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The Pillar of Eliseg, originally an ambitious round-shafted cross, stands on a barrow near the Cistercian abbey of Valle Crucis. It was carved with a lengthy inscription, now illegible, but transcribed in 1696 by Edward Lhuyd. Two copies have survived, enabling a reconsideration of the significance of the inscription. This article reassesses the history of the monument, its archaeological context, form and function. The inscription shows that the cross was erected by Concenn, ruler of Powys (d ad 854), to honour his great-grandfather, Eliseg, who had expelled the Anglo-Saxons from this part of Powys. The inscription also links the rulers of Powys with the Roman usurper Magnus Maximus and the sub-Roman ruler Guarthigirn. It is argued that the inscription was intended to be read out loud and that the monument was an important piece of public propaganda erected at a time when the kingdom of Powys was severely under threat.

The Latin war-poem ‘The Song of the Welsh’ poses problems of dating and origin, as also does the identity of a mysterious ‘Broinsius’ mentioned in it. Yet the last seems to be the fifth-century British hero Ambrosius Aurelianus; while the influence of bardic verse on the poem suggests it is not from thirteenth-century England, but from a Welsh school (perhaps located at St Davids) of similar date.

The inscribed stone which is the subject of this article was found in the early spring of 1967 in ploughing just inside the defences of the Roman town at Wroxeter (Viroconium), just west of the ‘Eastern Cemetery’ marked on the V.C.H. plan. As the stone is heavy it is unlikely to have been dragged any distance by the plough. It may be suggested that at a late date interments had spread inside the once-inhabited area. The latest levels at Roman Wroxeter have been totally removed or extensively disturbed by persistent ploughing. Dr. G. Webster can cite no artefacts which can be placed in the fifth century, but chance discoveries may help to fill this lacuna. Precise dating cannot be attained, but it seems possible that Cunorix as an Irish foederatus could have settled at Wroxeter in a decade early in the fifth century, though it should be emphasized that the only firm date we have is c. A.D. 460–75 when the stone was set up, as Professor Jackson estimates on linguistic grounds.