Catus Decianus was the
procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...
of
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...
in AD 60 or 61.
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
blames his "rapacity" in part for provoking the
rebellion of
Boudica.
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
, ''Annals
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between ann ...
'
14.32
/ref> Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
says he confiscated sums of money which had been given by the emperor Claudius to leading Britons, declaring them to be loans to be repaid with interest.
When Boudica's army attacked Camulodunum
Camulodunum (; la, ), the Ancient Roman name for what is now Colchester in Essex, was an important castrum and city in Roman Britain, and the first capital of the province. A temporary "strapline" in the 1960s identifying it as the "oldest re ...
(Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
), the inhabitants sent to the procurator for help, but he sent only two hundred men. The city fell, and Decianus fled to Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
,Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus
Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus was procurator of Roman Britain from 61 to his death in 65.
He was appointed after his predecessor, Catus Decianus, had fled to Gaul in the aftermath of the rebellion of Boudica. Classicianus expressed conc ...
. The fact that Decianus had to send men to Colchester implies that he himself was not resident there, prompting modern historians such as Sheppard Frere to place him in London during this period.[Frere, ''Britannia'', 2nd edition (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978), p. 229]
References
Ancient Romans in Britain
Ancient Roman equites
1st-century Romans
{{AncientRome-bio-stub