Ancaster can probably claim quite comfortably that it is Lincolnshire's second most important Roman settlement. The town, arguably identified as 'Causennae', is important for a number of reasons - it's defences, the quality of it's sculptures, and as a religious centre. The defences of Ancaster are covered in detail in the 'Preparations for Defence' section of 'Decline', although I shall briefly mention them again here. The first defences were built in the 2nd century, and consisted of a bank, a stone wall and two ditches enclosing an area of 3.5 hectares. The defences were strengthened between AD250 and AD280 with the addition of a rampart, and again in the 4th century by the building of bastions and the digging of two large ditches. The number of fine quality sculptures (and by sculptures I mean all manner of carved stone alters, cornices and inscriptions, not just statues) coming from Ancaster is large. This has led to suggestions that much of the carved work in Lincoln was produced at Ancaster - a carving capital of sorts. This may have begun because of the quality of the raw quarried stone found around Ancaster. Its quality was such that one piece was transported all the way to Lincoln merely to be used as a milestone (in Bailgate).

It is the religious evidence at Ancaster that proves to be most interesting, and again this probably conrtibutes heavily to the quality and proliference of sculpture. The best known of the Ancaster deities is the 'Deae Matres', or 'Three Mothers', the cult of which was probably of Iron Age origins, but appears to have been popular throughout areas of Roman Britain. The three seated women in the sculpture are pregnant, and are each holding something. One holds what is possibly a loaf of bread or an ear of corn, another holds a basket of fruit, and the third a small animal, perhaps a lamb or piglet. The women and the onjects they hold symbolise the earth and fertility. Another God has been found to be worshipped at Ancaster, 'Viridius'. One slab used as a gravestone was inscribed with 'Deo Viridio Trenico Arcum Fecit de Suo Donavit', meaning 'To the God Viridius, Trenico has set up this arch at his own cost'. Obviously the stone was reused from a temple, arch or similar monument. A second gravestone slab was also reused from a religious building. This one was carved with the image of a man's torso with a cloak over his left soldier. It has been suggested that this also represents Viridius. What is interesting about the worship of this God is that it is, like the 'Deae Matres', of Iron Age origin, with no known counterpart in the Roman pantheon. The fact that the stones were reused in graves suggests that the burials were Christian, and therefore had no respect for the pagan deities.

The site at Ancaster had no major excavation since the 1970's until recently, when Channel 4's 'Time Team' arrived to conduct a dig. It was the result of the finds collected by the local primary school, although the importance of Ancaster as a Roman site was obviously known long before this! Alongside the discoveries of building and road locations, and the numerous pottery finds, one find was of particular importance. A stone sarcophagus, still containing the remains of its owner, with a lid carved with the image of a Roman Legionary. In the same cemetery, another grave slab was found with a dedication to Viridius, showing that the cult to this God was numerous, at least in Ancaster, although what qualities were worshipped in him remains speculative.