
- 178 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Exeter: A Roman Legionary Fortress and Civitas Capital
About this book
Exeter has long been known as a Roman city, but it was only in 1971 that its origin as a legionary fortress of the mid-first century AD was revealed. That discovery was the result of excavation work undertaken by the first professional archaeological unit to be based in the city. The author was one of those involved and this book explains how innovative archaeological techniques introduced in the 1970s were employed, not only to construct a picture of the legionary fortress, but to demonstrate with some confidence that the 5,000 strong garrison which manned it was the Second Augustan Legion. Whilst at Exeter the legion built its own stone bathhouse. Constructed only around 15-20 years after the Roman invasion in AD 43, it is the earliest known monumental masonry building in the South-West of Britain. Significantly, it was also possible to establish that Exeter became a Roman regional capital around AD 80 after the departure of the legion to Wales. The redundant bathhouse was converted to a basilica (council chamber and administrative centre) for the fledgling city which went on to acquire a circuit of walls by the start of the third century. Exeter continued to flourish as a Roman city on the very western edge of the Roman Empire before its ultimate demise in the late fourth century.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright information
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Author’s Note
- Introduction
- No time to lose (archaeological innovation and discovery at Exeter)
- The Roman army arrives at Exeter
- The Legionary Fortress (and its stone-built bathhouse)
- The purpose of the legionary fortress and its period of occupation
- Extra-mural sites of the prata legionum
- The fortress and its garrison at the time of the Boudican revolt
- Exeter as a Roman town and Civitas Capital
- Late Roman Exeter
- The end of Roman Exeter and the beginning of a new story
- Final Thoughts
- Acknowledgements
- Further reading
- Index
- Back cover