28 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
In Rome the spirit of association was quite commonplace. The
entire populace was divided into schools according to social status,
nationality, duties, and professions. Each school had its own insignia,
patron, statutes, offices, and assigned duties in the public demonstra-
tions of devotion and rejoicing. These associations were not organized
solely to advance the progress of arts and trades, but also to encourage
piety. Each had their own church in which to hold gatherings, common
burial grounds, and the responsibility to fulfill certain duties in proces-
sions, station displays, and other solemnities and festivals. In compen-
sation, they received remuneration twice annually, at Easter and
Christmas. For example, the masons of Saint Peters received eight solidi
provisini and the masons of other schools received five.^13 The schools
also offered charity and assistance in a variety of ways.
Eventually, Roman schools of builders attained such prosperity that
they were able to send a good number of their masters elsewhere, espe-
cially to England, as we shall see.
The Fate of the Collegia in Great BritainFollowing the invasions of the Picts, the Angles, and the Saxons,
Roman institutions collapsed in Great Britain. It is likely that the colle-
gia, which had been so important, were not able to survive this
upheaval intact. Their influence, however, could not disappear com-
pletely. It was preserved within the sect of the Culdees, or Colidees.
The Culdees originally consisted of a community of Celtic
Christians who, in order to better propagate their religion among the
people of the North, retained in their doctrine a familiar simplicity
and loyalty to autochthonous traditions that made it understandable
and accessible to all. Their name seems to be the result of a merger of
two Latin words, colitores and Dei, which together mean Servants of
God.
These Culdees would have infused their doctrine into the collegia
that had been in existence from the time of Carausius to the final depar-
ture of the Romans. After the disappearance of the collegia following
Britain's invasions, these Christians were forced to seek refuge in Wales,
the Orkneys, Scotland, and especially Ireland, countries that had never