Geoffrey of Monmouth and King Arthur

 Who was Geoffrey?
   He called himself Galfridus Monemutensis which suggests he was born and brought up in Monmouthsire, (if not in Monmouth itself) possibly near Caerleon which he often mentions. He was a teacher and secular canon in Oxford. Round about 1135 to 1148, he wrote, in Latin, the History of the Kings of Britain or Historia Regum Britannicum. Tradition has it that he composed it sitting in this window at the Priory in Monmouth but this is unproven.
   With its chapter on Arthur of Britain, it popularised the story of this hero, treating him as a factual figure who fought against the invading Saxons - and many other threatening enemies. The work had the impact of a best-seller at the time and took the Norman world by storm.  His account, in general, has been criticised for inaccuracy and confusion, even invention.
   Yet I feel there is at least one very good reason for crediting Arthur with some degree of historical authenticity: in the Middle Ages originality was not valued and an author was revered for having a respected source for his material. Geoffrey states categorically that Walter the Archdeacon gave him "a certain very ancient book written in the Brittanic tongue" to translate into Latin. It is more likely, because of the habits of mind at the time, that he followed this source rather than making up stories, although some of the aspects of the narrative have a legendary feel. No-one has yet successfully identified the source book. Embellishment - yes; confusion and error - yes; creation from scratch - no!

Precursors - and afterwards
   Much earlier Arthur had been connected with prehistoric stones which he could throw for incredible distances but he may have been confused with a Celtic god: in Welsh Arth Fawr means Great Bear. If you slur your words as you say it, you arrive at Arthur and may have noticed the link with the constellation. This term might have been a title rather than a name. Arthur as such emerges around 500 in historical sources as "dux bellorum" or "leader of warfare." Other writers before Geoffrey had dealt with the character of Arthur under different titles:  Gildas, a priest from Wales around 550 who does not name Arthur as such; another probable Welshman who mentions the Battle of Badon and Arthur, called Nennius, around 830; and also the Welsh Annals.
   Yet it was Geoffrey who stirred up what became world-wide interest in him, his knights, the Round Table, the Holy Grail, Guinevere and Merlin although he did not mention some of these.  William of Malmesbury (12th century historian) called Arthur "a man worthy to be celebrated, not by idle fictions, but by authentic history." His story was picked up by: Chrétien de Troyes, a French writer, around 1160-90; the Mabinogian in the 14th century translated in 1846; Sir Thomas Malory, an Englishman, in Le Morte d'Arthur about 1469-70; Dryden and Purcell in an opera based on him in 1691 and Tennyson in his Idylls of the King (partly planned and written in Caerleon) published between 1859 and 1885. Mark Twain and William Morris interested themselves in the narrative and there have been a musical, Camelot, books and films based on the stories. Many of these have been sell-outs as each writer adapted the core to their own epoch.
   King Edward III revived the traditions to support his own image and Henry Tudor claimed descent from Arthur to help to prove his right to the throne. His name is kept alive in the present royal family and the names of characters connected with him are well known. The expression "Holy Grail" is part of modern language.

Geoffrey's account
   

A knight at the Tewkesbury re-enactment 2016: if you know his name let me know!

  Although a figure such as this charismatic gentleman above is our image of the ideal, it is interesting to see what Geoffrey actually maintained in his text. His version includes: the crowning of Arthur at 15 years of age; his battles against the Saxons and many others, Picts, Scots, Irish and Romans, particularly Lucius Hiberius; rousing speeches; his wonderful sword Caliburn [sic] forged on the Isle of Avalon; his marriage to Guinevere (Welsh Gwenhwyfar), Gawain; his Christianity; the treachery of Mordred and a battle at Camblan [sic] in which he was mortally wounded and taken to Avalon for medical treatment. He does not relate the actual death, although Arthur handed the crown to his cousin, Constantine. The next chapters deal with Merlin, also called Ambrosius.

