Bremia is the name of the
Roman fort
''Castra'' () is a Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base.. Included is a discuss ...
in the small dispersed settlement of
Llanio,
West Wales
West Wales () is a region of Wales.
It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...
. It is in
Llanddewi Brefi
Llanddewi Brefi () is a village, parish and Community (Wales), community of approximately 500 people in Ceredigion, Wales. The village is notable for the famous Synod of Brefi held here in the sixth century. A number of miraculous events are sa ...
community area, south-west of Tregaron, in
Ceredigion
Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...
. The fort was built by the
Romans around AD 75
[ and was in use to AD 120 in Roman Wales. The fort was situated on Sarn Helen, a ]Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
leading north from the fort at Dolaucothi. Five inscribed stones have been found within the fort and surrounding military settlement. Two of these have inscriptions which show the garrison to include to a cohort from the Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
, northern Spain.[coflein NPRN: 303530]
accessed 15 October 2013 Amongst the excavations on the site, is the bathhouse. The bathhouse and fort are scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
s, giving them statutory protection from disturbance.
Documentary evidence
The only documentary evidence for the name ''Bremia'' is a list of place names of the known world compiled in around 700 AD, known as the Ravenna Cosmography
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the Ecumene, known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing ...
.[ Dyfed Archaeological Trust. Accessed 11 March 2014.] This places Bremia on the route that runs from Gobannium
Gobannium was a Roman fort and civil settlement or Castra established by the Roman legions invading what was to become Wales in the Roman Era, Roman Wales and lies today under the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in south east Wales.
D ...
(Abergavenny
Abergavenny (; , , archaically , ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a "Gateway to Wales"; it is approximately from the England–Wales border, border with England and is loca ...
) through Alabum
The rectangular enclosure that defined this Roman fort was built in the 70s AD as part of the campaign to integrate southern Wales into the Roman province of Britannia Superior. It lay on a key road, now known as the Sarn Helen (RR69), from the ...
(Llandovery
Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...
) (see map below). The fort at Llanio is assumed to be the location referred to,[roman-britain.co.uk bremia]
and the nearby 'Afon Brefi' stream name, running through Llanddewi Brefi
Llanddewi Brefi () is a village, parish and Community (Wales), community of approximately 500 people in Ceredigion, Wales. The village is notable for the famous Synod of Brefi held here in the sixth century. A number of miraculous events are sa ...
supports that.
Archaeological evidence
The archaeological remains at the site were first noted in the 17th century by Edward Lhuyd, at a site he called 'Cae'r Castell'. Coins, bricks and pottery were all found by him.[ Details of various excavations were published in 1888, 1961, 1969 and 1972.][ The dry summers of 1975 and 1976 revealed the extent of the defensive banks and ditches, some street patterns and other details, through ]cropmarks
Cropmarks or crop marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and recent features may be visible aerial archaeology, from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform. Such marks, along with parch m ...
on aerial photographs.[ The almost square enclosure, with characteristic rounded corners, measures some across, and could have garrisoned some 500 soldiers.][ Further occupation evidence outside the fort suggests a ]vicus
In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
(settlement) grew up to the south of the fort, which may have housed a further 1,000 people.[ During the late 1960s and early 1970s a number of excavations were made at the site of the bathhouse, which revealed foundation trenches although the building materials had been removed, and no firm dating evidence was found. A gradiometer ]geophysical survey
Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the ...
of 2005, 75m to the west of the fort, plotted the line of a Roman road
Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
running east-west, from the fort, through building plots, with evidence of small smelting or burning sites.Llanio Trawscoed geophys survey report, David Hopewell, 2006
Accessed 16 October 2013.
Inscribed stones
During excavations, five different inscribed stones have been found. Two of these refer to the cohort of auxiliaries that garrisoned the fort, the other three name different centurions whose men had constructed parts of the fort. The cohort stones read, 'COH II ASTVR ...' ("The Second Cohort of Asturians ..) and '...MIBVS ...COH II ASTVR', (" ..ibus ..the Second Cohort of Asturians"). The centurial stones read, 'ARTI MENNIVS PRIMVS', ("The century of Artius Mennius Primus ade this; 'ARTI', ("The century of Artius ade this); 'VERIONIS', ("The century of Verionus ade this).[
]
See also
* List of Scheduled Roman to modern Monuments in Ceredigion
* Loventium and Alabum
The rectangular enclosure that defined this Roman fort was built in the 70s AD as part of the campaign to integrate southern Wales into the Roman province of Britannia Superior. It lay on a key road, now known as the Sarn Helen (RR69), from the ...
, nearby forts
References
{{Reflist
Roman fortifications in Ceredigion
Roman legionary fortresses in Wales