ROMANO-BRITISH NORFOLK it was an inscription which has not been adequately deciphered but which may be vtere felix. This is one of the many metal dishes and objects of various dates which have been found in the Fen country and especially in Cambridgeshire. Struck by these finds one writer has ventured to conjecture that 'in earlier times the Fens were salubrious and productive, presenting to the Roman colonist attractive sites of residence, and exten- sively occupied by luxurious Roman settlers even to the latest period of Roman dominion in Britain,' The actual remains justify no such conclusion. They are of all dates and ages, and are due to the nature of the Fenland soil. Whatever the traveller lost as he made his way over the marshes, whatever the robber brought back to his inaccessible lair and cached in a hidden spot, was all preserved almost intact by the dampness of the ground. Where chemical action is not set up, water or wet soil forms one of the best preservatives of ancient objects : it keeps in its air-tight embrace alike the leather boot and the metal dish and the tree with its bark as fresh as it grew. At Welney, at any rate, we have no trace of luxurious settlers or of attractive sites of residence, A hoard of coins was found near the place in 1718 ; three other pewter vessels, two probably Roman but of little interest, were found in 1843 half a mile from the New Bedford river. For the rest the site is iso- lated,' I may also mention here Fig. 26. Gold Ring from Porincland Heath. a gold thumb-ring found in 1820 on Poringland Heath, two miles south-east of Caister-by-Norwich (fig. 26).^ It is now in the Norwich Museum, where I have seen it. On eleven facets it bears the letters — CIOIA I3|XIVIA ITIFilDIEE Constant{i) Fides The ring belongs to a well recognized class. A similar ring was ploughed up long ago at Birchington in Thanet, and is said to bear on eleven facets the inscription fides constani. Others found on the continent are inscribed fidem Constantino. The French antiquary, M. Mowat, connects such rings with the swearing of allegiance to the Emperor, and supposes that they would be given to officers on the occasion, while coins with such legends as fides militum would be issued for general largesses. It is also possible that it may have been a loyal
- For the inscribed dish found in 1864, see Archeeobgical Jounal, xxvii. 75, 98 ; Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries., 2nd series, iv. (1870) 425 ; Skertchley's Fenland, p. 474, with a plate. The object itself is said to be now in possession of Mr. Albert Goodman of St. Ives. For the hoard of coins and other pewter vessels, see the Index below.
- This figure reproduced from Archaologia is not quite accurate, but gives the general character of
the ring adequately. 3" C H s t KH I h bl^