  The code of  courtly conduct which we associate with Arthur is spoken of as the fame of his "generosity and bravery spread to the very ends of the earth" and aroused awe in faraway kings. His court, placed firmly and possibly erroneously, by Geoffrey at Caerleon-on-Usk, with its meadows and groves, royal palaces and gold-painted gables of roofs, held a festival attended by the great and the good from all over.  At this there was a huge banquet and a tournament with "flirtatious behaviour" although the women would not give their love to any man who had not proved himself 3 times in battle. "In this way the womenfolk became chaste and more virtuous and for their love the knights were ever more daring."

  Yet, it seems to me that this is a small part of a narrative largely concerned with battle, bloodshed and extreme violence. The account and its language are strewn with scenes of death incorporating phrases depicting suffering and the realities of war: Arthur besieged his enemies so that they died of starvation; he spared no-one of the Scots and Picts who fell into his hands - which seems contrary to the code of chivalry as we perceive it; against the Irish he "cut them to pieces mercilessly"; the battles seem disorderly with "a bedlam of shouting" and men "vomiting forth their life with their heart's blood." He and his entourage were particularly partial to hacking down through the helmet and head of the enemy.  

Analysis

  Geoffrey makes many errors and what we have is probably an amalgamation of several characters. Certain aspects seem legendary even to the casual eye: the numbers of troops appear to me too rounded and neat to be literal as Arthur had in his own legion six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six men whereas in the divisions were five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five - and yet there is detailed military strategy. Arthur encounters the monster of Mont-Saint-Michel and has a magic dream. 

   Readers all over the world seem content with a glorified or fictional image of Arthur: I can easily understand the need in Great Britain to eulogise men and women, who fought courageously against invaders, such as Boudicca, Alfred the Great, and Hereward the Wake (although it is odd that the Normans admired a victorious native hero since the descendants of Britons were now the Welsh who could have read the book as a call to arms). It is even less obvious why other nations have responded with such undying enthusiasm to a British king who may not have existed.

  My theory is that there was a historic and heroic figure named a variant of Arthur living between 400 and 600 who had the potential to attract admiration and fascination because of a combination of simplicity and complexity in the narrative. He himself can be transformed into the ideal king, brave and magnanimous, but he has also a wide group of adherents many of whom have their own story and there is a love interest and a touch of magic. The interface between history and legend adds to the charm. Many people believe that Arthur is not dead and may return: for them he is the "once and future king". All these features have international resonance.

   I have skimmed the surface of the vast amount of material about this figure but I shall return to him because of his many associations with Monmouthshire and the lure of the quest, I shall grasp the nettle in my armoured hand!

Visiting the site

   You can see the window at which Geoffrey may have written his book by walking up left from Agincourt Square in Monmouth, with its Shire Hall and statue of Henry V in a high niche, past the church and turning right into the small paved garden of the Priory. You can take a look at the ruins of Monmouth Castle a bit lower down and off the main street. Then you can take the no 60 bus to Caerleon where Geoffrey placed Arthur's festival and plenary court and see the site of the Roman amphitheatre once called Arthur's Round Table. You could also stop off on the no 60 in Usk and visit its castle.

Caerwent - Roman Town

The Roman City of Caerwent

   Caerwent was established by the Romans around 75 A.D. as a civitas or city centre for the relocation of the tribal leadership of the local troublemakers,: it was called Venta Silurum, the market town of the Silures. They had probably lived on a nearby hill fort, Llanmelin, dating from the early Iron Age, and used the port of Sudbrook or Caldicot Pill.
   Caerwent is unique in this respect since, although it had some defences, it was not primarily a fort. The remains of its walls, originally 5.2 metres high and more than 2 metres wide at the base, are also unusual, being the most impressive town defences to survive from Roman Britain and amongst the most perfectly preserved in Northern Europe. They are 500 metres long on the south side, with 6 towers, and are constructed of limestone, sandstone and grit with pebble fillings, being held together with extremely durable cement. Caerwent (44 acres) is the only Romano-British town in Wales and was the administrative centre of Britannia Secunda, a division of early Britain.

