ROMAN URBAN TOPOGRAPHY in Britain and the western Empire

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Fig 75 London: Saxon saucer brooch of the 5th centuy found among the fallen roof tiles in the frigidarium of the bath building at Billingsgate (Diameter of inner circle: 26mm) half of the 5th century. The south wing of the palace in Cannon Street had been spared demolition, unlike the ‘state rooms’, and remained in use until the end of the Roman period, as did the small bath at Billingsgate (Marsden 1975, 77; 1980, 180-96). Both sites show a similar sequence: Roman abandonment, occupation by squatters, and, finally, destruction. Just how typical these sites are of the demise of Roman London is not known. During the 4th century the Walbrook stream was silting up, and at least in one area began to flood the surrounding region. The river bed in front of the late 2nd- and 3rd-century timber quay at New Fresh Wharf, near London Bridge, was also silting up, though a few late Roman amphora sherds indicate a trading link with the Mediterranean (Schofield & Dyson 1980, 31). Traces of rural occupation at the end of the 4th or early in the 5th century have been found at Old Ford and in Bermondsey, so that it would be incorrect to imagine London as a city tightly held in isolation by militant Saxon settlers. Nevertheless, hoards hidden after 395 at the Tower of London and in the dwelling at Billingsgate do reflect at least financial uncertainty before the occupants, presumably Roman, abandoned the city. Squatter occupation of empty buildings has been found in the south wing of the palace and in the bath at Billingsgate. A phase of abandonment in the palace was represented by a layer of silt and fragments of wall plaster lying on top of the mortar floor. A hearth of rough tile fragments and areas of scorching on the walls presumably represent casual occupation. Eventually the room was filled with dumped rubbish amongst which was some hand-made pottery in Roman style, of a type that occurs at Billingsgate in early 5th-century deposits (Marsden 1980, 184). At Billingsgate a phase of abandonment is suggested by a layer of hillwash silt which had spread through a doorway of the bath and fanned across the floor of the 107 Marsden: London in the 3rd and 4th centuries frigidarium. Fragments of pottery, smashed window glass, food bones, and coins of Arcadius and Honorius lay strewn about as if the room had been occupied by squatters. In the east wing of the dwelling a hoard of more than 260 coins, including those of Arcadius and Honorius, had evidently fallen from a hiding-place in the roof or in a wall, for they were scattered about the floor of a furnace and an adjacent corridor. Had the money any value then the hoard would surely have been recovered, not left on the floor (Marsden 1980, 185). Finally the bath and house at Billingsgate were abandoned, and their roofs collapsed (Fig 74). At some stage, perhaps about the middle of the 5th century, a visitor dropped a Saxon saucer brooch between the broken roof voussoirs lying on the floor of the figidarium (Fig 75). Thus on this site is preserved the transition from the Roman to the Saxon periods, but how representative it is of Roman London at large, and precisely what it signifies is unknown (Marsden 1980, 185-6). Conclusion It is important, therefore, to explain the ‘Antonine decline’ and the subsequent restricted evidence of trade in the archaeological record during the 3rd and 4th centuries. Perhaps the explanation is that London, founded in the middle of the 1st century, was the main Roman civilian port for the new province. By the 2nd century the other provincial towns, which were mainly based around the native population, were now successfully undertaking their own trade and industry, and there was no longer a need for London as the main trading centre for the province. In this case all that would be left of any consequence during the 3rd century was its provincial administrative role. References
Marsden: London in the 3rd and 4th centuries 108
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No 59 ROMAN URBAN TOPOGRAPHY in Bri
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Copyright © 1985 Authors and Counc
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Illustrations Fig 1 Miletus Fig 2 C
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Introduction: the study of Classica
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Introduction and the land divided i
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Introduction Fig 3 Timgad: the colo
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Introduction Fig 6 Lepcis Magna: th
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Introduction xvi
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Cunliffe: Aspects of urbanization i
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Cunliffe: Aspects of urbanization i
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PART II THE PLANNING AND BUILDING O
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Dilke: Ground survey and measuremen
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The mechanics of the building trade
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Ling: The mechanics of the building
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Who paid for public buildings in Ro
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Duncan--ones: Who paid for public b
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Duncan-Jones: Who paid for public b
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Civic Pride: a factor in Roman town
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Frere: Civic Pride: a factor in Rom
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Reece: Roman towns and their plans
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Reece: Roman towns and their plans
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Wacher: The functions of urban buil
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Casey: The Roman housing market leg
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Casey: The Roman housing market Evi
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Casey: The Roman housing market Rom
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Drinkwater: Urbanization in the thr
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Page 71 and 72: Forum and Capitolium in the early E
Page 73 and 74: Todd: Forum and Capitolium in the e
Page 75 and 76: The quick and the dead: suburbs, ce
Page 77 and 78: Esmonde Cleary: The quick and the d
Page 87 and 88: Salway: Geography and the growth of
Page 89 and 90: Colchester: the mechanics of laying
Page 91 and 92: Crummy: Colchester: the mechanics o
Page 101 and 102: New streets for old : the topograph
Page 103 and 104: Jones: New streets for old: the top
Page 109 and 110: London in the 1st and early 2nd cen
Page 111 and 112: Perring: London in the 1st and earl
Page 113 and 114: Perring: London in the 1st and earl
Page 115 and 116: Marsden: London in the 3rd and 4th
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Page 125 and 126: Barker: Aspects of the topography o
Page 131 and 132: Fig 81 Wroxeter: the area of excava
Page 133 and 134: probably from Viroconium, the robbi
Page 135 and 136: Forum Iuhi (Cividale) (Italy) 61a f
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ROMAN URBAN TOPOGRAPHY in Britain and the western Empire

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