15 



^be IRoman ipiacc*»nante6 of Dcrb^ebirc. 



It is unfortunate that the ancient authorities which 

 supply us liberally with the Roman names of towns or 

 forts in Britain have for the most part left Derbyshire 

 severely alone. The reason is not far to seek. The fact 

 that none of the principal Roman roads led through the 

 county is sufficient to explain the neglect of it in such a 

 work as the " Itinerary of Antoninus." A traveller in 

 search of knowledge or ' impressions ' of Britain would 

 naturally choose the more important roads, which would 

 offer him easier and safer travelling, better accommodation, 

 and more to see. The additional information which 

 seemed to have come as a godsend to grateful antiquaries 

 from the publication of the work of " Richard of 

 Cirencester " in 1757, was shown some forty years ago to 

 be but vanity. " Richard's " history proved to be a 

 forgery palmed off upon the world by one Charles Bertram 

 (1723 — 1765), an Englishman resident in Copenhagen, 

 who used his ingenuity and his absence to dupe the over- 

 credulous Dr. Stukeley and others.^ 



We must be thankful for small mercies. They come in 

 the shape of the work of the Ravennas Anonymus,w\\.OQYQT 

 or whatever he may be. The compilation which goes 

 under this name, first published at Paris in 1688, appears 



B' 1. There is an interesting account of Bertram and his remarkable 



^B forgeries in the Dictionary of National Biography. He originally called 



^K himself "Richard of Westminster," The mischief done by him still 



^R lingers on in some quarters. He has vitiated mcst of the maps of 



^K Roman Britain published during the last century. 



I 



