the Romans took property and land to pay for the debt that Prasutagus had built up as, upon his death, his subjects had become liable for the outstanding monies. Retribution Boudica's march Roman rule Following the defeat of Boudicca, the Romans imposed their own order on the region, with an administrative centre established at Venta Icenorum (near the present Caistor St. Edmund), a smaller town being built at Brampton and other settlements developed at river crossings or road junctions. The mostly rural population lived in scattered homesteads, villages or more affluent Roman villas. The level of the sea fell during Roman times and the swampy region to the west of Norfolk slowly dried. The land was then able to be converted into fertile farmland where sheep-rearing and salt production could be established. Forts Settlements Fortification against the Saxons The Saxon Shore forts were built by the Romans in the third century AD as a defence against Saxon raiders. In Norfolk the ruins of the fort built at Burgh Castle (possibly Roman Gariannonum), guarding the estuary across from the island of Flegg, still remain, but there is now little remaining of the forts at Brancaster (Branodunum) built on the north coast, and at Caister-on-Sea on the east coast, and close by to Burgh Castle. After the last of the armies of Rome left Britain in 410 AD, most of the visible remains of Roman Britain slowly disappeared. References Sources History of Norfolk Archaeology of Norfolk