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XV.—Excavations at Caerwent, Monmouthshire, on the Site of the Romano-British, City of Venta Silurum, in the year 1904.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2011

T. Ashby Jun.
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Abstract

The excavations of 1904, with which the present report deals, were in some respects the most difficult which the Committee has had to conduct at Caerwent. In the first place, the large house which appeared rather unexpectedly on the west side of the road leading to the newly discovered south gate had been reconstructed several times in its different parts, the periods not beiitg always clearly distinguishable, and in the second place, owing to the considerable depth at which a great part of the house lay, the excavations were so protracted that both time and money began to fail, the latter owing to a most disappointing falling off in the number of our subscribers, so that, had it not been for the timely help of two Fellows of the Society, Lord Tredegar and Lord Llangattock, it would have been necessary to begin the filling in before many important problems had been solved; and even as it is, we are not able to say that the exploration has been, in certain points of detail, as complete as we could have wished.

Type
Research Article
Information
Archaeologia , Volume 59 , Issue 2 , 1905 , pp. 289 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1905

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References

page 289 note a For the previous reports see Archaeologia, lvii. 295; lviii. 122, 391.

page 290 note a See Archaeologia, lix. pl. ix. and p. 113, fig. 11.

page 290 note b Archaeologia, Iviii. pl. xxvi.

page 235 note a The dimensions of the spaces numbered on the plan are as follows: (1) 6¼ feet wide; (2) 6½ feet by 14½ feet; (3) 17½ feet wide; (4) 17½ feet by 14½ feet; (5) 17½ feet by 7¼ feet; (6) 17¾ feet by 15½ feet (7) 9¼ feet wide; (8) 4 feet wide; (9) 4¾ feet by 25½ feet.

page 291 note a The dimensions of the spaces numbered on the plan are as follows: (1) 76 feet by 3½ feet; (2) 19¼ feet by 17½ (3) 24½ feet by 6¾ feet; (4) 17 feet by 16¾ feet; (5) 7 feet by 15½ feet; (6) 14¼ feet by 15½ feet; (7) 14½ feet by 10½ feet; (8) 23¼ feet by 6¼ feet; (9) 6¾ feet wide; (10) 14 feet by 9½ feet; (11) 23¼ feet by 9½ feet.

page 293 note a The section of the panel moulding of this is shown on Plate LXVII. 1.

page 293 note b For Homulo, cf. Hübner, , Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, xiv. 250.Google Scholar

page 294 note a Holder, , Alt-Geltischer Sprachschatz.Google Scholar

page 294 note b Holder, , op. cit.Google Scholar; Classical Revieiw, 1894, 228.Google Scholar

page 294 note c It is not at all certain whether the letter is an e or an i, but collegnium would be a by-form even closer to the original.

page 294 note d For the goose see Möller, F. in Westdeutsche Zettschrift, V. (1886), 321–331Google Scholar , who cites several cases, among them the Thingsus relief from Housesteads and a large slab from Risingham. He inclines to connect the goose with Mars because of its wakefulness, and thinks that for this reason it figured among the sacrifices to him (Martial, , Epigr. ix. 31).Google Scholar It is curious that he omits in this connection the well-known story of the geese on the Capitol. He does not, however, deny the occurrence of the swan also on monuments of Mars. For the latter see Götting. Gel. Anzeig. 1874, p. 1405Google Scholar . “Kyknos findet sich in der Sage ebensowohl als ein Sohn des Ares wio als einer des Apollon. Auf Bildwerken trifft man den Schwan such als Attribut des Ares, Lersch, in Bonnet Jahrbücher, viii. 152,Google Scholar ‘Der Schwan kam, auf dem Schweizer Thongefass (v. und vi. 302, a round vase engraved by Merian, , Topographie der Schweiz)Google Scholar , dasselbe kommt nach genauerer Ansicht auch auf meinem Erztafelchen des sogenannten Mars Victor (Heft iii. taf. iv. 2) vor. Der Schwan steht also als ein dem Mars heiliges Thier von jetzt fest, sei es, dass er ihm ursprünglich eigentbümlich war, oder durch Vermittelung der Aphrodite zukam. Denn verwandte Gottheiten tauschen nach einer von Gerhard (Trinkschalen, S. 10) schon angevegten Bemerküng ihre Symbole. Vielleicht ist selbst Kyknos, der Sohn des Ares, nicht ohne Beziehung auf dieses Attribut.’” There is, however, no reference that I have been able to discover to any such representation in the round.

