158-523: Londinium , also known as Roman London , was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. Most twenty-first century historians think that it was originally a settlement established shortly after the Claudian invasion of Britain , on the current site of the City of London around 47–50 AD, but some defend an older view that the city originated in a defensive enclosure constructed during
316-529: A frigidarium with two southern pools and an eastern swimming pool . Following the revolt, the Diocletian Reforms saw the British administration restructured. Londinium is universally supposed to have been the capital of one of them, but it remains unclear where the new provinces were, whether there were initially three or four in total, and whether Valentia represented a fifth province or
474-581: A dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance. On Nero 's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum . Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco ), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona ( Anglesey ) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across
632-1032: A scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II ( Caerleon ). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province. In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and " Duvian ". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at " Urbs Legionum " ( Caerleon ); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at " Dorobernia " ( Canterbury ); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at " Lundonia " ( London ); " Maximia " in northern England with its capital at Eboracum ( York ); and Valentia in " Albania which
790-472: A temple of Isis was located there. Londinium grew up as a vicus and soon became an important port for trade between Roman Britain and the Roman provinces on the continent. Tacitus wrote that at the time of the uprising of Boudica , "Londinium... though undistinguished by the name of ' colony ', was much frequented by a number of merchants and trading vessels." Depending on the time of its creation,
948-557: A witch-hunt , which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide. As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend
1106-409: A black border, 'with a tessellated floor, suggesting it may have had a higher status than normal, possibly acting as an antechamber for the aedes or shrine-room'. The alignment of the church is close to the lines of the basilica, being off by just two degrees, and it is feasible for the understructure to have utilized the dry solid 2nd century basilica wall fabric for support. If St Peter's was built in
1264-580: A building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt . The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent ; at least part of
1422-420: A death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293,
1580-521: A difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio 's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding
1738-572: A first-century flagon suggests that a temple of Isis had existed much earlier. The Egyptian goddess was believed to have influence over the sea and hence the safety of seafarers. In 286, the emperor Maximian issued a death sentence against Carausius , admiral of the Roman navy 's Britannic fleet ( Classis Britannica ), on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon piracy and of having embezzled recovered treasure. Carausius responded by consolidating his allies and territory and revolting. After fending off Maximian's first assault in 288, he declared
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#17327656048821896-450: A grid skewed by major roads passing from the bridgehead and by changes in alignment produced by crossings over the local streams. It recovered after about a decade. The first forum was constructed in the 70s or 80s and has been excavated, showing it had an open courtyard with a basilica and several shops around it, altogether measuring about 100 m × 50 m (330 ft × 160 ft). The basilica would have functioned as
2054-567: A grid. The main streets were 9–10 m (30–33 ft) wide, while side streets were usually about 5 m (16 ft) wide. In 60 or 61 AD, a little more than ten years after Londinium was founded, the king of the Iceni died. He had possibly been installed by the Romans after the Iceni 's failed revolt against Publius Ostorius Scapula 's disarmament of the allied tribes in 47 or may have assisted
2212-507: A guesthouse. A marble slab with a dedication to the god Mars was discovered in the temple complex. The inscription mentions Londiniensi ('the Londoners'), the earliest known reference naming the people of London. By the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium had many large, well-equipped stone buildings, some of which were richly adorned with wall paintings and floor mosaics, and had subfloor hypocausts . The Roman house at Billingsgate
2370-405: A large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian , Pertinax , and Gordian I . There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement
2528-515: A large-scale attack forced Emperor Julian to send troops to deal with the problem. Large efforts were made to improve Londinium's defences around the same time. At least 22 semi-circular towers were added to the city walls to provide platforms for ballistae and the present state of the river wall suggests hurried repair work around this time. In 367, the Great Conspiracy saw a coordinated invasion of Picts, Gaels, and Saxons joined with
2686-517: A massive pier base for such a bridge were found in 1981 close by the modern London Bridge . Some Claudian -era camp ditches have been discovered, but archaeological excavations undertaken since the 1970s by the Department of Urban Archaeology at the Museum of London (now MOLAS ) have suggested the early settlement was largely the product of private enterprise . A timber drain by the side of
2844-448: A military installation was established, and the city was rebuilt. It had probably largely recovered within about a decade. During the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Britannia's largest city, and it was provided with large public buildings such as a forum and amphitheatre. By the 2nd century, Londinium had grown to perhaps 30,000 or 60,000 people, almost certainly replacing Camulodunum ( Colchester ) as
