AD 43-410 Roman

Before the Roman Conquest, eastern England was already a fertile and prosperous region. The dominant tribe was the Catuvellauni, who extended their territory into modern Essex, subduing the Trinovantes and taking over their capital near modern Colchester. When the Romans arrived they crushed the Catuvellauni and built a colonia(a settlement for Roman army veterans) named Camulodunum on the site of their capital.

The area approximately covered by the modern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were the territories of the Iceni. At first they were allies of the Romans, but in AD 60-1 they rebelled under their queen, Boudica. The Romans eventually defeated the uprising and established a civitas(regional capital) at Venta (Caistor-by-Norwich) on the site of one of the Iceni tribal centres. From there the fertile acres of the Fenlands could be exploited. As colonisation grew and the economy developed in the 2nd century, the region also produced sheep, salt and native pottery.

From the late 4th century, as Roman power crumbled, the flat and fertile lands of eastern England were vulnerable to raids by Germanic tribes. People known as Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea, not just to loot, but to settle. The presence of these settlers is still reflected in the modern-day names for this region – East Anglia and Essex (East Saxons).