The Romans can't be avoided much longer. Just the other side of the big roundabout from us, in London Road, is the site of the largest of Corinium's four gates. Not just any old gate, mark you; as the plaque suggests, this was a massive structure: after, all it straddled the Roman superhighway as it entered Britain's largest town outside London.
 |
| Picture from the Corinium Museum website |
Roman Cirencester often feels overwhelming: so much activity, so many lives, with nothing to show now but a few postholes and pillars. Today, though, I'm having a good day. If you close your eyes you can almost hear the snorts of the horses, the clanking of unsprung wheels and the unfamiliar cadences of angry Latin voices.
Cut the poetics, give me the archaeology, you say!
The Cirencester Excavations reports are all available online as pdfs:
The Gate is described in Cirencester Excavations Volume V (page 37 onwards)
Piers's picture:
