Conclusions

Abstract

Most accounts of Roman Wales follow the Tacitean narrative in recording the ‘facts’ of conquest and subsequent military control. In many respects this is a satisfactory way of approaching Roman Wales where the forts anticipated the castles that were sometimes constructed in the same locations, for good strategic reasons, a millennium later. Cross-river traffic is epitomised by the important find of a boat, dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century at Barland’s Farm, Magor. This seems to be an estuarine or even sea-going vessel, which would have been able to cope with the often difficult conditions of the Severn estuary. Caerwent is only a small town, but in the 4th century it really does come into its own, certainly with regard to the number and variety of its mosaics. The southern towers survive best, which place Caerwent among the most evocative sites in Roman Britain.