Posted on 07/27/2010 7:15:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Roman control over Britain stretched even further than first thought, the discovery of a new villa suggests.
Archaeologists have discovered a 4th Century villa near Aberystwyth, the first time they have found evidence of Roman occupation of North and mid Wales.
Findings indicate Abermagwr had all the trappings of villas found further south, including a slate roof and glazed windows.
The villa is likely to have belonged to a wealthy landowner, with pottery and coin finds on the site indicating occupation in the late 3rd and early 4th Centuries AD.
It was roofed with local slates, which were cut for a pentagonal roof. The walls were built of local stone and there was a cobbled yard.
Roman villas were high-status homes of wealthy landowners which sat at the heart of a farming estate. They are common throughout southern England and south Wales, but rare in mid and west Wales.
It was thought that Wales was a "military zone", abandoned by the Romans a few decades after the first century.
Dr Toby Driver, of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Dr Jeffrey Davies, formerly of Aberystwyth University, had previously excavated at the nearby Trawscoed Roman fort, which had been abandoned by AD 130.
"Our trial excavations this year have confirmed the remains of an imposing Romano-British building in the heart of mid-Wales, where no Roman villas were previously known" they said.
"The discovery raises significant new questions about the regional economy and society in late Roman Wales, and raises the possibility of future villa discoveries in the surrounding countryside".
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
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there aught to be a law = newspapera cannot run stories like this without photos!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-10753974
Archaeologists dig showing the excavated walls of the villa
The 2010 excavation confirmed the villa, after its likely origins were first spotted in 2006
I feel like I have known since high school (early 60s) that the Romans controlled everything on the big island except Scotland (ergo Hadrian’s Wall).
Aberystwyth, my home town! Will have to go check this out next time I’m back.
interesting
If abandonment of forts always signified withdrawl, rather than perhaps being a sign of succesful pacification, (Fort Laramie, Fort Robinson, Fort Dodge, Fort Boise, Fort Fetterman, ..., all come to mind) the the United States retreated to the East Coast around 120-140 years ago.
It is my understanding that the Welsh warmed up to the Romans over time. The Romans let the Welsh govern themselves and practice paganism and kept other barbarians from raiding. In turn, the Welsh allowed them to coexist peacefully and helped keep the Irish at bay. The villa probably belonged to an ambassador.
Thanks!
If the person of status crossed the sea to Ireland, even at the closing of his days...
Definitely. There was internecine warfare among the Gallic / British / Gaelic tribes before the Romans got there, and having an outside authority as a referee (not to mention the economic boom, and of course, becoming a minority in much of the island; the Romans brought in and settled various auxiliaries pulled from vanquished invading tribes, such as the Sarmatians) was a welcome change. There had been an uptick in the population of Britain, as there was generally in Europe, due to the Roman warming period (climate), then the climate cooled and the attractiveness of Britain faded a bit. It was still a more popular destination than most of Gaul during the 3rd c, when the Empire appeared to be falling apart. The cooling brought a steady stream of (basically) refugees down the steppe, and whatever Roman character had existed in the cooler parts of western Europe dwindled to architecture. Even the Roman army regulars had ceased to be even Italian by descent. The Roman Empire was the place to live for a lot of people, but they weren’t exactly popular neighbors, were never properly or systematically assimilated, and, hey, wait a minute...
Hmm... 120 years ago was 1890... 140 years ago was 1870... whassuuuuuup?
By the reasoning of the Brit archaeologist in the article, that when forts are abandoned in ‘military zones’, it automatically means the builders retreated; so, when the U.S. Army closed down the “Indian Territory” forts, it must mean the U.S. retreated back to the East Coast.
He was ignoring the other possibility that forts are abandoned because pacification made them an expense no longer needed.
There is yet another possibility, though that wouldn't apply in the Welsh-Roman case: advances in military science/technology made the forts obsolete, though a military presence that utilized the new paradigm remained.
Ah! Thanks, now I get it.
Abductio ad absurdum is one of my favorite methods of argumentation.
WAIT; er, uh, I meant “reductio ad absurdum”!
That other one is the “I was abducted by space aliens, and they made me do it” excuse. ;-)
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