Londinium 100-150 CE
City/Town was enlarged
- Moved into marshland in upper Walbrook valley
- Drained the area
- Extensive reclamation project
- Begun in Flavian Period but not successful
- Completed by 120 CE
- Extended existing grid plan into this area
- Even after this city/town still crowded
- Crowded conditions around the forum
- Houses
- Shops and workshops
- Tenements
- Similar conditions in better part of town
- Houses built along edge of street
- Close together
- No green areas
- Required more extensive cemeteries
- Several discovered
- Burial practices
- Cremation
- Inhumation replaces cremation in popularity
- Skulls of young men found separate from bodies
- Even after Flavian Period building continued vigorously
- By 100 most necessary public buildings constructed
Construction directed in one of three ways
- Enlarging earlier structures, such as the baths Huggin Hill
- Originally built in Flavian Period
- Modified and enlarged in 120 CE
- Changes in the plan
- Replace old forecourt with group of rooms
- Move the frigidarium
- Add a 2nd caldarium
- At east end
- Several new rooms
- A 3rd caldarium
- Interior decorated with imported marbles
- Replacing earlier structures
- The forum
- Most imposing of the building projects
- Reason it was needed uncertain
- Because a possible change in the city’s status to a colonia
- Recognition of Londinium as provincial capital
- Plan of new forum
- Much larger
- Square, 166 m a side
- Built around Flavian forum
- Porticos on three exterior sides
- Interior
- Large open courtyard
- Porticos and rooms on three sides
- Basilica on 4th side
- Basilica
- 167 x 52 m
- One of the largest in empire at the time
- Size of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London
- Central nave
- Rooms on northern side
- Waterfront
- Was also modified at this time
- Lower terrace was enlarged
- Extended the quays by 25 m further out
- New storage buildings
- Roman Fort
- Expanded
- In northwest corner of city/town
- Completed by this period
- Plan is standard layout of a fort
- New structures
- The amphitheater
- In northeastern area
- Oval, earthen structure
- 130 x 110 m
- Largest one known in Roman Britain
- Outer stone wall
- Two entrances
- Tunnels 7 m wide
- Eastern one flanked by two chambers
- Shrines
- Dedicated to Nemesis, goddess of retribution
- Arena
- Oval: 62 x 44 m
- Gravel floor
- Surrounded by 1 m high stone wall
- Wooden seating on embankments
- The Governor’s Palace (?)
- Large structure found near the Thames
- Parts of 7 rooms found
- 5 of these heated by hypocaust floors
- Has aspect of a palatial suburban villa
- 3rd century remains of military inscriptions
- Location of a military guild
- Home of a Roman official
In and around 120 CE there was an extensive amount of construction
- Reason for this is uncertain
- Often suggested that Londinium had its status changed from a municipium to a colonia
- Another suggestion is that Londinium had become the capital of the province
- Another possibility, generally overlooked, is Hadrian’s visit to
the province in 122 CE
The city suffered a very destructive fire ca. 125 CE
- One of the worst in the Roman Period
- Areas south of the forum were destroyed
- Forum area was saved
- Fire did not hit the Walbrook valley
- In most areas recovery was prompt
- In a few areas recovery was on a reduced scale