SPECIAL ARTICLE. ROMAN LONDON.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19724, 14 September 1929, Page 15

SPECIAL ARTICLE. ROMAN LONDON.

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|Pf .Vks<"»u> Wam. .}

11 toll •• bav r b fo Ul |.:ch.n.lv« anil arcount of th:# fascin"tT gßbjtct in "K'nnan London," JJJtaiii In' • :I '' '"• " { th " "iitoricai in 1.. .. and makci th' pßbli« ti,lTl °* th " I: °' 3l t'ommisf* m I!i4t( |ir *"'tti Moi;uiuci:t», p'ihlinhd ii I"-! T.t" of t!.« Un;r tdrfwd je«ri !<* -vritt-a 1/y K. h. M. flfcalff, with fa:l <■ .-.iti-ierati-.r« of »*iff *' f '• «*vi<ieiuit; Hi ,< ;••. r Jepartmcntß v! the fgfaptt * ' '' t!l l ' v 1,10 nu " [lf.ftiitf -f • * i'-'t! ~ the 1H ll! Town Wit 11, lhj Oates, Bwiald, JVtttM 1 -', a/' Ic . forth. Unfnrtueh* '« very fragment-

tVi.-i rejMiti>i.H t%er» made f- r tfctftund-' ■■ ■' ! i dings o« forotho jaye*** '■» ' "-' *'-H!ie Ag.-i uohudy *n4 lo iw ..hit n titi is at all, ilut mt (£( * . foteen'h and eighteenth Mttarin tr-mrf* not much better; u4 «r«n i*. Hie n.r.i tt'utith such opporuuiit!«» < *"■•• ' ' ot'tu eegb-ctod sltostUut or '«■'* '■ tHl ' '»' w cnthuiiaste ill* Blgld ui-J-- i- tuiir business to . w p i wit'!' 'i the n.irkmcn and ob LpM. makp iK-'t-'lies, and collect such nliff M might .J npturnwd by the piclv u4 ibotil. As in all old cities, tho ground bnel is far above the Jj|. til* remain* of massive structures ilf the Wtll e * n otll . v b * exposed to itat pt VfIT S • f,l,r '' periods, and iu gMt mm* will prohably never be cxIHI4 ftgmn Thim the archieologist is jjje/tan fuinfc!!ed t<> draw his con* dlsjo*s from tni'.cin-c which is all too dUt sii'l '■ : '' ; '"' •"■"Oent to «ay that nth evidc-- i- :l.e:e is points in a prtkaitr dirocti-m, <■.?., in attemptfat to dottriTiiai' th- vexed question lUflttr tnv British ixjttlemfnt existed M tkl i^,e eof'e. e tlio Roman occupaIt la *l*o i:ifortt:iiate that the rcImaiM t> loiikiiuium in cotitemporal* Ustory iiic estremely Infrequent «4 «i»ual. N'i »rtrt of description or Mailed a-v'uet has come down to us; «t caaant eit-n tell for certain what M s«r status ns a Roman town, so fat hi tr,*- rtiDtmii'ius history of Roman Imlss w'o ar-> ot'ligcd to AH In long ma, by eimj'-'ir?. --lidcd by internal (innerOftfM of Sits ami Oii*in*l State. Tit tfcoira of th;) exact site of tho fty was (latent uied by the occurrence, « both hanks ef the Vlvor, of patches *. |«v*l--tw i eii of the three areas at ok fhara.-ter which, in this immosKt B«ighb")ui li >\j I. diversified the fUt atrot.-h i.f Hie London Clay. ConSmtlons i>r <]raiiiuKc, water supply, MingiUie-ii marked out these gravel CUM M 'mint suitable for permanent fcnaatkm. Tlie London Clay area Mf lava iK-rii d-.>uiely forested with mk, atsociated witb ii jungly underawH of tiiual. blnclcttiorn, hawthorn, ■itMßblt-. the gravel is suppi to ha. it ecoi) cla I with a more a tad lighter tree-covering, with F and wider along the tribuary 4MM. Tii Fir the Kstuary of the f%IKI h 1 i" en uted for ag< s before & &Nlfti .'.--u|-aii.i! . as a channel of aLaitm, •"*« ,v proven by the in■EwiMs 01--- t.«.' often of foreign af mfaaWl. f<>:nid in and about the I m, ui tetlnir from the Bronia and Earl; b*» Jifv- "»t it is thought uatiltily tlaat tw earlier traders halted •t Umd«» m ««<b' it a distributing •antrii itvtaaot until some oentralised Mthority aa 4 Bsa'b> it convenient or de«v»lti to dhtribute Nortu :nid South, tar bhhms ef road*, ilisten.l < f using the »r»f itwlf aa the only route, that the anmt searsaiont crossing of tho IkaMs kwace the natural port of dis•aeartatkii a»d llxed the site of Ixmin for srir. Katatsi Gkaagia in Configuration.

