ABSTRACT
One of the distinguishing features of the Roman Empire, as it had been of the social and political organisation of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East for many, many centuries, was its cities. These were numerous, even in Western Europe where urbanisation was less intense than in the east, and they were crucially important to the way the Roman Empire worked. Various archaeological sites in Winchester, which had been made available for excavation prior to urban redevelopment, were excavated in the 1960s and 1970s by a team led by Martin Biddle and the late Birthe Biddle. Winchester was in origin a Roman city, and the archaeological results gave a striking picture of its development from the Late Roman period through to the eighth century. As at Winchester, the evidence from the fifth century and, in the case of York through to the late ninth century, indicates a hiatus in urban life.
