Editing St Albans (section)

===Roman===
[[File:StAlbansRomanWall-PS01.JPG|thumb|Remains of Roman wall]]
The Roman city of [[Verulamium]], the second-largest town in [[Roman Britain]] after [[Londinium]], developed from the Iron Age settlement<ref name=niblett/> and was granted the rank of ''[[municipium]]'' around AD&nbsp;50, meaning that its citizens had what were known as "Latin Rights", a lesser citizenship status than a {{lang|la|[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]}} possessed. It grew to a significant town, and as such received the attentions of [[Boudica]] of the [[Iceni]] in 61, when Verulamium was sacked and burnt on her orders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/boudicca.shtml|title=BBC – History – Boudicca}}</ref> Excavations preceding the museum's new entrance done in 1996–97 within the centre of the Roman town gave archaeologists the chance to date a black ash layer to 60–65 AD, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily; by the early 3rd century, it covered an area of about {{convert|125|acre|ha}}, behind a deep ditch and wall. Verulamium contained a [[forum (Roman)|forum]], [[basilica]] and a [[Roman theatre (structure)|theatre]], much of which were damaged during two fires, one in 155 and the other in around 250. These were repaired and continued in use in the 4th century. The theatre was disused by the end of the 4th century. One of the few extant Roman inscriptions in Britain is found on the remnants of the forum (see [[Verulamium Forum inscription]]). The town was rebuilt in [[Rock (geology)|stone]] rather than [[timber]] at least twice over the next 150 years. Roman occupation ended between 400 and 450 AD.

The body of St Alban was probably buried outside the city walls in a Roman cemetery near the present [[St Albans Cathedral|cathedral]]. His hillside grave became a place of pilgrimage. Recent investigation has uncovered a [[basilica]] there, indicating the oldest continuous site of Christian worship in Great Britain. In 429 [[Germanus of Auxerre]] visited the church and subsequently promoted the cult of St Alban.<ref name="Garcia: Saint Alban and the Cult of Saints in Late Antique Britain">{{cite journal|last1= Garcia|first1= Michael|title= Saint Alban and the Cult of Saints in Late Antique Britain|url= https://www.academia.edu/3585748|website= academia.edu|date= January 2010|access-date= 19 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=Vermaat:>{{cite web|last1= Constantius of Lyon|last2= Trans. Vermaat|first2= Robert|title= The text of the Vita sancti Germani|url= http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artsou/constex.htm|website= vortigernstudies.org.uk|access-date= 19 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=biddle>[[Martin Biddle]], "Alban and the Anglo-Saxon Church", in Robert Runcie (ed), ''Cathedral and City: St Albans Ancient and Modern,'' Martyn Associates, 1977</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.stalbanscathedral.org/history/story-of-st-alban| title = "Story of St Alban", Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban.| date = 8 April 2019}}
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{{cite journal| url = http://www.persee.fr/doc/efr_0000-0000_1989_act_123_1_3580| title = Kenneth. S. Painter, "Recent discoveries in Britain", ''Publications de l'École française de Rome'', 1989, Vol. 123, No. 1, pp. 2031–2071| journal = Publications de l'École Française de Rome| year = 1989| volume = 123| issue = 1| pages = 2031–2071| last1 = Painter| first1 = Kenneth}}
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A few traces of the Roman city remain visible, such as parts of the [[city walls]], a [[hypocaust]] – still ''[[in situ]]'' under a mosaic floor, and the theatre, which is on land belonging to the [[Earl of Verulam]], as well as items in the museum. Further remains beneath nearby agricultural land have only had a few exploratory trenches, which have never been fully excavated and were seriously threatened by deep [[ploughing]], which ceased in 2005 after compensation was agreed. Test trenches in 2003 confirmed that serious damage had occurred to buildings on the northern side of Old Watling Street by deep ploughing. Permission needs to be granted to enable the full extent of the damage to the western half of Verulamium to be investigated.