T«qr flMt ami important natural 4tafn bar* taken place since the date •t the Wheat Roman occupation of this life. Ths whole land-level has sunk, inhabtj about nfte«n to seventeen feet. TO ■BttaerttiK'ti haa greatly altered tirttatfn levels of land and tide and In father changed the whole ebarae taf l( fk* estuary itself; for it is probate that the tide, in early Roman ■Mb rsaahtd little if at all further *•• tat eity, whinh probably wm at *• ktad of the estuary. As the land Mk the tidal action pressed further «* farther westward, accompanied by fWwta| and deepening of the channel **4 the iaereaaing scour. Thue at the ■h el I<endoa Bridge the river waa jJjtaMy ferdable at that time, and the *W« Situation <ru even more suitable ■* tt waa in later times at the com*W*i«l eapital of Southern Britain. We *_*** "«»w fur certain that the ■*•»*■ bridged th« river; such a ■Hetore may not have been considered JJJJJV aader these conditions, and "*■ »f timber. Tie Waihrook. fcS.k* lne s'*** important single 2JJ* 1 «t early Roman London was the !PJMJWejn which was later called the only the name of a busy Tkla atre*m wan formed by the 2J*"**i ta the Fiasbury district, of JT*"*M rivalete, and it entered the Httle west of the present end J?** Bridge. In the upper part ■*."-**"»■ it occupied the bed of a Sjy* »*»«y, the hills on either Syi to »bout fifty feet; the sum S ?*•••• two elevations are now r* by Leadenhall Market and St. iteta*?*^" 11 " The valley was abont jjgTJMw wide at its northern end and IT* *** hondred yard* wide at its CT™"" iiitu the Thames. Its SLii uO? I 0" * 1' ste«»|). From the M* .v* lkl " inl'abitants used the J*" «• »'«an! as a "rubbish tip.'' binL*y* t d f*' of archaeological l»i"*J *••» done upon the deposits <W aS**' * td iu "i'tory has thus i W_Lj f ele * r] V made nut. The EliL «j conta " ,io « walls to coness** *** accumulation of their la>r?* *** ftther rejectamenta ; >on 3TJL L h U P- The channel, howffLTr pt °P*" n ' or a lon « time, 8k tafcT * ft * ft> '"* d - at ■Wish ,tr <« p tures and later of a kind, encroached very l<7 apon thu stream-bed, which Mrrow indeed and was E*"j jeare ahoked bv silt and retail X **" * nli «lj' "blocked. The ttttt actofl a< * n d * m ' and tho "Ni «* r* ter *' -wi'mlating to the *ito •■ i Wa!l K<" :i dually formed, fcjf fc J* e «iddii. Ages, the great tnj***a to hutorv aa Moorfields. SJjT )r \»» sui: perpetuated in 111 a>. ' *" e t*iiinnjn"s of this io***rtJT' U alrvi " :!v tltirinji the ****«« thf lliminn pei'io<l. i* j!?*"* '' f Koman London must Mtfk, .<* ..bout the vear oi the WTS .' a r»» A D. J3. and b.f ■*«•* L? ntf ne<i to hy Tacitus i V> t»( i |!r~ l p< * ou ' 0, "i trnding centre- : g Msijy .?* '*•• evidence seems to j K"e* (rtyl * ,, po«»ition of a nrcgtfti, i. Mf *t of any Importance; BfcrltL* , !'* C 1 nmhlem, der»«»i)dWStki hj» * t,on U P°» th* evidenee , Pk «? Wttains or pottery and , ■ •* fwralt Bwxdicca. better '