At that Time

   As conquerors, the Romans seem to me to have pursued a policy of subjugation, pacification and integration (appropriately Latinate words!) and this is evident in their dealings with the warring and nearly intractable Silures of South East Wales. The battles with them had lasted 25 years. This civitas was a largely successful result of the whole process and in it can be seen a key to the fusion of Romano-British culture. The tribal aristocracy probably adapted to Roman practices quite quickly: from the early 3rd century there exist inscriptions of a tribal senate of the "Respublica Civitatis Silurum", a body organised on Roman lines yet retaining a local character, consisting of 100 men with responsibility for public works, registering transactions and raising taxes. There is also evidence of the amalgamation of religious practices, twinning Ocelus, an important Silurian war-god, with Mars. 

   A sophisticated way of life developed as the foundations of colonnaded shops, houses, a temple and a market place reveal - there would also have been farms, large public baths, a library, a club, lavish villas, administrative buildings and a mansio, an inn for travellers which was probably maintained financially by the Silures. Wealthier houses boasted hypocaust under-floor central heating, wall paintings and mosaic floors. The temple had a private inner shrine surrounded by a semi-circular walk and enclosed by a sacred garden or temenos. The whole was laid out in the familiar playing-card shape of Roman settlements and was, over the centuries until the 4th, enclosed within walls with towers (though at first there were probably only earthen banks with deep ditches). The rectangle was crossed by 3 streets running east to west and 4 going from north to south, providing 20 blocks or insulae where between 2000 and 3000 people lived.

The Church of St. Stephen and St. Tathan

  This church is worth a visit in its own right and it also has interesting Roman relics. In the porch are 2 carved stones: one was originally the plinth where the War Memorial stands and is in honour of Tiberius Claudius Paulinus, Venta Silurum's patron, one-time commander-in-chief of the 2nd Augustan legion at Caerleon and governor of a province of Gaul; and the other is dedicated to Ocelus Mars. There are more relics such as a Cinerary Urn, carvings and a mosaic on the floor:

   St. Tathan, despite his name and Irish ancestry, possibly arrived by sea from Gwynedd, though he may have sailed up the Severn from Ireland, where the community was facing pressure from Cunedda, chieftain of the Votadini tribe and his sons. He then founded his monastic church here, commenting on: "The good, fertile, lofty, noble city of Caerwent". This is one of the earliest Christian sites in the county, probably in Wales. He also established a college for instruction in arts an sciences. Some writers hint at the 5th century but there seems an reluctance to commit to dates, apart from a historian who states that his boat ran aground at Portskewett after being blown across the Bristol Channel circa 540 A.D  An excellent guide-book to the church is available there or on their web-site. Other relics may be seen at the museum in Newport.

Finding it all

  The remains of the temple are opposite the bus stop (where the toilets are found: remember my motto: Go before you go!) If you walk down past them and bear left you will find other foundations and, again keeping left at the turn and past a few houses, you come into Pound Lane with yet more stone bases. The next place to visit is the Church from which a lovely stone stile at the back of the churchyard leads to a quiet path and down to the walls where there is also an early Norman motte. The village and Roman remains are pleasantly quiet and relaxing.
   Caerwent is on the 73 bus route from Chepstow (where you can visit the castle or lounge by the River Wye) to Newport (where you can complete your Roman findings in the museum). I know some of you cheat (tut! tut!) and go by car: you are not far from Roman Caerleon in that case or, if you play by the rules, you can transfer to the no 60 bus or local services at Newport to go there.

