LATE IRON - AGE AND ROMAN COLCHESTER
The Iron-Age Fortress
Camulodunum was the Romanized form of the British name Camulodunon,
meaning 'fortress of Camulos', the Celtic war-god. (fn. 1) At the time of the Roman
conquest of 43 A.D. it was the principal centre of the Trinovantes, a tribe thought
to have occupied an area roughly corresponding to Essex and south Suffolk. (fn. 2) The
tribe first appears in the written record in 54 B.C. when Mandubracius, a young
Trinovantian prince, fled to Julius Caesar for help after his father was killed by
Cassivellaunus, king probably of the neighbouring Catuvellauni. After Caesar's
defeat of Cassivellaunus, Mandubracius was allowed to return presumably to
become king. (fn. 3)
According to the accepted history of Camulodunum during the earlier 1st century
A.D., (fn. 4) Tasciovanus became king of the Catuvellauni c. 20 B.C.; he used the mint
mark ver (with variations) for Verulamium (St. Albans) and his coins circulated
in an area centred on modern Hertfordshire. Two of his neighbours, Addedomaros
of the Trinovantes and Dubnovellaunus of Kent, also issued coins, Addedomaros
apparently in the Colne valley if not at Colchester. About 17 B.C. Tasciovanus
struck some coins with the mint mark cam showing that he had gained control of
Camulodunum. Soon afterwards Addedomaros held sway at Colchester for c. 10
years until he was replaced by Dubnovellaunus who himself was driven out of
Camulodunum c. 5-10 A.D. by Cunobelin, a son but not the successor of
Tasciovanus. Cunobelin quickly expanded his newly made kingdom by acquiring
Verulamium and its territory, and by c. 25 A.D. he had annexed Kent. In 40 A.D.
Cunobelin expelled one of his sons, Adminius, who appealed to the Roman emperor
Caligula for help. By 42 A.D. Cunobelin was dead and in the following year the
Romans invaded under Aulus Plautius. Cunobelin's sons Caratacus and Togodumnus were defeated and Togodumnus died. The climax of the campaign was the
emperor Claudius's entry into Camulodunum at the head of his army.
Much of that history is now the subject of debate. Opinions differ on the significance
of the distribution of coinage, and the relative chronology has also been challenged. It has
been argued that Addedomaros and Dubnovellaunus both held Camulodunum before
Tasciovanus, and even that there were two contemporary leaders called Dubnovellaunus,
one in Essex and the other in Kent. It has also been suggested that the late coins of
Tasciovanus overlapped the earliest of Cunobelin. Various dates have been proposed for
Addedomaros, Dubnovellaunus, and Tasciovanus, the most radical being 40-30 B.C.,
30-25 B.C., and 25-10 B.C. respectively. It has also been argued that to attempt to ascribe
precise dates at all is misleading, and that the arrival of Cunobelin at Camulodunum, for
example, should be dated not c. 5-10 A.D., but simply to the early 1st century A.D. (fn. 5)
The name Camulodunum, abbreviated cam, first occurs on rare coins of Tasciovanus of the late 1st century B.C. (fn. 6) The date corresponds approximately to the earliest
available archaeological evidence for the settlement which thus may not have been
the centre from which the Trinovantes struck their first coins, and indeed may not
have existed when Caesar invaded the country in 54 B.C. Most of Camulodunum
lay on a block of land bounded on the north by the river Colne and on the south
by Roman River. It was protected by a series of earth dykes 24 km. (15 miles)
long. The system is the largest of its kind and date known in Britain and is testimony
to the considerable importance of Camulodunum in late Iron-Age Britain. The
settlement was turned into a stronghold by a careful combination of man-made
earthworks and natural features such as valleys, rivers, and dense woodland. The
plan of the dyke system points to a long sequence of unstructured development.
There is unlikely to have been any long-term master plan, but instead each new
dyke seems to have been added to provide some specific enhancement to the existing
system. The complexity and scale of the system suggests that it was not just an
extravagant proclamation of status but was a defensive arrangement which was
repeatedly needed and frequently upgraded. Clearly the appearance of Cunobelin
at Camulodunum did not mark the start of a long period of stability in the area.
Most of the dykes consisted of a V-shaped ditch and a bank formed from the
upcast. There was no berm between the ditch and the bank and there is little
evidence for any timber structures such as palisades, revetments, or gates. The
depth of the ditches varied from dyke to dyke, from c. 5 ft. to c. 13 ft., with banks
in proportion up to c. 10 ft. high. Thus the dykes provided barriers up to 25 ft.
high which would have been especially effective against chariots. Most dykes faced
west to provide protection from attack from that direction. Prettygate Dyke had a
ditch to either side of its bank, and Triple Dyke consisted of three small dykes
side by side. Most of the dykes run transversely valley to valley (north to south)
to provide sequential lines of defence but a few were placed laterally (some U-shaped
in section) so that they provided barriers between the entrances of some of the
transverse dykes. Such variations and oddities were probably designed to control
the movement of the chariots, and to a lesser extent of the mounted warriors, of
defenders and aggressors alike. At places where the rivers could easily be crossed
the dykes seem to have been continued beyond the Colne and Roman River, to
prevent an opponent from circumventing the lines of north-south dykes.
