The history of Colchester as a city dates to the 1st century BC, when the Celtic fortress of Camulodunon was built by the Trinovantes tribe. As such, Colchester is regarded as the oldest recorded town in Britain. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, a legionary fortress was established on the site, and the name was Latinised as Camulodunum. In 49 AD the fortress became a town, was formally renamed Colonia Victricensis, and was designated as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia. In c. 60–61 AD, Camulodunum was razed during the Boudican revolt. Following this the capital was moved to Londinium. Camulodunum was rebuilt, and continued to be an important city throughout the Roman period.
Following the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from Britain, Camulodunum contracted significantly. It began to reemerge as an Anglo-Saxon town, Colenceaster, in the late Anglo-Saxon period. It fell under Viking control in 879, but was recaptured by Edward the Elder in 917. The aftermath of the Norman Conquest saw the stone keep of Colchester Castle built in the middle of the town.
In the medieval period, Colchester became home to several monastic foundations including St John's Abbey and St Botolph's Priory. Following the Black Death, Colchester began to emerge as a prominent town in the Medieval English wool trade, and received a large wave of immigration from Flemish wool merchants, leading to the creation of the town's Dutch Quarter. Colchester was besieged during the English Civil War.
Prehistory The gravel hill upon which Colchester is built was formed in the Middle Pleistocene period, and was shaped into a terrace between the Anglian glaciation and the Ipswichian glaciation by an ancient precursor to the River Colne. From these deposits beneath the town have been found Palaeolithic flint tools, including at least six Acheulian handaxes. Further flint tools made by hunter gatherers living in the Colne Valley during the Mesolithic have been discovered, including a Tranchet axe from Middlewick.Wymer, J. (ed.) "Gazetteer of Mesolithic sites in England and Wales", in CBA Research Report 20 In the 1980s an archaeological inventory showed that over 800 sherds of pottery from the Neolithic, Bronze Age and early Iron Age have been found within Colchester, along with many examples of worked flint. This included a pit found at Culver Street containing a ritually placed Neolithic grooved ware pot, and other find spots containing fragments of later Deverel-Rimbury bucket urns. Further Neolithic finds were uncovered in 2010 during archaeological excavations of the former Goojerat Barracks.The Colchester Archaeologist. Issue no. 24. (2011). (ISSN 0952-0988) Colchester is surrounded by Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that pre-date the town, including a Neolithic henge at Tendring, large Bronze Age barrow cemeteries at Dedham and Langham, and a larger example at Brightlingsea consisting of a cluster of 22 barrows. Five Bronze Age barrow mounds remain near the University of Essex on the north-east outskirts of the town, although the building of the railway line between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea in the 1850s may have destroyed more.
Iron Age fortress and Roman Colonia
Iron Age Camulodunon
The Celtic fortress of "Camulodunon", meaning Stronghold of Camulos is first mentioned on coins minted by Tasciovanus in the period 20-10BC.Crummy, Philip (1997) City of Victory; the story of Colchester – Britain's first Roman town. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust () Camulodunon consisted of a series of earthwork defences, built from the 1st century BC onwards with most dating from the 1st century AD. They are considered the most extensive of their kind in Britain The defences are made up of lines of ditches and ramparts, possibly palisaded with gateways, that mostly run parallel to each other in a north–south direction. The Iron Age settlement was protected by rivers on three sides, with the River Colne bounding the site to the north and east, and the Roman River valley forming the southern boundary; the earthworks were mostly designed to close off the western gap between these two river valleys.Denney, Patrick (2004) Colchester. Published by Tempus Publishing () Other earthworks closed off eastern parts of the settlement. The main sites within the bounds of these defences are the Gosbecks farmstead, a large high-status settlement with associated religious site, the Sheepen river port and industrial area near the present location of St Helena School and the Lexden burial mounds, a group of barrows and cremation burials. Originally Camulodunon was a stronghold of the Trinovantes tribe, led by kings such as Addedomarus, but at some point in the 1st century AD the aristocracy and ruling families were from the Catuvellauni tribe.