known to popular history us Bo.tdieea. in A.P. Ou, probablv brought rum and destruction upon the miant city us upon Camuloaunum 'Colchester) and Veriihimitini (St. Alb;«n<s». It seems likely that the settlement prospered and developed hi-re with very great rapidity and it is certain tliat it now suffered a severe set-Hack. The evidence mipphed bv burials and coins makes it clear that at this date the city was concentrated upon the eastern of th > two hilk—ihat upaii uhich l-it-adonhall Market now stands; that tiie houses extended northwards hardlv so far as the line of the vabsequent Wall, that the Western Hill was just beginning to be built upon ; and that .1 P-w dwellings occupied the site aajonung the southern or Southward end "t the Bridge. The population at --''* dnW probablv consisted of Italian and (iaulißh tracers. 'money-lenders and prusj.eetnrs," and enterprising or en--,Uvt-d Hritons, Indications of the enVei* of a considerable tire ar about thi-, date are foti.id in the neighbourhood the Bridge and are thought ti.»Rßi!i ! v to represent the destruction e,i'i«ed bv tile heroic Boudicca. K<>- more than two hundred and thirty vcars after this event the history of Loudon must be a matter of infere'Ki< and conjecture from internal evi- • •eiie ns ne Historian even mentions i'. 1 lie establishment of a mini by lite u-iiirputi: Emperor Carausius, about t.io ve«ir AD SHil. uoe« to «bon- that the (ommercial u< relopmont of the Ctv had continued and that it bad 1..-line a centre of financial administration. It is mentioned in the story ■•I the wars between Allectus and Avlepiodotus, wherein the usurper was deteated and Britain resumed by the legitimate Bmperor in A.P. 290; but these events cast little or no light upon the stat 111 of London. Purine the fourth century, the last of the Roman occupation of Britain hutnrv records nnlv tliat one of the three British Bishops who attended the ( ouncil of Aries, in A.P. 314, was "e«tit"tns R'«hon of T/ondon • that the title of the City from about A.P. 326 to 368 -ntil the end »f the ocennation waa "Augusta"; and that Theodosius, who was sent bv the Emperor Constant to Britain in A.P. 360 to oppose the Picts and Scot*, made a triumphal entry into London after defeating th» barbarians. We hnve no further mention of "Anerusta": and London rennoears in h'atorv tVi<> An"lo- <= '»'»' on Chronicle, after the withdrawal of the Roman* from Britain, in AD. 457. a date which would only be {riven from "i",il'tf"l tradition. Soman London from Internal Evidence. Our authorities are compelled to admit, reluctantly, that Eomau London is for us "at best a broken mosaic." Wo know its nine aid can get a general idea of the character of its buildings; but wc can only guess at its streot-plan and we have accurate knowledge of only two of its great public buildings—the City Wall and the Basilica upon the sito of Leadeuhall Market. We have also the splendid bronze head of Hadrian—the head of a colossal statue —which was dredged up from the river, near the Bridge, in 1834; but we cannot tell where this statue stood. Private houses of the better sort were built of rubble, "usually with bonding courses of brick, and rarely of brick throughout"; those of the meaner kind, such as shops, stores, etc., were sometimes of timber and daub. Piles were used frequently in unstable situations, and probably some of the buildings were faced with cement. The inner walls were plastered and painted in the usual Roman manner. The floors were of "rammed earth, clay, or chalk," but were often paved with cement, and this was often covored with tesserae arranged in mosaic patterns. These tesellated pavements have been recovered in many places, and are among the most showy ami interesting of the Roman relics in the Museums; but they are not of great artistic merit We have very numerous examples of RomanoBritish sculpture, some of them of considerable merit. Theso belong both to private houses and public buildings, and most of them are declared to be rather dull, heavy, and uninspired. There are several baths, probably both public and private. One of these, in an alleyway off the Strand, near the Law Courts, has been an object of interest to sightseers for very many years. These baths, sculptures, and pavements show that Roman London was rich and prosperous, and boasted many private houses or villas of some pretensions. The artistic work was not of local manufacture, and there is little evidence of local industries beyond the humbler crafts. The best of it was imported from "homo" or done on the spot by Italian journeymen..