3002-480: A more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180. During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in
3160-472: A mutiny of troops along the wall. Count Theodosius dealt with the problem over the next few years, using Londinium—then known as "Augusta"—as his base. It may have been at this point that one of the existing provinces was renamed Valentia, although the account of Theodosius's actions describes it as a province recovered from the enemy. Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became
3318-476: A new Britannic Empire and issued coins to that effect. Constantius Chlorus 's sack of his Gallic base at Gesoriacum ( Boulogne ), however, led his treasurer Allectus to assassinate and replace him. In 296, Chlorus mounted an invasion of Britain that prompted Allectus's Frankish mercenaries to sack Londinium. They were only stopped by the arrival of a flotilla of Roman warships on the Thames, which slaughtered
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#17327656048823476-409: A pagan shrine room (also known as an aedes ). Wheeler proposed that a Christian church might have been established on its site and that this accounted for the later medieval legends. The possible existence of the shrine room is supported by 19th-century excavations under Gracechurch Street , immediately adjacent to the church's eastern end. These unearthed an adjoining room covered in yellow panels with
3634-653: A province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of
3792-481: A renaming of an older one. In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales listed "Londonia" as the capital of Flavia , having had Britannia Prima ( Wales ) and Secunda ( Kent ) severed from the territory of Upper Britain. Modern scholars more often list Londinium as the capital of Maxima Caesariensis on the assumption that the presence of the diocesan vicar in London would have required its provincial governor to outrank
3950-477: A short-lived Roman military camp, but the evidence is limited and this topic remains a matter of debate. Archaeologist Lacey Wallace notes "Because no LPRIA settlements or significant domestic refuse have been found in London, despite extensive archaeological excavation, arguments for a purely Roman foundation of London are now common and uncontroversial." The city's Latin name seems to have derived from an originally Brittonic one and significant pre-Roman finds in
4108-466: A single large fire or a series of smaller conflagrations. Fire destroyed substantial areas of the city in the area north of the Thames but does not seem to have damaged many major public buildings. There is very little evidence to suggest similar burning in the adjacent Southwark settlement. The Hadrianic fire (or fires) has normally been assumed to be accidental, but it has also been suggested that it could relate to an episode of political turbulence. During
4266-479: A smaller shrine for Roman services somewhere within the basilica. The first forum in Londinium seems to have had a full temple, but placed outside just west of the forum. By the turn of the century, Londinium was perhaps as large as 60,000 people and had replaced Camulodunum (Colchester) as the provincial capital. A large building discovered near Cannon Street Station has had its foundation dated to this era and
4424-520: A so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus . Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire. Around the year 280, a half- British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ) but
4582-582: A storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters. Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni , ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus , and the Atrebates , ruled by the descendants of Commius . This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of
4740-474: A supply depot and distribution centre like Ostia near Rome. Emperor Hadrian visited Londinium in 122. The impressive public buildings from around this period may have been initially constructed in preparation for his visit or during the rebuilding that followed the "Hadrianic Fire". The so-called fire is not mentioned in any historical sources but has been inferred by evidence of large-scale burning identified by archaeologists on several excavation sites around
4898-466: A symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates . The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni , and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way . Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and
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5056-580: Is [ɫɔnˈdɪniʊ̃ː] . The site guarded the Romans' bridgehead on the north bank of the Thames and a major road nexus shortly after the invasion. It was centred on Cornhill and the River Walbrook , but extended west to Ludgate Hill and east to Tower Hill . Just prior to the Roman conquest, the area had been contested by the Catuvellauni based to the west and the Trinovantes based to
5214-513: Is assumed to have been the governor's palace. It boasted a garden, pools, and several large halls, some of which were decorated with mosaic floors . It stood on the east bank of the now-covered River Walbrook , near where it joins the Thames. The London Stone may originally have been part of the palace's main entrance. Another site dating to this era is the bathhouse ( thermae ) at Huggin Hill , which remained in use prior to its demolition around
5372-708: Is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great ) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as
5530-586: Is no evidence such a figure existed. Instead, the Latin name was probably based on a native Brittonic place name reconstructed as * Londinion . Morphologically, this points to a structure of two suffixes: -in-jo- . However, the Roman Londinium was not the immediate source of English "London" ( Old English : Lunden ), as i -mutation would have caused the name to have been Lyndon . This suggests an alternative Brittonic form Londonion ; alternatively,
5688-484: Is now Scotland " with its capital at St Andrews . Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons. A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as
5846-573: Is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul , believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition
6004-460: Is uncertain. The present structure of St Peter upon Cornhill was designed by Christopher Wren following the Great Fire in 1666, but it stands upon the highest point in the area of old Londinium and medieval legends tied it to the city's earliest Christian community. However, the east end of St Peter's and its high altar, is also positioned above the area where some basilicas of the period had
6162-611: Is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate . Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation . Some of the most important sources for this era are
6320-520: The Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior . This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana , whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context. In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161)
6478-804: The Lichfield Gospels called the "Surrexit Memorandum" is thought to have been written in the early 8th century but may be a copy of a text from the 6th or 7th centuries. Words in bold are Latin , not Old Welsh. surexit tutbulc filius liuit ha gener tutri dierchi tir telih haioid ilau elcu filius gelhig haluidt iuguret amgucant pel amtanndi ho diued diprotant gener tutri o guir imguodant ir degion guragon tagc rodesit elcu guetig equs tres uache, tres uache nouidligi namin ir ni be cas igridu dimedichat guetig hit did braut grefiat guetig nis minn tutbulc hai cenetl in ois oisau Tudfwlch son of Llywyd and son-in-law of Tudri arose to claim
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6636-863: The Battle of Watling Street . Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether. There was further turmoil in 69, the " Year of the Four Emperors ". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua
6794-415: The Iceni . The Silures were led by Caratacus , and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula . Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him . The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua , proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where
6952-591: The Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves. While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona , the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica . She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He
7110-629: The Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain , consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain . The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars . According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were
7268-441: The junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus . Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle. As part of Diocletian's reforms ,
7426-463: The " Procurator " or " Publican of the Province of Britain at Londinium", the remains of a governor 's palace and tombstones belonging to the governor's staff have been discovered, and the city was well defended and armed, with a new military camp erected at the beginning of the 2nd century in a fort on the north-western edge of the city, despite being far from any frontier. Despite some corruption to
7584-458: The 12th century, claiming the city's Christian community was founded in the 2nd century under the legendary King Lucius and his missionary saints Fagan , Deruvian , Elvanus, and Medwin. None of that is considered credible by modern historians but, although the surviving text is problematic, either Bishop Restitutus or Adelphius at the 314 Council of Arles seems to have come from Londinium. The location of Londinium's original cathedral
7742-513: The 19th century, Charles Roach Smith estimated its length from the Tower west to Ludgate at about one mile (1.6 km) and its breadth from the northern wall to the bank of the Thames at around half that. In addition to small pedestrian postern gates like the one by Tower Hill , it had four main gates: Bishopsgate and Aldgate in the northeast at the roads to Eboracum ( York ) and to Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and Newgate and Ludgate in
7900-618: The 7th century, although more recent scholarship dates it in the 9th century. A key body of Old Welsh text also survives in glosses and marginalia from around 900 in the Juvencus Manuscript and in De raris fabulis . Some examples of medieval Welsh poems and prose additionally originate from this period, but are found in later manuscripts; Y Gododdin , for example, is preserved in Middle Welsh . A text in Latin and Old Welsh in
8058-480: The Britains . A fifth province, Valentia , is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders . The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following
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#17327656048828216-702: The Britannic achievements of an emperor . Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire. Britain was known to the Classical world . The Greeks , the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides , or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco
8374-495: The Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million , these are very high figures. Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius , two walls were built to defend
8532-529: The Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition , but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left
8690-549: The Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates. The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius , but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta , commanded by future emperor Vespasian ,
8848-488: The City of London. The best dating evidence for this event(s) comes from burnt stocks of unsold Terra Sigilatta pottery, which can be dated to c. 120–125. These were found in destroyed warehouse or shop buildings at Regis House and Bucklersbury. Hadrianic fire horizons tend to be dated to around the 120s to 130s, but it is difficult to prove that they are contemporary, and there remains some uncertainty as to whether they indicate
9006-604: The Claudian invasion in 43 AD. Its earliest securely-dated structure is a timber drain of 47 AD. It sat at a key ford at the River Thames which turned the city into a road nexus and major port (which was built between 49 and 52 AD), serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century. Following the foundation of the town in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied
9164-649: The Danubian provinces . Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts . In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall
