 Over the field seasons of 1924 and 1925 , Wheeler ran excavations of the Roman fort of Y <unk> near <unk> , a project aided by his wife and two archaeological students , <unk> Myres and Christopher Hawkes . During this project , he was visited by the prominent Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie and his wife Hilda Petrie ; Wheeler greatly admired Petrie 's emphasis on strong archaeological methodologies . Wheeler published the results of his excavation in The Roman Fort Near <unk> . He then began excavations at <unk> Augusta , a Roman site in <unk> , where he focused on revealing the Roman amphitheatre . Intent on attracting press attention to both raise public awareness of archaeology and attract new sources of funding , he contacted the press and organised a sponsorship of the excavation by the middle @-@ market newspaper the Daily Mail . In doing so , he emphasised the <unk> and legendary associations that the site had with King Arthur . In 1925 , Oxford University Press published Wheeler 's first book for a general audience , Prehistoric and Roman Wales ; he later expressed the opinion that it was not a good book . 