Strabo reports Rome's lucrative trade with Britain; the island's exports included grain, gold, silver, iron, hides, slaves and hunting dogs. Iron ingots, slave chains and storage vessels discovered at the Sheepen site at Camulodunon appear to confirm this trade with the empire. The Catuvellauni king Cunobelinus, ruling from his capital at Camulodunon, had subjugated a large area of southern and eastern Britain,Todd, Malcolm. (1981) Roman Britain; 55BC – 400AD. Published by Fontana Paperbacks ()Wilson, Roger J.A. (2002) A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain (Fourth Edition). Published by Constable. () and was called by the Roman historian Suetonius "King of the Britons". Under his rule Camulodunon had replaced Verlamion as the most important settlement in pre-Roman Britain. Around 40AD he had fallen out with his son Adminius (acting as proxy ruler of the Cantiaci tribe in his father's name), who had fled to Rome for support. There he was received by the Emperor Gaius, who may have attempted an invasion of Britain to put Adminius on his father's throne.Suetonius (1989) The Twelve Caesars. Published by Penguin Classics. () After Cunobelinus’ death (circa 40AD) his sons took power, with Togodumnus the eldest ruling the Catuvellauni homeland around Verlamion, and Caratacus ruling from Camulodunon. Together these brothers began expanding their influence over other British tribes, including the Atrebates of the south coast. Verica, king of the Atrebates, which had branches on both sides of the English Channel and had been friends of Rome since Caesar's conquest,Caesar (1982) The Conquest of Gaul. Published by Penguin Classics. () appealed to the Emperor Claudius for aid. At the time of this appeal in 43 AD, the newly enthroned Emperor Claudius was in need of a military victory in order to secure his shaky position with the military, and saw this call for help as the perfect pretext.Scarre, Chris (1997) Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. Published by Thames and Hudson. () Aulus Plautius led the four Roman legions across to Britain with Camulodunon being their main target, defeating and killing Togodumnus near the Thames and then waiting for Claudius to cross the Channel. Claudius arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants,Cassius Dio, Roman History leading the attack on Camulodunon. Caratacus fled the storming of the town, taking refuge with the Ordovices and Silures tribes in Wales and becoming a Welsh folk hero for his resistance to Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius and Claudius' triumphal arch state that after this battle the British kings who had been under Cunobelinus’ sons’ control surrendered without further bloodshed, Claudius accepting their submission in Camulodunon.Suetonius, Claudius ; Arch of Claudius
Roman Camulodunum
A Roman legionary fortress or castrum, the first permanent legionary fortress to be built in Britain, was established within the confines of Camulodunon (which was Latinised as Camulodunum) following the successful invasion in 43AD, and was home to the Twentieth Legion. After the legion was withdrawn in c. 49 AD, the legionary defences were dismantled and the fortress converted into a town, with many of the barrack blocks converted into housing. Its official name became Colonia Victricensis, and discharged Roman soldiers making up the population. Tacitus wrote that the town was "a strong colonia of ex-soldiers established on conquered territory, to provide a protection against rebels and a centre for instructing the provincials in the procedures of the law". A Roman monumental temple, the largest classical style temple in Britain, was built there in the 50sAD and was dedicated to Emperor Claudius on his death in 54AD. "Iron-Age and Roman Colchester", A History of the County of Essex: Volume 9: The Borough of Colchester (1994): 2–18, Janet Cooper, C R Elrington (Editors), A P Baggs, Beryl Board, Philip Crummy, Claude Dove, Shirley Durgan, N R Goose, R B Pugh, Pamela Studd, C C Thornton.. British History Online. Web. 01 June 2014 Mike Ibeji. "Roman Colchester: Britain's First City". BBC Online. Retrieved 2008-05-20. The podium of the temple has been incorporated into the Norman castle, and represents "the earliest substantial stone building of Roman date visible in the country". A monumental arch was built from tufa and Purbeck Marble at the western gate out of the town.Crummy, Philip (1984) Colchester Archaeological Report 3: Excavations at Lion Walk, Balkerne Lane, and Middleborough, Colchester, Essex. Published by Colchester Archaeological Trust () Tombs lined the roads out of the town, with several belonging to military veterans, with the most famous being those of Longinus Sdapeze and Marcus Favonius Facilis.Toynbee, J.M.C. (1996) Death and Burial in the Roman World. Published by Thames and Hudson. ()
The city was the capital of the Roman province of Britannia, and its temple (the largest classical-style temple in Britain) was the centre of the Imperial Cult. But tensions arose between the Roman colonists and the native British population in 60/61AD, when the Roman authorities used the death of Iceni king Prasutagus as a pretext for seizing the Iceni client state from his widow Boudica. The Iceni rebels were joined by the Trinovantes around Colonia Victricensis, who held several grudges against the Roman population of the town. These included the seizure of land for the colonia's veteran population, the use of labour to build the Temple of Claudius, and the sudden recall of loans given to the local elites by leading Romans (including Seneca and the Emperor), which had been needed to allow the locals to qualify for a position on the city council.Tacitus (1876), XIV:31. The Procurator Catus Decianus was especially despised. As the symbol of Roman rule in Britain the city was the first target of the rebels, with its Temple seen in British eyes as the "arx aeternae dominationis" ("stronghold of everlasting domination") according to Tacitus. He wrote that it was undefended by fortifications when it was attacked The rebels destroyed the city and slaughtered its population. Archaeologists have found layers of ash in the site of the city, suggesting that Boudica ordered her rebel army to burn the city to the ground. After the defeat of the uprising, the Procurator of the Roman province moved to the newly established commercial settlement of Londinium (London).Graham Webster, Boudica: the British Revolt against Rome AD 60, 1978, pp. 89–90
Following the destruction of the Colonia and Suetonius Paulinus’ crushing of the revolt the town was rebuilt on a larger scale and flourished, growing larger in size than its pre-Boudican levels (to 108 acres/45 ha) despite its loss of status to Londinium, reaching its peak in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The town's official name was Colonia Claudia Victricensis (City of Claudius’ Victory), but it was known colloquially by contemporaries as Camulodunum or simply Colonia.