Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD43 the town served as the first capital of Britain when they established a fortress.  They called it Camulodunon, meaning ‘the fortress of Camulos’, Camulos was the god of war.  Unfortunately for the later prosperity of the area, a girl from Norfolk attacked the city with her tribe the Iceni.  Boudica or Boadica as we used to know her lead the uprising in AD 60 or 61 attacking the fortress city and raising it to the ground.  She then marched to London or Londinium, as it was known at the time, and did the same again.  Her rampage went on to St Albans (Verulamium) and once again it was destroyed.  An estimated 70,000-80,000 people were killed in the three cities.  Finally she was stopped in the Battle of Watling Street (Somewhere in the West Midlands it is thought) by a much smaller force of Romans.

It was thought that at the time of Boudica’s uprising the defending legion was absent and was largely defended by retired veterans who had mistreated the locals.  The same can not be said about Colchester today.  Colchester has been an important garrison town for the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars and through the Victorian era and the first world war and now there are plans to build a new and modern barracks outside the town.  The Victroian Barracks of Colchester were used in the opening credits of Blackadder Goes Forth, the Monty Python Meaning of Life – Marching up and Down the Square, and by Elton John – I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.