Roman Fort - but hard to see^ - geograph

The Caersws Roman Forts are two

Roman 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 ...

military camps ( la, castra) at

Caersws Caersws ( cy, Caersŵs; ) is a village and community on the River Severn, in the Welsh county of Powys (Montgomeryshire) west of Newtown, and halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. It has a station on the Cambrian Line from Aberystwyth t ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

in Mid Wales. They were garrisoned during the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

between the 1st and 5th centuries when this part of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

was part of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Britannia Superior. A surviving section of Roman road lies to the west of the encampments. Britain roman

Toponym

The original

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

names of these encampments are unknown, although their placement has led to tentative identification with the "" among the Ordovices described in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

's ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

'' and the "" of 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. Textu ...

.Roman Britain
"Mediomanum?" at ''Roman Britain''
2010. Mediomanum is an unusual and otherwise unattested name (literally "Central Hand"), suggesting it may be a

scribal error A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling mistake) made in the typing of printed (or electronic) material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typography) ...

. Others argue for identification of these sites with

Llanfyllin Llanfyllin ( – ) is a market town, community and electoral ward in a sparsely populated area in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. Llanfyllin's community population in 2011 was 1,532, of whom 34.1% could speak Welsh. Llanfyllin means ''church or ...

or Meifod,Williams, Robert
"A History of the Parish of Llanfyllin" in ''Collections Historical & Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire'', Vol. III, p. 59
J. Russell Smith (London), 1870. while some propose that both sites are identical with the

Mediolanum Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and ...

of the Antonine Itinerary, which has been firmly identified with Whitchurch in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. If Caersws ''were'' the location of Ptolemy's , it might be identical with the listed by among the 28 cities of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in the ''

History of the Britons ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Br ...

'', Nennius ().

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centu ...

(). ''Historia Brittonum'', VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource. although this is more often identified with the Powysian court at Meifod.Ford, David Nash.
The 28 Cities of Britain
" at Britannia. 2000.

First camp

During the Roman conquest of Britain, the Roman military built a campaign fort here between 43 and 84 CE. It was located in a bend of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

at Llwyn-y-Brain, east of the present-day village of Caersws (located at ). The fort, which was much larger than other campaign forts of this type, was built of earth and timber. Three parallel lines of surviving defence (ditches) have been identified with an entrance way in the centre with an outer earthwork .

Second camp

Around 78CE, as the conquest of

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 ...

was consolidated, the campaign camp was replaced by a permanent square fort for

Roman auxiliary The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of in ...

troops (located at ). The fort, which was built closer to the confluence of the Rivers

Carno Carno is a village in Powys, Wales. The community, which is also a parish in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, comprises the townships of Derlwyn, Llysyn, and Trowscoed. It is in the geographical centre of Wales. Geography The Afon Car ...

and Severn, is now beneath the present-day village of Caersws. Although smaller than the campaign fort, it had a bank and triple ditch enclosing . Around 200CE, its headquarters building and walls were rebuilt in stone. There was a military bath house and a civilian

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 ...

. Occupation lasted into the early 4th century.

Notes

;Citations ;Bibliography *

External links

Caersws Roman Forts on the Roman Britain website
{{Powys Caersws Roman fortifications in Powys Archaeological sites in Powys Roman auxiliary forts in Wales

Toponym

First camp

Second camp

See also

Notes

External links