by Mabon Dane

Created on: February 21, 2010

Colchester, former capital city of Britain, the oldest recorded town, is a town that should be visited by all tourists visiting Britain.  As a person who has worked and lived in Colchester I would like to share with you the delights of why you should visit Colchester.

Colchester was originally called Camulodunum, the fortress of the war god Camulos, was one of the largest settlements of ancient Britain with an impressive defence network of ditches and dykes stretching a dozen miles or more.  Colchester was around long before London existed, and has entered into the myth and legend of Britain.

The town was also known as Trinovantium the tribal outpost of the Trinovantes.  Colchester first came to the attention of history when the warlord Cassivellaunus leader of the Catuvellauni of Southern England captured Colchester killing the Trinovantian king whose son Mandubracius fled to seek help from Julius Caesar.  Since Britain was interfering with Caesar's campaign in Gaul he took the opportunity given by Mandubracius to invade Britain.  What happened next is recorded by Caesar in the Commentarii de Bello Gallico and in Welsh legend; Cassivellaunus was defeated, Mandubracius was restored to the throne, and with hostages Caesar sailed back to Rome.

The Catuvelluani eventually recaptured Colchester making the town their capital city.  With Britain still separate from Roman rule Colchester enjoyed good relations with Rome as the former royal hostages indulged in Roman ways.  One such former Roman hostage was King Cunobelin, who the Romans refered to as the King of Britain, entered legend as Cymbeline in the play by William Shakespeare. The sons of Cunobelin, notably Prince Caratacus were responsible for the next Roman invasion of Britain shortly after the death of Cunobelin, and one hundred years after the invasion by Julius Caesar.  Prince Epaticcus lost his seat of power in Southern England to his brother Caratacus, causing Epaticcus to run to the Roman Emperor Claudius for help; Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43 ending in the capture Colchester in AD 43 and of Caratacus by betrayal in AD 51 after near ten years of heavy fighting across Britain and Wales. Tacitus in his Annals recorded the Roman campaign and states that Caratacus ended his days as a respected noble hostage in Rome.

Emperor Claudius made Colchester the capital city of his new province of Britain, invested extravagently in Colchester.  A planned Roman town

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