Ancient_and_modern_York_a_guide

MODERN YORK. 7
us "his body was borne by the soldiers to the funeral
pile, about which the army and the two sons of the
deceased emperor made several processions in honour of
his memory. Abundance of presents were cast upon it,
and at last the fire was put to it by Caracalla and Geta.*"
Dion adds, the ashes were collected and received into
an urn of pophyry, carried to Rome, and deposited in the
tomb of Antonines. This ceremony, no doubt, took place
on the Mount, now known as Severus's Hill, near Holdgate.
Caracalla, the son of Severus, envying his brother,
murdered him in York, in the year 212, and butchered
an immense number of the soldiers who adhered to Geta.
It is supposed, that about the year a.d. 272, Constantine
the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, was born
in York. His father, Constantius, who had married
Helena, the daughter of a British prince, was at that
time residing in this city as legate under the emperor
Aurelius. Constantius, after the resignation of Diocle
tian, was proclaimed emperor of the west ; Italy, Africa,
Spain, Gaul, and Britain being assigned to him. He
returned to Britain, and in the year 305 took up his
residence in York, where, during his absence, Carausius,
commander of the Roman fleet, had reigned as emperor
for some years. In the year 307, Constantius died at the
imperial palace at York ; and Constantine the Great, who
was with his father at his death, was immediately pro
claimed emperor. The ceremony of deification (Awofitao-i?)
was performed with the usual splendour,! at York ; and
local tradition assures us, that the urn which contained
the ashes of Constantius was preserved in the church of
St. i?eferc's-on-the-Walls. In the year 326, the Britons
revolted, and the Scots having come to their assistance,
the Romans were defeated, York was captured by the
Scots, and Octavius was crowned king of all Britain, at
* Life of Severus, by Dion Cassius.
t See Adam's Soman Antiquities,