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 monumental arch that at 8 m wide was about 2 m wider than the one at the Eastern entrance to the town, which had been incorporated into Balkerne Gate. To the west of the temple on the modern Maidenburgh Street was a 3,000 seat capacity Roman theatre, which now has the Norman chapel of St Helena built into the corner of it, currently open to public viewing. Opposite the Temple, on the south side of the Decumanus Maximus, the remains of a possible Basilica have been identified. At least seven Romano-Celtic temples have been identified at Camulodunum, with the largest