Catus Decianus was the procurator

Procurator (Roman)

A procurator was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by equites . A procurator Augusti was the governor of the smaller imperial provinces...

 of Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 in AD 60 or 61. Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

 blames his "rapacity" in part for provoking the rebellion of Boudica

Boudica

Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....

. Cassius Dio says he confiscated sums of money which had been given by the emperor Claudius

Claudius

Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...

 to leading Britons, declaring them to be loans to be repaid with interest.

When Boudica's army attacked Camulodunum

Camulodunum

Camulodunum is the Roman name for the ancient settlement which is today's Colchester, a town in Essex, England. Camulodunum is claimed to be the oldest town in Britain as recorded by the Romans, existing as a Celtic settlement before the Roman conquest, when it became the first Roman town, and...

 (Colchester

Colchester

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

), the inhabitants sent to the procurator for help, but he sent only two hundred men. The city fell, and Decianus fled to Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

, to be replaced by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus

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. He expressed concern to the Emperor Nero that the punitive policies of the governor,...

. The fact that Decianus had to send men to Colchester implies that he himself was not resident there, prompting modern historians to place him in London during this period.