History of the Isle of Wight seek an alternative to bronze. It has been suggested that a 1st century BCE reference to "Ίκτιν" ("Ictin") by the Graeco-Sicilian Diodorus Siculus might refer to the Isle of Wight, although St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall is now considered more likely. A century later, Pliny the Elder uses its Latin name "Vectis" and in the mid 2nd century Ptolemy confirms the position of Vectis as ""...below Magnus Portus"" (probably the port near Bosham). The Roman historian Suetonius calls the island "insula Vecta" in his account of its capture in year 43, referring to the future emperor Vespasian, who ""proceeded to
Christianity in Roman Britain place, a place of group worship, and a place for solitary prayer. Unlike later medieval Britain, Roman Britain lacked a dense network of parish churches. Instead, a range of different types of church structure were present across the region. One term for a church that was likely used in Roman Britain was "altare", a term which appears in an inscription from the Christian Water Newton hoard and which was not commonly used for pagan cult sites. Church buildings would have required an altar at which the Eucharist could be celebrated, a place from where readings could be made, space for