Viroconium or Camelot?

On the outskirts of the town of Shrewsbury here in the UK can be found extensive Roman ruins which were known as Viroconium.

The Roman army chose this site as a fortress because it was naturally well defended and could control the surrounding land. It is also close to what is now called Wales. A part of Britain that the Romans still wanted to conquer.

Before the Roman army made a permanent base here at Wroxeter, they built other temporary forts in the area, garrisoned by the auxiliary units which were recruited from the empire beyond Italy

How Viroconium would have looked in the past.

Wroxeter fortress was also easily defended, being high up on the river cliff, and having natural defensive ditches created by the valleys to the north and south. It was also a good site for a fortress because there was fresh water close by, the land drained easily and it could provide plenty of food to support the troops. The Roman army took control of the Cornoviis best arable land. Some tribespeople may have even lost their homes when the fortress was built.

In Graham Philips book “The search for the Grail”he writes, “From the archaeological perspective, the recent work of K.R. Dark, the Editor of the Journal of Theoretical Archaeology, also associates Cuneglasus with Powys. In his Civitas to Kingdom, published in 1994, he not only suggested that Cuneglasus was a Powysian leader, but that Viroconium may have been the political centre of the Powysian Kingdom in the fifth century.

So it seems fairly certain the Cuneglasus ruled the Kingdom of Powys- but would his father Owain Ddantgwyn previously have ruled the same area? Again the archaeological evidence is compelling. A king bearing the affix Cun was buried in Viroconium some time around 480 seemingly before the reign of Owain Ddantgwyn. At the Viroconium excavation in 1967 a tombstone dating from circa 480 was discovered just outside the city ramparts bearing the inscription Cunorix Macus Maquicoline, King Cuno son of Maquicoline.

Thus it seems likely that Owain Ddantgwyn, the most feasible candidate for Arthur, ruled Powys from the city of Viroconium, the most likely historical seat for the British leader at the time Nennius tells us Arthur lived. In other words, from the archaeological and historical perspectives, Owain ruled from the right place at the right time to have been the Arthur referenced by Nennius.”

Graham Philips goes on to state in the same book, “Viroconium is by far the most sophisticated Dark Age settlement yet discovered. Not only does it appear to have been Britain’s principal city of the fifth century, it seems to have remained so until well after the Battle of Badon. Accordingly, its palatial mansion was probably the seat of the Briton’s most important leader. In other words, if Arthur really existed then Viroconium is the best contender for his power base-the historical Camelot.”