Camulodunum

   It has been pointed out that there is a perfectly reasonable etymological link between Camulodunum and Camelot via the natural contraction from Camulodunum > Camulod > Camulot > Camelot. There are other reasons that the name Camelot should be associated with this site even though it may have been later used in legend to mean other sites. Camulodunum was a capital of Celtic Britain before the Romans arrived, and remained so until the Romans were forced to seek a better defensible site, London, after the Boudiccan revolt. The name means "Camulos' hill-fort", though Camulos was a while before the Cunobelinus who dealt with the Romans. The modern name, Colchester, is Saxon and means 'Fort on the River Coln'.
   As John Morris pointed out in his 'Age of Arthur', Camulodunum occupies a crucial position in the geography of Eastern England. It offer access to London and the Thames corridor via its system of Roman roads, and to the existing Saxon Shore Forts in Norfolk & Suffolk (Brancaster, Caistor-on-Sea, Burgh Castle, Walton Castle & Bradwell). In short, it is the perfect site from which to defend the region from a sea-born invasion. It is also at the center of a network of towns with the prefix 'Am-', which some claim can be derived from Ambrosius Aurelianus, the post Roman commander of the mid to late fifth century attributed as the victor at Badon.
   Camulodunum was a huge walled Roman city, with room to garrison a legion, though in Ambrosius' time more likely one or more cavalry regiments. Sometime during or after the fourth century, it had some of its gates blocked or reduced in size to make it easily defensible from attack.