The Towns of Roman Britain

population of Roman Britain was, in the main Celtic; the Cymric division predominating in the south and east, the Gaidhelic in the north and west. There existed, besides these, remnants of two earlier races--a small dark-haired race, akin to the Basques, or Euskarian (found in S.W. England, S. Wales,[2] and parts of the Scotch Highlands), and a tall, fairhaired race.

[Footnote 2: See Appendices A & B.]

Under the Romans, many towns (coloniae and municipia) were founded. In several cases their position had been occupied, as winter or summer quarters, by the aboriginal inhabitants; the choice of the site being determined by the contour of the hills, the convergence of trackways, or the proximity to the sea or rivers. Fifty-six Roman towns are enumerated by Claudius Ptolemy (fl. A.D. 139-162). They formed centres of Roman authority, law, commerce, and civilization; the conquerors, to a very limited extent, were able to introduce their own literature. Amongst others, th