Abergavenny: St. Mary's Priory Church

  The Priory Church: history
   Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Mary's was built as the church of a Benedictine priory and a cell of the Abbey of St. Vincent at Le Mans, by Hamelin de Ballon after 1087. Succeeding lords of Abergavenny were also benefactors.
   At one stage it was badly run, resulting in an enquiry as the monks were said to be consorting with women of the town and the prior, Fulk Gaston, absconded with the church silver. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it had only a prior and four monks, it became a parish church.
   It is cruciform and large, the chancel and nave being 172 ft long (52 metres). The central tower has 8 bells and the church is mostly in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, there being little trace left of Norman architecture. The oak choir stalls with misericords (pop-up comfort seats) and carved lattice backs date from the 15th century and bear the name of the prior at that time: Wynchestre. There is a Norman font which was rediscovered in the 19th century in the churchyard where it had been placed by a Baptist minister, John Abbot, during the 17th century as he did not believe in infant baptism.

The Westminster Abbey of Wales
  This informal title has been given to the church because of the splendid tombs and monuments inside, which date from the entire medieval period and beyond, the 13th to 17th centuries. The most famous is the wooden figure of Jesse, a more-than-life-sized carving which would have formed part of a Jesse tree showing the ancestry of Christ and probably part of a reredos (a screen behind and above the altar). It is recumbent, bearded, robed and hatted, holding the stem of a tree which springs from the heart. An angel applies a cushion to the back of the head and traces of gesso and paint, red and blue, remain.  H. J. Massingham admired the carving of the beard, the half-spirals of the robe and the folds of the cushion as well as the expression on the face of "weariness and resignation, dignity and calm," which he felt reflects the spirit of the sculptor also.

Other effigies

The tomb of Sir William ap Thomas, father of the 1st Earl of Pembroke. The side figures, according to Pevsner, seem to represent 12 prophets and the 12 apostles, a series regularly found in other Medieval contexts but rare on monuments.

  Personally, I find the other effigies in wood, alabaster and marble, more impressive and rewarding to study in detail. There are many worthies represented, but not the infamous William De Broase who was responsible for the massacre at the castle. The most striking aspect is the detail and the inclusion on so many of them of an animal, often under the feet. You can turn your viewing into a kind of treasure hunt tracking the creatures down - much more exciting and appropriate than Pokemon Go! Sir William ap Thomas has his feet on a lion whilst Gladys, his wife has 2 dogs; Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook and his wife have the same, except that her lapdogs are biting the hem of her robe. On the south side, in a recess in the wall, a knight, Sir William Hastings, has his feet on a greyhound whilst on the north side Sir Lawrence de Hastings has a bull at his feet (there are legends concerning both these details, one the tale of the greyhound being believed to have murdered a child when, in fact, it was trying to save it from a serpent. It was killed for this but commemorated here when the truth was realised). 

   Two effigies of females in the north chapel are notable: Eva de Braose is represented in a mid-13th century sandstone memorial, wearing a wimple and holding a heart which suggests a "heart only" burial. A large armorial shield covers much of her body which was unusual for a woman; her dress falls in stiff folds and a hound lies at her feet. Nearby is the small figure of a Hastings lady with long crimped hair: her hands are not in a pose of devotion but holding some lost object which might have been a squirrel on the chain dangling from one hand and disappearing into her pocket. The story goes that she fell to her death chasing this pet animal probably on the castle walls.

  Other effigies are: John, second Lord Hastings, according to Pevsner, "exquisitely carved and characterised knight in armour, his legs elegantly crossed, his feet resting on a (sadly headless) lion"; Dr David Lewis in cap and fur-trimmed robe, the head resting on cushion and book and a huge St. Christopher, carved from a single piece of wood, with a long beard and flowing hair.

After your visit

  You can find delicious CAKE at the cafe in the Tithe Barn nearby which is free and has a tapestry well worth studying.

You can then go on to visit the castle or relax in the beautiful Linda Vista Gardens. Abergavenny is well served by buses from its main bus station at the lower end of town and has a famous market on several days of the week, particularly Tuesday.

