Roads were made; two along the north and south coasts, to Carmarthen and Carnarvon; two others ran parallel along the length of Wales, to connect their ends. On these roads towns rose; and some, like Caerwent, were self-governing communities of prosperous people. Agriculture flourished; the Welsh words for "plough" and "cheese" are "aradr" and "caws"—the Latin aratrum and caseus. The mineral wealth of the country was discovered; and copper mines and lead mines,silver mines and gold mines, were worked. The "aur" (gold) and "arian" (silver) and "plwm" (lead) of the Welshman are the Latinaurum, argentum, and plumbum.
The Romans allowed the Welsh families and tribes to remain as before,and to be ruled by their own kings and chiefs. But they kept the defence of the country—the manning of the great wall in the north of Roman Britain, the garrisoning of the legion towns, and the holding of the western sea—in their own hand.
Gradually the power of Rome began to wane, and its hold on distant countries like Britain began to relax. The wandering nations were gathering on its eastern and northern borders, and its walls and legions