9322-572: The Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus . The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements,
9480-719: The Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts . During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259
9638-565: The Roman era, it would make the church contemporaneous to the potential Romano-British church at Silchester , similarly built adjacent to the Roman Basilica and most likely pre- Constantine in age. London certainly had a Christian community in 314 when Bishop Restitutus attended the Council of Arles. This community must have had some meeting place, and apart from St Peter's no other location has yet been proposed, either in antiquity or in
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#17327656048829796-587: The Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . During the Diocletian Reforms , at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius , who administered the Diocese of
9954-428: The Romans against his tribesmen during that revolt. His will had divided his wealth and lands between Rome and his two daughters, but Roman law forbade female inheritance and it had become common practice to treat allied kingdoms as life estates that were annexed upon the ruler's death, as had occurred in Bithynia and Galatia . Roman financiers including Seneca called in all the king's outstanding loans at once and
10112-425: The Romans built a defensive wall around the landward side of the city. The London Wall survived for another 1,600 years and broadly defined the perimeter of the old City of London. The etymology of the name Londinium is unknown. Following Geoffrey of Monmouth 's pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain , it was long published as derived from an eponymous founder named Lud , son of Heli . There
10270-408: The Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus . Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when
10428-428: The Thames at a natural ford near Westminster before being diverted north to the new bridge at London. The Romans enabled the road to cross the marshy terrain without subsidence by laying down substrates of one to three layers of oak logs. This route, now known as Watling Street , passed through the town from the bridgehead in a straight line to reconnect with its northern extension towards Viroconium ( Wroxeter ) and
10586-405: The Thames, especially the Battersea Shield ( Chelsea Bridge , perhaps 4th-century BC) and the Wandsworth Shield (perhaps 1st-century BC), both assumed to be votive offerings deposited a couple of miles upstream of Londinium, suggest the general area was busy and significant. It has been suggested that the area was where several territories intersected. There was probably a ford in that part of
10744-421: The Walbrook at the centre of Londinium. Expansion of the flourishing port continued into the 3rd century. Scraps of armour , leather straps, and military stamps on building timbers suggest that the site was constructed by the city's legionaries . Major imports included fine pottery , jewellery and wine . Only two large warehouses are known, implying that Londinium functioned as a bustling trade centre rather than
10902-403: The Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay , but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with
11060-415: The area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway – Tyne isthmus around this time. A new crisis occurred at
11218-737: The assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles . The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium " (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium ). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia , Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun. , and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester ); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln ); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as
11376-480: The battle shortly thereafter at "a place with narrow jaws, backed by a forest", speaks against the tradition, and no supporting archaeological evidence has been yet discovered. After the sack of the city by Boudica and her defeat, a large military fort covering 15,000 m was built at Plantation Place on Cornhill , with 3m-high banks and enclosed by 3m deep double ditches. It was built as an emergency solution to protect Londinium's important trade and to help reconstruct
11534-482: The beginning of Hadrian 's reign (117): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco . When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall , to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought
11692-413: The bridges near modern Staines . A minor road led southwest to the city's main cemetery and the old routes to the ford at Westminster. Stane Street to Noviomagus ( Chichester ) did not reach Londinium proper but ran from the bridgehead in the southern suburb at Southwark . These roads varied from 12–20 m (39–66 ft) wide. After its reconstruction in the 60s AD, the streets largely adhered to
11850-415: The city at this date. Suetonius then returned to the legions' slower infantry, who met and defeated the Iceni army, slaughtering as many as 70,000 men and camp followers. There is a long-standing folklore belief that this battle took place at King's Cross , simply because as a mediaeval village it was known as Battle Bridge. Suetonius's flight back to his men, the razing of Verulamium ( St Albans ), and
12008-406: The city's administrative heart, hearing law cases and seating the town's local senate. It formed the north side of the forum, whose south entrance was located along the north side of the intersection of the present Gracechurch , Lombard , and Fenchurch Streets . Forums elsewhere typically had a civic temple constructed within the enclosed market area; British sites usually did not, instead placing
12166-471: The city's economy. Although Londinium remained important for the rest of the Roman period, no further expansion occurred. Londinium remained well populated, as archaeologists have found that much of the city after this date was covered in dark earth which accumulated relatively undisturbed over centuries. Some time between 190 and 225, the Romans built the London Wall, a defensive ragstone wall around
