Camulodunum was the pre-Roman oppidum and royal centre of the Trinovantes (and later Cunobelin's Catuvellaunian power base), occupying a large dyke-defended landscape west of the modern town. After the Claudian invasion of AD 43 a legionary fortress for Legio XX was established here, converted around AD 49 into Colonia Claudia Victricensis — the first Roman colonia in Britain and effectively the initial provincial capital. The city was sacked and burned by Boudica in AD 60/61, then rebuilt with proper defences, remaining a major civilian centre throughout the Roman period.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As the earliest colonia and the seat of the imperial cult in Britannia, Camulodunum carried unusual administrative and ideological weight; the colossal Temple of Claudius made it the religious focal point of the new province and a prime target for Boudica's revolt. Even after London eclipsed it as provincial capital, it remained a wealthy chartered town and a key node in the eastern British economy.
Excavations since the 19th century, and intensively under the Colchester Archaeological Trust, have revealed the legionary fortress plan beneath the early colonia, the vaulted podium of the Temple of Claudius (under the Norman castle), the town walls and Balkerne Gate, the destruction horizon of AD 60/61 with carbonised shops and imported samian, and the remarkable Roman circus
Camulodunum was the pre-Roman oppidum and royal centre of the Trinovantes (and later Cunobelin's Catuvellaunian power base), occupying a large dyke-defended landscape west of the modern town. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Col. Camulodunum is classified as a Roman settlement — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Ad Ansam (0 km), Temple of Claudius (0.1 km), SE corner of Roman town in Easthill House Gardens (0.4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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