Editing Colchester (section)

===Celtic origins===
[[File:Colchester Flag.png|thumb|Flag of Colchester as flown from the City Hall, based on its [[Coat of arms of Colchester|coat of arms]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickbarlow/3653355763|title=Colchester Flag|date=18 June 2009}}</ref>]]
Colchester is said to be the [[Oldest town in Britain|oldest recorded town]] in Britain on the grounds that it was mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]], who died in AD 79,<ref>Pliny, ''Naturalis Historia'', II, 187</ref> although the Celtic name of the town, ''Camulodunon'' appears on coins minted by tribal chieftain [[Tasciovanus]] in the period 20{{ndash}}10 BC.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> Before the Roman conquest of Britain it was already a centre of power for [[Cunobelin]]{{snd}} known to Shakespeare as [[Cymbeline]]{{snd}} king of the [[Catuvellauni]] (c. 5 BC{{snd}}AD 40), who minted coins there.<ref>P. Salway, ''Roman Britain'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1981), pp. 55–6</ref> Its [[Celt]]ic name, Camulodunon, variously represented as CA, CAM, CAMV, CAMVL and CAMVLODVNO on the coins of Cunobelinus, means 'the fortress of [the war god] [[Camulos]]'.<ref>V. Watts, ''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names'' (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2004), p. 113; T. W. Potter, 'The Transformation of Britain', in P. Salway, ed., ''The Roman Era'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2002), p. 21</ref> During the 30s AD Camulodunon controlled a large swathe of Southern and Eastern Britain, with Cunobelin called "''King of the Britons''" by Roman writers.<ref name="Crummy, Philip 1997"/> Camulodunon is sometimes popularly considered one of many possible sites around Britain for the legendary (perhaps [[mythology|mythical]]) [[Camelot]] of King Arthur,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/8561756/Camelot-discovering-the-legend-of-King-Arthur-around-Britain.html?image=5|title=Camelot: discovering the legend of King Arthur around Britain|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=8 June 2011|access-date=15 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926075557/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/8561756/Camelot-discovering-the-legend-of-King-Arthur-around-Britain.html?image=5|archive-date=26 September 2015}}</ref> though the name ''Camelot'' (first mentioned by the 12th century French Arthurian storyteller [[Chrétien de Troyes]]) is most likely a corruption of ''[[Battle of Camlann|Camlann]]'', a now unknown location first mentioned in the 10th century Welsh annalistic text [[Annales Cambriae]], identified as the place where Arthur was slain in battle.<ref>Brugger, Ernst "Beiträge zur Erklärung der arthurischen Geographie II: Gorre", in: Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, Volume 28, Berlin, 1905, pp. 1–71 (p. 22-23).</ref>