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VIII.—The Roman Theatre at Verulamium, St. Albans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2011

Kathleen M. Kenyon
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Extract

The theatre at Verulamium, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, was first discovered in 1847, when a farmer called the attention of a local antiquary, Mr. R. Grove Lowe, to some walls in a field adjoining the Gorhambury Drive. Mr. Grove Lowe succeeded in tracing the main walls of the structure and identifying it as a theatre. For its period, the excavation was excellently carried out, but neither the chronology nor the structural history of the building was ascertained. Neither in 1847, nor during slight trenching subsequently, was anything done beyond uncovering the line of the walls, and it was clear that the original stratigraphical evidence had not been destroyed. It was obviously important that this building, the only known Roman theatre in Britain, should be further examined, and its date, exact position, and plan established. In 1933, therefore, the Earl of Verulam, the owner of the property, was approached. Both he and Lady Verulam at once realized the interest and importance of the site, and not only gave permission for the excavation to be carried out, but on his initiative the Gorhambury estates most generously provided the funds for what was necessarily an expensive undertaking. For this far-sighted and publicspirited action, and for the decision to have the theatre kept uncovered, both archaeologists and the general public owe Lord Verulam a permanent debt.

Type
Research Article
Information
Archaeologia , Volume 84 , 1935 , pp. 213 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1935

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References

page 213 note 1 R. Grove Lowe, A Description of the Roman Theatre at Verulamium, St. Albans Architectural Society, 1848.

page 213 note 2 There seems to have been some excavation on the site in 1883. A proposal to open up a part of the buildings for the British Archaeological Association in 1869 did not materialize (Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc. XXVI, 26 and 184).

page 214 note 1 Transactions of the St. Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, 1934.

page 214 note 2 Described, with the other Cunobelin coin here mentioned, in the forthcoming Report of the Society's Research Committee (no. XI).

page 216 note 1 F. G. de Pachtère, Paris à l'époque gallo-romaine, pp. 66–8.

page 216 note 2 e.g. Pompeii, Pompeii, Its Life and Art, Mau, trans. Kelsey, pp. 212–26.

page 217 note 1 The coins are identified either by reference to H. Mattingly and E. A. Sydenham, Roman Imperial Coinage, or H. Cohen, Monnaies frappées sous l'empire romain, 2nd edition.

page 218 note 1 Archaeologia, lxxviii (1928), 116–17.

page 235 note 1 Archaeologia, lxxviii, 123.

page 236 note 1 In a forthcoming volume of the Numismatic Chronicle.

page 243 note 1 Fiechter, Die baugeschichtliche Entwicklung des antiken Theaters, pp. 120–3.

page 244 note 1 For further details about these theatres see list, with bibliography, pp. 247–52.

page 246 note 1 The Ancyrean inscription records that during the reign of Augustus the theatre of Pompey was used for fights between wild beasts and gladiators, in which no less than 500 lions and 20 elephants were slaughtered (Monumentum Ancyrum, published by Mommsen, 1883).

page 246 note 2 e.g. Ephesus and Termessus. Fiechter, Die baugeschichtliche Entwicklung des antiken Theaters.

page 246 note 3 Antiquaries Journal, viii, 300–26.

page 253 note 1 Thanks are due to Dr. T. Davies Pryce, F.S.A., and Mr. J. A. Stanfield for examining and reporting upon the Samian pottery from the site.