Roman London

London had existed as a Brythonic settlement over two thousand years ago, but it wasn’t until 43 AD that Emperor Claudius I successfully invaded Britain, put a bridge over the Thames and built a town around it, effectively starting what we know and love (or hate) as London today.

The Roman conquerors called the town Londinium, after its original name Llyn Din, meaning ‘City, or Fortress, of the Lake’. It had also previously been known as Trinovantum, a name derived from the Trinovant tribes of Iron Age Essex.

However Londinium was to meet an abrupt end when, in 61, an Iceni army led by Queen Boudicca stormed and sacked the city, razing much of it to the ground. Londinium burned and its future held in the balance. But the Romans rose up and avenged their defeat later in the same year, by destroying Boudicca’s forces in King’s Cross. Boudicca took her life with poison, 80,000 Britons were slaughtered and Londinium was once again in Roman hands. The famous senator and historian Tacitus named the city Colonia Augusta, and the following four hundred years saw it rise from its embryonic ashes at an astonishing rate as one of the most important posts in the empire, as the centre upon which many other sites, such as Bath and Colchester, were focused. London became one of the empire's great frontiers.

Building Site

In its infancy as a Roman outpost, Londinium underwent a long series of massive constructions, some of which still stand today. Walls were built around what would today be called the City of London; wooden precursors to the stone versions built around 120 which can now be seen in parts of Tower Hill and the Barbican. A small section of the first wall was actually found at 1 Poultry, in the middle of the City. Roads were built, and a timber bridge allowed Londinium’s settlers to cross from one side to another, the natural materials of both sides making the area wealthy and prosperous. It is important to bear in mind that the Thames would have been a world away from the muddy, deserted void of today. It was fresh, fish-laden and full of boating and other activity.

The Tower of London of today was many years in the future, yet a fortress or citadel still stood on a similar site, through which the coveted city could easily be defended from attacking barbarian Britons. Though hundreds of miles away from the imperial capital at Rome, Tacitus noted London for its ‘abundance of provisions’, and some of the fine artistry dating to this youthful period in Londinium’s history – glazed ware, bronze statuettes, glass and pavement – shows how quickly the city was developing into one of the most enlightened cities in the empire.

The First Cockneys

London was an affluent trading port thanks to the Thames’ strategic point at the tip of Western Europe. Therefore popular livelihoods included merchants, shopkeepers, fisherman or craftsmen – careers which have long since dominated the city.

VIDEO: Episode 3: Londinium Tour (Part 1)

Londinium fashion was typical of Rome of the time, with togas and sandals being accompanied by a high level of jewellery. Slavery was also popular at the time, with many put to work on the city’s various Roman buildings such as bath houses, amphitheatres and temples. Archaeological evidence also implies Londinium was a relatively safe place to live, with few contemporary remains indicating a violent demise. However the Antonine Plague, which ravaged Western Europe in the latter part of the 2nd century, reduced Londinium’s population greatly from its 60,000 peak level.

People generally lived in small houses, with a shop at the front and a workshop at the rear. Wealthier houses were bigger and contained accoutrements such as mosaics and paintings, some of which have survived to this day. Even wealthier villas were scattered about the city’s suburbs. The area of the city never moved further than today’s City of London; the 3,000-strong settlement of Southwark, just across the river, considered a separate entity.

Today’s Londinium

The city saw a decline following the plague-induced decline of the late 2nd century, from which it never really recovered. And although Londinium remained an important imperial city until the 5th century, Emperor Honorius removed nearly all of his legions from Britan in 410 to fight barbarian uprisings in Iberia, leaving Londinium to fend for itself. Thus the city fell into the hands of Angles, Saxons and other tribes which would change its history decisively.

However, though the Roman occupation of London had all but ended, Roman influences still exert their power on the city today.

The City of London is still bordered by the ancient Roman wall, which has given its name to the modern London Wall road, near Moorgate. The rise of the Thames as a vital seaport made the city what it began as, and that tradition is certainly what carried London’s prosperity into the modern age. The original fort bore the 12th century Tower of London, one of London’s most iconic landmarks. The Temple of Mithras can also be seen at the corner of the City’s Queen and Queen Victoria Streets. One of the city's more intriguing sights is the London Stone, located in modern Cannon Street behind an iron grating. This was a stone from which the Romans measured all distances in Britannia, and its modern understatement is a quaint and touching addition to the history of London. A first century Roman wharf has also been excavated in modern times, in Lower Thames Street - the details of which are included in the fascinating book Architecture in Roman Britain, by Guy de la Bedoyere.

To the ‘Burbs and Beyond

Many of the city’s suburbs and satellites also grew as a result of Roman building. Crayford, on the city’s south eastern edge, is said to have been the site of an important Roman market, and various lavish imperial villas adorn picturesque villages and towns made trading posts of London, such as Lullingstone and St. Albans. And the lasting effect the Roman theatrical culture has had on the city has made it into one of the world’s cultural and artistic hubs.

There may be few true Roman sights in the London of today, but there can surely be no doubt that the city sprang from the intrepid entrepreneurial skills of the Roman Empire. What was previously nothing more than a wooden tumulus became an overflowing city, with houses, walls, forts, baths, theatres, temples and even a bridge. London may have seen plenty of history since, but none of it would have happened without the Romans.

Images by Ronald Hackston, Alex and Louis.

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About The Author

Sean Williams (follow me: e-mail or )

Last three pieces by this author:

New York's Met Museum Records Best Attendance since 2001 | Bettany Hughes Publications you Can't go Without | 3,200-year-old Chariot Linchpin 'Proves Ancient Egyptian City in Israel'

Sean is an English Literature graduate, who currently works as a writer and journalist in London. He enjoys ancient history, theatre and sport. He does not enjoy Big Brother.