The first thing to note about Roman rule in Wales is that it started in 48 AD, a few years later than in England, which is a consequence of the Claudian invasion having started in Kent. It is likely to have finished a little earlier too, in about 383, as the general Maximus Magnus sought the purple, compared to “the groans of the Britons” for England and southern Scotland in c.410. The Demetae, Silures and Ordovices were among the key native tribes, of whom the latter two resisted until 78AD. The empire’s conversion to Christianity happened during this occupation.
The town of Caerwent (Venta Silurum), whose very name places it in Monmouthshire, is one of the main remnants of this time. Although it is now a market town, it was a major port, explored by Time Team.
Cardiff Castle, an early Norman structure where Robert Curthose was held and became part of the Lordship of Glamorgan in the Despenser era then home to a Richard III and Anne Neville window, is on the site of a Roman fort. It is, therefore, analogous with the Tower of London or Colchester Castle.
As for the rest of south Wales’ major settlements, there was a villa on the Gower Peninsula, forming the roots of Swansea. Similarly, there was a hill fort by the Usk at Caerleon that is now in Newport, so that both cities also gained castles under the Normans. That a certain Carmarthenshire town also has Roman heritage – a camp near the St. Elli shopping centre – fits this cultural coincidence. Magnus Maximus duly became emperor in the West, but only for five years and just a few Welsh words can be traced back to the Latin.
murreyandblue 