ROMANO-BRITISH BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



Some Roman tesserae were discovered a little to the north of this villa in a field called Holywell 

 or Hallewell Mead, which has given rise loan improbable theory that here was a Roman fortress. 

 A Roman vessel was found in High Street, Wycombe, and Roman coins of Nerva (A.D. 967), 

 Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-61), and Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-80) have been found in the 

 neighbourhood, and a Roman wall and tessellated pavements in the garden of a hou-e in All- 

 hallows Lane, adjoining a house called The Priory, on the west [E. J. Payne, Rec. of Bucks, iii, 

 no. 5, p. 160 et seq. ; Parker, The Early Hist, and Antiq. of IVycombe, 2, 3], In 1863 a 

 bronze ornament was discovered, 4^ in. long ; a quadrangular tube with flanges round three 

 sides of one end, and a bust of Minerva at the other end ; midway on each side of the tube 

 was a square hole. The workmanship of the head was bold and coarse. Probably it was part 

 of the pole of a chariot. It is now in the British Museum. 



Recent excavations for the Great Western and Great Central Railway Companies in the 

 neighbourhood of High Wycombe have disclosed Roman coins. One was of the date 

 A.D. 322. The obverse has a bust to t'le right with the legend CRISPUS NOBIL c. In its 

 centre the reverse has a decorated altar inscribed VOTIS xx ; around it BEATA TRANQUILLITAS, 

 and below, p. LOND., indicating a London mint. Another coin of the date A.D. 300 shows 

 the bust of the Emperor Valerius ; the legend is MAXIMIANVS NOB. c.*s., the reverse a standing 

 figure representing the genius of the Roman people, with the legend surrounding it CENIO 

 POPULI ROMANI [Dally Telegraph, 3 Mar. 1904]. A third isolated coin of the 2nd century is 

 silver. The obverse has a bust of the empress, with face to the right and superscription JULIA 

 PIA FELIX AVG. ; the reverse has VENVS GENETRIX, with an image of a goddess [Daily Chron. 

 26 Aug. 1902]. 



