Caerleon’s Roman remains are not a single monument but the surviving pieces of Isca, a fortified town built around a permanent military base in what is now south-east Wales. Cadw dates the fortress to about AD 75 and identifies it as the home of the Second Augustan Legion. The River Usk connected the settlement to the Severn estuary and the sea, while the military road network linked it to other Roman posts. The modern town grew over part of that landscape, so the archaeological visit unfolds through several separate locations rather than behind one entrance.
Isca was one of only three permanent legionary fortresses in Roman Britain, alongside bases at Chester and York. The legion remained at Caerleon for more than two centuries, although the military footprint changed over time and not every soldier was present at once. Fortresses were planned communities: barracks, stores, baths, a hospital and public buildings supported the garrison and its daily routines. The visible walls are only fragments of a much larger built environment, and their scale becomes clearer when the baths, amphitheatre and barrack remains are considered together.
