Not to dismiss the significance of the discovery, but did the existence of Roman forts across Wales, including at least one other in Pembrokeshire, not already indicate that the area needed a military presence?
> I pulled it up and lo and behold, it’s an archetypal Roman roofing slate, an absolute peach
Great
Interesting. I had always thought the capital town/hill fort of the Demetiae to be somewhere near Moridunum (Carmarthen). Merlin’s Hill perhaps? The fact that the Romans had a town here shows there was peace in Carmarthenshire at least. Could it be there was a different tribe in Pembrokeshire who did not make peace with the Romans?
What a (increasingly, typically) crap Guardian article. Is the illustration one of the fort that may have been found? I guess not because the geo-physics hasn’t been done let alone any excavation. If it is a representation of the possible Roman fort then it is a pretty small one, doesn’t even have a central HQ building – looks one step up from a marching camp. So not “humongous”.
In the Guardian’s central obsession with discovering new colonialism angles, it (or the self publishing enthusiast) asserts they previously thought there was peace in Wales; is this why Rome kept two legions (of the total of only 30 in the whole empire) permanently guarding Wales at Chester and Caerleon for about 300 years?
I mean we are talking about 300+ years of Roman Britain here. Considering the sheer amount of civil wars the Romans managed to fight against each other (particularly during the later centuries), it shouldn’t be surprising to find evidence of occasional conflict between the Roman authorities and the Romanized Britons in Wales, even after the initial conquest was over.
Especially in the early periods when the Empire hadn’t consolidated control over these clients. Even though Roman rule in most of Wales seems to have been relatively hands off, so to speak, the military would still need to station small numbers of Men to have a presence and keep the Britons there in check.
5 comments
Not to dismiss the significance of the discovery, but did the existence of Roman forts across Wales, including at least one other in Pembrokeshire, not already indicate that the area needed a military presence?
> I pulled it up and lo and behold, it’s an archetypal Roman roofing slate, an absolute peach
Great
Interesting. I had always thought the capital town/hill fort of the Demetiae to be somewhere near Moridunum (Carmarthen). Merlin’s Hill perhaps? The fact that the Romans had a town here shows there was peace in Carmarthenshire at least. Could it be there was a different tribe in Pembrokeshire who did not make peace with the Romans?
What a (increasingly, typically) crap Guardian article. Is the illustration one of the fort that may have been found? I guess not because the geo-physics hasn’t been done let alone any excavation. If it is a representation of the possible Roman fort then it is a pretty small one, doesn’t even have a central HQ building – looks one step up from a marching camp. So not “humongous”.
In the Guardian’s central obsession with discovering new colonialism angles, it (or the self publishing enthusiast) asserts they previously thought there was peace in Wales; is this why Rome kept two legions (of the total of only 30 in the whole empire) permanently guarding Wales at Chester and Caerleon for about 300 years?
I mean we are talking about 300+ years of Roman Britain here. Considering the sheer amount of civil wars the Romans managed to fight against each other (particularly during the later centuries), it shouldn’t be surprising to find evidence of occasional conflict between the Roman authorities and the Romanized Britons in Wales, even after the initial conquest was over.
Especially in the early periods when the Empire hadn’t consolidated control over these clients. Even though Roman rule in most of Wales seems to have been relatively hands off, so to speak, the military would still need to station small numbers of Men to have a presence and keep the Britons there in check.