Return to Roman Ruins in Britain
After London, Cirencester (Corinium Dobunnorum) was the second largest town in Roman Britain. The civilian settlement (vicus) that had grown up around the original fort eventually became the tribal capital of the civitas of the Dobunni and in the fourth century, when the country was divided into four separate provinces, the capital of Britannia Prima.
The Corinium Museum preserves some of the site's most beautiful mosaics, including one of a hare and "The Four Seasons" pictured above, in which the goddess Pomona personifies Autumn with a pruning hook over her shoulder. There also is the tombstone of Genialis, a cavalryman who died in the first century AD.
Just to the north of Cirencester is Chedworth, which is regarded as the finest preserved villa in Britain.