city
Caerleon (Isca Silurum): Julius and Aaron
Caerleon, Newport, United Kingdom (Wales) · Britain & Ireland
51.610, -2.955
Approximate location.
Disputed. The martyrs are attested only by Gildas, about three centuries after the event; Bede adds nothing. The date (Decius, Valerian or Diocletian) is uncertain. 'City of the legions' is usually Caerleon, but Chester is a disputed alternative.
Gildas (6th century) names Julius and Aaron, 'citizens of the city of the legions', as martyrs of Roman Britain alongside Alban. The legionary fortress of Isca at Caerleon is the usual identification, and a chapel of the two saints near Caerleon is recorded in a 9th-century charter. Bede repeats Gildas; some translations of Bede render the city as Chester (Deva), the other legionary fortress.
Source stance: insider. Christian monastic writers (Gildas, Bede).
People and groups named here
- Julius (martyr)
- Aaron (martyr)
- Gildas (source, 6th century)
- Bede (repeats Gildas)
Sources
- Julius and Aaron (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book I (Alban, ch. 7; Palladius, ch. 13)
tr. L. C. Jane (1903), public domain; Fordham Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 79532: Isca Silurum
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.