Londinium: The Roman Origins of London
Before medieval and modern London, there was Londinium, a bustling Roman city founded around AD 47 during the Roman conquest of Britain. Strategically located on the River Thames, it quickly became a vital commercial and administrative center. By the 2nd century AD, Londinium was enclosed by defensive walls, boasted public bathhouses, temples, an amphitheatre, and a forum—the typical hallmarks of a Roman urban settlement.
However, after the fall of Roman Britain in the early 5th century, Londinium fell into gradual ruin. As new layers of medieval and later construction were built on top of the old city, the Roman remains were buried and largely forgotten. Over time, even the memory of Roman London faded from public consciousness.
Destruction as Revelation
The Great Fire of 1666 changed that.
In the aftermath of the inferno, as charred buildings were demolished and land cleared for reconstruction, builders and officials made unexpected discoveries: remnants of walls made from stone and Roman tile, tessellated mosaic floors, and even traces of long-forgotten Roman roads. These findings puzzled many 17th-century Londoners, but they fascinated antiquarians and early historians, who realized that the fire had peeled back the centuries to expose the Roman foundations of their city.
For example, workers uncovered sections of the Roman wall near the Tower of London, fragments of the Roman amphitheatre in what is now Guildhall Yard, and subterranean Roman baths and hypocaust systems. These discoveries were among the earliest tangible confirmations that modern London stood upon an ancient Roman foundation. shutdown123