Londinium Lite

AROUND THE HOME – LONDON’S HOMESTYLE FEATURES:

AD65 An ex-pat’s guide to settling in Londinium

Roman sea-going ship recreated in the Roman port model
Be prepared to spend your journey amongst the fish sauce on this type of sea-going boat

Whether you’ve been selected for government duty or see the potential for a new start, this guide will help you settle into the new town of Londinium.

If you are on government duty, intending to bring your family and slave entourage, you are eligible to travel with the British fleet.

Roman carts recreated in a model
Take your pick of carrier methods

Travelling tips

Otherwise, commercial boats tend to run supplies over to the new province and you must be prepared to fit in between the cargoes of olive oil, wine and pottery.

It can be a long journey – there is no way of avoiding a sea-crossing so the trip is not for the faint-hearted! Boats regularly cross the Channel from Boulogne.

Having landed at Richborough, hire suitable transport – carriages or wagons to bring you to Londinium – the road from the coast is well-constructed but you need to allow several days for the journey. The posting stations on the main road (the same ones used by the government postal system) offer reasonable accommodation.

Safe and sound

The town, recently destroyed by the infamous tribal queen Boudica, is rapidly being rebuilt and is ripe for redevelopment. Luckily, it’s not like the towns where our veterans compulsorily purchased tribal land, this is a green-field site. It’s protected by a military encampment - so there should be no problem with troublesome natives.
Re-enactors using a large saw for house building
Houses are going up as quickly as possible

On reaching Londinium

Don’t expect the finest town-houses. Houses are being constructed as quickly as they can pre-fabricate them. Yes, they actually make them as construction kits and then erect them on-site! Some are available for rent or you may wish to build you own. Permission to build should be sought from the town council.

The main east-west road has been constructed and most buildings are concentrated along it. You would be best-placed commercially to set your business up here.
Roman dockside recreated in the Roman port model
Get what you need down at the docks

Food and supplies

Don’t expect to get all the delicacies that you are used to, but the traders are doing a reasonable job at transporting the main ingredients for the Roman cuisine.

Meat, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables are available locally but fish-sauce, olive oil and wine are shipped here in quantities and the finest glass vessels can be bought down at the newly-built quay or in the market.

 

 

THE FACTS BEHIND THE STORY

  • The quickest route from Europe used the continental river network before crossing the Channel and sailing up the Thames. An alternative route was landing at Richborough and travelling by road. Posting stations, or mansiones, were sited at regular intervals along the main roads allowing official couriers a fresh change of horses.
  • Londinium was totally destroyed in AD60/61 by Boudica. Excavations in Fenchurch Street in 2001 found evidence for a timber and turf encampment, dating to the town’s regeneration after the Boudican rebellion.
  • Research has shown that the timber-framed houses were pre-fabricated. The main east-west road (traditionally called the Via Decumana) was part of the original lay-out, where shops and houses were first built.
  • The first quayside built after the town’s total destruction was constructed in AD64, dated by the tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) of the timbers.

[Londinium Lite is a fictional newspaper with a factual base]

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