nigelinlondon

Early London

2006-12-04T10:42:00.001-08:00

Although there is some evidence of scattered pre-Roman settlement in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in AD 43, following the Roman invasion of Britain. This settlement was called Londinium, commonly believed to be the origin of the present-day name, although a Celtic origin is also possible.

Westminster Abbey is one of London's oldest and most important buildingsThe first London lasted for just seventeen years. Around AD 61, the Iceni tribe of Celts led by Queen Boudica stormed London, burning it to the ground. The next, heavily-planned incarnation of the city prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in AD 100. At its height in the 2nd century AD, Roman London had a population of around 60,000. However, by the 3rd century AD, the city started a slow decline due to trouble in the Roman Empire, and by the 5th century AD, it was largely abandoned.

By 600 AD, the Anglo-Saxons had created a new settlement (Lundenwic) about 1 km upstream from the old Roman city, around what is now Covent Garden. There was probably a harbour at the mouth of the River Fleet for fishing and trading, and this trading grew until disaster struck in 851 AD, when the city's defences were overcome by a massive Viking raid and it was razed to the ground. A Viking occupation twenty years later was short-lived, and Alfred the Great, the new King of England, established peace and moved the settlement within the defensive walls of the old Roman city (then called Lundenburgh). The original city became Ealdwīc ("old city"), a name surviving to the present day as Aldwych.

Subsequently, under the control of various English kings, London once again prospered as an international trading centre and political arena. However, Viking raids began again in the late 10th century, and reached a head in 1013 when they besieged the city under Danish King Canute and forced English King Ethelred the Unready to flee. In a retaliatory attack, Ethelred's army achieved victory by pulling down London Bridge with the Danish garrison on top, and English control was re-established.

Canute took control of the English throne in 1017, controlling the city and country until 1042, when his death resulted in a reversion to Anglo-Saxon control under his pious step-son Edward the Confessor, who re-founded Westminster Abbey and the adjacent Palace of Westminster. By this time, London had become the largest and most prosperous city in England, although the official seat of government was still at Winchester.

Early London

2006-12-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

Roman London

2006-08-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Londinium was established as a town by the Romans after the invasion of 43 AD led by the Emperor Claudius. Archaeological excavation (undertaken by the Department of Urban Archaeology of the Museum of London now called MOLAS) since the 1970s has also failed to unearth any convincing traces of major settlement before c.50 — so ideas about Londinium being a military foundation around the Fort that protected London Bridge are now largely discounted.

The name Londinium is thought to be pre-Roman in origin although there is no consensus on what it means. One suggestion is that it derived from a personal name meaning 'fierce'. However, recent research by Richard Coates has suggested that the name derives from pre-Celtic Old European — Plowonida — from 2 roots, "plew" and "nejd", meaning something like "the flowing river" or "the wide flowing river". Londinium therefore means "the settlement on the wide river". He suggests that the river was called the Thames up river where it was narrower, and Plowonida down river where it was too wide to ford. For a discussion on the legends of London and Plowonida see [1]. The BBC History website claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. (For suggestion that the name of the city is derived from a mythical King Lud see above).

According to findings displayed in the Museum of London, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen.

Archaeologists now believe that London was founded as a civilian settlement by 50 AD. A wooden drain by the side of the main Roman road excavated at No 1 Poultry has been dated to 47 which is likely to be the foundation date.

Early Roman London occupied a relatively small area, roughly equivalent in size to Hyde Park. The nineteenth century antiquarian Roach Smith estimates its length from the Tower to Ludgate (east to west) at about a mile; and from London Wall to the Thames (north to south) around half a mile.

Ten years later, Londinium was sacked by the Iceni led by the British queen Boudica. Excavation has revealed extensive evidence of destruction by fire in the form of a layer of red ash beneath the City at this date, and recently a military compound has been discovered in the City of London which may have been the headquarters of the Roman fight back against the British uprising.

Tacitus states that the Romans responded to Boudica's attack by slaughtering as many as 80,000 Britons. There is a longstanding folklore belief that this battle took place at King’s Cross (earlier known as Battle Bridge), after which Boudica is said to have committed suicide by taking poison.

The city recovered after perhaps 10 years, and reached its population height by about 120 AD, with a population of around 60,000. London became the capital of Roman Britain (Britannia) (previously the capital was the older, nearby town of Colchester). Thereafter began a slow decline; however, habitation and associated building work did not cease.

Around 200 AD, the Romans built a defensive wall around the landward side of the city. This wall defined London's perimeter for centuries, and some of the remains are still in existence today.

By the late 4th century London was a wealthy city with additional defences in the form of a riverside wall. London's basilica was the largest north of the Alps. By 410 Roman occupation officially came to an end, with the citizens being ordered to look after their own defences. By the middle of the 5th century, the Roman city was practically abandoned.[1]

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Roman Londinium was initially defended by the sub-Roman administration and may have served as a base of operations during the early campaigns against the Jutes in Kent led by Hengist. Following the Anglo-Saxon occupation of Kent, there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to Britons fleeing to London. If the language of Gildas who lived at this time is to be believed, the fight for the beleaguered city was probably savage. By the end of the 5th century, the city was largely an uninhabited ruin.

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2005-06-04T04:48:00.000-07:00

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