We have thus already brought to light a very interesting portion of the ancient Roman town, and have learnt something more than we knew before of the character and economy of the Roman towns in Britain. The basilica, as we have seen, came up to the front of the street, and formed the side of a transverse street; but this was not the case with the baths, for a space of some width between them and the forum was occupied by other buildings, which I have already described.
Other apartments surrounding the metal-worker’s shop are in course of exploration, and will, I think, make us better acquainted with the character of the whole of this line of buildings which looked upon the open space which I have supposed to be the forum. I have already said that this open space contracts to the south of the transverse street L L, in what has been no more than the breadth of an ordinary street, which ran down towards the river. A gutter, very well made, of carefully squared stones, and remarkably well preserved, runs near the houses on the eastern side of the street; the only side which at present can be explored, as it is near the hedge of the Watling Street Road. It runs very near the walls of the houses, is a foot wide, and about a foot deep, and from place to place square stones are laid in lozenge-fashion, apparently intended for stepping stones, but they must have stopped the current of water down the channel. The buildings at this corner consist of small rooms, and were probably private houses. The existence of walls running parallel and transverse to the street L L has been ascertained along the whole length of its southern side; but they have not yet been sufficiently explored even to be laid down in the plan.
The objects of antiquity found in the course of the excavations have been so often alluded to, that the visitor will no doubt expect at least a brief and general description of them. I have already described those which illustrate the building and construction of a house, and we naturally continue the description by turning to those articles which belong especially to domestic life. Of this class, the most numerous division, and that which strikes us first, is the pottery,—of which certainly the most remarkable to the general observer is the ware resembling in colour and general appearance bright red sealing wax, known commonly as Samian ware, a name the propriety of which has been disputed. The Roman writers speak of an earthenware much used at table, and said to have received its name from having been originally made at Samos. It is described as being of a red colour, as being of more value than the common pottery, and as being proverbial for its brittleness, all which characteristics belonged to the red ware found in this country, which was covered with tasteful subjects of all kinds in relief, and was evidently much valued, as we often find vessels in this ware which had been carefully mended, and the brittleness of which was such that we seldom find a specimen unbroken. Such mendings, chiefly by means of metal rivets, are exhibited in specimens of Samian ware found in the excavations at Wroxeter, and deposited in the Museum at Shrewsbury, where there are also several pieces of this pottery, presenting subjects which are interesting and by no means of common occurrence. It may be further observed that the Samian ware in this country resembles a Roman ware of which the potteries have been found at Aretium, the modern Arezzo, in Tuscany, but this ware was much superior, especially in the degree of artistic talent displayed in its ornamentation, to that which was in use in this island, and which no doubt was imported from Gaul, where, especially on the banks of the Rhine, the potteries in which it was made have been found.
Extensive potteries have also been found in this island, especially at Castor, in Northamptonshire, where there was a Roman town named Durobrivæ, and on the banks of the Medway, at Upchurch, in Kent. The ware from both these potteries is of a blue or slate colour, produced by imperfect firing in what is called a smother-kiln; that is, the air being excluded and the heat being insufficient thoroughly to bake the pottery, it retains so much carbonaceous matter as to give it a black colour. The pottery of these two establishments is distinguished by the difference of shapes. The ornamentation of the Upchurch ware is in general of a very simple character; that of the pottery from Castor is much more elaborate, and often consists of hunting scenes and other subjects, laid on in a white substance after the pottery had been baked. Specimens of both these wares are found at Wroxeter.
The excavations at Wroxeter have brought to light at least two new classes of Roman pottery, both evidently made in Shropshire. The first is a white ware, made of what is known as the Broseley clay, and consisting chiefly of very elegantly formed jugs, with narrow necks; mortaria, or vessels for rubbing or pounding objects in cookery, the interior surface of which is covered with grains of hard stone; and bowls, which are often painted with stripes of red and yellow. The other Romano-Salopian pottery is a red ware, differing in shade from the red Roman wares usually found, and also made from one of the clays of the Severn valley. Among the vessels in this ware are bowls pierced all over with small holes, so as to have served the purpose of colanders. We find also some very curious specimens of an imitation of the Samian ware; but we have as yet no means of ascertaining where it was made.
Many very interesting fragments of glass vessels have also been found in the excavations at Wroxeter. Two or three other objects intended for domestic purposes have been met with, such as a small bowl or cup made of lead, and what appears to have been the handle of some larger vessel, made of block tin, neither of which metals, used for such purpose, are of common occurrence among Roman remains in this country. A ladle and several knives have also been found, and a handle of a knife made of stone, as well as several whet-stones.
Of personal ornaments the most numerous are the hair-pins, most of which are made of bone, though there are a few of bronze, and one of wood. Their use was to hold together the knot into which the Roman women rolled up their hair behind the head, and through which the pin was thrust. They are, on an average, about three inches long, with a large head rudely ornamented; and it will be remarked that the shank is thicker in the middle, and that it becomes generally thinner near the head, no doubt to prevent the pin from slipping out of the hair. Some of these pins had evidently been saturated with an oily substance, which shews that the ladies in Roman Britain applied oil to their hair. Several fibulæ of the common Roman forms, have been met with; they are all of bronze, of superior workmanship to the hair pins, and most of those hitherto found at Wroxeter are, or have been, enamelled. Their use was to fasten the mantle and other parts of the clothing. Among the personal ornaments found already in the excavations are a number of buttons, finger rings, bracelets, glass beads, and other objects, of which it is not necessary here to give a particular description. Of two combs, both of bone, one is remarkably neat in its form and make. Several bone needles may also be mentioned, and a pair of bronze tweezers for eradicating superfluous hairs.
Roman coins are found in considerable numbers, but many of them are so worn and defaced that it is no longer possible to decide to what emperor they belonged. The earliest met with during the present excavations is of the emperor Domitian. A great number are small coins of the Constantine family of emperors. Only two silver coins have yet been found, the others are of bronze or brass. The peasantry call them dinders, a name which, though it represents the Latin denarius, was no doubt derived from the Anglo-Norman denier.
Many objects of a more miscellaneous character have also been found during the present excavations; or have found their way into the Museum from former discoveries. Among these are three artists’ pallettes, for using colour; several weights, some marked with Roman numerals; a steelyard; several keys; portions of iron chains; styli, for writing on wax tablets; an iron trident, which may perhaps have been the head of a staff of office or authority; one or two spear heads; a strigil for scraping the skin in the sweating baths; a portion of an iron horse-shoe; and two or three very nice statuettes in bronze. The most curious, however, of these miscellaneous objects is a medicine stamp, intended to mark packets or bottles of what, in modern times, would be called patent medicines. A certain number of these Roman medicine stamps have been found in Britain and on the Continent, and they are all, like this stamp found at Wroxeter, for salves or washes for the eyes, diseases of the eyes having been apparently very common among the inhabitants of the western provinces of the Roman empire. The Wroxeter stamp, intended for a collyrium or salve for the eyes called dialebanum or dialibanum, gives us in all probability the name of a physician resident in Uriconium. The inscription may be read as follows, filling up the abbreviations:—TIBerii CLaudii Medici DIALIBAnum AD OMNE VITium Oculorum EX Ovo, i.e., the dialebanum of Tiberius Claudius the physician, for all complaints of the eyes, to be used with egg.
A few stones, with Roman inscriptions, chiefly of a sepulchral character, have been dug up at Wroxeter in the course of accidental excavations. Three of these were found in 1752, and are preserved in the library of Shrewsbury School. The first inscription may be read thus:—