Moridunum

Moridunum was a Roman fort and town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Carmarthen in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire. The fort was built around AD 75 and lasted until about 120, when the civilian settlement took over. Ptolemy and the Antonine Itinerary record the place, and a map from 1723 by William Stukeley shows its position at the western end of Roman roads in southern Wales. The name Moridunum means ‘sea fort’, though the town now lies inland. The town had a street grid, a public bath house, and possibly a mansio. The forum and basilica stood under the modern town’s busiest streets, while narrow shops lined the roads. Evidence of metalworking has been found, and large homes were rebuilt in stone in the late 3rd or early 4th century. A Romano-Celtic temple of 1st- or 2nd-century style has also been excavated. A turf bank and ditch were added in the mid-2nd century, later replaced by a stone wall. East of the old town lies one of only seven surviving Roman amphitheatres in the United Kingdom. Excavated in 1968, the arena measures 46 by 27 metres. The seating area’s circumference is 92 by 67 metres, larger than expected for the town’s size. It has stone walls and wooden seating, the only above-ground Roman remains in Carmarthen. The modern Welsh name Caerfyrddin comes from the addition of ‘Caer’ to the old name, though folk etymology links it to Merlin.