tself
spread westward over the river, and fragments of houses and tesselated
pavements have been discovered. In 1841 remains of public baths were
found; and there are many signs that there was a large population on
this side of the river. In 1854 there was found near the southern gate
of the camp a tablet dedicated to Trajan, and commemorating the
conclusion of some work done by the 9th legion in the year 108-9. This
work was perhaps the palace of the emperors.

Near the south gate also was a Christian Church of St. Crux. The road to
Tadcaster was lined with tombs, and remains of cemeteries have been
discovered all round the city.

As in London, there are few remains of Roman masonry above ground, and
this is but natural, for the city has been burnt and destroyed, wholly
or partially, many times; and there is no doubt that Roman buildings
were used, as in Rome and other cities, as a quarry for later erections.

York is historically connected with several of the emperors. Two of
them, Severus and Constantius Chlorus, died there, and Constantine the
Great, the son of the latter, was hailed emperor at York, if it was not
the scene of his birth. At York also were the headquarters of two of the
legions, the 9th and the 6th; and there is little doubt that in course
of time it came to be regarded as the capital of the island. In fact,
according to Professor Freeman (_Macmillan's Magazine_, Sept. 1876),
"Eburacum holds a place which is unique in the history of Britain, which
is shared by only one other city in the lands north of the Alps (Trier,
Augusta Trevirorum)." We learn little of the history of York from Roman
historians, and next to nothing of the early Christian Church. There is
mention of York at rare intervals, when it became connected with the
general history of the empire. For instance, in 208, Severus was in
York, and it became for a time the headquarters of the court.

The Emperor Constantius died at York in 306, and there is a tradition
that hundreds of years afterwards his body was found under the Church of
St. Helen-on-the-Walls, with a lamp still burning over it. Many churches
in the neighbourhood of Eburacum were dedicated to his wife Helena, the
legendary finder of the True Cross. It has been supposed that
Constantine the Great was born at York, but this is probably untrue,
though he was proclaimed emperor there. In the middle of the fourth
century the Picts and Scots began to make inroads, and it is prob