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IV.—Roman London: Its initial occupation as evidenced by early types of Terra Sigillata

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2011

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Extract

In the absence of historical and epigraphic references to the earliest origin of the Roman occupation of London there is perhaps no material that can be of greater assistance in furnishing evidence on this subject than the red-glazed ware of the Roman Imperial period—the Terra Sigillata—comprising both the Italian Arretine ware and the Gaulish so-called ‘Samian’ ware, and this paper is devoted to a critical study of the earliest types of this class of pottery that have been found in London, to a consideration of their distribution, and finally to a statement of the conclusions which may be drawn from this evidence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1928

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References

page 73 note 1 Vol. lxvi, p. 225 seqq.

page 73 note 2 Also Scarborough, Cardiff, and Plymouth.

page 74 note 1 See imitations of the Gaulish form 29 by the Italian potter L. R. PISANVS, Déchelette, Les vases céramiques ornés de la Gaule Romaine, i, p. 113 ff., and Brit. Mus. Cat., pl. ix.

page 74 note 2 Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.

page 75 note 1 Bonner Jahrbb., 111–12, pl. xxxvi, 24.

page 75 note 2 See Oswald and Pryce, Terra Sigillata, ii, 2.

page 75 note 3 This type of stamp does not occur on Arretine ware of the first century B.C. It came into vogue in the early years of the first century A.D.; only two stamps in planta pedis occur at Haltern.

page 75 note 4 Notizie degli Scavi, 1894, 49.

page 75 note 5 S. Loeschcke, Keramische Funde in Haltern, no. 193.

page 75 note 6 Bonner Jahrbb., 116, 330.

page 76 note 1 The stamp ZOILVS is later than that of ZOELVS and should be assigned to the period late Augustus-Tiberius.

page 76 note 2 Op. cit.

page 76 note 3 E. Ritterling, Das frührömische Lager bei Hofheim.

page 76 note 4 H. Dragendorft, Bonn. Jahrbb., 96 and 97.

page 76 note 5 Stamps in planta pedis continued to be produced in Italy in the Claudian period, but not by the potter ATEIVS.

page 78 note 1 See G. H. Chase, Catalogue of Arretine Pottery, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, figs. 108, 142.

page 78 note 2 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxiv, 7.

page 78 note 3 C. R. Smith, Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc., iv, 16.

page 78 note 4 Cf. Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., ii, 1, 2, 4; xxvi, 1, 2.

page 78 note 5 Ibid., ii, 1, 2, 4.

page 78 note 6 Cf. R. Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken verzierter Terra-Sigillata des ersten Jahrhunderts, 1919, text-fig. 4, M. PERENNIVS, and Brit. Mus. Cat., L 105.

page 78 note 7 Cf. Chase, op. cit., p. 99 and fig. 113.

page 79 note 1 Brit. Mus. Cat., L 55, 56.

page 79 note 2 Cf. Chase, op.cit, figs, 1 and 69, M. PERENNIVS/TIGRANVS, for similar interruptions of ‘rod chain’ festoons by figure subjects.

page 79 note 3 It is remotely possible that the fragment is a Belgic imitation of decorated Arretine, examples of which have been found in the Augustan pottery at Xanten (Bonn. Jahrbb., 122, pl. liv, 3).

page 79 note 4 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxiv, 1, 2.

page 79 note 5 Brit. Mus. Cat., L 98.

page 79 note 6 Chase, op. cit., fig. 15.

page 79 note 7 Cf. Chase, op. cit., figs. 140, 141.

page 80 note 1 The two cups by C. AMVRVS and XANTHVS (Brit Mus. Cat., L 168, 169) and the plate by ANNIVS and three other Arretine pieces, now in the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, are not included in our list, for their provenance is not known.

page 81 note 1 R. Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken verzierter Terra-Sigillata des ersten Jahrhunderts, 1919, pls. 40–2, 45–7.

page 81 note 2 Cf. Loeschcke, types 11 and 8 and the London cup by AMAR, fig. 1.

page 82 note 1 Cf. Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., ii, 3 ATEIVS.

page 82 note 2 Knorr, op. cit., pls. 40 a, 40 d, INGENVVS at Sels; Ritterling, op. cit., xxvii, 22, 23.

page 82 note 3 Cf. Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxiv, 10, by NAEVIVS of Puteoli.

page 82 note 4 Knorr, op. cit., pls. 1, 2, 3, 4, 41 G, J.

page 82 note 5 Ritterling, op. cit., Abb. 46, 1, 2, 47, 52, 4 a, b.

page 82 note 6 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxvi, 1.

page 82 note 7 Knorr, op. cit, pls. 1 b, 46 d, 51 m, text-fig. 28.