Caldicot Castle

The Site
   Caldicot Castle is somewhat unusually situated on the Gwent levels whereas many castles take advantage of a high position. The name Caldicot could mean "Cold cot", a rough shelter built by the Romans on a main road: the Roman town of Caerwent is 2 miles north (on the road called Via Julia in those times) and the garrison at Caerleon is 10 miles away. According to the Domesday Book of 1086 the town was held by Sheriff Durand and was recorded as being "in demesne [worked on lord's behalf  by villeins or serfs] three ploughs and 15 villeins, four serfs and one man at arms. All these have twelve ploughs. Here is a mill of ten shillings. All is worth £6." The site is near Harold Godwinson's former Saxon castle and has, despite first impressions, strategic value being near the Bristol Channel so that the comings and goings of ships could be tracked and transport of supplies easily managed.

First building 
   Dates and stages of building are quite difficult to establish but the green motte (mound) topped by a round stone keep was probably constructed around 1221 after Humphrey de Bohun, the "Good Earl", inherited the lordship. The motte would have helped to compensate for the flat site and some historians have argued that it would have had to be virtually demolished and rebuilt for the foundations of the keep to go so deeply into it. The keep was a formidable structure with 9 foot thick walls of local gritstone, 4 storeys and inner lavish accommodation, spiral staircases, elaborate architectural detail, hooded fireplaces, window seats and, that ultimate in comfort, a semi-circular latrine turret. In the basement is a vaulted dungeon. The exterior is faced with finely-cut smooth stone and the top was crowned with battlements.

Later

  The castle changed hands many times and the various owners added different parts: as this information is lengthy and readily available, I will summarise it briefly. Sturdy curtain (connecting) walls were added with round towers encompassing the inner ward. The first gate-house was erected in the mid 13 th century and allowed rapid and covert movement into and away from the castle proper. During the 14th century it was modified and, in the 1340's, the Great Hall was constructed. Thomas de Woodstock did extensive and costly works in the late 1380's (he deserves a paragraph of his own!) The castle fell into a ruinous state between 1507 and 1830 when it was leased as an agricultural holding only but was admired by lovers of the picturesque with its covering of ivy. J. R. Cobb, a wealthy Victorian barrister,  bought it in 1885 to become a family residence and restored and altered it considerably: he was a castle buff who also owned Manorbier and Pembroke castles.

Thomas de Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester

He was the 14th and youngest child of Edward III and obtained the castle through marriage to Eleanor de Bohun. His building works, lasting from 1384 and 1389, included the Great Gateway on the south and the Woodstock Tower on the north. This tower was itemised in the building account for 1385: "50 ft high with battlements 6 ft high with a portcullis and vault for drawing the portcullis, with 3 chambers and stone windows, 3 fireplaces and 3 latrines to be made in the same chamber." His name and that of his wife "Alianore" were carved on the jambs of the postern gate but the latter stone is now in the guardroom.
   He was murdered in the English bastion at Calais in 1397 because of his complicity with the Lords Appellant, a band of peers who brought about the downfall of the young king's favourites. Richard II had Gloucester arrested for treason and killed, some say by smothering him with a mattress, others by strangling with a towel. Gloucester may have had pretensions to the throne earlier: almost certainly Thomas Mowbray had a hand in his murder. His memory is the subject of a dispute in the second scene of Shakespeare's Richard II between the Duchess of Gloucester and John of Gaunt in which she incites him to avenge the death. This account suggests a different method of killing as it speaks of the "butchers of his life" and "envy's hand and murder's bloody axe" but Shakespeare might have altered facts for dramatic potential since "murder's feather bed (or towel)" does not have quite the same ring!


