Verulamium: The Roman City of St Albans

Author: Rosalind Niblett. Paperback 176 pages (May 31, 2001). In its heyday Verulamium was the third largest city in Roman Britain, with no less than seven temples within the city walls. Why it was that Verlamion, the Iron Age settlement of the Catuvellauni, became so prosperous and what this prosperity meant for its inhabitants is the subject of Rosalind Niblett's wide-ranging study which describes the development of St Albans from its origin in the first century BC to the rise of the Saxon town in the early eighth century AD. The last 20 years have seen an unprecedented amount of archaeological research on Roman St Albans, spearheaded by the author. She is thus ideally qualified to write the first substantial account of Verulamium since Sir Mortimer Wheeler's report of almost 70 years ago. Individual chapters look at developing ideas about the Roman city; from the Middle ages onwards; the development of the tribal centre of the Catuvellauni; the first hundred years of the Roman city; the life of the people in the second and third centuries; and the story of the final centuries before the rise of the Saxon town. Complete with 100 illustrations (many in full colour) this authoritative yet readable account of Roman St Albans will not only enthral local inhabitants but will be indispensable for all those interested in Roman Britain.

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