The Roman Fort of Caerleon (and King Arthur’s Camelot?)
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Caerleon, a word derived from the Welsh ‘fortress of the legion’, was the seat from which King Arthur ruled Britain. He wrote: http://www.caerleon.net/history/arthur/page7.htm “When the feast of Whitsuntide began to draw near, Arthur, who was quite overjoyed by his great success, made up his mind to hold a plenary court at that season and place the crown of the kingdom on his head. He decided too, to summon to this feast the leaders who owed him homage, so that he could celebrate Whitsun with greater reverence and renew the closest pacts of peace with his chieftains. He explained to the members of his court what he was proposing to do and accepted their advice that he should carry out his plan in The City Of The Legions. Situated as it is in Morgannwg (Glamorgan), on Read more…
Working Archaeology in Wales
Archaeologists are always working on new projects in Wales. A shortage of workers and funding inhibit the work, but the Dyfed Archaeological Trust conducted seven different digs, mostly using volunteer labor, in 2010. A look at their page is a good review of what ‘real’ archaeology is like: lots of digging, frustration, and grunt work, interspersed with occasional finds. http://www.cambria.org.uk/ They worked on: Fan Barrow Excavation 2010 Capel y Groes 2010 Pantybutler Round Barrows 2010 Tir y Dail Castle, Ammanford Dig Diary July 2010 Upper Newton Roman Villa at Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire – Dig Diary 2010 Wernfawr Dig Diary 2010 Nevern Castle Summer Excavation 2010 Nevern Castle Spring Excavation 2010 Each of these is a fascinating study in luck and circumstance (and hard work). There are four archaeological trusts in Wales (Dyfed, Gwynedd, Glamorgan-Gwen, and Clwyd-Powys), found here: http://www.archwilio.org.uk/ Gwynedd’s digs Read more…
Roman Villa found near Aberystwyth
Thirty years ago, aerial photographers from Cambridge University noted something odd about the layout of a field near the village of Abermagwr near Aberystwyth. They were doing a flyover during the summer, and because of the dry conditions, there were unexplained cropmarks in a field. At the time, they noted, “a double-ditched rectangular enclosure, with traces of a possible building within.” http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/405315/details/NANT+MAGWR+ROMAN+SITE,+ABERMAGWR,+POSSIBLE+ROMAN+VILLA/ No excavations were undertaken until this summer. Researchers can now confirm that they are “the remains of a much-robbed late Roman villa. The Abermagwr villa had all the trappings of established villas in south Wales and southern England, including a slate roof and glazed windows. It was roofed with local slates, but these were pentagonal, cut with five sides and a fine point to form a highly decorative roof, common amongst villas in south-west England and the Isle Read more…
Buried Treasure
The impulse to bury treasure, gold, or much-valued objects is long-standing. “An amateur treasure hunter armed with a metal detector has found over 52,000 Roman coins worth $1 million buried in field, one of the largest ever such finds in the UK, said the British Museum. Dave Crisp, a hospital chef, came across the buried treasure while searching for “metal objects” in a field near Frome, Somerset in south-western England.” http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/09/uk.roman.coin.treasure/ “The find includes more than 760 coins from the reign of Carausius, the Roman naval officer who seized power in 286 and ruled until he was assassinated in 293. “The late third century A.D. was a time when Britain suffered barbarian invasions, economic crises and civil wars . . . Roman rule was finally stabilized when the Emperor Diocletian formed a coalition with the Emperor Maximian, which lasted 20 Read more…
Gladiators in York
The Romans came to Britain in the 1st century AD. Julius Caesar invaded what is now England twice, in 55 and 54 BC but didn’t leave legions and never gained any actual territory. Britain Express amusingly called this ‘Caesar’s summer vacation’. It wasn’t until 100 years later, in 43 AD, that they invaded for real, and began a systematic conquering of what is now England, Wales, and Scotland. For a good summary of the chronology, see: http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Roman_invasion.htm http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac71 What has always been harder to pin down is the cultural effect the Romans had on England, since after they left in the early 5th century, the remains of their culture seems to have been wholly swept away. Within a generation or two, little trace of them, except for their roads and ruined forts–and their religion, Christianity–remained. Everything had fallen into Read more…
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