Remnants of Roman Britain

While we wintered in London, we took a trip to the second largest city in England. No, not Birmingham, the second largest by population today, but to Verulamium, which held that ranking in Roman Britain. Today the town is known as St. Albans, and Londinium, the largest city, is now London.

There is a saying in the U.K. that if you "scratch Gloucestershire, you'll find Rome," referring to all the artifacts, villas, and other items discovered in that part of the English countryside. But because the Romans were in Britain for nearly 400 years, you can find evidence of ancient Rome almost anywhere. 

The names of towns themselves can reveal their Roman heritage. Towns whose names end in -cester, -caster, or -chester, for example, were all Roman camps (castra) at one time, such as Winchester, Lancaster, and Manchester. And wherever you find a long, straight road in England, you can be sure it was once a Roman road, testimony to those outstanding engineers. St. Albans, dedicated to the first English Christian martyr, offers a glimpse of its Roman past with a marvelous museum and well-preserved mosaics. 

The museum makes it all come alive with performances by a "Roman soldier" who explains what life was like back in the Roman period from 43 to 410 B.C.  In the dim light of the museum, you could almost believe he was a spectral figure. The kids, of course, were fascinated with his sword.

He explained that while we tend to think of Roman soldiers in Britain as having come from Rome, they in fact were from all over the Roman Empire, and some were locals. No matter where they came from, after 20 or 30 years, they had the option of retiring with either a lump sum of money or a piece of land in the area. I think I enjoyed his talk as much as the children.

We were fascinated as well with one of the graves that had been discovered in the area. The gentleman pictured below was buried in an elaborate coffin wrapping of (I think) tin. (Sorry, the low light makes the photo a bit blurry.)

Later, back in London, we explored a secret Roman site. (Actually, it's not a secret, but it's not very well known.) In Bloomberg's European Headquarters building is the Mithraeum, or Temple of Mithras. It's free to visit, but you must reserve in advance online, because the number of visitors is limited.

The museum is spread over three floors, with exhibits displayed on the ground floor. Then you descend to another area which is quite dark, where you can view mystical film presentations as you await your turn in the temple, a half-story below.

In the temple itself, a sound and light presentation delivers an immersive experience, where light beams re-create ancient pillars and Latin chants ring eerily through the space. (The guide explained later that while historians can't be sure that chanting accompanied rituals in the temple, the words were found inscribed on a temple of Mithras in Rome, so the developers of the museum had the chant recorded using those words. It was very effective at sending chills up-and-down our spines.)

We ascended again and took a final look at some of the artifacts before we left. Isn't it interesting how little nails have changed in nearly 2,000 years? Some things withstand the test of time. I couldn't help but wonder, with so much in our digital world reduced to 1's and 0's recorded on fragile discs and tapes, what would an archeologist of the future find left from our society?

Note the nails at the center, top. They haven't changed much in 2,000 years!