The birth of a capital? BageŶdoŶ oppiduŵ aŶd the impact of Rome on the southern Cotswolds Tom Moore (originally published in: Breeze, D. ;Ed.Ϳ The iŵpaĐt of ‘oŵe oŶ the British CouŶtryside. A ĐoŶfereŶĐe organised by the Royal Archaeological Institute, Chester, 11-ϭϯ OĐtoďer ϮϬϭϯ ‘AI. Wetherďy) Introduction To what extent did the expansion of Rome influence Iron Age societies before, and immediately after, the conquest? The appearance of a group of massive monuments, kŶoǁŶ as oppida, has often been regarded as fundamental to this question. These sites have been regarded as the elite centres of larger social groups which quickly became the capitals or administrative centres of the new Roman province. However, our understanding of how such complexes emerged and what impact they had at a regional level remains relatively limited. Through fieldwork and research on one such oppiduŵ, at Bagendon, Gloucestershire (Fig. 1) this project is examining these issues and, by extension, understandiŶg ‘oŵes role iŶ shapiŶg the social, political and economic landscape at the turn of the first millennium. Background The complex at Bagendon is represented by a sprawling set of linear earthworks encompassing an area of around 200ha; like many territorial oppida, these do not apparently define a distinct, enclosed area. Earlier excavations (Clifford 1961) revealed evidence of coin minting and industrial activity, suggesting it was the social and political centre of the Dobunni. UŶlike ŵaŶLJ oppida the Roman town (Corinium: modern Cirencester) was not built on the site of Late Iron Age activity, but located 3km to the south. The means that Bagendon represents a rare opportunity to examine the Iron Age and earliest Roman phases to such a complex, without the impact of Roman and Medieval occupation. In order to understand how the site developed and the impact of Rome on this process, this project is reassessing the nature of the complex. This includes a major geophysical survey of the Bagendon area (c. 150ha surveyed so far, using high-resolution magnetometery); small-scale excavation of newly identified elements; analysis of unpublished excavations from the 1980s; and reassessment and survey of sites in the environs of the oppidum. Combined, this project is providing a clearer understanding of the oppidums plaĐe iŶ Late IroŶ Age to ‘oŵaŶ traŶsitioŶ and how the less stratified communities of the Middle Iron Age morphed in to the centralised civitas of the Roman province. Preliminary results Results so far have indicated a more complex development of the Bagendon complex than was previously imagined. Survey and excavations has indicated that the complex probably began as a group of small banjo-like enclosure in the Middle Iron Age (Fig 2:a, b), similar in form to banjo- complexes such as Gussage Cow Down, Dorset (see Moore 2012). The presence of similar arrangements known from aerial photography nearer-by at Northleach, Gloucestershire, may also suggest that, in its earliest phases, the enclosures at Bagendon were not unique. These enclosures