GLEVUM
(Gloucester) Gloucestershire, England.
Between Calleva and S Wales, at the crossing of the
Sabrina (Severn). Excavations in 1966-69 in the center
of the modern city distinguished structures of three periods: 1) a Claudio-Neronian ditch system of unknown
extent, possibly indicating hiberna; 2) a Flavian timber
fortress of 17.2 ha, presumably that of the Legio II; and
3) the colonia (coterminous with fortress) which is
known from inscriptions to have been founded under
Nerva (A.D. 96-98). Originally provided with a series of
barrack-like dwellings, probably of timber on stone footings, the colonia was rebuilt during the 2d or 3d c. with
large masonry houses; the central forum was probably
rebuilt at the same time. The site was falling into ruins
in the 5th c. and was captured by the Saxons in A.D. 577.
The only visible monuments are portions of the colonia
wall incorporated into modern basements beneath the
City Museum and beneath buildings in King's Square.
Vertical joints separate masonry of the 3d c. from that
of the 4th, which includes large reused blocks. The City
Museum contains much excavated material including that
from Kingsholm, a 1st c. military site 0.8 km to the N.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
L.E.W.O. Fullbrook-Leggatt,
Roman
Gloucester (1968)
MPI; “Roman Britain,”
JRS 49 (1959)
126; 57 (1967) 194-95; unpublished work of H. R. Hurst.
J. F. RHODES
