696 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



11. Excavations at Caerivent, Monmouthshire, on the Site of the Romano- 

 British City of Venta Silurum in 1904-6. By T, Ashby, 'un., 

 M.A., D.Litt. 



The present excavations at Caerwent, Moumouthsliire, began in 1899 and have 

 been carripd on every summer since then for a period of alDout three months. The 

 results obtained up to August 1904 were described in a paper read at the Cam- 

 bridge Meeting (see p. 339 of the Report). The rest of the season of 1904 was 

 devoted to the exploration of a very large house (known as XII.) on the west 

 edge of the road leading to the south gate, in which three or four different periods 

 of construction could be distinguished. An interesting mosaic pavement was dis- 

 covered here, which has been removed to the Newport Museum. The house has 

 been filled in again, but a full account has been published in ' Archseologia,' lix. 2. 



The beginning of the season of 1905 was devoted to clearing the inner side of 

 the south gate, which was found to have been filled in the same way as the north 

 gate, but with greater care ; the inner arch is to a considerable extent still pre- 

 served. 



The rest of the time was spent in work in the northern half of the city. Five 

 buildings were excavated, one of which, containing an octagonal bath, is probably 

 part of a building situated further north, which may be the public baths of the 

 city. Of the others, one is remarkable for possessing a colonnade, another for 

 having one of its walls preserved to a height of over 12 feet, the lower part re- 

 taining considerable remains of painted plaster. Two weUs were excavated, and 

 yielded a large quantity of plant remains. 



The President of the fund, Lord Tredegar, has generously acquired, for pur- 

 poses of excavation, a considerable area in the north-east portion of the city, and 

 the campaign of 1906 will probably be devoted to the further examination of 

 several buildings, of which portions only have up till now been accessible. 



12. Recent Excavations in the Roman Forum. By T. Ashby, jun., Litt.D. 



Among the most striking discoveries in the more recent excavations have 

 been those in the open central area (the Forum proper) and the Comitium. On 

 the boundary between the two a black marble pavement has been found — the 

 representative of the lapis niger m the Imperial Age — and below traces of many 

 different periods, which further excavation may elucidate, though partially 

 successful attempts at their interpretation have already been made. They must 

 be connected with the Rostra of the period of the kings and of the republic, 

 while the Rostra of Csesar are situated at the north-west end of the Forum, it 

 being he who was responsible for the change of orientation which took place. 

 In the open area in the centre the base of the equestrian statue of Domitian, the 

 Lacus Curtius, and an inscription, which, perhaps, leads to the determuiation of 

 \h.& SiXe oi i\iQ tribunal prcetorium, -were dSkco^&ceA ; while the exact spot where 

 Cffisar's bodv was burnt has been laid bare. 



1 3. The Keltic Weights found in a Roman Camp (Melandra, near Glossop). 

 By Professor R S. Conway, Litt.D. 



The JManchester and District Branch of the Classical Association is engaged 

 in the study and excavation of the numerous Roman sites in their part of the 

 country, and in the course of their work at a camp known as Melandra Castle, 

 near Glossop, of which a report has been furnished to this Section, attention has 

 been given to a set of thirty weights found at different times in the camp.^ Of 

 these some eighteen are certainly or probably of Roman standard. The rest are 

 not Roman at all. An article by Mr. T. May, of Warrington, in the current 



' See Professor Conway's article on ' The Weights ' in Report entitled ' Melandra 

 Castle.' (Manchester Univ. Press, 1906.) 



