Veni vidi vici

28 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in London trips, UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , ,

My final three arena visits were solo trips. I travelled to the land of my grandfather for the two amphitheatres located in Wales. The Romans moved into this fabulous part of the UK around 48 ACE, but it wasn’t called Wales then, just a part of Britannia Major. My first port of call was Carmarthen in the South West of the country, known in Roman times as Movidurium, it’s possibly the arena that’s furthest west from Rome. Only half of the original structure is visible nowadays, but built in the 2nd century ACE it was an elliptical shape with the capacity for 4500 – 5000 spectators.

After a little wander around I made my way back east towards Newport to visit a little town called Caerleon, this was the home of the 2nd Augustan legion and 5000 soldiers were based there. The site named Isca Augusta had a very impressive amphitheatre, built around 90 ACE and big enough for 6000 spectators. I have to say up to that point it was the best preserved arena I had visited, there were lots of steps, tunnels and archways to explore, it’s the most complete amphitheatre in the UK. After a good look around I wandered down to the remains of the legionnaires barracks. There is a museum and remains of the Roman baths, unfortunately I left it too late to visit so I will definitely return for a proper look.

For the very last amphitheatre on my list I headed back to London where I based myself for my visit to St Albans. When I first planned my quest I wasn’t going to go there as the arena isn’t strictly an amphitheatre, as it has a stage at one end. But it is the only one of it’s kind in the UK so it’s very worthy of a visit. Just a 20 minute train journey from London the Roman town of Verulamium lies in the centre of beautiful St Albans. The arena was built around 140 ACE and it now lies in the Gorhambury Estate, so it was the only site I needed to pay to see, but it was worth the very small fee. It’s position is alongside the famous Watling Street that ran from Londinium to Deva Victrix, ( London to Chester), and it had a capacity of 7000 spectators. After a wander around I also checked out the hypocaust with a beautiful mosaic and a mooch around the museum with a group of very unruly school children and their harassed teachers.

So that is my UK Roman amphitheatre quest finished and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how reading a random post can generate a planned trek around my country to discover the history but also incorporate it into mini breaks with friends and family.

Stay tuned to discover what my next quest will be …

In the footsteps of gladiators

23 Jan 2024 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in UK Roman Amphitheatre Quest Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

As I have already alluded to with many posts in this blog, I am an classical history nut. I love nothing better than wandering ancient ruins and learning about the history. I was having a bit of a mooch around a well known search engine and discovered that there are 10 Roman amphitheatres in the UK according to Heritage Daily.com. Armed with my list, I did my research and made plans to visit each arena, last week I completed my quest.

But before I write about the sites I visited I thought I’d just say a few words about the amphitheatres I didn’t travel to. I live in Bristol in the Southwest so I needed to weigh up if the journey was going to be worth it, to that end I checked out the photos taken and posted by previous visitors.

In Chichester, it’s roman name Noriomagus Reginartum, there is nothing but a field with a gentle bank that outlines where the arena once stood.

Near Margate in Richborough, known in Roman Britain as Rutlipiae or Portus Ritupis, is also essentially a field but this time with a hollow marking the spot where the amphitheatre once was.

Much as I love a good day out, I figured it was a long way to travel to see a field when I had no other reason to visit, so I was content to look at the photos and read a bit more about them online.

My quest began by happenstance well before it was a conscious decision to do so. In January 2018 while on a family get together at my cousin Amelia’s house in Reading, we went on a bracing walk after Sunday lunch and had a wander around the amphitheatre at Silchester. It was built around 60 to 85 ACE when the town was called Callera Atrebatum and was one of the earliest arenas built in Roman Britain. It stood just outside the city walls of a large Roman town with the usual street grid format over 40 hectares. Although I have always been interested in ancient history I never really fully appreciated this look around which is reflected in the rubbish photos I took!

The next theatre that I visited by chance was at Cirencester. My mum and I had been on a lovely day out to Bourton on the Water and on the drive home I didn’t realise that I would be driving past the site. The arena was on my hit list but I hadn’t planned on checking it out on that day. I saw the sign for it and took my chance to cross another arena off the list. Built in the early 2nd century ACE it was one of the largest amphitheatres in Roman Britain. The city was known as Cornium and had a population of over 10000 inhabitants. The remains are massive earthworks but you can clearly see the size of the arena and imagine how it would have looked in it’s former glory.

Next stop Dorchester, London and Chester aka Durnovaria, Londinium and Deva Victrix….