Volume 14, 1982: Colchester Before the Romans or Who Were Our Belgae?

Thirty years ago a great occasion was approaching at Colchester: the nineteen-hundredth anniversary of its Roman foundation. Mr. Hull determined on a Conference to mark it, and a great Exhibition in his museum. In my obituary tribute to his life, I have touched both: they were publicly its peak, for they drew a big concourse of admirers- to appreciate his work, view the monuments and sites, and the newest excavations (Mrs. Cotton’s and Miss Richardson’s), and hear him and others, from Britain and abroad, give lectures. The subject for mine was ‘Colchester Before the Romans: the Kingdom of Cunobelin’. The date corresponded to the summer of A.D. 50, when the Roman citizens’ Colonia, founded by decree the previous year, with its title from Claudius, had come to be thoroughly established. My lecture was on the 6th July in the evening, at the Moot Hall. David Clarke, who edits this volume, was there. He has asked me now to ‘up-date’ it. The results, here following, I offer in Rex Hull’s memory.