Stranica 66 [66]
44 ORIGIN OF THE CITY
survived to Saxon times, and became the progenitor of the present
corporation. That the Romans during their brief occupation of
Augusta made it a municipal city is not impossible, though it is more
likely that they looked on it more as a fortification than anything else.
In any case we have no evidence either way. We are on firmer ground
when we deal with the second statement. We do now that, even if
there was a Roman municipality, and if it survived the trials of the
Saxon invasion and other calamities between 410 and 604, it could not
have survived the Danish
desolation of 839; and those
who would have us believe
in that survival have to
account for the fact that
after the time of Alfred we
find London organised as
a shire in itself, and can
trace every modern muni¬
cipal office back to its origin
in the system universal
throughout England, and
without any imitation or
survival visible of the
Koman forms of municipal
government.
There are many other
strange theories to be found
in the pages of London an¬
tiquaries, but most of them,
like that of the late Mr,
Black, are so extravagant