Hampshire tribes of northeastern Gaul - whether these two events are linked to the decline of hillforts is unknown. By the Roman conquest, the "oppidum" at Venta Belgarum, modern-day Winchester, was the "de facto" regional administrative centre; Winchester was, however, of secondary importance to the Roman-style town of Calleva Atrebatum, modern Silchester, built further north by a dominant Belgic polity known as the Atrebates in the 50s BCE. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, but he never reached Hampshire. Notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head (now in Dorset), which was a major
Cowbridge (Roman town) Cowbridge (Roman town) Cowbridge was a small castra in Roman Wales within the Roman province of Britannia Superior. Today the contemporary settlement, Cowbridge, has a population of roughly 3,600. Its name in Latin is unknown, although it is the strongest candidate for Bovium (corrected from the ablative Bomio) of the Antonine Itinerary. Its remains have been discovered beneath Cowbridge in the Welsh county of Vale of Glamorgan, previously Glamorganshire. A Roman bath house or Thermae, abandoned by the early 2nd century, has been discovered which had bricks stamped by the 2nd Legion, suggesting perhaps some kind of early military establishment