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
Wales in the Roman era Roman roads and "castra", mined gold at Luentinum and conducted commerce, but their interest in the area was limited because of the difficult geography and shortage of flat agricultural land. Most of the Roman remains in Wales are military in nature. Sarn Helen, a major highway, linked the North with South Wales. The area was controlled by Roman legionary bases at Deva Victrix (modern Chester) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon), two of the three such bases in Roman Britain, with roads linking these bases to auxiliaries' forts such as Segontium (Caernarfon) and Moridunum (Carmarthen). The best indicators of Romanising acculturation is