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Welcome to History UK - the History of Wales!

THE ROMANS IN WALES

Emperor Claudius

Emperor Claudius

Caractacus, also known as Caradoc, was a British chieftan. The son of the King of the Catuvellauni, he acquired a semi-heroic status as the leader of British resistance to the Roman Conquest that began in AD 43. Following defeat at a fierce battle between the Romans and the native British, close to the River Medway, Caractacus fled to Wales.

Now leading the Ordovices and Silures tribes, who inhabited a large area of what is now Monmouthshire, Caractacus was was finally defeated at the Battle of Caer Caradoc on the Welsh border in AD 50. Caractacus was eventually captured and taken to Rome where he so impressed Claudius that he was pardoned by the Emperor.

The Romans had completed their domination of South Wales by AD 90 and by that time they had erected a fort called Isca Silurum beside the River Usk. This became the fortress of the Second Augustan Legion and is the most important Roman site in Wales.  Isca Silurum is now known as Caerleon-on-Usk and is a suburb of Newport.

Caerleon AmphitheatreCaerleon held a force of approximately 6000 men and outside its walls was erected a stone amphitheatre to hold gladiatorial combats.  There is also a small museum at Caerleon.

There were several military stations in this area, Abergavenny, Usk and Monmouth in Monmouthshire, Cardhill, Neath and Loughor in Glamorgan.  The chief station of the Romans in Radnorshire was at Castle Collen near Llandridnod Wells.

The Romans did not penetrate far into West Wales, apart from a road to their forts at Carmarthen and Llandovery. In fact they maintained only a brief and tenuous grip on the native Welsh.

The Romans built numerous forts, joined by roads, to try and subdue the Welsh. One of their largest fortresses was built at Y Gaer, two miles upstream from Brecon, and another at Llanio.

The Romans mined for gold in Wales. There are still traces of the square-hewn tunnels at the Roman mine at Dolau Cothi near the village of Pumsaint in Carmarthenshire. DolauCothi Gold Mine is now maintained by the National Trust .

Finds from Roman Wales can be seen in Hereford ( near Roman Kenchester) Museum.

Useful links:

Dolaucothi Gold Mines, National Trust.

© E.P.C.

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