Оксфордын их сургуулийн археологич хиймэл дагуулын зураг ашиглан Уэльсийн хойд хэсэгт Ромын үеийн цэргийн байгууламжийн ул мөрийг олж, малтлагаар дамжуулан түүхэн домогтой холбоотой байж болох олдворуудыг илрүүлжээ.
Оксфордын их сургуулийн археологич Марк Меррони Пембрукширийн уулархаг бүсэд хийсэн малтлагаараа Ромын үеийн туслах цэргийн хуарангийн үлдэгдлийг илрүүлсэн гэж үзэж байна. Эртний Уэльсийн “Мабиногион” хэмээх туульсын түүвэрт Ромын эзэн хаан Магнус Максимус Пресели толгод дээр түр буудалласан тухай өгүүлдэг бөгөөд уг олдвор нь бараг 1700 жилийн настай энэхүү домогт бодит нотолгоо байж болох юм. Меррони 2024 онд хиймэл дагуулын зураг дээрээс цэргийн байгууламжид түгээмэл байдаг тэгш өнцөгт хэлбэрийн шороон далангийн ул мөрийг анх олж харжээ.
Есдүгээр сард эхлүүлсэн таван өөр нүхэн малтлагаар командлагчийн байр, штабын барилга, агуулахын суурь болон хамгаалалтын ханын үлдэгдэл зэрэг модон хуарангийн шинж тэмдгүүд илэрсэн байна. Археологичид малтлагын үеэр Ромын үеийн ваар савны хэлтэрхий, утас ээрэхэд ашигладаг хар тугалган ээрүүл, бичгийн хэрэгсэл, мод боловсруулах сүх, тоглоомын хэрэглэл зэрэг өдөр тутмын эд зүйлсийг олжээ. Үүнээс гадна гуравдугаар зууны нэг болон Магнус Максимусын амьдарч байсан дөрөвдүгээр зууны сүүл үеийн хоёр зоос олдсон нь уг хуаранг Ромын цэргүүд удаан хугацаанд ашиглаж байсныг илтгэж байна.
Мерронигийн дүгнэснээр, тус хуаранг МЭ 74–78 оны орчимд Ромын захирагч Секст Юлий Фронтины цэргийн аян дайны үеэр анх байгуулсан байх магадлалтай. Хэрэв Магнус Максимус үнэхээр тус газарт байсан бол тэрээр шинээр хуаран барихын оронд өмнө нь байсан бэхлэлтийг ашигласан байх боломжтой юм. Хэдийгээр олдворууд нь домог болон бодит түүхийг холбох чухал сэжүүр болж байгаа ч эзэн хааныг тухайн газарт байсныг батлахын тулд нэмэлт судалгаа шаардлагатай гэж судлаач үзэж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Five trenches dug into a hillside in north Pembrokeshire may have turned a medieval myth into history. Oxford archaeologist Mark Merrony says he has found a Roman auxiliary fort that Magnus Maximus and his troops reused. If he is right, a Welsh legend almost 1,700 years old finally has something physical behind it.
Maximus ruled territory stretching from Spain to Britain in the late fourth century C.E. Medieval folklore also alleged he made it to Wales, pitching camp on the easternmost peak of the Preseli Hills, but that story has always been treated as a myth.
Merrony, a supernumerary fellow in archaeology at the University of Oxford, says he has found evidence putting Maximus in Wales, along with an army garrisoning a fort built roughly three centuries earlier. He recounted his quest in The Conversation, and the road to the fort started somewhere else entirely.
A Legend From the Mabinogion
The Welsh chapter of the Maximus story begins with another story: the medieval collection of Welsh tales known as the Mabinogion. Experts have long held that the fourth-century ruler called Macsen Wledig in those writings stands in for Maximus. “The Dream of Macsen Wledig” recounts the emperor’s rise to power and tells how he dreamt of a beautiful woman, then crossed the sea to Britain to find her and win her hand.
During his military maneuvers there, the tale says, he climbed Frenni Fawr, the 1,300-foot easternmost peak of the Preseli Hills. According to a translation quoted by Smithsonian magazine:
“There the emperor pitched his tent. And that encamping place is called Cadair Maxen, even to this day.”
From a Villa to a Road to a Fort
His search began in 2002, when he excavated a Roman villa first found in the 19th century, about 18 miles from the site where he now believes he has identified a fort. While he worked there, a colleague asked why such an impressive Roman building stood in an otherwise remote corner of Wales. The question sent him looking for a major Roman road nearby, and in 2022 he had what he calls a breakthrough: he traced sections of one, which in turn pointed him and others toward additional villas. However, not everyone was convinced.
“My observations have attracted a good deal of skepticism, but my heart and mind felt that I was making considerable progress tracing the Roman road network from Pembrokeshire east into Carmarthenshire.”
In 2024, while examining satellite imagery, he spotted what he took to be the outlines of a Roman auxiliary fort beside the probable line of that road, near Crymych.
“The earthworks had a characteristic playing-card shape like auxiliary forts and were about three hectares in area, which is typical for this type of military installation,” he explained.
What the Trenches Turned Up?
Surveys carried out at the site uncovered pieces of Roman pottery and several other ancient objects. But the biggest discovery came in early September, when archaeologists began digging into the hillside. “Our breakthrough came in early September with the excavation of five trenches,” Merrony wrote.
The excavations revealed traces of several buildings, including the commander’s house, a headquarters building, and granaries used to store supplies. Researchers also found clay floors covered with thin stone slabs, rows of stones, more pottery fragments, and a kiln containing pieces of Roman roof tiles. One of the trenches even exposed the base of an old defensive wall.
And that wasn’t all. Archaeologists also uncovered several everyday objects, including a lead spindle whorl used for spinning thread, an iron stylus for writing on wax tablets, a woodworking axe, and a gaming counter. They also found a coin from the third century and two others dating to the late fourth century, the same period when Magnus Maximus was alive.
“The collective findings indicate that the site was once a typical timber fort,” Merrony stated. He believes the fort was probably built between 74 and 78 C.E., during the military campaigns of the Roman governor Sextus Julius Frontinus.
If that turns out to be true, Magnus Maximus may have simply reused an existing Roman fort rather than building a new one. As Merrony told The Guardian, “If Magnus Maximus was there, there must have been an army there.” He now plans to publish his findings in Antiqvvs, a magazine he founded. He also hopes to write a book about the discovery and the long search that led him to the site.
“The discovery represents an extraordinary fusion between myth and reality, and demonstrates that folklore is often underpinned by fact.”
So was the emperor really here? The dig revealed a timber fort, complete with a commander’s house, a headquarters building and granaries. But, further research will be needed to establish a direct connection to the emperor
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