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Home » Contributors » Roman Legionary Museum

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  • An elaborate copper alloy stud decorated with rings of inlaid glass mosaic. The stud almost certainly adorned a horse harness. Found before 1862. An exact twin from Chepstow is in the British Museum. The presence of an early legionary fortress at Usk (Burrium) was detected as recently as the late 1960s. It was built about the year AD 55, probably by the Twentieth Legion, as a base for the conquest of south Wales. The fortress was defended by a rampart, with timber towers and gateways, and a ditch in front. The buildings would also have been constructed from wood. Usk was vacated in the late 60s, but the fortress was dismantled only when new headquarters were built in AD 74 or 75 by the Second legion, downstream at Caerleon.
Roman harness stud from Usk
  • The garrison at Usk would have required huge quantities of kitchen and tablewares. Much of the pottery was produced close to the fortress, probably by civilian potters some of whom may have come from the Rhineland. The remainder was supplied by establishments elsewhere in Britain and on the continent. The presence of an early legionary fortress at Usk (Burrium) was detected as recently as the late 1960s. It was built about the year AD 55, probably by the Twentieth Legion, as a base for the conquest of South Wales. The fortress was defended by a rampart, with timber towers and gateways, and a ditch in front. The buildings would also have been constructed from wood. Usk was vacated in the late 60s, but the fortress was dismantled only when new headquarters were built in AD 74 or 75 by the Second legion, downstream at Caerleon.
Roman pottery from Usk
  • Copper alloy seal-box lid decorated with a charging boar, from a rubbish pit in the fortress at Usk. The boar was the emblem of the Twentieth Legion, which is thought to have been based at Usk in the mid 1st century AD. The seal-box would have been used to protect a seal securing a document, letter or package; either official or personal. Wax would have been poured into the box and impressed with the seal of the sender. The presence of an early legionary fortress at Usk (Burrium) was detected as recently as the late 1960s. It was built about the year AD 55, probably by the Twentieth Legion, as a base for the conquest of South Wales. The fortress was defended by a rampart, with timber towers and gateways, and a ditch in front. The buildings would also have been constructed from wood. Usk was vacated in the late 60s, but the fortress was dismantled only when new headquarters were built in AD 74 or 75 by the Second legion, downstream at Caerleon.
Roman roundel with boar from Usk
  • Italian marble dedication to the Emperor Trajan, erected in AD 100. It is one of extremely few inscriptions of Roman Britain to be cut on marble. Specks of paint remain, indicating that the letters had been coloured in the customary red. The slab seems to have been ordered from Italy with its text ready-cut. The inscription was probably cut in AD 99, but by the time it was set up the Emperor Trajan had entered his third consulship and the consular numeral had to be changed from II to III. Delivery of the inscription may have been delayed because the seas were closed over the winter. Found during excavations in 1928, this inscription records the rebuilding of a major building or gate of the fortress in stone. The inscription reads :
Roman Trajanic marble inscription from Caerleon
  • Neck of a 'Rhodian' amphora bearing the legion's title (LEG.II.AVG) in ink. Almost certainly from Crete, this type of wine jar arrived in Britain in the 50s and 60s, rarely later. It was found in the area of civil settlement on the north-east side of the fortress, where rubbish may have been dumped during the early occupation of the fortress at Caerleon. Caerleon, 'City of the Legion', was known to the Romans as Isca. Established in AD 74 or 75, Isca was one of the three permanent legionary bases in Roman Britain: the other two were at Chester (Deva) and York (Eberacum). The fortress, sited at the lowest bridging-point across the River Usk, held a key position in the military road system in South Wales. Its garrison, as inscriptions tell us, was legio II Augusta, a body of heavy infantry comprising well over 5,000 men. The legion finally departed from Caerleon at the end of the third century.
Roman 'Rhodian' amphora from Caerleon
  • Copper alloy saucepan (trulleus), from a well on the site of an officer's house near the centre of the fortress. The handle bears stamps of its Gaulish maker (Maturus) and of the First Thracian cavalry regiment. In the early days of the fortress, this cavalry regiment may have been garrisoned with the legion at Caerleon, adding a strong cavalry element to its capabilities. Caerleon, 'City of the Legion', was known to the Romans as Isca. Established in AD 74 or 75, Isca was one of the three permanent legionary bases in Roman Britain: the other two were at Chester (Deva) and York (Eberacum). The fortress, sited at the lowest bridging-point across the River Usk, held a key position in the military road system in South Wales. Its garrison, as inscriptions tell us, was legio II Augusta, a body of heavy infantry comprising well over 5,000 men. The legion finally departed from Caerleon at the end of the third century.
Roman copper alloy trulleus (saucepan) from Caerleon