Venta Icenorum, probably meaning "Market Town of the Iceni", located at modern-day Caistor St Edmund in the English county of Norfolk, was the civitas[1] or capital of the Iceni tribe, who inhabited the flatlands and marshes of that county and earned immortality for their revolt against Roman rule under their queen Boudica (or Boadicea) in the winter of 61 CE. After the failure of the revolt the Roman legions slaughtered or enslaved most of the Iceni and forced the few survivors to abandon their tribal ways and live in a Roman style planned town. The underpopulated countryside around the town became very attractive to Germanic migrants, in particular the East Angles, who would later settle the area and expel any of the remaining Icenian Britons.
The town, which is mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography,[2] and the Antonine Itinerary,[3] was a settlement near the village of Caistor St. Edmund, some 5 miles (8.0 km) south of present-day Norwich, and a mile or two from the Bronze Age henge at Arminghall. It lies on the River Tas. The embankments of Venta Icenorum can still be seen at Caistor today.
The ruins (British National Grid ref TG230034) are in the care of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust and managed by South Norfolk Council.
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