Deva Victrix (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England. The fortress was built initially by the Legio II Adiutrix in the AD 70s as the Roman army advanced north against the Brigantes, but completed over the next few decades by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix. Several factors including the presence of an elliptical building unique in legionary fortresses, the method of construction, and the unusual size of the fortress - 20% larger than other Roman fortresses in Britain - suggests that it may have been intended as the base for a potential invasion of Ireland, and perhaps eventually to become the capital of Britain. The fortress contained barracks, granaries, military headquarters, military baths, and an unusual elliptical building that may have acted as the governor of Britain's headquarters.