Verulamium

Verulamium was the third largest city in Roman Britain. It is located near the present city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, in part to agricultural area used. Center of the square is the Fund Verulamium Museum and Verulamium Hypocaust.

Settlement history

Before Roman times the city was known as Verlamion, the capital of the tribe of the Catuvellauni. The village was founded by its leader Tasciovanus.

The Roman settlement was awarded in the year 50 of the rank of municipium. You grew into a major city, despite the subsequent looting and destruction during the Boudicca revolt of the Celtic tribes of the Iceni and Trinovantes in the year 61 In the early third century, the town already covered about 50 acres behind a deep moat and a wall. She had a forum, a basilica and a theater, thermal baths and several temples and survived two fires, one in 155 and one around the year 250 The reconstruction was done twice in the next 150 years more in stone than wood. The Roman occupation ended between 450 and 500

There are few remains of the city are still visible today, only parts of the city wall, a hypocaust and the theater are still standing upright. Few insulae have so far been excavated.

The city was used as a quarry, as St Albans was founded. Other residues are below the farmland and have so far been only partially investigated by archaeologists. The map was created by a checkerboard pattern, during the excavation usually a small-scale buildings from residential wood appeared. Only from the third and fourth centuries, there were some larger town houses, which were built in stone and have been partially equipped with peristyle, mosaics and Hypocausten.

Within the walls of Verulam, as Sir Francis Bacon called his barony, the essayist and statesman built a sophisticated small house that has been thoroughly described by John Aubrey in the 17th century in his diary. No trace of it is left, but Aubrey noted: "At Verulam is to be seen, in some few places, some remains of the wall of this Citie ."

The buildings

The Forum was the center of the city and was the second largest in Roman Britain. It was built in the Flavian period. An inscription dates the completion in the year 79 AD and was placed under the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola Britain. The building complex was 161 x 117 size, but it is hard to get an idea of the building, although it was the target of excavations several times. The forum was rebuilt several times, so that the research has difficulties to distinguish between single phase. There were a number of rooms which occupied the entire long side of the building on the north -east side. It is probably to shops. A second series of rooms was next to it and opened probably to the inside of the forum. This leads to the great basilica joined and next to it was the actual forum; Place a 62 x 94 m in size. The additions to the place found themselves on the short sides. To the southwest, eventually were three other buildings in the middle perhaps is the Curia.

Northwest of the forum was the macellum (market hall). It dates back to 85 AD It consisted of two rows of shops. In the center was a central courtyard where there was a water pipe, the water's edge brought from the nearby river. Macella were often meat markets and in fact found themselves near a number of animal bones.

In addition to the macellum was the theater. It is one of the few still to be visited buildings in the city. It has a semi-circular sitting room and a semi-circular with a diameter Orchestra of 24.3 m and thus corresponds to a Roman- Gallic type. The building dates back to around 140 AD, although it may have been a predecessor. The theater is inserted partially into the ground so that the stands aussaßen to the existing soil. It was rebuilt several times and received a proscenium with a Corinthian order. The theater is a high probability of having a next door at temple district in conjunction, probably also religious events were celebrated here.

Remains of three spas have been excavated. In Insula XIX were found in rescue excavations a deepened part of the building and remains of columns and high quality murals. The construction seems to have been in operation up to the end of the first century. The finding points to a public building. In Insula III remains of the building were being dug, which is likely to be interpreted as spas, but was so far excavated only in part. Only three rooms have been excavated; any of them with a hypocaust. The massive structures and numerous toilet objects indicate that it was a public bath. It was probably built at the end of the first century and went on a large fire under 150. A third large bathroom is outside the city walls, northeast of the city walls have been excavated. The bathroom was next to a large temple area and like it may have served mainly for ritual purposes. The system is studied to a great extent

Temple

Numerous temples are known from the city. The forum were probably two temples of the conventional type. Other temples in the city area include alls to the type of the Gallo -Roman temple handling. Only two of ihne have heretofore been excavated, while the others are known from aerial photographs. In Insula XVI, next to the theater and the forum was a large temple area, which occupied the whole insula. The complex was surrounded by walls and opened in the north to the theater, with the state of the complex in conjunction. In the middle of the district of the actual temple was a central cella, a handling and two elongated extensions. In the south of the city, just opposite one of the city gates, a small triangular temple area was excavated, which occupied a whole, small Insula. Both temples have been built there first century BC at the end.

Churches

Since the fourth century, Christianity was the state religion in the Roman Empire. Objects with Christian symbols have been but has not been found in the city. For the eighth century a church in the city is busy writing to the Venerable Bede. Three buildings in the city are discussed in the literature as potential church buildings. For none of them, this is proven. The northwestern entrance in the great temple district in Insula XVI was eventually blocked. This seems to go back to reconstruction measures; which were interpreted as using the temple as a church. However, this is not safe. In Insula IX was a 15.8 m long and 12.5 m wide building, which perhaps represented a basilica. Again, the interpretation is based only on the plan as a church and is therefore very uncertain. In 1966, the remains of a building were found just outside the town, which was at least 6 m long and 3 m wide and had an apse. As construction was located within a cemetery, it may have been a cemetery church.

Verulamium Museum

Set in the grounds is the Verulamium Museum. It shows the important discoveries, including one of the best collections of floor mosaics of England, including the Shell Mosaic, marble stucco, the Verulamium Venus, a bronze figurine, and numerous other artifacts.