ENGLISH POMPEII.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 172, 24 August 1909, Page 4

ENGLISH POMPEII.

BURIED HOMAN CITY TO BE LAID BARE. The earl of A'eruhini, who owns the land upon which was built the ancient .Roman city of Ycrulamiuin, has given permission lo the Society of Antiquaries to undertake excavations, which will shortly be commenced. The site of Veriilaniiuni (says the London Daily Mail) lies a mile or so from the centre of St. Albans, just at uhe entrance of the beautiful llorhambury Park.

Vorulaniium was one of tlie most important cities in England at tin- time of tli« Kouiiiii occupation. With Eboracuui (York) it enjoyed the dignity of being a uiunicipium, which meant that all who were horn within its walls could claim Roman citizenship. It was situated in Watling-strcet, and the British insurrection under Boadiooa culminated here in the massacre of 70,001) liomans. In HO3, or perhaps earlier, St. Allian, the lirst English niartyi', was beheaded on the sili' of the present St. Albans Abbey. Xnt, long after the ancient town was forsaken, and the new one—St. Albans —grew up on the hill which had shadowed it.

CITY BENEATH FfELDS.' ■ln the centre of the site of the old sity in the Church of St. Michael, the vicarage of which stands in the middle of what ivas the forum. A few old walls and other fragments are to be seen here nnd there, hut the Roman city lies for tlie most part buried under a considerable depth of soil. In the course of centuries earth has been washed down from the hillside, and earthworm have be"", busy, and where once lay the proud and splendid city is now the quiet, over-lillcd garden of the vicarage, the fields of tlie globe, and other pastures nnd plough lands. The stones anil Roman bricks of Yeruliunium were, of course, much used for later buildings elsewhere. St. Albans Abbey is very largely built from them. Hut a great deal still remains under file soil. About sixty veals ago. and again in 18(1!), the theatre was partly and temporarily uncovered, and some line frescoes, pavements, anil marbles, were found. It is the only Roman theatre in Britain, and its dimensions are almost exactly the same as those of tlie theatre at Pompeii. ' 810 ACHES OF BI'ILDIiXGS.

In fact the whole town of Yeriilaminm singularly resembles Pompeii as regards shape—an irregular oval—dimensions, ami arrangement and position of streets and buildings. It is slightly larger, its walls enclosing an area of 11)0 acres. Its excavation ought to provide extraordinary interest. If it is done thoroughly, as no doubt it will be. we shall have within a few miles'of London an object-lesson of surpassing educational and antiquarian value as to how the Romans lived in Britain two thousau ! years ago.