CAERLEON, a market-town in the parish of
HLANGATTOCK, lower division of the hundred of USK,
county of MONMOUTH, 20 miles (S. W.) from Mon-
mouth and 151 (W.) from London, containing 1062
inhabitants. This place, called by the Britons Caer-
lean, city of the legion, or, according to some, Caerllian,
city of the waters, was the Isca Silurum of the Romans,
in the time of Claudius, whose second legion, being recalled
from Germany, was stationed here under the
command of Vespasian. It became the metropolis of
that division of the island called Britannia Secunda,
and one of the chief cities of the Romans, who fortified
it with strong walls three miles in circuit, enclosing a
quadrilateral area, measuring five hundred and thirty
yards by four Irandred and sixty: they erected temples,
an amphitheatre, baths, aqueducts, and splendid dwellings
of various descriptions, the magnificent remains
of which, in the twelfth century, are described by
Giraldus Cambrensis as emulating the grandeur of
Rome itself. In the reign of Domitian, St. Julian
and St. Aaron, both of whom preached the doctrine
of Christianity in this part of Britain, suffered martyrdom
at this place; but after the final submission of the-
Britons to the Roman power, Caerleon became, under
the auspices of Antoninus, the seat of learning and
devotion. Three Christian churches were erected, two
in honour of the martyrs St. Julian and St. Aaron,
to which a nunnery and a pjriory of Cistercian canons
were annexed respectively; and a third, to which was
added a monastery that afterwards became the metropolitan
see of Wales, and of .which Dubricius, the great
opponent of the Pelagian heresy, was the first archbishop.
Under his successors the see continued to
flourish to such an extent, that, at the time of the Saxon
invasion, its college is said to have contained, among
other students, not less than two hundred who were
well skilled in geography and astronomy; it was afterwards
translated to Menevia by St. David, and has since
that time been known as the see of St. David's: thereare
some small remain's of the monastery still existing.
The castle was probably built about the time of the.
Conquest, but no mention of it occurs till the year
1171, when Henry II, took the town, and deposed
lorwith ap Owen, lord of Gwent, who, in 1173, retook
it after a vigorous defence, and restored it to the Welch.
After repeated sieges it was retained by Llewellyn ap
lorwith till the reign of Edward I., when, upon the overthrow
of the independence of the Welch, the town fell
into neglect, and the castle into decay: the reihains of
the castle are inconsiderable, consisting chiefly of heaps
of stones round the base of the lofty mount on which
the keep was built, and the ruins of a dilapidated portal
at a distance, that probably formed the entrance. The
town is pleasantly situated on a gentle acclivity on the
bank of the river Usk, over which is a handsome stone
bridge of modern structure, and consists of two streets
indifferently paved and lighted; the houses are mostly
old and irregularly built, and are fast hastening to decay:
some fragments of the ancient walls are still remaining,
and bear testimony to the former extent and importance
of the town, which has since dwindled into comparative
insignificance. The trade consists principally in the
manufacture and sale of tin-plates and iron, for which
there are two large establishments; the articles are
conveyed to Newport by. the river Usk, in vessels of
small burden. The market is on Thursday: fairs are
held on July 31st and October 2nd, the latter being a
large fair for horses. The market-house is a dilapidated
edifice, supported on four massive pillars of the Tuscan
order, supposed to have belonged to some Roman
structure, two bases of similar dimensions and character
having been dug up near the walls.
The county magistrates hold a petty session once a
fortnight. There are places of worship for Baptists,
Independents, and Wesleyan  Methodists. The free
school, for clothing and educating twenty-five boys and
twenty-five girls, was founded and endowed, in 1724,
by Charles Williams, Esq.; the master's salary is
£75 per annum: there is an almshouse for aged widows,
who.receive twenty shillings per annum each. Several
remains of the Roman station are still 'visible, and
numerous minor relics have been discovered, consisting
of portions of columns, altars dedicated to Jupiter
Dolichenus and the goddess Astraea, bricks inscribed
" Leg. II. Aug.," tesselated pavements, coins from Csesar
to Valentinian inclusive, earthen vessels, urns, a gold
ring with an intaglio representing Hercules strangling
the Nemsean lion, a cornelian seal of Ceres (found about
twenty years since), a mutilated statue of Jupiter in
bronze, portions of the baths, &c. To the north of the
town is an extensive quadrilateral encampment, with
seven smaller camps near it; and on the banks of the
Usk are considerable remains of the amphitheatre, called
by the inhabitants King Arthur's Round Table, St.
Amphibalus, the tutor of the protomartyr St. Albanus;
and the martyrs St. Julian and St. Aaron; were born
in this place. The renowned King Artliur is stated to
have been interred here.