page_title: Londinium
section_title: 2nd century
hierarchical_section_title: Londinium / History / 2nd century
caption_attribution_description: English: Bronze head of emperor Hadrian, found in the Thames, London, British Museum Latina: Caput aereum imperatoris Hadriani, in Tamese inventum, Londinium, Museum Britannicum
context_page_description: Londinium, also known as Roman London, was a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key crossing point over the River Thames which turned the city into a road nexus and major port, serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century. It is possible that the town was preceded by a short-lived Roman military camp but the evidence is limited and this topic remains a matter of debate.
  Following the foundation of the town in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of 1.4 km², roughly equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park. In the year 60 or 61, the rebellion of the Iceni under Boudica forced the Roman authorities to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the defeat of Boudica by the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus a military installation was established and the city was rebuilt. It had probably largely recovered within about a decade. During the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Britannia's largest city, and it was provided with large public buildings such as a forum and amphitheatre.
context_section_description: Emperor Hadrian visited in 122. The impressive public buildings from around this period may have been initially constructed in preparation for his visit or during the rebuilding that followed the "Hadrianic Fire". The so-called 'Hadrianic Fire' is not mentioned in any historical sources but has been inferred by evidence of large-scale burning identified by archaeologists on a number of excavation sites around the City of London. The best dating evidence for this event(s) comes from burnt stocks of unsold Terra Sigilatta pottery, which can be dated to circa AD 120-125. These were found in destroyed warehouse or shop buildings at Regis House and Bucklersbury. Hadrianic fire horizons tend to be dated to around the AD 120-130s but it is difficult to prove that they are precisely contemporary and there remains some uncertainty as to whether they indicate a single large fire or a series of smaller conflagrations. Fire destroyed substantial areas of the city in the area north of the Thames but does not seem to have damaged many major public buildings. There is very little evidence to suggest similar burning in the adjacent Southwark settlement. The Hadrianic fire (or fires) has normally been assumed to be accidental but it has also been suggested that it could relate to an episode of political turbulence.
  During the early 2nd century, Londinium was at its height, having recovered from the fire and again had between 45,000 and 60,000 inhabitants around the year 140, with many more stone houses and public buildings erected. Some areas were tightly packed with townhouses (domus). The town had piped water and a "fairly-sophisticated" drainage system. The gubernatorial palace was rebuilt and an expanded forum was built around the earlier one over a period of 30 years from around 90 to 120 into an almost perfect square measuring 168 m × 167 m (551 ft × 548 ft). Its three-storey basilica was likely visible across the city and largest in the empire north of the Alps; the marketplace itself rivaled those in Rome and was the largest in the north before Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Germany) became an imperial capital. The city's temple of Jupiter was renovated, public and private bathhouses were erected, and a fort (arx) was erected around the year 120 that maintained the city garrison northwest of town. The fort was a square (with small rounded corners) measuring more than 200 m × 200 m (660 ft × 660 ft) and covering more than 12 acres (4.9 ha). Each side had a central gatehouse and stone towers were erected at the corners and at points along each wall. Londinium's amphitheatre, constructed in AD 70, is situated 51.515546°N 0.092215°W at Guildhall; its gladiatorial games would have been free of charge. When the ancient Romans left in the 4th century the amphitheatre lay derelict for hundreds of years. In the 11th century the area was reoccupied and by the 12th century the first Guildhall was built next to it. A large port complex on both banks near London Bridge was discovered during the 1980s. A temple complex with two Romano-British temples was excavated at Empire Square, Long Lane, Southwark in 2002/2003. A large house there may have been a guesthouse. A marble slab with a dedication to the god Mars was discovered in the temple complex. The inscription mentions the Londoners, the earliest known reference naming the people of London.
  By the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium had many large, well-equipped stone buildings, some of which were richly adorned with wall paintings and floor mosaics, and had subfloor hypocausts. The Roman house at Billingsgate was built next to the waterfront and had its own bath. In addition to such structures reducing the city's building density, however, Londinium also seems to have shrunk in both size and population in the second half of the 2nd century. The cause is uncertain but plague is considered likely, as the Antonine Plague is recorded decimating other areas of Western Europe between 165 and 190. The end of imperial expansion in Britain after Hadrian's decision to build his wall may have also 
caption: A bronze head of Hadrian found in London (British Museum)
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