The earliest part of the system (fn. 7) is Heath Farm Dyke which protected the
Gosbecks area; the latest seems to have been Gryme's Dyke which, if not
post-Boudican, was certainly post-conquest. (fn. 8) The appearance of the name
Cam[ulodunum] 'fortress of Camulos' on the late 1st-century B.C. coins of
Tasciovanus suggests that some dykes had been constructed by that date. It has
been suggested that the construction of each major phase of the earthworks was
linked to changes in the size and position of the defended area, (fn. 9) but there is no
evidence for the demolition of any dykes, apart from the late destruction of Sheepen
Dyke. Nor is it likely that Gosbecks was ever outside the system.
Farming was concentrated at Gosbecks and in the fertile lands along the northern
edge of the Roman River valley, while the industrial and commercial centre was
the riverside site of Sheepen. Much agricultural and industrial produce was
imported and exported along the Colne, and in its heyday Camulodunum served
a great hinterland north of the Thames, encompassing the Trinovantian and
neighbouring Catuvellaunian territories and beyond. All that could have been
achieved through large, regular markets where much of the region's produce was
exchanged. The closely connected activities of providing such markets and striking
money presumably underpinned Cunobelin's economic success.
Camulodunum, showing Roman roads and the legionary fortress
Two distinct periods of occupation or activity can be detected at Gosbecks. (fn. 10) The
area was at first given over mainly to native farming, but later, presumably some
time after the Boudican revolt of 60-1 A.D., the site became an important tribal
sanctuary with a temple (fn. 11) and a theatre. (fn. 12) The temple stood inside a square ditched
enclosure which was probably laid out in the late Iron Age as an important cultural
site. Against the inside of the innermost dyke was a small Roman fort of the
conquest period, (fn. 13) sited to police the area while causing minimal disturbance to its
layout. Gosbecks was probably the site of a pre-Roman market and the Roman
authorities were probably keen to maintain such a major regional market for its
economic benefits. The frequent association in antiquity of markets and religious
sites explains the presence of the temple, and of the large bronze statuette of
Mercury, the Roman god of merchandise, found at Gosbecks. (fn. 14)
The heart and earliest part of the Gosbecks site was an exceptionally large native
farmstead, the main buildings of which stood in a large trapezoidal enclosure which
on analogy with similar sites elsewhere probably contained round houses. Complicated multi-period systems of trackways, ditched fields, and defensive dykes all
lead to the main enclosure and possibly represent a century or more of development. The main enclosure was remodelled several times. In its first phase, the
enclosing ditch was over 10 ft. deep and clearly defensive. Without excavation it
is not possible to determine the relationship between the defended farmstead and
the earliest of the dykes, but it cannot be assumed that the defences around the
farmstead predate the earliest dykes.
Sheepen provided a manufacturing and trading base, first for the Iron-Age
settlement, then for the Roman fortress, and finally for the pre-Boudican town.
Despite its industrial nature, finds from Sheepen are extraordinarily plentiful and
of high quality, particularly when compared with the material recovered from the
earliest levels in the town centre. Products from Sheepen (fn. 15) in the pre-conquest
period included moulds generally thought to have been for the production of coin
blanks. (fn. 16) After the Boudican revolt the site became a native sanctuary with the
construction of at least four temples. (fn. 17) The pattern of change is reminiscent of
Gosbecks and prompts the question whether Sheepen too was a market site. Such
a market may have catered for manufactured goods rather than livestock and
agricultural produce, which could have been the primary concern of Gosbecks.
Most of the late Iron-Age burials have been found at Lexden, between Sheepen
and Gosbecks, the most important being the Lexden tumulus. (fn. 18) The remarkable
collection of grave goods, dated to c. 15-10 B.C., (fn. 19) included figurines of a boar and
a bull, a candelabrum, at least 17 amphoras, chain mail with a leather undergarment, thread-like gold strips, and a silver medallion of the head of Augustus. They
were accompanied by a small amount of cremated human bone and were mostly
on or near the floor of a deep pit under the barrow mound. Some of the objects
had been deliberately broken at the time of the cremation and the grave pit seems
to have contained a square wooden chamber. (fn. 20) Although remarkable, the surviving
grave goods provide only a very incomplete picture of a quite exceptional group
which may have included various pieces of furniture such as a couch or a litter, a
large wooden chest and a folding stool, vessels such as a bronze bowl and a bronze
jug, and items incorporating silver- and gold-embedded textiles. The size of the
group, the richness of the objects in it, and the rarity of the burial rite suggest a
king's burial. The medallion of Augustus may be of great significance since heads
based on that of Augustus appear on some of the more Romanized Celtic coins of
the period. (fn. 21) The numismatic evidence as presently understood is of limited help
in identifying the person buried, although Addedomaros is an obvious candidate.
