Caerleon

Caerleon , town (1981 pop. 6,711), Newport, SE Wales, on the Usk River. Militarily important during the Roman period, Caerleon has extensive remains of Isca, a Roman fortress, including an amphitheater, soldiers' quarters, walls, and baths. Stones, bronzes, pottery, and coins are exhibited in the Legionary Museum. Caerleon is also famous for its connection with Arthurian legend; it is often identified with Camelot .

Caerleon in Gwent was the legionary base of the legio (Roman legion) II Augusta. It became its permanent headquarters in the mid/late 70s ad, probably under the governor Frontinus, subsequent to its postings at Exeter and Gloucester. Excavations at Caerleon have revealed impressive structures such as the military bath-house. Epigraphic and literary evidence connected with Caerleon has provided invaluable insights into the workings of both legion and province. An inscription from Goldcliff, a few miles from the fortress, implies that II Augusta was involved in the reclamation of waterlogged land. An inscription on a statue-base from nearby Caerwent records that it was set up ‘by decree of the council of the civitas Silurum’ to Tiberius Claudius Paulinus, a legate of II Augusta at Caerleon, who went on to become governor. Two Christian martyrs, Aaron and Julius, died at Caerleon during the 3rd-cent. persecutions.

Eleanor Scott

Caerleon a town in South Wales, the tradional seat of Arthur, as in Tennyson's Idylls of the King. It is probably to be identified with Carlioun, which in Malory's Morte D'Arthur is said to be where Arthur was crowned and held his court.