View W of polygonal bastions along the C4thAD S wall of Caerwent Roman town (Venta Silurum, tribal capital of the Silures), Monmouthshire, Wales, UK.
View W of polygonal bastions along the C4thAD S wall of Caerwent Roman town (Venta Silurum), Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. The market town & tribal capital of the Silures, an Iron Age Celtic tribe initially very hostile to the Romans, was first established AD75-80. By the later C2ndAD the 44 acre (18 hectare) site was enclosed by an earth rampart & outer ditch. The present double ditch & stone walls date from c AD330 with the bastions (six along the S wall, 5 along the N wall) added after 350. Around the same time the N & S gates were blocked also in response to unrest & the growing external threats to Roman Britain (Britannia). The bastions give greater protection by facilitating covering fire along the external wall face: the towers were butted up against the existing wall not bonded into it. Many of the facing stones have been robbed revealing the rough inner core.
Size: 4961px × 3761px
Location: Caerwent Roman Town, Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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