There were peripheral settlements around Roman Deva, including Boughton, the source of the garrison's water supply, and Handbridge, the site of a sandstone quarry and Minerva's Shrine.

Their expansion into the north of Britannia during the reign of Vespasian meant that the Romans needed a new military base.

Chester was a strategic site for a fortress, commanding access to the sea via the River Dee and dividing the Brigantes from the Ordovices.

[13] The fortress was built on a sandstone bluff, overlooking the bridge crossing the river and close to the natural harbour which is today occupied by the Chester Racecourse.

[14] The river was navigable up to the sandstone ridge, so positioning the fortress beyond it would have made access to the harbour difficult.

[19] The fortress was laid out in the traditional "playing card" shape—rectangular with rounded corners—and had four gates: north, east, south and west.

[30] The Legio XX Valeria Victrix probably went on campaign in 196 under Decimus Clodius Albinus into Gaul, leaving Deva under-garrisoned.

[40] In the 14th century, Ranulf Higden, a monk in Chester, described some of the Roman remains, including the sewers and tombstones.

[42] Over the next century, accidental discoveries continued, such as parts of the Roman bath complex outside the fortress which were destroyed by a late-18th-century housing development.

[47] Between 2007 and 2009, excavations were carried out at the amphitheatre on behalf of Chester City Council and in association with English Heritage.

[53] To the east was the legion's parade ground, civilian baths were built to the west, and to the south was a mansio, a large coaching house for travelling government officials.

Indeed, scholars such as Christopher Snyder believe that during the 5th and 6th centuries—approximately from 410 AD when Roman legions withdrew, to 597 AD when St. Augustine of Canterbury arrived—southern Britain preserved a sub-Roman society that was able to survive the attacks from the Anglo-Saxons and even use a vernacular Latin (called British Latin) for an active culture.

[57] There is even the possibility that this vernacular Latin lasted to the late seventh century in the area of Chester, where amphorae and archaeological remnants of a local Romano-British culture at Deva Victrix have been found.

[60] Despite heavy weathering, the figure can be seen holding a spear and a shield with an owl above the left shoulder to symbolise wisdom.

[59] Deva Victrix had a large legionary bath complex (thermae) for the soldiers to maintain good hygiene and to use for leisure time.

[63] The water was supplied from the springs in Boughton through underground lead pipes linked to the main aqueduct near the east gate.

[66] This is a fragment of a much larger inscription, finely carved onto Welsh slate, which was discovered close to the fort's principia.

The text of this inscription cannot be reconstructed from this small fragment, but it appears to talk about the "fortress", an "amicable conclusion", and someone being "against the regime".

[67] The amphitheatre was discovered in 1929, and the Chester Archaeological Society—with support from then Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald—protected it from the construction of a road over the site.

[68] Excavations have revealed traces of late Iron Age cultivation,[69] and they show that Deva's amphitheatre was built in two phases.

As it was close to the fortress, it would have been used as a venue for weapons training as well as hosting spectacular entertainments involving acrobats, wrestlers, and professional gladiators.

[75] Part of a slate frieze depicting a retiarius, or net-fighter, was discovered in 1738, most likely dating to the 2nd century; it was probably used to decorate the tomb of a gladiator.

[82] Construction on the site began around 77 AD and this was confirmed by a length of lead piping, which served a central water feature or fountain, which was stamped with the name of Emperor Vespasian.

Technically speaking it was not elliptical, but arcuate, with the central hall being formed from two intersecting arcs, and this makes it unique in the Roman Empire.

[84][85] It is not certain if the first building was ever completed, but it had certainly been destroyed by the 90s AD and the site was subsequently used as the fortress rubbish dump for many decades.

Deva was 20% larger, 5 hectares (12 acres), than the fortresses of Eboracum (York)—later capital of Britannia Inferior—and Isca Augusta (Caerleon).

[2] The presence of unusual buildings at the heart of the fortress—accounting for the 4 hectares (10 acres) by which Deva was larger than other fortresses—has been taken as evidence that their construction was specifically ordered by the provincial governor.

[88] Also, the Flavian dynasty was expansionist, and Deva was closer to what would then have been the front, making administration quicker and easier.

[3] Furthermore, historian Vittorio Di Martino believes that Agricola could have chosen Deva Victrix as a possible future capital of Roman Britain because it was practically placed at the centre of the British isles, being located geographically at nearly the same distance from the westernmost shores of Ireland, the easternmost lands of Britannia and the Channel.

[89] Regardless of the empire's plans for Deva, Londinium, the province's economic and trading centre, emerged as the capital of Britannia, reflecting a change in imperial policy from expansionism to consolidation.