page 82 note 8 May, The Pottery found at Silchester, xi, 2.

page 84 note 1 Cf. Knorr, op. cit., pls. 1, 9, 18, text-fig. 18, pls. 46, 66, 79, 84, and text-fig. 28; also Brit. Mus. Cat., M 5.

page 84 note 2 Cf. Chase, op. cit., fig. 133 M. PERENNIVS/BARGATES; Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., ii, 2 ATEIVS/XANTHVS.

page 84 note 3 May, op. cit., xi, 1, 2.

page 84 note 4 Cf. Ritterling, op. cit., xxv, 7.

page 84 note 5 Cf. Oswald and Pryce, op. cit, ii, 1, 2, 4.

page 84 note 6 Ibid., xxiv, 10, NAEVIVS of Puteoli.

page 84 note 7 Ibid., iii, 5.

page 84 note 8 Knorr, op. cit, pls. 1 a, 6 b, 11 a, 14 c, 51 j, 78 a, 80.

page 84 note 9 Ritterling, op. cit, xxv, 12 a, b.

page 84 note 10 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 50 F.

page 84 note 11 Ibid., pls. 50 e, 81.

page 84 note 12 Ibid., pls. 51 K, 51 H.

page 85 note 1 Knorr, Die Terra-Sigittata Gefässe von Aislingen, pl. iv, 4.

page 85 note 2 Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken verzierter Terra-Sigillata des I. Jahrhunderts, text-fig. 18.

page 85 note 3 Ibid., pls. 7 h, 18, 79 a, text-fig. 28; Brit. Mus. Cat., M 5.

page 85 note 4 Ritterling, op. cit., xxiv, 2.

page 85 note 5 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 9 f.

page 85 note 6 Ibid., pl. 84.

page 85 note 7 Ibid., pls. 7 e, h, f, 14 b, 32, 72 j, h, 76 b.

page 85 note 8 Ritterling, op. cit., xxv, 14.

page 85 note 9 Ibid., xxvi, 3.

page 85 note 10 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 89 h, l.

page 85 note 11 Ibid., pl. 90 c.

page 85 note 12 Ibid., pl. 14 b.

page 86 note 1 Knorr, op. cit., text-fig. 10.

page 86 note 2 Ibid., pl. 15 h.

page 86 note 3 Ibid., pls. 1 b, 9 k.

page 86 note 4 Ibid., pls. 92 a, 4 r, 46 c; see also pl. 72 g, form 29, by SCOTTIVS at Vechten.

page 86 note 5 May, op. cit., xi, 1, a Tiberian form 29 at Silchester.

page 86 note 6 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 40 d, text-fig. 27, SENICIO, pl. 7 d, style of amandvs; see also Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., viii, 1, and Ritterling, op. cit., xxvii, 21.

page 86 note 7 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 72 h.

page 86 note 8 Ibid., pl. 11 a.

page 88 note 1 Cf. Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxvi, 6, and Knorr, op. cit, pl. 14 a.

page 88 note 2 Knorr, op. cit, pl. 14 a.

page 88 note 3 Ibid., pl. 14 a, BILICATVS; text-fig. 18, DARRA; 71 e, scottivs.

page 88 note 4 Ritterling, op. cit., xxvii, 24.

page 88 note 5 Knorr, op. cit, pl. 45 a.

page 88 note 6 Ibid., pls. 40 d and 41 g, both in the style of INGENVVS.

page 88 note 7 Ibid., pl. 76c.

page 89 note 1 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 61 c.

page 89 note 2 Ibid., pl. 31 e.

page 89 note 3 Ibid., pl. 4 s.

page 89 note 4 Ibid., pl. 50 e.

page 89 note 5 Ibid., pl. 51 k.

page 89 note 6 Ibid., pl. 60 b.

page 89 note 7 Ibid., pl. 1 b.

page 89 note 8 Ibid., pl. 14 a.

page 89 note 9 Ibid., pl. 76 b.

page 89 note 10 Ibid., pl. 7 Aa, Bb, cc.

page 89 note 11 Ibid., pl. 14 b.

page 90 note 1 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., x, 5.

page 90 note 2 Ibid., vii, 1.

page 90 note 3 Ibid., iii, 8.

page 90 note 4 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 21 d.

page 90 note 5 Ibid., pls. 2 e, 3 m, o.

page 90 note 6 Ibid., pl. 41 j.

page 90 note 7 Ibid., pl. 32.

page 90 note 8 Ibid., pls. 30 b, 31 d, e.

page 90 note 9 Ibid., pl. 14 a, c.

page 90 note 10 Ritterling, op. cit., Abb. 46, 1.

