RELICS OF THE PAST.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8090, 7 January 1903, Page 1

RELICS OF THE PAST.

Very strange unci very full of pathos ai'it those relics of the Human occupation which have been turned up by the plough or excavated by the antiquary. At Bath, at St. Albans, at iSilchcstcr, and Dorchester, and Wroxeter, and many other places scattered over the country, there have been found buried beneath the dust of ages the crumbling remains of stately villas which Romans of wealth and culture built for their dwell-ing-places seventeen centuries ago. One may trace the fotuidations of the broad and spacious rooms built in long corridors round a central courtyard, rcininisoent of the Italian atrium, and the cloistered walk round the garden, which in Italy was termed the peristyle. Here in the cellars beneath the dwellingrooms one may still seo the elaborate wanning apparatus of hot air pipes, called the holocaust, which comforted the warmthloving Roman in our chilly climate. We may see the ruins of the baths which the Roman considered essential for his health and ease, and in many of these ruined villas one's eyes may still feast upon the beauties of the tesselated pavements existing in a wonderful state of preservation. The little cubes of colored stones have- been fitted into a bed of cement, in patterns of graceful geometrical design, the centre of the pavements often displaying vigorous designs of hunting scenes, or of Roman mythology, such as Orpheus with his lute and attendant beasts, or -Bacchus with his panther.

In these ruins of a past civilisation have been found much of the pottery, metal work, and coins which were the accompaniments of Roman wealth. Dear to the heart of the antiquary are the beautiful iSuinian vases with the fine red glaze like sealing-wax, and the 'Romano-British figured ware, made at Castor, near Peterborough, while the sentimentalist may bo moved to emotion by a, gold ring whoso inscription shows that it plighted the troth of a Woman officer to a. 'British maid, a bronze mirror in which no doubt a fair woman's face gazed smilingly some seventeen centuries ago, the gold brooch which was found beside il, and which she wow perhaps on the wedding day, a tcrra-cottu toy, the plaything of the first babe, a little leaden collin which bore it to Iho grave all too soon, and other relics 'of domestic life, round each of which one may weave a

story. The vigilant eye of Lhu antiquary lins traced the site of uini»liitli«atre, temple, and foniui, and his excavations have brought to light their ruins und foundations, and above all the spacious baths, which have best survived the destruction of time. Vet it is possible, and, indeed, probable, that grassy slopes and modem buildings cover many remains of Roman Britain, which at some future date may be dibcovercd und explored. As it is, however, a visit to the British Museum, to the Uuiklhall, and to museums in provincial towns will help one to realise all that the coming of the Romans meant to Britain. The statues of Roman gods, emperors, and heroes, the votive tablets to favored deities, the arms und armour, and the relics of art and industry which mother earth has yielded from her bosom proclaim the tarrying of the great race which made the name of Rome the glory of the world. This memory of the pest is miiiu(..iinod also by walls and fortresses, which, ruined, give testimony I" their original grandeur and massive strength, the Unman gate of Lincoln, the old light-hou.*: at Do ver, the walls of Hadrian and Se\,m.,, ami the fortifications at Silcln.: ler. Dmelicio, and many other places, "f winch Ui- nme alone, derived from the I,aim '"'ihn, a camp, is evidence of their Roman history.