Roman roads in Britannia section of Watling Street was begun in the years following the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD, it may have been known to the Romano-Britons as the "Via Claudia" in honour of Emperor Claudius (r.41-54 AD) who led the military campaign. The only Anglo-Saxon name which might be etymologically linked to an original Roman name is the Fosse Way between Exeter and Lincoln. "Fosse" may derive from "fossa", the Latin word for "ditch". But this is likely to be attributable to a popular, rather than official, Roman name for the route. Generally the Roman roads in Britain have names
Exeter Cair listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the "History of the Britons" as Isca, although David Nash Ford read it as a reference to Penselwood and thought it more likely to be Lindinis (modern Ilchester). Nothing is certainly known of Exeter from the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain around the year 410 until the seventh century. By that time, the city was held by the Saxons, who had arrived in Exeter after defeating the British Dumnonians at Peonnum in Somerset in 658. It seems likely that the Saxons maintained a quarter of the city for the