The cannon
  This greets you as you enter the open grassy area and was used on Nelson's flagship, the 80 gun HMS Foudroyant (terrible, thundering) from 6 June 1799 till the end of June 1801. Joseph Cobb and his son bought the ship, which had also served in the Napoleonic wars, to save it from being dismantled abroad. Geoffrey, the son, wanted it to be a training ship and took it in a fund-raising trip round the coast but it was wrecked at Blackpool in a storm and this gun, amongst other items was salvaged. One of the minor ironies of history!
Your visit
  The castle is surrounded by 45 acres of country park where you can stroll and walk your dog (that pooch will soon be the most learned animal for miles around as it learns the difference between a machiolation and a murder hole - if there is any!)  Opening times are on its website. The castle is a short walk down the road opposite Caldicot Cross: Caldicot is on the 74 bus route from Newport to Chepstow where you can visit another magnificent castle or lounge by the river Wye and its beautiful bridge.

Caerleon: the Roman Legionary Museum

The Museum
   The classical frontage of the Roman Legionary Museum in Caerleon was constructed in 1850 and is described in Pevsner as "the handsome and scholarly four-column Greek Doric portico of Bath stone ashlar ... by H.F Lockwood of Hull." (Ashlar is finely worked masonry). The collection inside this small but delightful building contains half a million objects from Isca (Caerleon) and Burrium (Usk) such as pots, decorative pieces, replicas and genuine Roman and Medieval  surgical instruments (on temporary exhibition) and items connected with death and burial. Other vibrant exhibits are models of soldiers in full regalia and murals depicting military scenes. Outside is a lovely peaceful Roman-style garden where you can relax during your visit. The staff are particularly knowledgeable and helpful and are always keen to answer questions and point out items. The Museum is very child-friendly.

Roman Caerleon
   Building started circa AD 75 when the then Governor of Britain, Sextus Julius Frontinus, was given the task of settling the remaining unconquered areas of the country: particularly troublesome was the tribe of this part of Wales, the Silures. He selected Isca as a prime site as it could be reached by sea-going vessels if reinforcement or extra supplies were needed and Usk had proved liable to flooding. The original defences were of turf, clay and timber which were replaced around 100 AD by stone walls and towers. The Legio II Augusta stationed here was named after the founder emperor Augustus and was part of the original invasion force. The fortress contained barrack blocks, baths, a hospital and workshops for legionary craftsmen including blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers etc. Along with Chester, it was one of the two centres designed to subdue the intractable tribes of Wales with a system of forts and roads.

Later
    Geoffrey of Monmouth (early 12th century) cites Caerleon as one of the most important cities in Britain. Archdeacon Coxe, visiting in 1798, quotes (in a florid translation from the Latin), Giraldus Cambriensis who wrote in the 12th century: "Many remains of its former magnificence are still visible; splendid palaces which once emulated with their gilded roofs the grandeur of Rome, for it was originally built by the Roman princes, and adorned with stately edifices."  Giraldus was also impressed by the "subterraneous [sic] buildings, aqueducts, and vaulted caverns; and what appeared to me most remarkable, stoves so excellently contrived, as to diffuse their heat through secret and imperceptible pores." The last remark seems a cry from the heart of a cold wet native. The Archdeacon himself was underwhelmed by what he saw but the ruins we now know were not then fully excavated and he would have been thrilled at what modern planners have done to make the heritage accessible and exciting.

Romans as conquerors
   Although the Romans exploited Britain for metals such as the gold found in the Dolaucothi mines of Wales, they brought benefits to the country with their roads, dykes, watermills, improved agrarian practices, sophisticated mining technology and trade and, whilst proving strong rulers, tried to have some degree of integration with the native inhabitants. They did not suppress religious beliefs and offered the possibility of Roman citizenship, "Civis Romanus Sum" (I am a Roman Citizen) being one of the proudest boasts a man could make. "Civis" resonates as a word full of meaning and implication. Their occupation, though not without harshness and troubles, contrasts with that of the early Norman period with its frequent major rebellions. There was a phrase "Pax Romana" (Roman peace) to describe the stability they brought to their Empire. It is interesting that our word "virtue" comes from the Latin "virtus" meaning all the best qualities a brave man could have.