About 200 m. north-west of the tumulus was a flat cremation cemetery which
over a period of years has yielded c. 30 vessels from at least 9 burials. The material
is typically mid 1st-century B.C. to early 1st-century A.D., but the absence of any
Gallo-Belgic pottery suggests that the burials predate the Lexden tumulus by up
to 30 years. The group thus provides the earliest available evidence for occupation
at Camulodunum. (fn. 22)
Members of the native aristocracy were buried in wooden chambers at a special
funerary site at Stanway, a short distance west of Gosbecks. (fn. 23) Each of the chambers
had been placed symmetrically in large, roughly square, ditched enclosures up to
80 m. across. There were five enclosures in two rows. Each of the chambers was
as large as a small room and contained the remains of a rich collection of grave
goods which had been ritually smashed and scattered throughout the backfill of
the chamber. Cremated human remains were also sprinkled throughout the backfill,
and a least one of the chambers seems to have been broken up as part of the ritual.
Near the largest of the chambers were two secondary graves, both made c. 10 years
after the Roman invasion. Grave goods in the richer of them included over 20
vessels of pottery, metal, and glass, a set of glass gaming counters, a possible gaming
board, a spear, and probably a shield.
Although the grave assemblages were not as rich and varied as that in the Lexden
tumulus, the people with whom they were buried were of high status and
presumably related to each other by marriage or birth. The largest chamber dated
to c. 30 A.D., when Cunobelin was in power, was probably the grave of one of his
relatives. The latest chamber dates to c. 60 A.D. or later and was presumably for a
woman since it contained beads from a broken necklace. She may have been a
daughter or a niece, or perhaps a daughter-in-law, of Cunobelin. Such a burial
after the Roman conquest indicates something about the relationship between the
Romans and at least one element of the local aristocratic class. Not only did the
British nobles buried at Stanway see no moral dilemma in using Roman or
Romanized 'consumer goods' but they were allowed to live alongside the Roman
colony with sufficient freedom to continue their own customs. The secondary grave
with the arms appears to be the burial place of someone who enjoyed a particularly
favoured status with the Roman authorities. It may be that after conquering
Camulodunum Claudius installed a pro-Roman Briton such as Adminius as the
native leader, and that the latest chamber was for a member of a pro-Roman faction
of which Adminius was or had been the key person.
Camulodunum, or at least its immediate environs, was densely inhabited; the
presence after the conquest of the fortress and the Gosbecks fort implies a large
indigenous population in the vicinity and so too does the scale of the native defences
and the large investment of man-hours which their construction represents. Yet
the focus of the settlement was the comparatively small trapezoidal enclosure at
Gosbecks to which the trackway systems led. The convergence suggests that within
the enclosure were the houses of the successive native kings and that Camulodunum
was in essence a large royal estate, which, by developing its role as a port and
regional market place, provided its owners with far-reaching political and economic
power. (fn. 24)
That interpretation is supported by the use of the site as a sanctuary in the Roman
period. The locating of a theatre and temple beside the trapezoidal enclosure can
be no accident and suggests that the latter was a place of great cultural significance
for the Britons. The site of the trapezoidal enclosure appears to have been retained
in the Roman period and its defensive ditch replaced with a more modest boundary.
The architectural styles of the major buildings reflect native taste, and thus
presumably some degree of native control of the site. The theatre is not an orthodox
type, (fn. 25) unlike the more classical theatre in the colony, (fn. 26) and the temple in its
square-ditched enclosure is not of a purely Graeco-Roman style like the great
temple of Claudius in the colony but is of the Romano-Celtic type. In the light of
the excavations at Stanway, it is conceivable that Gosbecks in the post-conquest
period was more than a sanctuary on a site of great historical significance to the
native population, and that Cunobelin was buried within the square-ditched
enclosure.
The Legionary Fortress
Shortly after Claudius's entry into Camulodunum the army consolidated its gains
with the construction of a legionary fortress. The new base (fn. 27) was carefully sited:
inside the defences of the native settlement, but on unoccupied land so as to cause
as little disruption as possible; near the river to take advantage of waterborne
transport and yet sufficiently high to command a good view of the surrounding
area; guarding the main river crossings into the oppidum; close to a good supply
of water. The site which met all the requirements was a spur of land immediately
downstream from Sheepen, and work began there c. 44 A.D. The longitudinal axis
of the fortress was placed on an east-west ridge formed by the steep slope down
to the river Colne on the north and the more gentle slope to the south. The fortress
was aligned on true north and its east and principal gate (porta praetoria) faced
seaward. On the east was a large annexe, the precise size and position of which
have not been established but which is assumed to have been about a third the size
of the original fortress. The fortress may have been preceded by a much smaller
unfinished Roman military base whose existence is suggested by a deep preBoudican north-south ditch and an early east-west rampart about 175 m. (190 yd.)
east of the ditch. (fn. 28)
The legionary fortress (top) and the per-Boundcan colony (bottom)
The layout of the fortress has been established clearly enough to show that the
plan of the streets determined the plan and shape of the buildings. The plan was
formulated mainly in terms of multiples of 100 Roman feet (pedes monetales). (fn. 29)
The defences of the fortress and its annexe were of identical construction. The
ditch was V-shaped in profile and c. 2.5 m. (8 ft.) deep and c. 5 m. (16 ft. 6 in.)
wide. The rampart was made of sand revetted with vertical faces of coursed blocks
of sun-dried sandy clay. The annexe rampart seems to have been slightly wider
than that of the fortress proper, 3.8 m. (12 ft. 6 in.) as opposed to 4.1 m. (13 ft. 6
in.). In each case, the topsoil was removed and the rampart built over a layer of
timbers laid across its full width. There was a berm at least 1.8 m. (5 ft. 11 in.)
wide between the rampart and the ditch. The street around the inside of the
defences (via sagularis) was set back 9 m. (29 ft. 6 in.) from the inner face of the
rampart. No via sagularis has been recognized in the annexe. (fn. 30) Nothing is known
of the fortress gates except their locations.