The WaU. Londinium waa completely walled in, both landwards and along the riverfront. The landward wall, which remained the boundary of the • city throughout tbi> Middle Ages, is the best preserved anu most interesting monument of Roman London. It was fronted by at least one ditch, and wa3 probably backed by a bank. It was furnished with bastions to the number of at least twenty-five. The material was Kentish rag-stone, "roughly squared and coursed on the external and internal faces." The chamfered external plinth was of red sandstone. A great deal of brick, white mortar, and occa aional flints were also used. The wall was probably about fifteen or sixteen feet high, and the thickness above the plinth was from seven to nine feet, fho exact date of its construction is s, disputed point-. but the evidence H«fau to point to an early period, probably the latter half of the first centurv, the bastions being added a good deal later. , As many ••« forty-eight distinct fragments or'sections of the Wall have been studied; some of them have been subsequent.lv covered up. but several are still visible, the best preserved and most important being in "London Wall," between Wood street and Aldermanbury, the churchyard of St. Riles Cripplepate (where Milton lirs >.ripd\: at tri** Geiwrnl Post 0«W. Newgate street; in the offices of the Hford I'niverdtv Press, WnnvVV square; and at the Towfr of London. The Basilica. Tim Dtiilding, which must have b©dn of imposing size, crowned the highest point of the Koman city. It was '«» •rent aisled ball with an eastern Jpge" with a total length of at least ,50 feet, possibly a.s much as 420 feet. Probably it opened on to a forum or open market-place, which would be Ranked on three sides by shops and offices Sjmils!* buildincs were at Cirencester, Silchester, Wroxeter, and «.i.«ewhere; but the London Basilica was the greatest of them nil. If the inferences from present evidences are wurid it seems probable that Leadenhall Market which nnw oon>i> ; es tb..< site, represents the last phase of a continuous history, the spot having thus r>r*sorved its original purpose for nineteen centuries. Christchnrch, Isew Zealand, has not had such luck. Sise and Status. The Wall was about throe miles long and enclosed an area of about 330 acres so that Loudimuni wan far bigger than any other Roman-British city. It is not likelv, however, that the whole area within the Wall was built over. On the southern side there wa* i suburb of perhaps fifteen acres in extent at the southern end of the Bridge, if indeed there was a Bridge at all. Tt is, of course, impossible to make uny exact estimate of the population at any time during the four hundred yenra of the Roman occupation. In spite of its great size and wealth, us attested by the remains which have come down to us, Londinium does not

seem to have had any clearly recognised status, except as a commercial or trading centre. She must have stood, as one authority decides, in the lowest of the four categories into which the provincial Roman towns naturally fall. She *-as not a "colonia" or military centre; she was not a "municipium," with constitution and privileges such as Roman citizenship; she was not a "ci7itas"—a term which referred rather to the body politic of a tribe than to an actual township; she was, in fact, simply a town of natural growth, claiming no special designs* tion and boasting 'only such urban prestige as her outstanding size and wealth naturally gave her." It seems probable that she was never in any sense the metropolis of Roman Britain, tho"gh she became the headouarters of at least one branch of the financial administration. It seems probable also that her population was of a cosmopolitan character and showed "a certain detachment from local territorial commitments which may have helped rather than hindered her provincial tidvancement ■'" She was. however, rndeubtedly "the premier British city. Daily Life. Like other Roman sites in Britain, London has yielded vast numbers of those interesting objects which illustrate the life and customs of her inhabitants. We have inscriptions, civic, religious, or funerarv; cinerary urns, !>oth of pottery and of g!n«s: amphorae, beakers, cists, sarcophagi, and other objects associated with burials; innumerable coins; bottles, j"gs. cookingpots. and other household utensils: *hoes and Darts of *=hoes, nn?s brooches, pins and needles, mirrors, and articles of the toilet in great profusion. Most of these are t-o be seen in the great collections m the British Museum and the Museum or the Guildhall. The visiter to London. w*io wishes to get as clear an idea ae possible of the hUtorv and antiquities of the greatest citv "the world has ever seen will orobabfv 6' ld mo , re interes ? m these intimate ' personal possessions than in those major problems which, for want of complete evidence, so sorely tax the ingenuity and try the patience of the arehwolog** and the historian.