Elsewhere in Caerleon
   Opening times for this museum are posted on its website and you may also like to view the huge and impressive amphitheatre as well as the foundations of the barracks (the only such visible in Europe) and the fascinating Baths (much less crowded than those in Bath). All these sites have free entry. I have put bus details on the other posts and added suggestions of nearby places of historic interest on local bus routes. I will write about the Baths later.

Caerleon: the Roman barracks

The living quarters
Caerleon or Isca, being the home of the second Augustan Legion from 74 AD until late in the 4th century, needed substantial barracks to house up to 6000 soldiers. The stone foundations of these lie across the road from the Amphitheatre and beyond a field where you can take your responsible dog for a walk if you wish. They are the only such visible remains in Europe and are impressive in themselves as well as affording pleasure working out their layout, guessing (since there are few signs) what was what and imagining the life of the heavily armed and highly trained men who lived there. Probably this accommodation was rarely at full occupancy since the men might have been sent elsewhere in the country or be out on patrol. The structures above these foundations would have been made of wood.

The layout
  There are pairs of long, narrow blocks 74 metres long facing each other and reflecting the division of the legion into double centuries (each consisting, confusingly, of 80 men). Each room was shared by 8 men with the centurion having a space up to 5 times larger that of the squaddy. Small anterooms for storage perhaps helped to keep the sleeping areas tidy and provided somewhere for the mattresses or palliasses to be put away in daytime. When some soldiers would be on night guard there was a little more room and one can imagine one man returning and prodding the next on duty with a weary and impatient foot. There may have been a veranda running down one side and an area for administration. The accommodation reflected the gulf between the commissioned centurion and common soldier: we know that in about 100 AD the former was paid 5000 denarii pa and the latter 300.

Food etc
   There is no mess hall and food would have been brought back from the small domed communal bread ovens, stamped with identifying marks. Corellius Audax and Sentius Paulinus performed this duty and, together with the baking itself, it must have been one of the more pleasant tasks. There were 2 types of loaf, one made with more refined flour for the officers. Meals might have consisted of pottage with scraps of meat and fish sauce, cheese with olive oil, beer and wine, some ingredients being scavenged from neighbouring farms and some imported. Soldiers at Caerleon drank Aminean wine washing down, possibly, beef, lamb, goat, deer, hare and the occasional treat of sucking pig.
   Off duty the soldiers played games: counters and boards have been found elsewhere to prove this. Other occupations were the checking and cleaning of armour and equipment. There would have been time for worship of the several gods and military exercises in the amphitheatre as well as gory entertainment there. Such items as tweezers and nail cleaners for personal hygiene have been found and the baths were a central social facility. To keep the unruly Silures in their place, the soldiers had to be super-fit although their accommodation was centrally heated.

The latrines: a Roman's gotta go when a Roman's gotta go.

    The remains of these are at the far end and they were communal with wooden seats over the drainage area. The men would have spread out their tunics to give themselves some privacy and cleansed themselves afterwards with a sponge on a stick (kept in a keyhole opening to the side) which was then rinsed in water running in a channel in front of them. This could be done without leaving the seats or lifting the garments. The cartoon shows a bucket for this purpose but I prefer the theory of fresh water! The whole process probably had a sociable aspect which we might now find strange.
   Cleaning of the latrines would probably have been done by the men themselves and supervised: there were "ad cunus" (drain duties) and "ad stercus" (latrine duties). The disposal of the waste was less carefully supervised!

   There are toilets nearby. Your visit to the barracks can be supplemented by looking at the amphitheatre, the fascinating baths and friendly museum, all of which are free. Caerleon is well served by buses which I have listed on my post about the amphitheatre. From Caerleon you can easily use the no 60 bus to visit Usk castle and nearby Medieval battle site as well as the memorial to Alfred Russel Wallace. You could stop off at Llangibby with its ancient well or go on to Raglan Castle or further to Monmouth with its connections to Henry V.