of
considerable duration, were driven out by Belgic invaders, of whom the
Cassii, or Cateuchlani, seem to have been one of the most powerful
tribes. The Cassii, who shared at least a part of the district with the
Trinobantes, were numerous and war-like when Caesar invaded Britain;
their chief, Cassivellaunus, is believed to have lived near what is now
St. Albans. He was chosen as leader by the British, and offered stout
resistance to the Romans, but was driven back and his capital--wherever
it was--stormed and captured. Earth works, supposed to have been erected
by these Pre-Roman inhabitants, still remain at Hexton, Ashwell, Great
Wymondley, Tingley Wood, and elsewhere, but are rapidly disappearing in
the general obliteration of ancient landmarks. Grymes-dyke, still to be
traced on Berkhampstead Common, is the most famous; but many others are
marked in a map prepared by Sir John Evans. Some of these are hardly
more than conjectural sites; a few will be mentioned in the Gazetteer.
Bronze Celts of many kinds are in the possession of Mr. W. Ransom,
F.S.A.; some of these were found at Cumberlow Green. Relics of the
Bronze Age in the county include two bracelets of gold found at Little
Amwell; and many narrow hatchets, or palstaves, from the neighbourhood
of Hitchin.

To the Late Celtic Period belong the imperfect iron sword-blade, in a
bronze sheath, discovered at Bourne End and now in the British Museum;
also the two bronze helmets, one from the neighbourhood of Hitchin, and
one from Tring. At Hitchin, too, was discovered some pottery of the same
period.

3. _Roman._--Hertfordshire formed a part of the Flavia Caesariensis of
the Romans--the district E. of the Severn and N. of the Thames. Most
important of their stations was the municipium at Verulamium (W. of St.
Albans) of which some fragments of wall yet remain in the neighbourhood
of the River Ver and the Verulam Woods; here, too, is the site of the
only Roman theatre known in Britain (of _amphitheatres_ there are many
remains). There were also stations at Cheshunt (Ceaster), at Braughing
(ad Fines), at Berkhampstead (Durocobrivis?), at Ashwell, Wilbury Hill,
etc.; there was a cemetery at Sarratt; a sepulchre at Royston. Roman
villas have been unearthed at Purwell Mill, Abbots Langley and Boxmoor.
The Roman coins found in the county would, if brought together, form an
exceedingly valuable collection. They have been found in considerable
numbers at St. Albans, Ware, H