Bremia is the name of the

Roman fort In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

in the small dispersed settlement of Llanio,

West Wales West Wales ( cy, Gorllewin Cymru) is not clearly defined as a particular region of Wales. Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheuba ...

. It is in

Llanddewi Brefi Llanddewi Brefi () is a village, parish and community of approximately 500 people in Ceredigion, Wales. In the sixth century, Saint David (in Welsh, ''Dewi Sant''), the patron saint of Wales, held the Synod of Brefi here and it has borne his na ...

community area, south-west of Tregaron, in

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

. The fort was built by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

around AD 75 and was in use to AD 120 in

Roman Wales The Roman era in the area of modern Wales began in 48 AD, with a military invasion by the imperial governor of Roman Britain. The conquest was completed by 78 AD, and Roman rule endured until the region was abandoned in 383 AD. The Roman Emp ...

. The fort was situated on

Sarn Helen Sarn Helen refers to several stretches of Roman road in Wales. The route, which follows a meandering course through central Wales, connects Aberconwy in the north with Carmarthen in the west. Despite its length, academic debate continues as t ...

, a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

leading north from the fort at

Dolaucothi The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (; cy, Mwynfeydd Aur Dolaucothi) (), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold min ...

. Five inscribed stones have been found within the fort and surrounding military settlement. Two of these have inscriptions which show the garrison to include to a

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit ...

from the

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, northern Spain.coflein NPRN: 303530
accessed 15 October 2013 Amongst the excavations on the site, is the

bathhouse Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

. The bathhouse and fort are

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

s, giving them statutory protection from disturbance.

Documentary evidence

The only documentary evidence for the name ''Bremia'' is a list of place names of the known world compiled in around 700 AD, known as the

Ravenna Cosmography The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' ( la, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. Text ...

. Dyfed Archaeological Trust. Accessed 11 March 2014. This places Bremia on the route that runs from

Gobannium Gobannium was a Roman fort and civil settlement or Castra established by the Roman legions invading what was to become Roman Wales and lies today under the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. Documentary evidence Gob ...

(

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

) through

Alabum The rectangular enclosure that defined this Roman fort was built in the 70s AD as part of the campaign to integrate southern Wales into the Roman province of Britannia Superior. It lay on a key road, now known as the Sarn Helen (RR69), from the ...

(

Llandovery Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon. Histo ...

) (see map below). The fort at Llanio is assumed to be the location referred to,roman-britain.co.uk bremia
and the nearby 'Afon Brefi' stream name, running through

supports that.

Archaeological evidence

The archaeological remains at the site were first noted in the 17th century by

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius. Life ...

, at a site he called 'Cae'r Castell'. Coins, bricks and pottery were all found by him. Details of various excavations were published in 1888, 1961, 1969 and 1972. The dry summers of 1975 and 1976 revealed the extent of the defensive banks and ditches, some street patterns and other details, through

cropmarks Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks an ...

on aerial photographs. The almost square enclosure, with characteristic rounded corners, measures some across, and could have garrisoned some 500 soldiers. Further occupation evidence outside the fort suggests a

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

(settlement) grew up to the south of the fort, which may have housed a further 1,000 people. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a number of excavations were made at the site of the

, which revealed foundation trenches although the building materials had been removed, and no firm dating evidence was found. A gradiometer

geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the E ...

of 2005, 75m to the west of the fort, plotted the line of a

running east-west, from the fort, through building plots, with evidence of small smelting or burning sites.Llanio Trawscoed geophys survey report, David Hopewell, 2006
Accessed 16 October 2013.

Inscribed stones

During excavations, five different inscribed stones have been found. Two of these refer to the cohort of auxiliaries that garrisoned the fort, the other three name different centurions whose men had constructed parts of the fort. The cohort stones read, 'COH II ASTVR ...' ("The Second Cohort of Asturians ..) and '...MIBVS ...COH II ASTVR', (" ..ibus ..the Second Cohort of Asturians"). The centurial stones read, 'ARTI MENNIVS PRIMVS', ("The century of Artius Mennius Primus

ade this Ade, Adé, or ADE may refer to: Aeronautics *Ada Air's ICAO code *Aden International Airport's IATA code *Aeronautical Development Establishment, a laboratory of the DRDO in India Medical * Adverse Drug Event *Antibody-dependent enhancement *ADE ...

; 'ARTI', ("The century of Artius

); 'VERIONIS', ("The century of Verionus

References

{{Reflist Roman fortifications in Ceredigion Roman legionary fortresses in Wales

Documentary evidence

Archaeological evidence

Inscribed stones

See also

References