Welsh Journals

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The plan of the fortress is intimately related to the organisation of the legion. The author describes the various buildings. The barracks, 250 feet long by 40 feet wide, were constructed of good mortared masonry, with tiled, paved, or cemented floors, glazed windows, and red-tiled roofs. They were arranged in pairs; each building accommodated a century in twelve double cubicles, and had a block at the end for the centurion and his N.C.O. 's. Within the fortress were also the training schools, stables, artillery stores, punishment cells, and cook- houses, as well as workshops for the carpenters, wheelwrights, painters, and smiths. The settlement had an elaborate system of underground sewers discharg- ing into the Usk. Along the river banks were the quays and wharves; beyond lay the fields which provided food for the garrison. Between the fort and the river were the suburbs where the time-expired veterans, soldiers' wives, traders, and camp- followers lived. Here, too, were public buildings, such as the temples, baths, and the amphitheatre. The latter was a stone building, oval in plan, and capable of accommodating six thousand spectators. Mr. Nash-Williams is to be congratulated on setting a standard in guide- books that others will have difficulty in maintaining. R.U.S. GUIDE TO THE COLLECTION ILLUSTRATING THE PREHISTORY OF WALES. By W. F. Grimes, M.A., F.S.A., pages 254, plates IX, figures 78, published as above. 1939. Price, 4/ The book consists of two parts. There is a complete catalogue of the pre- historic material that has been entered in the National Museum's registers down to the end of 1937; this occupies pages 129 to 202. The first part of the book, pages 1-128, contains an account of the prehistory of Wales from the Old Stone Age down to the end of the Early Iron Age. Dr. Wheeler's book, Prehistoric and Roman Wales, which was published in 1925, should still be consulted by students of Welsh archaeology, but a considerable amount of new information has become available, and Mr. Grimes' publication will be welcomed. It gives short and clear accounts of the several periods and of the objects belonging to them that have been found in Wales. Its modest price is a strong recommendation, and it should be very helpful in the schools. R.U.S.