ABSTRACT
Nearly half a century has now passed since Richmond published his paper on the coloniae of Roman Britain. As with all the British coloniae it is difficult to suggest the area occupied by the territorium. Apart from emphasizing the difference between the veteran foundations at Colchester, Lincoln and Gloucester and the different circumstances in which York received promotion, it remains only to describe the individual sites. A comparison once made between the coloniae at Gloucester and Lincoln suggested that they were so similar in foundation and early plan that they might both have been built by the same public works contractor. During the early Empire it often happened that an existing town was promoted to the status of a municipium and sometimes later to that of a colonia. In this respect therefore York differs from the three other known British coloniae in that the status was conferred on an existing settlement.
