Isca Dumnoniorum settlement there (modern Caerleon) to be distinguished as "Isca Augusta", while the Devonian Isca was called "Isca Dumnoniorum": Usk of the Dumnonians. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, with fertile land nearby. Although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins had been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as . This is disputed however by Prof T P Wiseman who alleges the hoard was not genuine. Following
Isca Dumnoniorum building in the fortress not of timber was a stone-built military bathhouse. The water for the bathhouse was supplied by a natural spring via an aqueduct which entered the fortress through the rear gate (). The excavations revealed the hot room () and part of the warm room (). The bathhouse was also supplied with an external exercise yard (), one corner of which was a cockfighting pit. The legion had formed part of the Claudian invasion of Britain in 43, under the command of the future emperor Vespasian. Vespasian led campaigns against both the Durotriges and Dumnonii. The presence