigodunum. | Uxela. | ||
| Olicana. | Tamare. | ||
| Eboracum. | Isca. | ||
| Camunlodunum. |
[759]. It is clear that Caesar was not greatly harassed in his march towards the ford of the Thames near Chertsey; and if, as is probable, his advance disarmed the Cantii generally, or compelled the more warlike of their body to retire upon the force of Cassivelaunus, concentrated on the left bank of the river, we can understand what would otherwise seem a very dangerous movement,—a march into Surrey, leaving London unoccupied on the right flank. Thus it seems to me that the fact of Caesar’s not noticing the city may be more readily explained by its not lying within the scope of his manœuvres, than by its not existing in his time. And indeed it is probable that just here some portion of his memoirs has been lost: for in the nineteenth chapter of the fifth book, he distinctly says: “Cassivelaunus, ut supra demonstravimus, omni deposita spe contentionis,” etc.; but nothing now remains in what we possess, to which these words can possibly be referred. Caesar’s Commentaries were the private literary occupation of the great soldier in peaceful times, and we cannot attribute this contradiction in his finished work to carelessness.
[760]. “At Suetonius mira constantia medios inter hostes Londinium perrexit, cognomento quidem coloniae non insigne, sed copia negotiatorum et commeatuum maxime celebre.” Tacit. Ann. xiv. 33. “Not a colonia,” seems to me equivalent to saying, a British city.—Twenty years after the return of the Romans to Britain, seventy thousand citizens and allies perished during Boadicea’s rebellion in London, Verulam and Colchester. (Ibid.)
[761]. This was long supposed to be Maldon, but it seems difficult to resist Mannert’s reasoning in favour of Colchester. See Geograph. der Griech. u. Röm. p. 157.
[762]. In the third century Marcianus reckons, unfortunately without naming them, fifty-nine celebrated cities in Britain: ἔχει δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔθνη λγ, πόλεις ἐπισήμους νθ, ποτάμους ἐπισήμους μ, ἀκρωτήρια ἐπίσημα ιδ, χερσόνησον ἐπίσημον ἕνα, κόλπους ἐπισήμους ε, λίμενας ἐπισήμους γ. Marcian. Heracleot. lib. i. Nor will this surprise us when we bear in mind that about this period the Britons enjoyed such a reputation for building as to find employment in Gaul. “Civitas Aeduorum ... plurimos, quibus illae provinciae redundabant, accepit artifices,” etc. Eumen. Const. Paneg. c. 21.
[763]. Henry of Huntingdon copies Nennius and aids in the identification. Asser adds to the list Nottingham, in British Tinguobauc, and Cair Wisc now Exeter. The Saxon Chronicle records Anderida, Bath, Bedford, Leighton, Aylesbury, Bensington and Eynesham. Among the places unquestionably Roman may be named Londinium, Verulamium, Colonia, Glevum (Gloucester), Venta Belgarum (Winchester), Venta Icenorum (Norwich), Venta Silurum (Cair Gwint), Durocornovium or Corinium (Cirencester), Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), Eboracum (York), Uxella (Exeter), Aquæ Solis (Bath), Durnovaria (Dorchester), Regnum (Chichester), Durocovernum (Canterbury), Uriconium (Wroxeter) and Lindum (Lincoln).
[764]. The walls of Chichester still offer an admirable example in very perfect condition. The remains at Lincoln and Old Verulam enable us to trace the ancient sites with precision, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the latter town the foundations of a large theatre are yet preserved. The plough still brings to light the remains of Roman villas and the details of Roman cultivation throughout the valley of the Severn. It is impossible here to enumerate all the places where the discovery of coins, inscriptions, works of art and utility or ruins of buildings attest a continued occupation of the site and a peaceful settlement. Many archæological works, the result of modern industry, may be beneficially consulted; and among these I would call particular attention to the Map of Roman Yorkshire, published by Mr. Newton, with the approbation of the Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
[765]. The following lines contain a very slight sketch of the municipal institutions of a Roman city. It is not necessary to burthen the reader’s attention with the deeper details of this special subject. A general reference may be given to Savigny’s Geschichte des Römischen Rechts, the leading authority on all such points.