(more correctly Viroconium), a large RomanoBritish country town, chef-lieu of the Cornovii, now Wroxeter on the Severn, 5. m. E. of Shrewsbury. At first perhaps (A.D. 45-- 55) a Roman legionary fortress, held by Legio XIV. Gemina against the Welsh hill-tribes, its garrison was soon removed and it became a flourishing town with stately town hall, baths and other appurtenances of a thoroughly civilized and Romanized city. It was larger and probably richer than - for example ' Silchester. The lines of its walls can still be traced, enclosing an area of 170 acres, and parts of the town hall and baths have been uncovered. Its originally Celtic name seems to survive in the names of Wroxeter and the neighbouring hill, Wrekin.
See Victoria History of Shropshire, i. 215-56. (F. J. H.)