Few of the buildings in the fortress have been examined, and of those none have
been more than half uncovered. There were presumably at least 60 barracks - more
if an auxiliary unit was garrisoned with the legion - and stables for the horses of
the cavalry unit. Other buildings presumably included stores, workshops, latrines,
a hospital, a headquarters building (principia) in the centre of the fortress, and the
legionary commander's house (praetorium).
Each barrack was at least 69 m. (227 ft.) long and accommodated a 'century' of
soldiers. About one third of each barrack was occupied by the centurion and took
the form of a semidetached block at the end of the barrack on either the via
principalis or the via sagularis. Some of the rooms were heated with hearths placed
against a wall. (fn. 31) The floors, usually of sand or sandy clay, were rudimentary, except
in one centurion's quarters where at least two were of planks. (fn. 32)
Apart from the barracks, the only known buildings in the fortress are two large
ones which fronted on the east side of the via principalis. (fn. 33) They were presumably
two of the eight large buildings which normally took up the entire length of one
side of that street in Roman fortresses. Six of those buildings are usually thought
to have been occupied by tribunes (a class of officer) so one, if not both, of the two
known Colchester buildings is likely to have been so used. The southern building,
however, had in its northern range of rooms a series of hearths and shallow burnt
pits used for working in brass which suggest that it may have been a workshop.
The annexe was probably used for stores and, more important, may have
contained the large set of baths needed for the comfort of the soldiers. Any legionary
baths were almost certainly kept for civilian use in the new colony, but their site
has not been found.
The buildings of the fortress were soundly made, using several different
construction techniques. The load-bearing walls of the barracks had three main
structural components: a mortar and stone plinth, a pair of oak ground-plates, and
a superstructure of coursed sandy-clay blocks. Most of the internal walls consisted
of a timber frame, the ground-plate bedded directly on top of the natural sand and
the panels between the uprights filled with wattle and daub or sandy-clay blocks. (fn. 34)
In contrast, at least three of the large buildings on the east side of the via principalis
were built in a manner normally associated with the Roman army. Trenches were
dug up to 1 m. deep along the lines of the intended walls. Substantial posts of
roughly square section were then dropped into the trenches as they were backfilled.
The gaps between the posts were filled with daub blocks and the finished walls
left unplastered. (fn. 35) The walls of buildings outside the base were formed much more
simply, by applying sandy clay as a daub to a frame made by hammering a row of
stakes into the ground and then weaving wattles round them. (fn. 36)
The streets of the fortress, like those of the later Roman town, were made of
packed gravel. Metalling the streets was not a priority in the fortress, and some
streets between barracks were left unmetalled. In one place wheel ruts and a hoof
print of an ox, cow, or bull were impressed in sandy soil underlying the earliest
metalling. (fn. 37)
In addition to the fortress the army built a small fort, known only from crop
marks, at Gosbecks. It covers c. 1.6 ha. (4 a.) inside its ramparts, implying a garrison
of cohort size (about 500 men). (fn. 38) There may have been another small fort at a
landing area further downstream at Fingringhoe where Roman military equipment
and substantial quantities of pottery and coins have been found. (fn. 39)
Two early tombstones indicate the likely garrison. One was erected in honour of
Marcus Favonius Facilis, (fn. 40) a centurion with Legio xx, who is not said to have been
a veteran and so was presumably a serving soldier when he died. The other was
to Longinus Sdapeze, (fn. 41) an officer of the 1st squadron of the Thracian cavalry unit,
who had served only 15 years and is also likely to have been in the army at the
time of his death. Both stones stood by the side of the main street leading into the
town. Longinus may have been stationed at the fort at Gosbecks or have been part
of a unit attached to the legion and based in the fortress. The monuments are not,
however, unequivocal evidence that the units were stationed at Colchester. Either
man could have died while on temporary duty there during the early years of the
colony (fn. 42) or while part of a small garrison based in the colony in the 50s A.D.: Tacitus
recorded just such a unit at Colchester at the time of the Boudican revolt. (fn. 43)
Large numbers of copper-alloy coins were struck at unidentified mints in the
north-western provinces of the Roman Empire as imitations of Claudian aes
produced in Rome between 41 and 54 A.D. Since Colchester is the most prolific
site in Britain for such coins it has been suggested that it had a mint at that time. (fn. 44)
The Roman Colony
The name of the Roman town is uncertain. A 2nd-century inscription refers to
'colonia Victricensis which is at Camulodunum', (fn. 45) making a clear distinction
between the Roman colony and the Iron-Age fortress. It has been suggested that
originally the official name was colonia Claudia and that the colony was renamed
colonia Victricensis when it was refounded after its destruction during the Boudican
revolt. (fn. 46) Later the town seems to have become known simply as Colonia. (fn. 47)
The Roman colony was founded c. 49 A.D. after the legion had been withdrawn.
