Venta Belgarum

Venta Belgarum, or Venta Bulgarum, was a town in the Roman province of Britannia Superior, the civitas capital of the local tribe, the Belgae, and which later became the city of Winchester [1]. The settlement was apparently established around AD 70, partially on the site of Oram's Arbour, which had been abandoned for some years [1]. It became the tribal capital of the Belgae, who had probably held several Iron Age hill forts in the near vicinity of the site once the Romans had pacified the area [1]. Although in the early years of the Roman province it was of subsidiary importance to Silchester and Chichester, Venta eclipsed them both by the latter half of the second century [1]. A defensive bank and ditch were dug around the town in the 2nd century [1]. At the beginning of the third century, Winchester was given protective stone walls [1]. From the mid-4th century, new development at Venta halted [1].