Oldest town in Britain with the River Avon acting as a transit route. Evidence of frogs' legs being eaten as well as 31,000 flints and animal bones have also been found. Colchester claims to be Britain's oldest "recorded" town. Its claim is based on a reference by Pliny the Elder, the Roman writer, in his "Natural History" ("Historia Naturalis") in 77 AD. He described Anglesey as "about from Camulodunum, a town in Britain", where Camulodunum was the Roman name for Colchester. It is claimed that this is the first known reference to any named settlement in Britain, although coins minted by Tasciovanus mention the
Camulodunum had been under Cunobelinus’ sons’ control surrendered without further bloodshed, Claudius accepting their submission in Camulodunon. As the stronghold of a major tribe in the south-east, Camulodunum held strategic importance. 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 43, and was home to the Twentieth Legion. A smaller fort was built against the Iron Age earthworks close to the Gosbecks high-status farmstead, and was home to the Ala Primae Thracum ("First Wing of Thracians", a