12324-422: The city. It dominated the town and lay over the main road into Londinium controlling traffic from London Bridge and on the river. Several major building projects at this time such as roads, a new quay and a water lifting machine indicate the army had a key role in reconstruction. The fort was in use for less than 10 years. The city was eventually rebuilt as a planned Roman town , its streets generally adhering to
12482-485: The coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts , Scoti and Attacotti , combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy ,
12640-473: The conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture , urban planning , industrial production , and architecture . The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding
12798-441: The construction of a riverside wall. It ran roughly along the course of present-day Thames street , which roughly formed the shoreline. Large collapsed sections of this wall were excavated at Blackfriars and the Tower in the 1970s. An inscription found on a third-century stone altar recorded the rebuilding of a temple of Isis by the governor of Britannia Superior – Marcus Martiannius Pulcher . An earlier inscription found on
12956-651: The continent. The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius , was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus , was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence . Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and
13114-478: The corners and at points along each wall. Londinium's amphitheatre , constructed in 70, is situated at Guildhall . When the Romans left in the 4th century, the amphitheatre lay derelict for hundreds of years. In the 11th century, the area was reoccupied, and by the 12th century the first Guildhall was built next to it. A temple complex with two Romano-British temples was excavated at Empire Square, Long Lane, Southwark in 2002/2003. A large house there may have been
13272-442: The day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip
13430-485: The defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land. An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing
13588-497: The earlier one over a period of 30 years from around 90 to 120 into a square measuring 168 m × 167 m (551 ft × 548 ft). Its three-storey basilica was probably visible across the city and was the largest in the empire north of the Alps ; the marketplace rivalled those in Rome and was the largest in the north before Augusta Treverorum ( Trier , Germany) became an imperial capital. The city's temple of Jupiter
13746-572: The early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh . The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic around 550, has been called "Primitive" or "Archaic Welsh". The phonology of Old Welsh is as follows. The oldest surviving text entirely in Old Welsh is understood to be that on a gravestone now in Tywyn – the Cadfan Stone – thought to date from
13904-412: The early 2nd century, Londinium was at its height, having recovered from the fire and again had between 45,000 and 60,000 inhabitants around 140, with many more stone houses and public buildings erected. Some areas were tightly packed with townhouses ( domus ). The town had piped water and a "fairly-sophisticated" drainage system. The governor's palace was rebuilt, and an expanded forum was built around
14062-420: The early 3rd century. The northwest fort was abandoned and dismantled but archaeological evidence points to renewed construction activity from this period. The London Mithraeum rediscovered in 1954 dates from around 240, when it was erected on the east bank at the head of navigation on the River Walbrook about 200 m (660 ft) from the Thames. From about 255 onwards, raiding by Saxon pirates led to
14220-473: The east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war. Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum . Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won
14378-553: The east; it bordered the realm of the Cantiaci on the south bank of the Thames. The Roman city ultimately covered at least the area of the City of London , whose boundaries are largely defined by its former wall . Londinium's waterfront on the Thames ran from around Ludgate Hill in the west to the present site of the Tower in the east, around 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi). The northern wall reached Bishopsgate and Cripplegate near
14536-468: The effects of Boudica's uprising , but the Romans expanded steadily northwards. The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia . In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians , led by Calgacus , at the Battle of Mons Graupius . Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on
14694-399: The emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus . The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in
14852-430: The final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum ( Colchester ). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control. British archaeologist Richard Hingley said that the Roman conquest of Britain , beginning with Julius Caesar 's expeditions and culminating with the construction of Hadrian's Wall ,
15010-625: The following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola , father-in-law to the historian Tacitus , conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius , in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola
15168-468: The force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex . The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway , the second on the river Thames . One of their leaders, Togodumnus , was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for
15326-411: The former associations of the sites had probably died down. There is more evidence that early English Christian churches met in private homes and that some Roman villas also converted rooms to dedicated places of Christian worship. In 1995 a large and ornate 4th-century building on Tower Hill was discovered: built sometime between 350 and 400, it seems to have mimicked St Ambrose 's cathedral in
15484-647: The former site of the Museum of London , a course now marked by the street "London Wall". Cemeteries and suburbs existed outside the city proper. A round temple has been located west of the city, although its dedication remains unclear. Substantial suburbs existed at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Westminster and around the southern end of the Thames bridge in Southwark , where excavations in 1988 and 2021 have revealed an elaborate building with fine mosaics and frescoed walls dating from 72 AD. Inscriptions suggest