page 90 note 11 Ibid., xxvi, 5, xxvii, 19.

page 90 note 12 Knorr, op. cit, text-fig. 30.

page 92 note 1 Ritterling, op. cit., xxiv, 10, xxv, 9.

page 92 note 2 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 41 l.

page 92 note 3 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xxix, 1, 8.

page 92 note 4 Chase, op. cit., figs. 2, 3, 26, 29.

page 92 note 5 Ritterling, op. cit., xxvi, 4.

page 92 note 6 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 89 e.

page 92 note 7 Knorr, Die Terra-Sigillata Gefässe von Aislingen, vi, 3.

page 92 note 8 Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken versierter Terra-Sigillata d. I. Jahrhunderts, 1919, pl. 61 c.

page 92 note 9 Ritterling, op. cit, xxvii. 11.

page 94 note 1 Knorr, op. cit., text-fig. 30.

page 94 note 2 Ibid., pl. 31 d, e.

page 94 note 3 Ibid., text-fig. 16 e.

page 94 note 4 Ritterling, op. cit., Abb. 46, i.

page 94 note 5 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 39.

page 94 note 6 Ritterling, op. cit., pls. xxvi, 3, xxvii, 2, 3, 6–8, 10, 18.

page 94 note 7 Ibid., XXXII, 16.

page 94 note 8 Ibid., xxvi, 1.

page 94 note 9 Knorr, Die Terra-Sigillata Gefässe von Aislingen, text-fig. 3.

page 94 note 10 Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken verzierter Terra-Sigillata d. I. Jahrhunderts, pl. 84 b.

page 94 note 11 Chase, op. cit, figs. 3, 41, 66, 90, 97, 115, 122–4.

page 96 note 1 Ritterling, op. cit, xxvi, 5, xxvii, 19.

page 96 note 2 Knorr, Aislingen, text-fig. 4.

page 96 note 3 Ritterling, op. cit., xxvi, 2.

page 96 note 4 Ibid., Abb. 46, 1.

page 96 note 5 Ibid., xxvii, 11.

page 96 note 6 Knorr, Töpfer und Fabriken verzierter Terra-Sigiliata d. I. Jahrhunderts, 1919, text-fig. 7.

page 96 note 7 Ibid., pl. 40 a, c.

page 96 note 8 Ritterling, op. cit, xxvii, 24.

page 96 note 9 Ibid., xxvii, 3.

page 96 note 10 Knorr, op. cit., pl. 20 d, e, g, and pl. 75, 12.

page 97 note 1 Possibly in the bed of the Walbrook.

page 98 note 1 The possibility that some of these outlying stamps occurred in association with burnt burials should, however, not be overlooked.

page 98 note 2 Quite exceptionally the ware of an Arretine potter who was working as late as the Nero-Vespasian period found its way to Britain, e. g. L. R. PIS[ANVS, C. I. L. vii, 894.

page 99 note 1 Ritterling, op. cit., 249.

page 99 note 2 Bonner Jahrbücher, 111–12, pl. xxxvi, 24.

page 99 note 3 Communicated by Dr. Josef Hagen.

page 99 note 4 Knorr, Die Terra-Sigillata Gefässe von Aislingen, 5, 16.

page 99 note 5 Ritterling, op. cit., 201.

page 99 note 6 See Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., 5.

page 99 note 7 See May, op. cit., p. 6 and pls. lxxvi, 8, lxxvii, 7; D. Atkinson, Journal of Roman Studies, viii, 200. Coins of Eppillus, son of Commius, were inscribed CALLEV, see J. Evans, Ancient British Coins, 523–4, and also pl. iv, 1, EPP REX CALLE.

page 99 note 8 Oswald and Pryce, op. cit., xl, 14.

page 100 note 1 It has been suggested in support of this view that Arretine ware found its way more readily to a civil than to a military site. But this statement does not rest on any evidential basis; on the contrary, during its prosperous period this ware was abundantly exported to military sites, such as Xanten, Sels, Haltern, and Mainz.

page 100 note 2 Except, perhaps, during the periods of mass-production of late South Gaul and mid-secondcentury Lezoux.

page 100 note 3 The absence of Late-Celtic pottery of the definite Aylesford-Swarling-Welwyn type appears to exclude the possibility of a pre-Conquest London which was primarily and essentially Celtic. On the other hand, the occurrence in London of much coarse pottery of what may be termed Romanized-Celtic type is entirely consistent with a pre-Conquest settlement of Italian traders and some inevitable, ancillary, native inhabitants. We refer chiefly to urns of the pedestal type and to vessels with inbent bead-rims, mostly preserved in the Guildhall Museum. A study of this pottery, with a careful investigation of its provenance and the initial and terminal dates of its types, is much to be desired.

page 100 note 4 Caesar, Bell. Gall. vii, 42, refers to the expulsion by the Aedui from their oppidum, Cabillonum, of Romans ‘who had set up there for purposes of trade’.

