The walls were painted with decorations of very beautiful designs, representing the cornfields, just as the Roman artists in Italy loved to depict the vine in their mural paintings. The mortar used by the Romans is very hard and tenacious, and their bricks were small and thin, varying from 8 inches square to 18 inches by 12, and were about 2 inches in thickness. Frequently we find the impression of an animal’s foot on these bricks and tiles, formed when they were in a soft state before they were baked, and one tile recently found had the impression of a Roman baby’s foot. Roman bricks have often been used by subsequent builders, and are found built up in the masonry of much later periods.
It is quite possible to build up in imagination the old Roman city, and to depict before our mind’s eye the scenes that once took place where now the rustics toil and till the ground. We enter the forum, the great centre of the city, the common resort and lounging-place of the citizens, who met together to discuss the latest news from Rome, to transact their business, and exchange gossip. On the west side stood the noble basilica, or hall of justice—a splendid building, its entrance being adorned with fine Corinthian columns; and slabs of polished Purbeck marble, and even of green and white marble from the Pyrenees, covered the walls. It was a long rectangular hall, 233 feet in length by 58 feet in width, and at each side was a semicircular apse, which was called the Tribune. Here the magistrate sat to administer justice, or an orator stood to address the citizens. In the centre of the western wall was another apse, where the curia met for the government of the city. Two rows of columns ran down the hall, dividing it into a nave with two aisles, like many of our churches. Indeed the form of the construction of our churches was taken from these Roman basilica. Several chambers stood on the west of the hall, one of which was another fine hall, probably used as a corn exchange. The height of this noble edifice, the roof of which was probably hidden by a coffered ceiling, must have been about fifty-seven feet.
Passing along the main street towards the south gate we come to the foundations of a nearly circular temple. Two square-shaped buildings stood on the east of the city, which were probably temples for some Gaulish form of religion, as similar sacred buildings have been discovered in France. A quadrangle of buildings near the south gate, having various chambers, contained the public baths, whither the Romans daily resorted for gossip and discussion as well as for bathing. There is an ingenious arrangement for using the waste water for the purpose of flushing the drains and sewers. Nor were they ignorant of the invention of a force-pump, as the accompanying illustration on the next page shows.
The amphitheatre stands outside the gate, whither the citizens flocked to see gladiatorial displays or contests between wild beasts. With the exception of one at Dorchester, it is the largest in Britain. It is made of lofty banks of earth, which surround the arena, and must have been an imposing structure in the days of its glory, with its tiers of seats rising above the level arena. It is difficult to imagine this grass-covered slope occupied by a gay crowd of Romans and wondering Britons, all eagerly witnessing some fierce fight of man with man, or beast with beast, and enthusiastically revelling in the sanguinary sport. The modern rustics, who have no knowledge of what was the original purpose of “the Mount,” as they name the amphitheatre, still call the arena “the lions’ den.”
Silchester was a very busy place. There were dye works there, as the excavations show; hence there must have been some weaving, and therefore a large resident population. Throngs of travellers used to pass through it, and carts and baggage animals bore through its streets the merchandise from London, which passed to the cities and villas so plentifully scattered in western Britain.
By far the most important of the discoveries made in Roman Britain is the little church which stood just outside the forum. It is very similar in form to the early churches in Italy and other parts of the Roman Empire, and is of the basilican type. The orientation is different from that used after the reign of Constantine, the altar being at the west end. The churches of S. Peter and S. Paul at Rome had the same arrangement; and the priest evidently stood behind the altar facing the congregation and looking towards the east at the time of the celebration of the Holy Communion. There is an apse at the west end, and the building is divided by two rows of columns into a nave and two aisles. The nave had probably an ambon, or reading-desk, and was mainly used by the clergy, the aisles being for the use of the men and women separately. A vestry stood at the western end of the north aisle. Across the eastern end was the narthex, or porch, where the catechumens stood and watched the service through the three open doors. Outside the narthex was the atrium, an open court, having in the centre the remains of the labrum, or laver, where the people washed their hands and faces before entering the church. We are reminded of a sermon by S. Chrysostom, who upbraided his congregation, asking them what was the use of their washing their hands if they did not at the same time cleanse their hearts by repentance. This interesting memorial of early Christianity was probably erected soon after the Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Toleration issued in 313 A.D.