15642-399: The frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors. The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as
15800-437: The garrison at Londinium. The Iceni and their allies overwhelmed them and razed the city. The 9th Legion under Quintus Petillius Cerialis , coming south from the Fosse Way , was ambushed and annihilated . The procurator Catus Decianus , meanwhile, escaped with his treasure to Gaul , probably via Londinium. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus had been leading the 14th and 20th Legions in the Roman conquest of Anglesey ; hearing of
15958-419: The imperial capital at Milan on a still-larger scale. It was about 100 m (330 ft) long by about 50 m (160 ft) wide. Excavations by David Sankey of MOLAS established it was constructed out of stone taken from other buildings, including a veneer of black marble. It was probably dedicated to St Paul. From 340 onwards, northern Britain was repeatedly attacked by Picts and Gaels . In 360,
16116-573: The island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots . The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus , was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae . The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing
16274-511: The lack of written and inscribed sources. (It was customary elsewhere to name roads after the emperor during whose principate they were completed, but the number and vicinity of routes completed during the time of Claudius would seem to have made this impractical in Britain's case.) The road from the Kentish ports of Rutupiae ( Richborough ), Dubris ( Dover ), and Lemanis ( Lympne ) via Durovernum ( Canterbury ) seems to have first crossed
16432-527: The land of Telych, which was in the hand of Elgu son of Gelli and the tribe of Idwared. They disputed long about it; in the end they disjudge Tudri's son-in-law by law. The goodmen said to each other 'Let us make peace'. Elgu gave afterwards a horse, three cows, three cows newly calved, in order that there might not be hatred between them from the ruling afterwards till the Day of Judgement. Tudfwlch and his kin will not want it for ever and ever. Page 141 (on which
16590-414: The landward side of the city. Along with Hadrian's Wall and the road network, the London Wall was one of the largest construction projects carried out in Roman Britain. The wall was originally about 5 km (3 mi) long, 6 m (20 ft) high, and 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) thick. Its dry moat ( fossa ) was about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) deep and 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft) wide. In
16748-404: The legionary base at Deva Victrix ( Chester ). The Great Road ran northeast across Old Ford to Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and thence northeast along Pye Road to Venta Icenorum ( Caistor St Edmund ). Ermine Street ran north from the city to Lindum ( Lincoln ) and Eboracum ( York ). The Devil's Highway connected Londinium to Calleva ( Silchester ) and its roads to points west over
16906-531: The limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I . Old Welsh Old Welsh ( Welsh : Hen Gymraeg ) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until
17064-793: The local pronunciation in British Latin may have changed the pronunciation of Londinium to Lundeiniu or Lundein , which would also have avoided i -mutation in Old English. The list of the 28 Cities of Britain included in the 9th-century History of the Britons precisely notes London in Old Welsh as Cair Lundem or Lundein . The pronunciation of Londinium in English is / l ʌ n ˈ d ɪ n i əm / lun- DIN -ee-əm , and its pronunciation in Classical Latin
17222-412: The main Roman road excavated at No 1 Poultry has been dated by dendrochronology to 47 AD. Following its foundation in the mid-1st century, early Roman London occupied a relatively small area, about 350 acres (1.4 km) or roughly the area of present-day Hyde Park . Archaeologists have uncovered numerous goods imported from across the Roman Empire in this period, suggesting that early Roman London
17380-442: The modern era. There is, however, some conflicting evidence to the theory that St Peter's was deliberately cited above a pagan shrine room. Current research suggests it was very rare for early English Christian churches to be founded in pagan temples and that when temples were turned into churches, this occurred later, in the late 6th century and onwards. This was also true elsewhere in the Roman Empire; for example in Rome. By this time
17538-400: The modesty of Londinium's first forum may have reflected its early elevation to city ( municipium ) status or may have reflected an administrative concession to a low-ranking but major Romano-British settlement. It had almost certainly been granted colony ( colonia ) status prior to the complete replanning of the city's street plan attending the erection of the great second forum around
17696-407: The names Britannia I , Britannia II , Maxima Caesariensis , and Flavia Caesariensis ; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor ( praeses ) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after
17854-400: The north and another to the west – but these were not along major roads. Aldersgate was eventually added, perhaps to replace the west gate of the fort. (The names of all these gates are medieval, as they continued to be occasionally refurbished and replaced until their demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries to permit widening the roads.) The wall initially left the riverbank undefended: this
18012-419: The north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva ( Chester ); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium ( Carlisle ); and between the walls along Dere Street . Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little
18170-525: The only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes , and returned to Gaul . Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells ( musculi ) according to Suetonius , perhaps as
18328-433: The others. The governor's palace and old large forum seem to have fallen out of use around 300, but in general the first half of the 4th century appears to have been a prosperous time for Britain, for the villa estates surrounding London appear to have flourished during this period. The London Mithraeum was rededicated, probably to Bacchus . A list of the 16 "archbishops" of London was recorded by Jocelyne of Furness in
