Cardiff (tentatively identified with Tamion in some readings of the Ravenna Cosmography) was the site of a sequence of at least four superimposed Roman forts on a gravel terrace beside the tidal River Taff. The earliest was a large auxiliary fort of c. AD 55–60 associated with the Flavian campaigns against the Silures, followed by reduced installations through the second and third centuries; the final phase, in the later third or early fourth century, was a substantial coastal-defence fort of "Saxon Shore" type with massive polygonal stone walls enclosing roughly 3.7 ha.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site controlled the lowest crossing and harbour of the Taff and the coastal route along the Severn estuary, serving first as a forward base in the conquest of South Wales and ultimately as part of the late Roman littoral defence network protecting the Bristol Channel against Irish raiding. Its longevity — effectively continuous military occupation from the Neronian period to the late fourth century — is unusual among Welsh forts, most of which were abandoned by the mid-second century.
Excavations by John Ward (1889–1923) under the patronage of the Marquess of Bute revealed the late Roman walls, which were then reconstructed above the surviving Roman footings as part of Cardiff Castle and remain visible today; later work by P.V. Webster and others identified the earlier timber forts, including Neronian, Flavian and Ant
Cardiff (tentatively identified with Tamion in some readings of the Ravenna Cosmography) was the site of a sequence of at least four superimposed Roman forts on a gravel terrace beside the tidal River Taff. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Tamion? is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Ely Roman Villa (3.4 km), Llandough (4 km), Caerphilly Roman fort (11 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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