had been augmented, contributed to its fall, by inflaming the vengeance of the Britons associated under Boadicea, who, after the destruction of Camalodunum and Londinium, poured forth her indignant wrath upon this devoted settlement. Tacitus insinuates, that the riches of Verulam operated as an additional incentive for the Britons to attack it; and that they passed other military posts without assault, for the sake of the plunder to be acquired here.t The victory achieved by Suetonius over the undisciplined multitudes of Boadicea, ensured the predominance of the Roman power, and Verulam gradually recovered its former lustre. In succeeding ages, its fame was still more heightened by the martyrdom of AL BANUS, or Alban, during the fell persecution of the Christians, which commenced under the authority of Dioclesian, in the year 303. At that period, the enmity of its citizens to the Gospel was so great, that, as a disgrace to Albanus's memory, and as a terror to other Christians, they had the story of his murder inscribed upon marble, and inserted in the city walls.' Yet the flames of Paganism proved insufficient to effect the purpose for which they had been ignited; and both Bede and Gildas concur in the fact, that, within a very few years after the cessation of the persecution, a Church was founded in honor of the memory of Albanus, and that on the very spot on which he suffered, the precise site of the present Abbey Church of St. Alban's. The sculpture recording the scene of his martyrdom, was removed from the view; and in its place, and over the gates of their walls, the inhabitants erected square stones, inscribed with memorials of the triumph of their newly-adopted religion, + Annal XIV. c. 33. Omissis castellis, præsidiisque militum, quod uberrimum spoliant, et defensoribus intutum; læti prædá et aliorum segnes petebant. ‡ In hujus opprobrium et Christianorum terrorem, ut in antiquo ejus agone habetur, Verolamienses ejus martyrium marmori inscripserunt, manibusque inseruerunt. Camden, from an ancient History of St. Alban's. The Pelagian heresy having occasioned great dissentions among the Christians, early in the fifth century, Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, came into Britain for the avowed purpose of restraining its progress: during their stay in this Island, they assisted at a Synod held at Verulam in the year 429. Germanus was particularly distinguished for the success of his exhortations; and a Chapel was afterwards erected to his honor, just without the walls of the city, on the spot on which, as from a pulpit, he spoke the Divine word." This Chapel, the ruins of which existed till the beginning of the last century, gave name to St. German's Farm; and this now comprehends a very considerable part of the site of the ancient Verulam. The grave of St. Alban is recorded to have been opened by Germanus, in order to deposit in it the relics of other Saints, that those whom Heaven received, one tomb might contain.'+ In the war of desolation which accompanied the descent of the Saxons, Verulam was an early sufferer; yet, previous to its final subjugation and ruin, it is said to have been recovered by the Britons under Uter Pendragon, who, having been wounded in a great battle, fought in the vicinity, was, after some time, according to Brompton, cured of his wounds by resorting to a salubrious spring, or holy well, at a little distance from the city walls. The Saxons, on recovering possession, are supposed to have destroyed the population, and reduced the buildings to a mass of ruins. For two centuries its name is not even mentioned in history; though various events, of subsequent occurrence, render the opinion probable, that it was not wholly deserted till after the rise of the modern St. Alban's. The derivation of the name of Verulam has not been decisively ascertained; but its situation on the river Ver had unquestionably some Juxta prostrate urbis mania, Germani sacellum etiamnum nomine, etsi profano usu, superest; quo loci ille, pro suggestu verbum 'divinum effatus erat; ut antiquæ fani Albani membranulæ testantur. Camden. + Ibid. some share in its etymology. The Saxons called it Werlamcestre, and Watlingceastre; the latter term is clearly derived from its connection with the Watling Street. The great extent of the area surrounded by the ruined walls, the immense embankments called the Verulam Hills, with the deep ditches accompanying them, and the innumerable Roman coins, antiquities, and other remains of Roman occupation, that have been dug up here, are sufficient, even in the absence of all written record, to testify the former grandeur and magnificence of this city. When the Romans became possessed of Verulam, it is probable that they enlarged its boundaries; yet they did not confine its exterior form to that so generally adopted in their tactics, the rectangular; but, modifying their own rules to the nature of the ground,* suffered their Municipium to assume the figure of an irregular ellipsis: internally, however, their buildings were extended in right. lines; and though the area has been long under tillage, and divided by hedges into fields, the sites of various streets may yet be discovered at particular seasons of the year, by the diverse hues of the vegetation. Some considerable masses of the walls yet remain, and furnish demonstrative proofs of the excellence of the Roman masonry. The walls were about twelve feet thick; they were composed of layers of flints, embedded in a strong cement of lime, small gravel, and coarse sand, and strengthened, at intervals of about three feet, by rows of large Roman tiles,† two or three in a row: these were continued through the whole range of the walls, as is evident from the fragments remaining on the different sides of the station. The extent of the area has been variously estimated; but, from the accurate admeasurements by Dr. Stukeley, its length, B 4 Prout loci qualitas aut necessitus postulaverit. Vegetius, Lib. I. c. 23, These tiles measure from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, and from eleven to thirteen inches in breadth: they are of a very compact texture; yet so adhesive is the cement which binds them together, that it is almost impossible to remove one of them from the wall in a perfect state, |