The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1920-07-27
Buried Fortress of Segontium,
Near Castle, to Be Ex-
cavated.
OF GREAT HISTORIC INTEREST
Results Of the Excavation VIII Be
keeniy Followed by Ar~chaeoIoo-
lists Of Both Hemisphere
British History Involved.

Won In North Wales lies the buried
Roman fortress Of Segontium. The
castle Is a grim and lordly pile plant
ed by a grim king In token of his
might; erected. so Pennant says, by
the forced labor of Welsh peasants on
money wrung from the Welsh chief
tains who had failed In the struggle
against King Edward l. 1t dates back
some seven hundred years In British
history, but compared with the Roman
fortress of Segontium 1t is a thing of
yesterday, Ernest ii. Ram tells the
Boston Transcript. Long before the
Saxon. Dane or Norman trod the soil
Of Britain the land echoed to the
heavy tread Of armed Roman legiOns
as they pushed on toward the setting
sun In their attempt to establish the
dominion of the Caesars over the
whole of western Europe. They laid
the course of Waiting street diagonal
~ across the country. through st. AL
bans Verolamium), Dunstable tDuro-
cobrivae) and Towcester (Lacth-
dorum) to Chester (Deva) on a line
now followed by the London and
Northwestern railway. Through
Chester they passed on to Carnarvon
(~Segontium) and struggled across The
Menai straits, yer a track now fol
lowed by the "Wild Irishman," the
London Northwestern mail train. as
II swirls on to Holyhead.
The Light Of the Spade in History.
At Segontium was established the
last Roman fort. at the terminus Of
their military road In North Wales
II is this Roman fort which British
archaeologists now propose to exca-
vate IL the sufficient sun Of $4,000
can be raised to defray the expenses
of the work.
There are few more obscure periods
In the history of Wales than that of
the Roman occupation. and II is not
thrown upon 1t by literary records.
But the spade may give US what we
seek In vain from the written or print
ed page. and excavation has already
yielded valuable results from Caer-
went, Gelllgaer, Castell Collen and
has been done In the northwest cor
ner Of the principally, that region OF
Gwynnedd which occupies so large q
space in the history of medieval
Wales. The proposed excavation of
Segontium may enable this gap to be
nrtoI ...t4A a,o 10 not avsanCiro
information.
The Roman fort OF Segontium took
It's name from the river (now the
Saint on which it stood. and occu-
pied the higher ground behind the
present town of Carnarvon. where in
a later age was built the church of
L.lanbeblig. 1t was known to the
Welsh as "Caer Saint" or "Y Gaer
yn Arfon." While inferior in import
ance to the legionary stations at Isca
and Deva. II was a fortress of some
consequence. covering about five and
a half acres and serving. as | have
said. as the terminus of the military
road which ran through North Wales.
And ! may add that from Aberglas-
Ign and Gortmadoe, in the neighbor-
hood Of Carnarvon. Prince Mador ap
Owain Gwynedd Is said In Welsh
legend to have mustered his forces
and sailed in ten ships for the coloni-
zation of North America, toward the
end Of the twelfth century.
A Belgian Garrison.
A. tncorfntion of.ahouf OCT n
chronicles the fact that at that time
the water supply of the place was put
In order by the first cohort Of Sunici.
and this auxiliary force. drawn or
partly drawn from Belgium, may have
furnished the regular garrison of Sc
gontium. No attempt has hitherto
beer made 10 examine the site sys-
tematically, and, as was said by the
late Doctor Haverfield-than whom
no greater authority on Roman Brit
ain lived-"The spade alone can de
termine the successive stages which
Roman Carnarvon may have expert
enced. This much Is certain. There
is no site In North Wales, and only
one or two others in the whole PENN
sula. which are so likely. If properly
and Systematically explored, to throw
light on the condition of the country
In the later Roman and earliest post
Roman ages"
Chance finds that have already been
made are Of considerable historical
value, particularly a talisman or
charm In the form of a thin plate of
%gold-hearing magical characters and a
Greek inscription calling on sundry
spirits to protect n Alphianos from
evil. IT Is probable that 1t was made
In Alexandria I'm the second century
What had been Its wanderings before
II was crushed among the ruins CT
S%egontium!
The fragment of a similar charm
may be seer at York. and these make
the only two of their kind to be found
In Britain.
Another find was the famous gold