page 294 note e Archaeologia, lix. pl. xii.

page 297 note a The dimensions of the rooms are as follows: (1) 4½ feet by 7 feet; (2) (yard) 105¾ feet by 23¼ feet at the north end, 21 feet just to the west of Room 1; (3) 17 feet by 25¼ feet; (4) 16½ feet by 15¼ feet; (5) 16½ feet by 18¼ feet; (6) 16¼ feet by 7¾ feet; (7) 22½ feet by 8¾ feet; (8) 25¼ feet by 9½ feet; (9) 11 feet by 8 feet; (10) 9½ feet by 7¾ feet; (11) 19¾ feet by 19¼ feet; (12) 18¼ feet by 19¼ feet; (13) 7¼ feet by 19¼ feet; (14) 9 feet by 19¼ feet; (15) 14½ feet by 19½ feet; (16) 48½ feet by 7½ feet; (17) 17 feet by 19¼ feet; (18) 13¾ feet by 12½ feet; (19) 16¾ feet long; (20) 10 feet by 14¾ feet; (21) 21 feet by 19¼ feet; (22) 22¾ feet by 7¼ feet; (23) 18 feet by 4 feet; (24) 18 feet by 6 feet; (25) 13¾ feet by 19¼ feet; (26) 29¾ feet by 7¼ feet; (27) 14 feet by 17¼ feet; (28) 13¾ feet by 19 feet; (29) 7¼ feet by 19 feet; (30) 7¼ feet square; (31) 13¾ feet by 12½ feet (east wall), 11½ feet (west wall); (32) 6¾ feet by 11 feet; (33) 22½ feet by 11½ feet (east wall), 13 feet (west wall); (34) 8½ feet by 11¼ feet (35) 35½ feet by 22¾ feet; (36) 23½ feet (to end of apse) by 18¾ feet; (37) 19½ feet by 8½ feet (east wall), 7 feet (west wall); (38) 19½ feet by 12¼ feet (east wall), 11¾ feet (west wall); (39) 19¾ feet by 13 feet (east wall), 15 feet (west wall); (40) 19½ feet by 18¾ feet; (41) 19½ feet by 15¼ feet; (42) 13¼ feet by 14¾ feet; (43) 9 feet (north wall), ll¾ feet (south wall), by 30 feet.

The courtyard measures 92½ feet (extreme length along south wall) by 54 feet.

The frequent recurrence of the dimension 19¼ to 19¾ feet should be noticed. It is an approximation to 20 Roman feet ( = 19½ English feet).

page 298 note a This wall is 3 feet wide below footings, as is the west wall of Room 20, the south and east walls being a foot narrower.

page 299 note a Near the south-east angle of this yard a fragment of the shaft of a column, with necking 6½ inches in diameter, was found.

page 300 note b With Room 12 this certainly seems to have been the case.

page 301 note a Along the south wall of this room a small capital of sandstone was found with the necking and the top of the shaft 8 inches in diameter. See Plate LXVII. 5 for section.

page 304 note a The pavement has been removed to the Newport Museum.

page 304 note b In Room 22 were found two fragments of small columns, one 9 inches in diameter, the other 6½ inches in diameter, with a small round capital without abacus (Plate LXVII. 8); and a capital 5¼ inches in diameter, with an abacus 9 inches square (Plate LXVII. 9). In Room 26 a small column with a bulging shaft 2 feet 3 inches in height was found (Plate LXVII. 11).

page 305 note a Archaeologia, lvii. 308 and Plate xl.

page 305 note b To the west of it are some foundations belonging apparently to an eaily period, which could not be connected with any other walls.

page 307 note a The dimensions of the spaces numbered on the plan are as follows: (1) 7½ feet by 12¾ feet; (2) 13½ feet by 12¾ feet; (3) 22½ feet long; (4) 31 feet by 18 feet.

page 307 note b Archaeologia, lix. 102, fig. 9, and pl. ix.Google Scholar

page 308 note a For section, see Plate LXVII. 13.

page 309 note a The roadbed here lies 1 foot 10 inches below grass; it is about a foot thick, and there is clay under it.

page 310 note a Further details will be given in our report on the south gate itself, which was excavated in July, 1905.