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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Verulamium
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(St Albans) One of the most prosperous towns of Roman Britain, and the only one to be given the status of municipium (a self-governing community, with specific obligations and privileges under Roman law). It was sacked by *Boudicca in AD 60 but rapidly recovered. Excavations have revealed remains of the forum, built some 20 years after Boudicca's encroachment, a theatre and temple, two triumphal arches, and several luxurious houses with mosaics and wall paintings (on show in a museum on the site).
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In recent years an exceptionally important discovery has been excavated – a Roman temple complex, built around a Celtic tomb in which a ruler was cremated, surrounded by his most precious possessions and accompanied by human sacrifice. Pottery in the tomb dates it to shortly before AD 50, in the very first years of the *Roman occupation. Archaeologists speculate that the tomb may be that of Adminius, who unlike his brother *Caratacus collaborated with Rome. Four centuries later, after the departure of the Romans, the local religious centre shifted to a nearby Christian shrine – which developed into *St Albans.
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