18486-408: The province to press their claim to the throne. As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior . This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as
18644-466: The provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum ( Trier ). The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency. Civilian and military authority of
18802-483: The provincial capital, and by the mid-2nd century Londinium was at its height. Its forum basilica was one of the largest structures north of the Alps when Emperor Hadrian visited Londinium in 122. Excavations have discovered evidence of a major fire that destroyed much of the city shortly thereafter, but the city was again rebuilt. By the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium appears to have shrunk in both size and population. Although Londinium remained important for
18960-412: The provincial procurator confiscated the property of both the king and his nobles. Tacitus records that when the king's wife Boudica objected, the Romans flogged her, raped her two daughters, and enslaved their nobles and kinsmen. Boudica then led a failed revolt against Roman rule. Two hundred ill-equipped men were sent to defend the provincial capital and Roman colony at Camulodunum, probably from
19118-471: The quelling of the Great Conspiracy . Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"? ), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall , in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall . Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On
19276-400: The rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in
19434-582: The relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo , writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius 's ships were carried to Britain in
19592-402: The relatively small area of 1.4 km (0.5 sq mi), roughly half the area of the modern City of London and equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park . In 60 or 61 AD, the rebellion of the Iceni under their queen, Boudica , compelled the Roman forces to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the defeat of Boudica by the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus
19750-414: The rest of the Roman period, no further expansion resulted. Londinium supported a smaller but stable settlement population as archaeologists have found that much of the city after this date was covered in dark earth —the by-product of urban household waste, manure, ceramic tile, and non-farm debris of settlement occupation, which accumulated relatively undisturbed for centuries. Some time between 190 and 225,
19908-487: The rising, he immediately returned along Watling Street with the legions' cavalry. An early historical record of London appears in Tacitus's account of his actions upon arriving and finding the state of the 9th Legion: At first, [Paulinus] hesitated as to whether to stand and fight there. Eventually, his numerical inferiority—and the price only too clearly paid by the divisional commander 's rashness—decided him to sacrifice
20066-526: The river; other Roman and Celtic finds suggest this was perhaps where the opposed crossing Julius Caesar describes in 54 BC took place. Londinium expanded around the point on the River Thames narrow enough for the construction of a Roman bridge but still deep enough to handle the era's seagoing ships. Its placement on the Tideway permitted easier access for ships sailing upstream. The remains of
20224-490: The seat of the diocesan vicarius ; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni ( Cirencester ) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector ; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln ) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles; and places Secunda in
20382-406: The single city of Londinium to save the province as a whole. Unmoved by lamentations and appeals, Suetonius gave the signal for departure. The inhabitants were allowed to accompany him. But those who stayed because they were women, or old, or attached to the place, were slaughtered by the enemy. Excavation has revealed extensive evidence of destruction by fire in the form of a layer of red ash beneath
20540-441: The sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not. The early-4th-century Verona List , the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus , and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of
20698-484: The starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus. In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius , who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into
20856-472: The survivors. The event was commemorated by the golden Arras Medallion , Chlorus on one side and on the other a woman kneeling at the city wall welcoming a mounted Roman soldier. Another memorial to the return of Londinium to Roman control was the construction of a new set of forum baths around 300. The structures were modest enough that they were previously identified as parts of the forum and market but are now recognised as elaborate and luxurious baths including
21014-456: The text is written) also has a Latin memorandum above the Old Welsh text. It appears to hold more text written below the main text, and a mysterious section where text appears to have been erased, both of which are partially overwritten with Old English text. No translations or transcripts have yet been offered for this section. It is unknown why that particular page was used for the glosses, as little or no text appears to have been added to any of
21172-402: The text, the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles indicates that either Restitutus or Adelphius came from Londinium. The city seems to have been the seat of the diocesan vicar and one of the provincial governors following the Diocletian Reforms around 300; it had been renamed Augusta —a common epithet of provincial capitals—by 368. Unlike many cities of Roman Britain, Londinium
21330-525: The tribes of the Picts : several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead , in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene . Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in
