|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Verulamium
Verulamium. Romano-British town, capital of the Catuvellauni, predecessor of St Albans (Herts.). In the late Iron Age Verulamium was a major oppidum. The Catuvellauni seem to have been pro-Roman and after only brief military presence the new Verulamium started to develop. By the time of its destruction by Boudicca in ad 60 it had a small street-grid and Roman-style buildings. By 79 it was able to dedicate its elaborate new forum and in due course acquired public baths, a theatre and temple complex, a macellum (covered market), and monumental arches, and may have been promoted a municipium. In the mid-2nd cent. an expansive circuit of earthwork defences with impressive stone gates was unfinished, possibly because of a disastrous fire in the town in the 150s. In the 3rd cent. the defences were completed in stone on a slightly reduced line. In the 1st and 2nd cents. private housing at Verulamium was principally artisan. From the later 2nd cent. large residences were built, dominating the town in the 4th cent. some lasting into the 5th. Verulamium was the site of the martyrdom of Alban. Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited his shrine in 429, and the present cathedral may perpetuate its site.
Alan Simon Esmonde Cleary |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Verulamium.html JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Verulamium.html |
|
Verulamium
Verulamium. The Roman theatre in this 2nd century city (now St Albans) was for a long time the only one known in Britain. (Traces of others have now been found at Canterbury and near Colchester.) It was probably built between AD 140 and 150 and used mainly for sport, particularly cock-fighting. The orchestra, which was completely circular, with seating round two-thirds of it and a small stage-building in the remaining space, could have been used for mimes and dancing, and the stage for small-scale entertainments. In AD 200 the stage was enlarged, possibly to allow for the positioning of a slot for a curtain, and at the end of the 3rd century, after a period of disuse, the theatre was rebuilt. The auditorium was extended over part of the orchestra, the floor levels were raised, and a triumphal arch was built spanning Watling Street. The building was finally abandoned at the end of the 4th century and the site used as a municipal rubbish-dump. It was rediscovered in 1847 and excavated in 1934.
|
|
|
Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Verulamium." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Verulamium." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Verulamium.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Verulamium." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Verulamium.html |
|
Verulamium
Verulamium Romano‐British town, capital of the Catuvellauni, predecessor of St Albans (Herts.). In the late Iron Age Verulamium was a major oppidum. The Catuvellauni seem to have been pro‐Roman and after only brief military presence the new Verulamium started to develop. By the time of its destruction by Boudicca in AD 60 it had a small street‐grid and Roman‐style buildings. By 79 it was able to dedicate its elaborate new forum and in due course acquired public baths, a theatre and temple complex, a macellum (covered market), and monumental arches. Verulamium was the site of the martyrdom of Alban. Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited his shrine in 429, and the present cathedral may perpetuate its site.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Verulamium.html JOHN CANNON. "Verulamium." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Verulamium.html |
|
Verulamium
Verulamium England: see Saint Albans . |
|
|
Cite this article
"Verulamium." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Verulamium." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-Verulami.html "Verulamium." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-X-Verulami.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