Cicero, Pro M. Fonteio v, 11, states that, as early as 69 B.C., ‘Gaul was full of Roman citizens and that all the commerce of the land was controlled by them, and that not a coin was moved there without an entry in a Roman book of account’ (quoted by J. S. Reid, The Municipalities of the Roman Empire, 170).

Tacitus, Hist. iv, 15, states that during the rebellion of Civilis (A.D. 69–70) the Batavians ‘fell upon the settlers and Roman traders who had spread themselves over the country, as in security’. At this date Batavia did not form part of the Roman Empire.

page 101 note 1 Reid, op. cit., 220.

page 101 note 2 Geographia, ii, 153; iv, 278. The latest event mentioned in Strabo's work is the death of Juba, king of Mauretania, circa A.D. 21. His Geography was finally revised in or before A.D. 23.

page 101 note 3 Archaeologia, lxxvi, p. 241.

page 101 note 4 Ibid., lxiii, p. 4.

page 101 note 5 Journal of Roman Studies, i, 145.

page 102 note 1 Annals, xiv, 33.

page 102 note 2 This volume was published in November 1928.

page 102 note 3 See also F. C. T. Spurrell, Arch. Journ. xlii, 269, and H. Ormsby, London on the Thames, 20.

page 102 note 4 lx, 20.

page 103 note 1 Camulodunum was established as the centre of the imperial cult in the reign of Claudius (Tacitus, Annals, xiv, 31). Reasoning from analogies, such as Lyons, it might be argued that it was also intended that Colchester should be the seat of the financial administration of the province. But the geographical disabilities of its situation—especially as compared with London—renders it improbable that it was ever intended to function as such, and the fact that during Boudicca's rebellion (A.D. 60) the procurator, Catus Decianus, was not stationed here, supports this view. The erection of the Statue of Victory to Claudius at Colchester would appear to be sufficiently accounted for by the fact that, as the capital of the most powerful native prince, it was officially captured by the Emperor himself.

page 103 note 2 Tacitus, Annals, xiv, 32. For other instances of the control of troops by procurators see Tacitus, Hist, ii, 12, 16; C. I. L. vii, 1003, iii, 12601, 13795–6. Although there is no evidence that London was a fortified city at this date, archaeological and historical evidence indicates that it was of sufficient importance to require some police control, and this control may have been maintained by a detachment of an Urban Cohort, as at Lyons (Tacitus, Annals, iii, 41). It may perhaps be permissible to conjecture that the above-mentioned relief-force belonged to a unit of this description.

page 104 note 1 Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, 213.

page 104 note 2 Quoted from Reid, op. cit., 179.

page 104 note 3 Nimes had twenty-four oppida attributa (Pliny, N. H. 3, 4, 37).

page 104 note 4 There is no evidence that London was endowed with a territorium in the Roman period. As the late Prof. Haverfield explained (J. R. S. i, 179), the territorium is appropriate only to a municipality or colony. The first definite reference to London in association with territory appears to be contained in a charter of Stephen, A.D. 1141 (J. H. Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, p. 140).

page 104 note 5 See Hirschfeld's introduction to the Lyons inscriptions, C. I. L. xiii, p. 253. For this reference, and for valuable advice relative to the question of the status of Roman London, we are indebted to Mr. S. N. Miller.

page 104 note 6 Mr. R. G. Collingwood submits the following as the probable restoration and rendering of this important inscription: Num(ini) C[aesaris] … prov(incia) … Brita(nnia) … ‘To the deity of the Emperor, set up by the province of Britain.’ The inscription belongs to the late first or early second century.

page 105 note 1 Another reading, by Mr. G. H. Stevenson and Mr. R. G. Collingwood, suggests that the officials referred to were p(ortitores), the officers of the portoria. Whether publicani, procuratores, or portitores, these tile-inscriptions clearly refer to officials of the province of Britain.

page 105 note 2 Tacitus, Annals, xiv, 32; Agricola, 16.

page 105 note 3 In the third century Mainz is termed a civitas (C. I. L. xiii, 6727), in the reign of Diocletian, just as London is called a civitas in the list of signatures at the Council of Aries (A.D. 314). But at this date civitas was used in a general sense and applied to cities of various degrees of importance, and in no way implied a colonial or municipal title (Abbott and Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, 192).

page 105 note 4 The question whether this administration was continuous or interrupted is outside the scope of this paper.

page 106 note 1 Denotes the early potter.