21488-612: The wall at the City Wall at Vine Street Museum opened to the public. Septimius Severus defeated Albinus in 197 and shortly afterwards divided the province of Britain into Upper and Lower halves, with the former controlled by a new governor in Eboracum ( York ). Despite the smaller administrative area, the economic stimulus provided by the wall and by Septimius Severus's campaigns in Caledonia somewhat revived London's fortunes in
21646-419: The west along at the road that divided for travel to Viroconium ( Wroxeter ) and to Calleva ( Silchester ) and at another road that ran along the Thames to the city's main cemetery and the old ford at Westminster . The wall partially utilised the army's existing fort, strengthening its outer wall with a second course of stone to match the rest of the course. The fort had two gates of its own – Cripplegate to
21804-473: The western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to
21962-467: The writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland , mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied. Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of
22120-458: The year 120. By this time, Britain's provincial administration had also almost certainly been moved to Londinium from Camulodunum (now Colchester in Essex ). The precise date of this change is unknown, and no surviving source explicitly states that Londinium was "the capital of Britain," but there are several strong indications of this status: 2nd-century roofing tiles have been found marked by
22278-483: The year 200. Brothels were legal but taxed. A large port complex on both banks near London Bridge was discovered during the 1980s. The bulk of the Roman port was quickly rebuilt after Boudicca's rebellion when the waterfront was extended with gravel to permit a sturdy wharf to be built perpendicular to the shore. The port was built in four sections, starting upstream of the London Bridge and working down towards
22436-407: Was a drawn-out process rather than an inevitable or swift victory. After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales . The Silures , Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and
22594-441: Was a highly cosmopolitan community of merchants from across the empire and that local markets existed for such objects. Of the fifteen British routes recorded in the 2nd- or 3rd-century Antonine Itinerary , seven ran to or from Londinium. Most of these were constructed near the time of the city's foundation around 47 AD. The roads are now known by Welsh or Old English names, as their original Roman names have been lost because of
22752-485: Was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus . Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus
22910-483: Was built next to the waterfront and had its own bath. Londinium seems to have shrunk in both size and population in the second half of the 2nd century. The cause is uncertain, but plague is considered likely, as the Antonine Plague is recorded decimating other areas of Western Europe between 165 and 190. The end of imperial expansion in Britain after Hadrian's decision to build his wall may have also damaged
23068-461: Was corrected in the 3rd century. Although the reason for the wall's construction is unknown, some historians have connected it with the Pictish invasion of the 180s. Others link it with Clodius Albinus , the British governor who attempted to usurp Septimius Severus in the 190s. The wall survived another 1,600 years and still roughly defines the City of London's perimeter. In 2023 a section of
23226-532: Was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus . Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel. The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet ; he revolted upon learning of
23384-437: Was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus , took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively. Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales , and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi . In
23542-482: Was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis , a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny. The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193)
23700-490: Was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to
23858-407: Was not placed on the site of a native settlement or oppidum . Prior to the arrival of the Roman legions , the area was almost certainly lightly rolling open countryside traversed by numerous streams now underground . Ptolemy lists it as one of the cities of the Cantiaci , but Durovernum (Roman Canterbury ) was their tribal capital ( civitas ). It is possible that the town was preceded by
24016-461: Was recalled from Britain back to Rome and awarded the ornaments of a triumph, before returning to continue as governor. By 87 the decision was taken to abandon most of the land north of the Cheviot Hills allowing for troops to be moved to other frontiers which were under pressure. Tacitus reports Agricola as feeling bitter about this turn of events. For much of the history of Roman Britain,
24174-400: Was renovated, public and private bathhouses were erected, and a fort ( arx ) was erected around 120 that maintained the city garrison northwest of town. The fort was square (with rounded corners) measuring more than 200 m × 200 m (660 ft × 660 ft) and covering more than 12 acres (4.9 ha). Each side had a central gatehouse, and stone towers were erected at
24332-415: Was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192. The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for
24490-417: Was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base. An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization
24648-703: Was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana , the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix ) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix ) are known to have served during the Boudican revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum ( York ) in 71 and on
24806-490: Was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration. Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus , raised the standard of revolt at Segontium ( Caernarfon ) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel . Maximus held much of
24964-491: Was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes , destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum ( Colchester ) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium ),
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