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Show SEEKING CAESAR IN ROMAN RUINS went, Gelligaer, Castell Collen and Caersws. So far, however, nothing has been done in the northwest corner cor-ner of the principality, that region of Gwynnedd which occupies so large a spnee in the history of medieval Wales. The proposed excavation of Segontium may enable this gap to be -filled with accurate if not extensive Buried Fortress of Segontium, Near Castle, to Be Excavated. Ex-cavated. OF GREAT TOM INTEREST information. The Itoninn fort of Segontiuta took Its name from the river (now the Saint) on which It stood, and occupied occu-pied the higher ground behind the present town of Carnarvon, where in a later age was built the church of Llanbebllg. It was known to the Welsh as "Caer Saint" or "Y Gner yn Arfon." While inferior in importance import-ance to the legionary stations at Isca and Deva, It was a fortress of some consequence, covering about five and a half acres and serving, as I have said, as the terminus of the military road which ran through North Wales. And I may add that from Aberglas-lyn Aberglas-lyn and Gortmadoe, In the neighborhood neighbor-hood of Carnarvon, Prince Mador ap Owain Gwynedd is said in Welsh legend to have mustered his forces and sailed in ten ships for the colonization coloni-zation of North America, toward the end of the twelfth century. A Belgian Garrison. An inscription of about 200 A. D. chronicles the fact that at that time the water supply of the place was put in order by the first cohort of Sunici, and this auxiliary force, drawn or partly drawn from Belgium, may have furnished the regular garrison of Segontium. Se-gontium. No attempt he hitherto been made to examine the site systematically, sys-tematically, and, as was said by the late Doctor Haverfleld than whom no greater authority on Koman Britain Brit-ain lived "The spade alone can determine de-termine the successive stages which Roman Carnarvon may have experienced. experi-enced. This much is certain. There Results of the Excavation Will Be Keenly Followed by Archaeologists Archaeolog-ists of Both Hemispheres British History Involved. Less than half a mile to the southeast south-east of the ancient castle of Carnarvon Carnar-von in North Wales lies the buried Itoman fortress of Segontium. The castle is a grim and lordly pile planted plant-ed by a grim king In token of his might; erected, so Pennant says, by the forced labor of Welsh peasants on money wrung from (he Welsh chief-talus chief-talus who had failed In the struggle against King Edward I. It dates back some seven hundred years in British history, but compared with the Koman fortress of Segontium it is a thing of yesterday, Ernest 11. Itaun tells the Boston Trauseript. Long before the Saxon, Dane or Norman trod the soil of Britain the land echoed to the heavy tread of armed Koman legions as they pushed on toward the setting sun in their attempt to establish the dominion of the Caesars over the vhole of western Europe. They laid the course of Watllng street diagonally diagonal-ly across the country, through St. Albans Al-bans (Verolamium), Dunstable (Duro-cobrivae) (Duro-cobrivae) and Towcester (Lacth-dorum) (Lacth-dorum) to Chester (Deva) on a line now followed by the Loudon and Northwestern railway. Through Chester they passed on to Carnarvon (Segontium) and straggled across the Menai straits, over a track now followed fol-lowed by the "Wild Irishman," the Lontfon Northwestern mail train, as others will visit the site while excavations excava-tions are In progress. The purchasers of the areas are willing that all finds shall be deposited depos-ited In a museum at Carnarvon if a suitable building can be provided, on the condition that tlie exhibition, care and safe custody of such finds will be assured in the future. An offer has been received to house the finds in the National museum of Wales at Cardiff. The Prince of Wales. First among those who are taking an Interest in the excavation of Segontium Se-gontium may be mentioned tlie prince of Wales. Before he left England on his tour of Australia and New Zealand Zea-land he had explained to him the whole scheme, and he expressed his warm approval of the work and the objects which the committee lias in view. It was only natural that he should do so, for Segontium lies within half a mile of Carnarvon castle, cas-tle, where his investiture as prince of Wales took place shortly before the war. In Queen Eleanor's gateway, King George presented Iris son to the assembled multitude. The Cambrian Archaeological association as-sociation signified Its appreciation of the importance of the undertaking at Its last general meeting, and its ex- it swirls on to Holjrhad The Light of the Spade in History. At Segontium was established the last Roman fort, at the terminus of their military road in North Wales. It Is this Roman fort which British archaeologists now propose to excavate exca-vate if the sufficient sum of $10,000 can be rnL?e(I t0 defray the expenses Of the work." There are few more obscure periods in the history of Wales than that of the Roman occupation, and it is not to be expected that much light will be thrown upon it by literary records. But the spade may give us what we seek in vain from the written or printed print-ed page, and excavation has already yielded valuable results from Caer- cavatlon committee has recommended an initial grant of $750 to head the list of subscription.?. An annual interim in-terim report of the excavations will appear In "Archaeologla Cambrensls." Active support has also come from the Society of Antiquaries, and it is proposed pro-posed to solicit the help and influence of the Smithsonian institution of the United States of Ameiica. The combined com-bined appeal to the pocket and imagination imag-ination of the scientific archaeologist archaeolo-gist ought not to fall on deaf ears. While archaeologists have been making history during the w.ar in the near East, archaeology, like most of the more serious pleasures of life, has been hibernating. Now it is beginning begin-ning to awake and realize how much lost time has to be made up, and one of the first tasks to hand is the excavation ex-cavation of the Roman fortress of Segontium, by which, it Is hoped, much light may be thrown on one of the darkest pages of British history, on the history, Indeed, of all races of British origin. is no site in North Wales, and only one or two others in the whole peninsula, penin-sula, which are so likely, if properly nndf systematically explored, to throw light on the condition of the country in the later Roman and earliest post-Roman post-Roman ages." Chance finds that have already been made are of considerable historical value, particularly a talisman or charm in the form of a thin plate of gold-bearing magical characters and a Greek' inscription calling on sundry spirits to protect one Alphianos from evil. It is probable that it was made in Alexandria in the second century. What had been its wanderings before it was crushed among the ruins of Segontium ! The fragment of a similar charm may be seen at York, and these make the only two of their kind to be found in Britain. Another find was the famous gold crossbow brooch of the fourth century, which Is now preserved in the Carnarvon Carnar-von town library. In order to secure the land for the purpose of excavation, a number of people Interested in Welsh's archeology, archeol-ogy, and with one exception resident in the counties of Carnarvon and Anglesey, purchased the areas near the "Waterworks" in order that they might be saved from -'ke hands of the builders and be systematically explored. ex-plored. Three acres are within the wall of the fortress, and half an acre lies without it. In addition to these two areas, it is probable that permission permis-sion will be obtained to excavate about three and a half acres immediately imme-diately adjoining the main site, on the northwest and northeast, and the vicar of Carnarvon has stated that Le will put no difficulty In the way of carrjing out excavation in the vicarage vicar-age garden, which lies within the wall of Segontium and covers about at acre and a half. The land available for excavation is therefore from three and a half to eight acres in extent, of which tlie greater part lies within the walls of the fortress. In view- of the importance and extent of the work, the services of an expert excavator ex-cavator will be obtained, and he will work under instructions from Prof. R. C. Bosanquet. The work will be spread over two or more years, and results will be keenly followed by archaeologists in both hemispheres. It is anticipated that students and many |