REMAIN'S E0TJNT) NEAR HITCHIN. 
43 
square, about 25 Roman jugera—or the 8th of a centuria of 200 
jugera—the extent of land often allotted to a retired veteran with 
a single yoke of oxen. The proof that it was a Roman holding is as 
follows:—In the corner next to the church are two square fields, 
still distinctly surrounded by a moat, nearly parallel to which, on 
the east side, was found a line of black earth full of broken Roman 
pottery and tiles. Near the church, at the south-west corner of 
the property, is a double tumulus, which, being close to the church 
field, may have been an ancient ‘toot hill,’ or terminal mound. 
In the extreme opposite corner of the holding was found a Roman 
cemetery,” etc. 
Ref ore taking leave of the Wymondley cemetery, these beautiful 
and touching lines of Horace to his friend Septimus when he points 
to the spot where he wished his own ashes to be laid, may be 
appropriately quoted (‘ Opera,’ Lib. ii, Ode 6):— 
“ Ille te mecum locus et beatse 
Postulant avces ; ibi tu calentem 
Debita sparges lacrima favillam 
Yatis amici.” 
The words “ cum lacrymis posuit ” are frequently found on ancient 
epitaphs, and it is recorded that a glass bottle supposed to be filled 
with tears has occasionally been found in an urn. 
Some time after desecrating the ancient burying-place, which 
had for so many centuries been undisturbed except by ordinary 
agricultural operations on the soil above it, and which was held so 
sacred under the Roman law that any one disturbing graves was 
liable to instant death if discovered, my attention was called by 
the tenant of the neighbouring farm to the number of pieces of 
brick lying on the surface of the ground in a field some three 
furlongs distant, near Purwell Mill. On walking over it, I picked 
up numerous fragments of pottery, small tesserae, and large pieces 
of bricks and tiles, evidently of Roman make, possessing the close 
texture and bright red colour peculiar to the period. Wherever 
these are found in the ruins of buildings or walls, whether at St. 
Albans, Trading, Silchester, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Bignor, 
Colchester, or on the Continent, as near Ems, Treves, Nismes, etc., 
they are usually of the same hue, bright red. Scattered about 
with the above were chipped flints and flakes, with pieces much 
resembling those set in wood for making the tribulum or threshing- 
sledge for rubbing out the grain, and from which our word ‘ tribu¬ 
lation ’ is derived. There is an excellent specimen of this imple¬ 
ment in the museum at Salisbury. 
On seeing these fragments, I came to the conclusion that the 
remains of a villa and perhaps its farm-buildings might be found 
buried beneath the soil. On mentioning this circumstance to Mr. 
William Hill, a member of our Society, he coincided with me in 
this view, but it was not until November, 1884, that we set to work 
in earnest to search for foundations. We were rewarded by pitching 
upon the right place at the first trial. Only some 15 inches beneath 
the surface we found quantities of bricks, rubbish, and faced flints, 
