Venta Silurum (modern Caerwent, Monmouthshire) was the civitas capital of the Silures, established ca. AD 75 following Frontinus's subjugation of the tribe and active through the 4th century. It was a modest but well-planned walled town of roughly 18 hectares, laid out on a grid with a forum-basilica, public baths, temples, and substantial townhouses, serving as the administrative and market centre that replaced the legionary control exercised from nearby Isca (Caerleon).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Venta is the clearest example in Wales of Roman urban civilian administration imposed on a formerly hostile tribe, and an inscription from the site (RIB 311) dedicated to Tiberius Claudius Paulinus by the *res publica civitatis Silurum* confirms its status as a self-governing civitas capital. Its survival into the late 4th century, with walls reinforced by external bastions, marks it as one of the longest-lived Roman towns in the region.
Caerwent is exceptionally well preserved, with the town walls still standing to considerable height; excavations from the late 19th century onwards (notably by Ashby, and more recently by Cardiff University and Cadw) have exposed the forum-basilica, a Romano-Celtic temple, a courtyard mansio, shops fronting the main street, and numerous strip-houses. Finds include the Paulinus inscription, mosaics, and evidence of metalworking
Venta Silurum (modern Caerwent, Monmouthshire) was the civitas capital of the Silures, established ca. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Venta is classified as a Roman settlement — a civilian 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 Walls of Caerwent (Venta Silurum) (0 km), Carrow Hill Roman fort (3.9 km), Great Bulmore (11 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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