London owes its origin to the Romans: there is no evidence of any permanent settlement in the area in pre-Roman times. But from AD 43, when the first buildings appeared, London has continued to grow and develop and a tremendous rate, meaning that much of Roman London is now buried up to twenty feet beneath the modern street level.

A bridge across the Thames was vital for the invading Roman army, as they moved north from their landing points on the south coast. The first London Bridge, close to the present one, is assumed to have been built in the year of the invasion, AD 43. But the Romans quickly grasped the trading potential of the site, as well as its military importance, and streets were soon laid out and substantial timber buildings put up. Docks were built on the banks of the river and London was linked to the rest of the province by great trunk roads which fanned out from the new city.

The Emperor Claudius had intended Colchester to be the capital of the new province, as it was the existing tribal power-base. But by around the year 60 the evidence suggests that London was chosen instead, presumably because of its much more advantageous location. The Roman historian Tacitus, who provides the first literary reference to London (Londinium),says that it was already packed with traders and a thriving commercial centre. However, the new city was short-lived. In AD 60 or 61 it was destroyed by Boudicca and her hordes, who burned it to the ground.

But London soon rose from the ashes, and an impressive building programme was embarked upon by the Romans. A Forum building was put up in around the year 80, only to be replaced in around AD 100 by one five times as big. By around AD 85 a Governor's palace had already been built. Then at the start of the second century a fort was constructed, whose garrison would have overseen the transportation of military supplies and acted as the governor's bodyguard. There was another great fire in around AD 125, and in the middle of the century some serious flooding. But London continued to grow, and at the end of the second century a wall was built around the city, parts of which can still be seen today. It enclosed an area of over three hundred acres, making London by far the biggest city in Britain, and the fourth largest ancient city north of the Alps.

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Content last updated: 22/06/2006