London: A Brief History - Part 1: Roman London
London: A Brief History - Part 1: Roman London
The City Builds and Burns: Roman London (43 to 410
AD)
Image Source: Wikipedia |
Today’s London started
off as a civilian town called Londinium, established by the Romans a few years
after the invasion of AD43. Londinium is believed to have been equivalent to
the size of Hyde Park today, and the Roman army built a sturdy wooden bridge
over the Thames, east of where today’s London Bridge is situated. As a result
of the bridge and construction of roads from the Londinium port, there was an
influx of merchants, traders and other urban dwellers in search of better
living conditions and opportunities.
Over the next few
years, Londinium prospered and became an important town but this came to a halt
when in 60AD, Queen Boudicca, of the Icene tribe of Norfolk, targeted Londinium
as a show of her antagonism of Roman rule. Boudicca and her army razed Londinium
to the ground, killing thousands in the process, and as a result orchestrated
one of the first recorded burnings of London in history. The buildings at the
time were made of wood and clay and therefore burnt very easily.
After the invasion of
Boudicca, it did not take long for the Romans to re-establish control. The
strategic location of Londinium made it too valuable to forfeit, therefore it
was hastily rebuilt. It became a walled and planned Roman city. The rebirth was
the beginning of a golden era of trade and by 100AD, large amounts of goods
were being traded in Londinium – emanating from, and going to, extensive
corners of the empire.
Luxury goods such as
pottery, wine, olive oil, marble and slaves became rampant in Londinium through
import from Spain, Italy, Gaul and Greece, while a viable export market for
tin, silver, copper, oysters, corn and woolen cloak was established.
Read Part 2 - The End of Roman London
Read Part 2 - The End of Roman London
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