The Roman Cemetery of TJriconhim. 45 



It is probable tliat the lamp was burning when it was placed 

 in the grave with the urn. Two lamps only have been found in 

 our excavations in the cemetery of Uriconium, which are repre- 

 sented in our last cut, and are of the same form which the Roman 

 terra- cotta lamp almost invariably presents. In one of them 

 the field is plain ; in the other it is adorned with the figure of 

 a dolphin. 



The same scarcity which thus characterizes the lamps, is also 

 to be remarked in the Roman coins, of which only one has yet 

 been met with in the cemetery by the Watling Street, a second 

 brass of the Emperor Claudius; and two in Miss BythelFs garden, 

 one of Trajan, the other of Hadrian. The coin of Trajan was 

 found under the urn, and must therefore have belonged to the 

 interment ; and, as it bears distinct marks of having been exposed 

 to the flames, it has evidently been burnt with the corpse. The 

 early date of these coins is worthy of remark, and though it does 

 not necessarily prove the early date of the interment, it may 

 perhaps assist in explaining their rarity. However large may 

 have been the amount of true Roman and Italian blood among 

 the founders of the town, the number of the inhabitants was no 

 doubt kept up and probably increased in after times by recruits 

 from other countries, perhaps much of it German ; and these 

 strangers to Roman feelings, when they accepted Roman man- 

 ners and customs, may have neglected many of the minor 

 details. Perhaps they were not convinced of the necessity of 

 exporting the current coin of the state, in however small quan- 

 tities, to the infernal regions, and they may have deliberately 

 retained Charon's passage-fare. They may also have discon- 

 tinued the practice of placing lamps in the grave, or it may 

 only have been observed occasionally. It must at the same 

 time be remarked, that single coins are the objects of all others 

 most likely to escape the notice of the excavators. 



Nearly all the graves, however, appeared to have contained 

 the urns and the small glass phials ; and in some there were 

 other vessels of glass and earthenware, and among the latter 

 some good examples of the well-known Samian ware. The 

 vessel in the middle of our last cut is a large and remarkably 

 handsome glass bowl, which was found among the graves on 

 the side of the bank. Behind it is a flat dish of the light red 

 ware, which is found rather plentiful among the Roman ruins at 

 Wroxeter, and appears to have been manufactured in the dis- 

 trict. The fractured vessel, to the right of it, has been a very 

 handsome bowl of Samian ware. The vessel to the extreme 

 left is a much more uncommon ware, of a lemon-yellow drab 

 colour, and ornamented with rows of small knobs. All these 

 vessels have no doubt contained the offerings of the living to 

 the manes of the dead. 



