The Temple of Claudius in Colchester, England

When Emperor Claudius ordered the Temple built in what's now Colchester, England, around forty-nine AD, he was establishing Rome's first city in Britannia—and creating the largest classical temple Britain had ever seen. The structure gleamed with limestone from the English coast and polished marble imported all the way from Tunisia. But in sixty AD, Queen Boudicca of the Iceni led a revolt against Roman occupation; Roman townspeople barricaded themselves into the temple's inner sanctuary, only to perish as the structure burned to the ground. Archaeologists can identify this destruction by a black layer of ash and rubble visible in excavations. Per Atlas Obscura, the temple was rebuilt even more impressively—and its foundation survived over a thousand years, eventually supporting Colchester Castle, merging the mark of Rome's first conquest in Britain with the Normans' final one.

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