[Illustration: ROMAN FORCE-PUMP]

The amphitheatre stands outside the gate, whither the citizens flocked
to see gladiatorial displays or contests between wild beasts. With the
exception of one at Dorchester, it is the largest in Britain. It is made
of lofty banks of earth, which surround the arena, and must have been an
imposing structure in the days of its glory, with its tiers of seats
rising above the level arena. It is difficult to imagine this
grass-covered slope occupied by a gay crowd of Romans and wondering
Britons, all eagerly witnessing some fierce fight of man with man, or
beast with beast, and enthusiastically revelling in the sanguinary
sport. The modern rustics, who have no knowledge of what was the
original purpose of "the Mount," as they name the amphitheatre, still
call the arena "the lions' den."

Silchester was a very busy place. There were dye works there, as the
excavations show; hence there must have been some weaving, and therefore
a large resident population. Throngs of travellers used to pass through
it, and carts and baggage animals bore through its streets the
merchandise from London, which passed to the cities and villas so
plentifully scattered in western Britain.

By far the most important of the discoveries made in Roman Britain is
the little church which stood just outside the forum. It is very similar
in form to the early churches in Italy and other parts of the Roman
Empire, and is of the basilican type. The orientation is different from
that used after the reign of Constantine, the altar being at the west
end. The churches of S. Peter and S. Paul at Rome had the same
arrangement; and the priest evidently stood behind the altar facing the