Silures

Silures, a powerful and warlike tribe in ancient Britain, occupying approximately the counties of Monmouth, Brecon and Glamorgan. They made a fierce resistance to the Roman conquest about A.D. 48, but a legionary fortress (Isca Silurum, Caerleon) was planted in their midst and by A.D. 78 they were overcome. Their town Venta Silurum (Cwrwent, 6 m. W. of Chepstow) became a Romanized town, not unlike Silchester, but smaller. Its massive Roman walls still survive, and recent excavations have revealed a town hall and market square, a temple, baths, amphitheatre, and many comfortable houses with mosaics, &c. An inscription shows that under the Roman Empire it was the chef-lieu of the Silures, whose ordo or county council provided for the local government of the district. (F. J. H.)