ROMANO-BRITISH NORFOLK 



it was an inscription which has not been adequately deciphered but which 

 may be vtere felix. This is one of the many metal dishes and objects of 

 various dates which have been found in the Fen country and especially 

 in Cambridgeshire. Struck by these finds one writer has ventured to 

 conjecture that 'in earlier times the Fens were salubrious and productive, 

 presenting to the Roman colonist attractive sites of residence, and exten- 

 sively occupied by luxurious Roman settlers even to the latest period of 

 Roman dominion in Britain,' The actual remains justify no such 

 conclusion. They are of all dates and ages, and are due to the nature 

 of the Fenland soil. Whatever the traveller lost as he made his 

 way over the marshes, whatever the robber brought back to his 

 inaccessible lair and cached in a hidden spot, was all preserved 

 almost intact by the dampness of the ground. Where chemical action is 

 not set up, water or wet soil forms one of the best preservatives of ancient 

 objects : it keeps in its air-tight embrace alike the leather boot and the 

 metal dish and the tree with its bark as fresh as it grew. At Welney, at 

 any rate, we have no trace of luxurious settlers or of attractive sites of 

 residence, A hoard of coins 

 was found near the place in 

 1718 ; three other pewter 

 vessels, two probably Roman 

 but of little interest, were 

 found in 1843 half a mile 

 from the New Bedford river. 

 For the rest the site is iso- 

 lated,' 



I may also mention here Fig. 26. Gold Ring from Porincland Heath. 



a gold thumb-ring found in 



1820 on Poringland Heath, two miles south-east of Caister-by-Norwich 

 (fig. 26).^ It is now in the Norwich Museum, where I have seen it. 

 On eleven facets it bears the letters — 



CIOI\A I3|XIVI\A ITIFilDIEE 



Constant{i) Fides 



The ring belongs to a well recognized class. A similar ring was 

 ploughed up long ago at Birchington in Thanet, and is said to bear on 

 eleven facets the inscription fides constani. Others found on the 

 continent are inscribed fidem Constantino. The French antiquary, 

 M. Mowat, connects such rings with the swearing of allegiance to the 

 Emperor, and supposes that they would be given to officers on the 

 occasion, while coins with such legends as fides militum would be issued 

 for general largesses. It is also possible that it may have been a loyal 



* For the inscribed dish found in 1864, see Archeeobgical Jounal, xxvii. 75, 98 ; Proceedings of 

 the Society of Antiquaries., 2nd series, iv. (1870) 425 ; Skertchley's Fenland, p. 474, with a plate. 

 The object itself is said to be now in possession of Mr. Albert Goodman of St. Ives. For the 

 hoard of coins and other pewter vessels, see the Index below. 



* This figure reproduced from Archaologia is not quite accurate, but gives the general character of 

 the ring adequately. 



3" 



C H s t KH I h bl^ 



