Roman London

 

Roman Britain’s first urban settlement was Colchester, which is today an Essex market town with a population in excess of 100,000 people. However, it was not long before London began to assume a major role and eventually became the capital of the new province.

London, which may have existed as a Celtic settlement before the Romans arrived, was a favoured site for merchants as it was at the lowest possible crossing point on the Thames and an important port.

The revolt by the Iceni under Boudicca in 60 A.D. led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Romanised traders in London, thus demonstrating its importance as a commercial centre at an early date. By around 100 A.D. London had acquired a governor’s palace, a military fort covering 11 acres, and a bridge across the Thames.

When Britannia was subdivided in around 200 A.D. London retained its role as the capital of Britannia Superior. In the fourth century A.D. London’s high status was recognised by being given the title Augusta.

London’s basilica, beneath modern Gracechurch St, was the largest in the Empire north of the Alps. Built on the site of an earlier basilica erected under Emperor Domitian, Emperor Hadrian ordered its massive reconstruction during his visit to Britain in 122 A.D. The new building’s main hall was around 49 feet in length and 115 feet wide. It was refurbished in the third century but demolished at some time during the fourth century.

Although there is very little to be seen today in terms of Roman buildings, one notable exception is the temple to Mithras close to the Mansion House. Built in around 200 A.D., it was about 60 feet long and divided into a nave and two aisles by a row of columns with an apse at one end. Cult images of Minerva, Serapis and Dionysus have been found.

The walls that enclosed Roman London ran for about three miles and enclosed an area of about 330 acres. They formed the base of the mediaeval city walls and still mark the boundary of the City of London, although the street plan within the walls has been changed. During the fourth century the walls were strengthened with projecting polygonal bastions that incorporated tombs.

London’s continuous occupation and importance as a centre for commerce and government has meant that very little remains to be seen of Roman London, and one needs to visit other cities, such as Chester and Bath, to see more extensive examples of the architecture of the period.

© John Welford