CHICHESTER

The Brito-Roman city of Regnum has left its mark on modern Chichester in the regularity of the streets, which follow the lines of the ancient thoroughfares.  The actual beginnings of the town may antedate the Romans, but of this we know nothing.  It was to the British chief Cogi, whose name was Romanized into Cogidubnus, that the foundation of Chichester was probably due; this Briton was a chief of the native tribe of the Regni who inhabited the Down country and the adjacent seaboard.  Instead of opposing the conquerors this astute statesman welcomed and allied himself to them and in return received the unique honour, for a native, of the title “Legate of the Emperor.”

It is probable that the city was built on the fork of two important existing roads, Stane Street—­the new stone causeway from London to the harbours on the coast between modern Bosham and Portsmouth—­and the adapted and straightened ancient trackway running parallel to the sea and serving the settlements and ports east and west of the junction.  At that time small ships were able to approach within a short distance of the meeting place and here the new town would naturally arise.

Many remains of the Roman period have from time to time been excavated; a pavement was found in 1866 below the retro-choir of the cathedral and some ancient graves in St. Andrew’s churchyard were found to have the coffins resting on a tessellated pavement.  Old buildings in various parts of the town, notably St. Olave’s church, have much Roman brickwork, and the usual treasure of denarii and broken pottery is found whenever an exceptional turning over of the foundations of the town takes place.

But the most remarkable of all these earlier relics is the so called “Pudens Stone” to which reference has been made in speaking of Goodwood Park.  This slab was discovered while digging the foundations of the Council Chamber and after being kept at Goodwood for many years has been returned to the Council House in North Street, where it may now be seen.  The stone is Purbeck marble and bears the following inscription:—­

(N)eptuni et Minervae templum (pr)o salute d(omus) divinae (Ex) auctoritat(e Tib) Claud.  (Co)gidubni r. leg. aug. in Brit.  (Colle)gium fabror. et qui in eo (A sacris) sunt d.s.d. donati aream (Pud)enti Pudentini fil.

(The conjectural restorations are given in parentheses.)

(Translation.) “The temple of Neptune and Minerva, erected for the health and preservation of the Imperial family by the authority of the Emperor Tiberias Claudius and of Cogidubnus, the great king of the Britons.  The company of Artificers, with others, who were ambitious of supplying materials, defrayed the expense.  Pudens, son of Pudentinus, gave the ground.” (Hare.)

The great interest of the inscription is in that part which refers to Pudens; a controversy raged for a long time during the middle of the last century around the question of the identity of this individual, the results of which seem to favour the connexion between Chichester and the Pudens of St. Paul’s second Epistle to Timothy.