The buildings in the fortress had been well constructed and intended to last, so it
is not surprising that the decision was made not to demolish the fortress when it
was no longer needed by the army but to convert it into a town. (fn. 48) The process
involved considerable building work. The legionary defences were dismantled and
a new street grid laid out at a slightly different angle on the site of the annexe. The
via principalis and the north-south street to the west were retained. The via
sagularis was also kept, except on the east side of the colony where it was replaced
by a new street built over the levelled legionary defences. About two thirds of the
c. 18 military buildings so far excavated were burnt in the revolt of 60-1 A.D. That,
combined with the number of re-used streets, suggests that a substantial proportion
of the military buildings survived the transition from fortress to town. Nevertheless, the laying out of the east-west streets at the foundation of the colony
necessitated the demolition of many buildings.
Roman Colchester, 2nd-4th century
Parts of many barracks, apparently including all the barracks of the First Cohort, (fn. 49)
were re-used as houses in the new town. In the south-east corner of the fortress,
however, only the four most northerly of the six barracks were kept; the southern
pair was demolished and the site left vacant, later to be cultivated. (fn. 50) On the west
side of the fortress the barracks were demolished well before 60-1 and a new street
lined with buildings constructed to the north. (fn. 51) The centurions' quarters were
suitable for re-use as houses because they fronted at one end on a principal street
and were divided up internally into small rooms. The men's quarters were not so
readily converted being in effect a series of small independent compartments
fronting on minor streets.
There was probably insufficient space in the former fortress for all the large civic
buildings which the colonists required. Accordingly the military defences were
levelled so that much of the annexe could be used for such buildings. Tacitus
recorded that in 60-1 the settlement was easy to destroy because it had no walls:
'That was a matter which Roman commanders, thinking of amenities rather than
needs, had neglected'. (fn. 52) Those 'amenities' were presumably the group of public
buildings laid out after the defences had been levelled. The colony was indeed
unprotected in 60 A.D.; houses burnt in the revolt had been constructed over the
levelled military defences, and those defences were not replaced until after the fire.
The buildings on the site of the military annexe included the temple of
Claudius, (fn. 53) the theatre, (fn. 54) and at least two others, one in Insula 29 and another in
Insula 30. (fn. 55) The building or buildings in Insula 29 seem to have had columns
covered with fluted stucco. The excavated theatre may be later than the one referred
to by Tacitus in his description of the omens seen in Colchester before the Boudican
disaster, (fn. 56) but the remains of a pre-Boudican theatre may lie underneath it. (fn. 57) The
temple of Claudius which dominated the site was a lavish building decorated with
marbles and porphyry imported from various parts of the Mediterranean world. (fn. 58)
On the west side of the colony a monumental gate of two arches, part of which
survives as the Balkerne gate, was erected on the site of the porta decumanus. There
is some uncertainty about the date of the arch but it was probably erected c. 50
A.D. to commemorate the foundation of the colony. (fn. 59)
Quite how the veterans acquired redundant military buildings is obscure. The
army usually gave veteran soldiers either allotments of land or a lump sum to
provide an annuity for their retirement. The land was normally divided on a grid
system (centuriation) and the blocks apportioned accordingly. Such a scheme has
not yet been positively recognized in Colchester, probably because its traces are
difficult to detect. (fn. 60) Tacitus indicated that sometimes the process of land acquisition
in Colchester was not as orderly as it ought to have been. The settlers drove the
Trinovantes from their homes and land, and called them prisoners and slaves. The
troops encouraged the settlers' outrages, since their own way of behaving was the
same - and they looked forward to similar licence for themselves.' (fn. 61) The apparent
free-for-all could be taken to imply the absence of centuriation, but more probably
Tacitus was referring to large-scale unofficial excesses after the initial allocation of
centuriated land, excesses which were to be one of the contributory factors to the
revolt. The relationships of the fortress and the Gosbecks fort to the occupied
areas of the native settlement hint that the Roman army made some attempts
to live with the local population in as unabrasive a manner as the circumstances
would allow. Rather than court conflict in the way described by Tacitus, the
Romans may have initially acted diplomatically by not centuriating the most
sensitive land. Tolerance of native rights and traditions allowed the survival of
the Gosbecks site throughout the Roman period (it was clearly never confiscated
for centuriation) and the development of the native sanctuary.
Just before the fire the town seems to have been well populated, although it was
only c. 10 years old. The only empty space yet seen inside the former fortress area
before the fire was on the site of the two barracks in the extreme south-east corner. (fn. 62)
As it was a colony and thus technically a self-governing extension of Rome itself,
only Roman citizens could hold land in the settlement. Retired veteran soldiers
and their families were presumably the most important component of the population. Those without Roman citizenship perhaps occupied the area to the west of
the town, where deep, narrow buildings huddled along the frontages of the road
to London.
The story of the Boudican revolt and the burning of the town is well known. (fn. 63)
The destruction was comprehensive; there are few places in the town where there
is no evidence of the fire. Nevertheless, after the revolt it was possible to re-establish
the earlier street system and to build new houses on pre-Boudican plots. (fn. 64)
The fire preserved evidence of life in the early colonia, including organic remains
which, but for being carbonized, would not have survived. (fn. 65) In a pottery and glass
shop in the street underlying High Street were fragments of what had been
thousands of imported pottery and glass vessels, the pottery mainly red glazed
terra sigillata and much of the glass thin-walled and delicately coloured. (fn. 66) Another
shop, in the same street which was presumably a major commercial thoroughfare,
stocked pottery, apparently only terra sigillata, besides foodstuffs including whole
figs, coriander, cones of stone-pine, spelt, barley, and lentils. (fn. 67) Parts of a building
in Insula 10 seem to have been used as a store rather than a shop. Separate rooms
and a corridor contained large quantities of carbonized wheat, at least 30 unused
and almost identical mortaria, more than 80 almost identical flagons, and 20
amphoras of various types. (fn. 68) Other organic finds from the Boudican destruction
layer in the town include dates, a plum, and flax seeds. Most remarkable was a
charred bed, consisting of two mattresses, in the corner of a room. (fn. 69)
It is difficult to say how quickly the town recovered after the fire. Rebuilding
probably started immediately but the town never recovered its former density of
buildings. Some areas, mainly those next to the town wall, were left empty and
were used for cultivation when eventually a sufficiently fertile soil cover developed.
Large cultivated areas are known in Insulae 17a, 34, 35, and 36. (fn. 70) Part of a
ploughshare (fn. 71) was found in cultivated soil in Insula 35, while in Insula 34 there
were impressions of the tips of spades. (fn. 72) A small tower granary in Insula 35 stood
within an area of cultivated soil. (fn. 73) Much later, possibly in the 4th century, the site
of the granary was occupied by a corn-drying kiln (fn. 74) and to the north was a large
barn probably for agricultural use. (fn. 75) The clearest evidence for cultivation came
from just outside the walls, near the Balkerne gate, where a large area of cultivated
soil incorporated a series of raised parallel beds. (fn. 76)
The town walls were probably built soon after the revolt and presumably as a
consequence of it. They have been dated to c. 65-80 A.D., (fn. 77) exceptionally early for
Roman town walls, and were presumably an expensive statement that such
devastation was not to happen again. The extent and quality of the later building
outside most if not all the gates underline the token nature of the early wall as a
defensive structure.
The period between the mid 2nd and the early 3rd century saw in Colchester, as
in other towns, the appearance of substantial, well built town houses. (fn. 78) Areas which
had been used for cultivation were built over in response to the need for new
building land within the walls. (fn. 79) The houses themselves were often larger and of
better quality than earlier ones, the courtyard house making its first appearance.
Rubble foundations became the norm, especially for internal walls, and floors were
frequently tessellated. Clearest testimony to the increase in affluence is the
widespread introduction of mosaic pavements. Over 30 mosaics have been recorded
in the town and, as far as can be judged, the overwhelming majority are of the
period 150-250.
While the size and quality of the houses implies a period of prosperity, the
population did not necessarily grow. Estimating its size with any degree of
confidence is almost impossible, but if Insulae 34 and 36 were typical of the c. 41
insulae which did not contain public buildings, then the average such insula
probably contained c. 6-8 houses. That suggests only c. 300 houses in the entire
town and a population of perhaps only a few thousand. There were a number of
localized fires in the town in the Antonine period, but no evidence has been found
for a major fire which might have affected the town's development. (fn. 80)
From its earliest days, the colony appears to have been markedly agricultural in
character and to have served as the main regional market for agricultural produce
of all types. Opportunities presumably abounded in a fast-developing commercial
and industrial town. The expanding civilian population (containing many men
newly retired from the army with substantial cash sums), the port, the large native
population in the area, and the prospect of lucrative military contracts to help
supply a large campaigning army presumably combined to draw the skilled
craftsman and the determined entrepreneur alike, regardless of whether or not he
was a veteran soldier. Immigrants, especially from Gaul, may have figured
prominently among them. A workshop that made clay lamps provides proof of
artisan activities within the limits of the colony proper in the pre-Boudican period. (fn. 81)
Other evidence, mainly in the form of waste products or specialist structures, points
to metal working in iron and copper alloys, (fn. 82) glass working, (fn. 83) bone working, (fn. 84) and
pottery and tile making. The pottery industry in particular was important to the
local economy. It was active from the Claudio-Neronian period to at least the late
3rd or early 4th century, and was at its most successful from c. 140 to c. 200 when
large quantities of pottery were being exported to other parts of the country,
especially to forts on the northern frontier. (fn. 85) Coins may have been struck in
Colchester in the late 3rd century but the evidence is ambiguous. There
were at least two mints in Britain at that time, one denoted by the mint
signature c or occasionally CL, which some numismatists consider stood for
Colonia (i.e. Colchester). (fn. 86)
The distinction between Camulodunum and the Roman colony made in the
2nd-century inscription is reflected in the locations of the two types of temple
erected in the settlement. Within the walls of the Roman town was the temple of
Claudius, (fn. 87) the great classical temple worthy of Rome itself, whereas scattered
across Camulodunum were at least seven temples of Romano-Celtic type, including
those at the native sanctuaries at Gosbecks and Sheepen. (fn. 88)
It has been suggested that with the coming of Christianity the front of the temple
of Claudius was radically remodelled in the 4th century to convert it to a church
and that integral to that remodelling was the addition of an apse which was to
become a dominant feature of the plan of the Norman castle. (fn. 89) The evidence is
inconclusive and the fact that the White Tower in London, which is like Colchester
in many respects although it is not built on Roman foundations, has a very similar
apse, might suggest a Norman date for the Colchester apse. Structural changes
were made to other religious buildings at a similar date, although their significance
is not clear. The ambulatory of the Romano-Celtic temple outside the Balkerne
gate (Temple 10/Building 52) was demolished and its foundations robbed out in
the later 4th or the early 5th century. (fn. 90) The temple stood across the street from a
building which may also have been a temple (Building 53) and which was
completely demolished and its foundations removed, probably in the 5th century. (fn. 91)
When the other temples were demolished is unknown, though Temple 2 appears
to have been in use at least until the late 4th century. (fn. 92)
The church and its associated cemetery at Butt Road indicate that a substantial
part of the population of the 4th-century town was Christian. The cemetery
contained at least 600 inhumations, possibly a great many more. The church started
c. 330 as a rectangular building, but an apse was later added to its east end. The
building had an outer wall of rubble, a tiled roof, and a simple floor of sand. Later,
wooden posts were inserted into its eastern half to form aisles. There may have
been as many as three graves near the east end; the earliest may have predated the
church and been the grave of an important local Christian. Large quantities
of animal bone indicate that funerary meals were consumed in the building and
that large chicken and young pig were especially favoured. A femur and the skull
(but without mandible) of a small, middle-aged woman had been placed at the base
of a deep pit inside the building near the apse, probably in the 5th century when
it was dilapidated. Both bones appear to have belonged to the same person and
may represent an early occurrence of the practice of depositing relics in a church. (fn. 93)
The function of the building in Insula 15 once identified as a mithraeum is now
uncertain. (fn. 94) The presence of a spring in the building indicates that its purpose
involved water, and the most obvious explanation is that it housed some kind of
lifting or pumping device for the water supply. The iron shackles (fn. 95) from the
building point to the use of slaves to drive the equipment.
The cemeteries of Roman Colchester, providing one of the largest pools of
information about Romano-British urban cemeteries and burial practice, have
yielded more than 1,400 graves and about 2,000 objects, excluding coffine nails and
human bones. (fn. 96) There was a concentration of tombstones and sculptured stone on
the frontages of the main approach road to the west side of the colony, the most
esteemed of the cemetery areas. Among them were the tombstones of Facilis and
Longinus, a 'walled cemetery', (fn. 97) and a monument incorporating the so-called
Colchester Sphinx. (fn. 98)
Most cremation burials in Colchester seem to have consisted of a cinerary urn
and possibly one other vessel. The richest burials tend to come from the area on
the south-west side of the town. There is no clear evidence for the date of the
change from cremation to inhumation. Either the transition occurred c. 260 or for
a long period until then the rites were used concurrently. (fn. 99)
At the cemetery at Butt Road 742 inhumations were found. There were effectively
two cemeteries, the first and smaller being of the 3rd and early 4th century with
burials arranged roughly north-south. In the second cemetery most inhumations
were east-west and of the 4th century; they were probably Christian and
contemporary with the cemetery church. More than half the graves of the first
cemetery contained at least one object. In the second cemetery grave goods were
rarer: only 6 per cent of adults and 12 per cent of children were accompanied by
objects, mostly the personal adornments of women and girls. (fn. 1)
Over 90 per cent of the excavated inhumations at Colchester were in wooden
coffins. Coffins made of split tree trunks were found at Butt Road, but at least 21
other recorded coffins from the town were either entirely of lead or were of wood
lined with lead. Stone coffins seem to have been very rare in Roman Colchester,
only two being attested. The bodies in at least four lead coffins and seven wooden
ones, all but one from Butt Road, had been covered or at least partly covered by
some kind of plaster. The objects in the graves do not seem to have been specially
made funerary pieces but to have been in everyday use, and it seems likely that
some were important or favoured possessions of the dead person. Some vessels
were poorly made and of inferior quality, even including wasters. Often they are
coated internally with lime-scale showing prior use. A large proportion of the
objects are small examples of their type. Presumably such objects usually indicate
the graves of children, with whom small pots and lamps could have been associated
in life. (fn. 2)
The Decline of the Colony
The threat of Saxon raids along the east coast appears to have become serious in
the period 268-82 when major improvements were made to the coastal defences
in south-east England. Two forts in the system, Bradwell-on-Sea and Walton
Castle (Suff.), are near Colchester and probably belong to the period 276-85. (fn. 3)
Colchester lies less than 10 miles from the coast and, although protected to an
extent by those two forts, was still vulnerable to sea-borne raiders especially via
the mouth of the river Colne. Three coin hoards from the Colchester area, all
dating to c. 275, (fn. 4) attest the feelings of insecurity widespread at the time. Steps
were taken to improve the defences of the town. Initially the town ditch was
substantially widened and a counterscarp bank formed with the soil dug from it,
but before the end of the century sterner measures had been taken. The Balkerne
gate was closed when the town ditch was extended to cross in front of it, and traffic
was diverted, probably through Head gate. Duncan's gate, in the north-east part
of the town, may have been similarly closed by continuing the town ditch across
the front of it. (fn. 5) The Balkerne gate was probably blocked because its incorporation
of the earlier monumental arch made it unsatisfactory as a defensive structure. (fn. 6)
Duncan's gate may have been sacrificed because it was small, only one carriageway
wide, and little used as there was not much space between it and the river for
buildings.
While the changes were being made to the town defences, the built-up area of
the town was shrinking. The change was most marked in the extramural areas
outside the Balkerne gate and North gate where practically all the buildings were
demolished during the period 275-300, (fn. 7) presumably because of their exposed
positions. The decline of the extramural built-up areas is indicated by changes in
the distribution of burials. Most inhumations (datable broadly to the 3rd and 4th
centuries) are closer to the walls than most of the cremations (datable to the 1st
and 2nd centuries): areas where burial was permitted crept inwards as the built-up
part of the town shrank. (fn. 8)
The near-extinction of the suburbs was not matched by an increase in the built-up
area inside the defences, and in the 4th century the open areas within the walls
became larger as houses were knocked down and not replaced. At the Culver Street
site, the only 4th-century building seems to have been the barn referred to above, (fn. 9)
and at the Lion Walk site half of the six houses had been knocked down by the
middle of the 4th century. (fn. 10) Late pottery and coins show continued activity in the
court of the temple of Claudius until at least c. 365. The same material has been
used to argue that after that date the buildings forming the court were modified
for use as some kind of domestic citadel. (fn. 11)
The population of the late Roman town was not necessarily diminishing; the
pattern of occupation within the walls may have been changing. It is striking that
the intramural sites with the highest proportion of late Roman material (the Cups
Hotel and the Angel Yard) (fn. 12) are both in High Street. The demolition of extramural
and intramural houses may have been matched by the growth of a medieval-style
town where the houses were smaller and focused on one street.
There have been suggestions that Roman Colchester came to a dramatic and
violent end. The bones of a young woman lying obliquely on a tessellated floor of
a building in Insula 40 have been interpreted as evidence of that end, (fn. 13) but it is
far more likely that the body was buried in a shallow grave whose digger stopped
when he reached the floor. Duncan's gate has been thought to provide convincing
evidence of an assault which met with some success, but that evidence, from an
excavation of 1927-9, (fn. 14) cannot be reassessed. The gate appears to have been burnt
on at least two occasions in the late Roman period. The second fire was the more
serious. Brushwood was piled up against the outer face of the wooden doors and
set alight causing the doors to collapse inwards. The heat was so intense that many
stones turned red. The two fires are not closely datable but the first was probably
no earlier than 367 and the second substantially later. The fact that there were two
fires shows that the town survived the first assault (if indeed that was the cause of
the first fire). The debris from the second fire, however, does not appear to have
been cleared away, implying that the gate was never repaired. If the interpretation
of the excavation is correct, then the gate may provide proof of a violent end to
the Romano-British administration.
A small hoard of clipped silver coins (fn. 15) provides evidence of the breakdown of
centralized Roman government c. 409. By then Britain had in effect ceased to be
part of the Roman empire and the local British councils, the civitates, had taken
steps to provide for their own defence. The hoard belongs to a rash of groups of
clipped coins which appeared in Britain at the period. Apparently the clipping of
coins had until then been controlled by the imposition of severe penalties on
offenders but with the break from Rome the practice became commonplace. (fn. 16)
Three huts within Colchester's walls and a scatter of contemporary finds show
that the town was one of the many places where the Saxons settled. (fn. 17) The fate of
the Romano-British population of Colchester is unclear but life in the town was
certainly radically different by the mid 5th century, the date of the earliest known
Saxon hut. (fn. 18) Before the change, there is likely to have been a period when the
population was in rapid decline. Traditional customs may have started to break
down. Two decapitated burials from the grounds of East Hill House may belong
to the period, since contrary to normal practice they were inside the walls. (fn. 19) It is
uncertain whether elements of the Romano-British population survived the
transition. Some houses were left standing and unoccupied so that topsoil and
broken roof-the accumulated on their floors. (fn. 20) Public buildings such as the theatre
and the temple of Claudius became ruins (if they had not already been so in the
late Roman period) and even minor structures like the probable corn-drying oven
at Culver Street seem to have been left to decay.