This book considers late Roman urbanism in Britain, but its approach has consequences for work across the Empire on both the late Roman period and urbanism in general. Studies of late Roman urbanism have commonly been influenced by the theory of decline and fall (e.g., Faulkner 2000a; Haverfield 1912; Liebeschuetz 2000; B. Ward-Perkins 2005), while, in association with this, studies of the growth of towns and the nature of preceding settlement pattern have been directed by notions of ‘romanisation’ and ‘civilisation’ (e.g., Frere 1967; Haverfield 1912; Millett 1990; Wacher 1975). The result of this is that the archaeological analysis of late Roman towns, and perhaps Roman urbanism more generally, has not advanced to the same theoretical sophistication as some other areas of Romano-British studies such as rural settlement and identity.

This investigation focuses on the area of public space and the use of public buildings within towns in Britain, with the ‘official’ or ‘public’ towns – the coloniae, municipia, and civitas-capitals (Figure 1.1) – providing a further focus. The public buildings are used to evaluate the usefulness of the theory of decline for understanding urbanism and social attitudes at this time. These structures were a significant aspect of towns and the way in which they were experienced; they were perceived and used in symbolic ways (Boman 2003).