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Winchester: Little know Roman town of Venta Belgarum


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The city of Winchester, England (about 60 miles or 10o km Southwest of London) is better known for its medieval history. The city, however, was formally the important Roman town of Venta Belgarum (the market of the Belgae). 

A new book further examines previous archaeological finds on the city:

 

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This name was a Romanisation of the Brittonic word for market, Uenta, and the name of the tribe that lived in the area, the Belgae. It essentially meant ‘market of the Belgae’.

Roman army surveyors likely undertook the laying of streets, and creation of a system of defences, and historians suggest this may have taken place around the first century AD, just a few decades after the Romans invaded.

The city had a system of baths showing that many of the people had a Romanised way of life. Evidence points to there having been an aqueduct up to 24 kilometres long, although no ruins of it have been found.

Historians believe the people of Roman Winchester would’ve flourished, with building materials brought in from Bath, food delicacies from the Mediterranean and wine from the Rhineland. Roman style houses with mosaic floors and central heating were built in the centre of the city.

 

 

 

https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/24125911.roman-winchester-revealed-new-book-based-archaeological-digs/
 

IMG_2473.thumb.jpeg.7593611b972a3c1129f3145bc4ab032d.jpeg

Edited by guy
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