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Camulodunum
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Camulodunum

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Camulodunum ( ; ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest recorded town in Britain" has become popular with residents and is still used on heritage roadsigns on trunk road approaches. Originally the site of the Brythonic-Celtic oppidum of Camulodunon (meaning "stronghold of Camulos"), capital of the Trinovantes and later the Catuvellauni tribes, it was first mentioned by name on coinage minted by the chieftain Tasciov

Key facts

Ancient site.name
Camulodunum
Ancient site.alternate_name
Camulodunon, Colonia Claudia Victricensis, Colonia Victricensis
Ancient site.image
The Roman Town Wall, Head Street to the Balkerne Gate 3.JPG
Ancient site.caption
Colchester's Roman town walls, with distinctive bands of Roman red bricks
Ancient site.map_type
England
Ancient site.location
Colchester, Essex, England
Ancient site.region
Britannia
Ancient site.type
Colonia
Ancient site.built
Late 1st century BC
Ancient site.epochs
British Iron Age to Roman Empire
Ancient site.notes
OS grid reference: TL995255

via Wikipedia infobox

~56 min read

Encyclopedic overview

26 sections
Contents
  • Camulodunon
  • Iron Age ''Camulodunon''
  • Pre-Boudican Roman town
  • Claudian invasion
  • Roman fortress and early town
  • Iceni revolt
  • Boudican destruction layer
  • ''Colonia Victricensis'' in the second and third centuries
  • Status
  • Walls
  • Streets
  • Public buildings
  • Water management
  • Houses
  • Cemeteries
  • Industry and economy
  • Pottery production
  • Other activities
  • Late Roman town
  • Christianity in the late Roman town
  • Sub-Roman period
  • Roman legacy in Saxon and early medieval Colchester
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Camulodunum ( ; ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest recorded town in Britain" has become popular with residents and is still used on heritage roadsigns on trunk road approaches. Originally the site of the Brythonic-Celtic oppidum of Camulodunon (meaning "stronghold of Camulos"), capital of the Trinovantes and later the Catuvellauni tribes, it was first mentioned by name on coinage minted by the chieftain Tasciovanus some time between 20 and 10 BC.

The Roman town began life as a Roman legionary base constructed in the AD 40s on the site of the Brythonic-Celtic fortress following its conquest by the Emperor Claudius. After the early town was destroyed during the Iceni rebellion in AD 60/61, it was rebuilt, reaching its zenith in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. During this time it was known by its official name Colonia Claudia Victricensis ('), often shortened to Colonia Victricensis', and as Camulodunum'', a Latinised version of its original Brythonic name.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Camulodunum” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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