a Colony. A temple, dedicated to Diana,
appears to have stood on the site of our Eastminster, S. Paul's, and
another, to Apollo, at Westminster. When Tacitus wrote, Verulamium
and Camulodunum possessed mints, whilst London did not. The earliest
Roman London must have been a comparatively small place, with a fort
to command the passage of the Thames. Perhaps to the Romans are due
the primitive embankments which were designed to restrain the
vagaries of the river at the times of tide and flood. London Stone,
built into another stone in Cannon Street, outside the wall of St.
Swithin's Church, is generally considered to be a milliarium (to mark
so many thousand paces) or central station from which to measure
distances, but it may conceivably have had some more ancient and
peculiar designation in connection with a public or sacred building.
Old London lies 20 feet or so below the present street level, so
that, when excavations are made for any purpose, Roman remains are
frequently found and parts of the Roman wall uncovered.

[Footnote 6: In like manner we have Margate, Kingsgate, Westgate,
Ramsgate, Sandgate, &c., indicating probably sites where a passage
has been cut through the cliff by a stream or human agency.]

Remains--pavements, etc.--are to be seen in abundance in the
Guildhall Museum.

When the old General Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was
demolished a large series of Roman rubbish pits was disclosed. The
lowest portions of 120 of these were carefully excavated. The "finds"
included a few whole pots and many thousands of fragments of Samian
and coarse pottery, besides building materials, whetstones, beads,
knives, coins, and other small articles. It has been possible to
assign dates to most of the holes--between A.D. 50 and 200. By the
association in the same hole of datable with undatable pottery, light
has been thrown upon many types of the latter.

Not long ago, while the buildings 3-6 King William Street were being
demolished, another series of five large Roman pits was uncovered.
From the fragments obtained therefrom nine Samian vessels of the
first century have been pieced together, and are now in the Guildhall
Museum. These include a decorated vessel, finer than any previously
found in London, and two specimens of a shape unknown hitherto in
England. A lamp, two coins, and other objects of pottery and bronze
were also obtained from this source.[7]

[Footnote 7: Besant's _London_ and his _Westmin