The Story of London in 50 Novels: 1 - "London," by Edward Rutherfurd

Although English Medieval historians, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace, liked to believe that London was founded by refugees from the fall of Troy, modern historians and archaeologists are, for the most part, in agreement, that, as a city, it owes its existence to the Romans. Even in prehistoric times, however, the River Thames formed a natural frontier between the often warring tribes of Iron Age Britain: the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes to the north; the Atrebates and Regnenses to the south. When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 54 BC, he seems to have been using a well established stratagem of playing one tribe against another (backing the Trinovantes against the Catuvellauni); and, when the Emperor Claudius invaded in 43 AD, he probably took a similar approach (in this case supporting the Atrebates and Regnenses against the more powerful Catuvellauni).

This helmet, found in the Thames at Waterloo, may date to the time of Julius Caesar's invasion, but would have been of little use in battle, and was probably parade armour. British Museum. Photo: Ealdgyth (licensed under CCA).

The Meyrick Helmet, probably from northern England, is of a type more likely to have been worn by British Warriors in battle. British Museum. Photo: Geni (GFDL CC-BY-SA).

Claudius and his General, Aulus Plautius, almost certainly established at least a temporary bridge across the Thames, somewhere between the current London Bridge and Westminster Bridge, and merchants, whether Roman, Gaullish, or British (of various tribes) soon took advantage of this to establish a thriving port.

London (or Londinium) was, along with Colchester (Camulodunum) and Saint Alban's (Verulamium), destroyed in the Boudiccan Revolt of 60/61 AD (Boudicca's tribe, the Iceni of Norfolk, were in alliance with the Trinovantes of Essex against the more Romanised Catuvellauni, whose cities were burned). Southwark, however, was already a flourishing suburb before the revolt, and, although there is some evidence of fire-damage there, most of it seems to have survived.

Roman mural, from a house in Southwark, Museum of London. Photo: Udimu (licensed under GNU). Elaborate decorations on walls and floors testify to the prosperity of Roman London's mercantile community.  

At London itself (what is today the City), there is evidence for renewed Roman military, and perhaps also mercantile) activity as early as 64 AD, probably under the supervision of the newly appointed Procurator (finance minister) of Britannia, Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus, a man who seems to have done much to assuage the divisions and hostilities that had prompted the revolt. By around 80 AD, the cities that had been burned by Boudicca had been fully re-established, and London had replaced Colchester as the capital of the Roman province.

The tomb of Procurator Classicianus, who must have died in office, was found to the east of London. British Museum (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Wooden tablet, with the inscription "To Mogontius at London," c 64 AD. Museum of London (image is in the Public Domain). It probably accompanied a consignment of goods. Mogontius is a Celtic name, so he was, perhaps, a Catuvellanian working as a contractor for Classicianus. 

Model of London, 80-95 AD, Museum of London. Photo: Steven G. Johnson (licensed under CCA).

Reconstruction of a kitchen in Roman London, Museum of London. Photo: Carole Raddato (licensed under CCA). City-dwellers in Roman Britain soon developed a taste for imported produce, including wine, olive oil, fish sauce, cumin, coriander, pepper, dates, and figs. 

Londoners also developed a taste for Roman blood-sports. The amphitheatre, where gladiatorial contests would have been staged, is preserved beneath London's Guildhall. Photo: Charles T. Clarke (licensed under CCA). 

Edward Rutherfurd's novel, London, is a work of epic scope, beginning in 54 BC, and continuing on to 1997 (the year in which the novel itself was published). Written in the tradition of the American novelist, James A. Michener, it follows the fortunes of a handful of inter-related families from earliest times down to the present day. The novel comprises twenty-one individual stories, but, as it is my intention to tell the story of London chronologically, I will focus on the first, "The River," the protagonist of which is a young man named Segovax, a Catuvellaunian warrior who finds himself facing the legions of Julius Caesar across the Thames.

"Even now, in the dawning light, the shape of the ancient places could be seen clearly across the water: two low gravel hills with levelled tops rising side by side about eighty feet above the waterfront. Between the two hills ran a little brook. To the left, on the western flank, a larger stream descended to a broad inlet that interrupted the northern bank ... "

"The senior druid was out in midstream, the two men with their long poles keeping the raft steady in the current. On the northern bank, the two low hills were bathed in the sun's reddish light. And now, like some ancient grey-bearded sea god rising up out of the waters, the tall druid on the raft raised the metal object over his head so that it caught the sunbeams and flashed. It was a shield, made of bronze, sent with one of his most trusted nobles by the great chief Cassivelaunus himself ... It was the most important gift the island people could make to the gods ... "

"Celtic" shields, such as this one, found in the Thames at Battersea, were probably thrown into the river as offerings to the gods. British Museum (image is in the Public Domain).

"Segovax had never seen a battle before ... Suddenly everywhere men were running, whilst chariots wheeled about at such speed that it seemed as though in a matter of seconds they might bear down across the meadows upon him. The Romans' armour seemed to glint and flash like some terrible, fiery creature ... Amidst the din, he heard men, grown men, screaming with cries of agony dreadful to hear ... When a Roman cavalryman suddenly appeared and cantered across the meadow a hundred yards from him, he was like a giant. The boy, clutching his spear, felt completely puny ... "  

" ... he had not noticed the approach of the riders. There were half a dozen of them, and they were now staring down at the little scene curiously. In the middle of them was a tall figure with a bald head and a hard, intelligent face ... He said something to the centurion, and everyone laughed with him ... Some cruel joke perhaps. No doubt, he supposed, they proposed to watch him die ... But to his surprise the centurion had sheathed his own sword. The Romans were moving away. They were leaving him alone, with his father's body."

Mark Patton is a published author of historical fiction and non-fiction, whose books may be purchased from Amazon.

Ancient Voices in a Modern World: Marcus Tullius Cicero

There are a few voices from the ancient world that still reverberate in our own times, and few more so than that of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC). Cicero lived, as arguably we do today, in "interesting times" (a phrase used by the British statesman, Joseph Chamberlain, at the end of the Nineteenth Century, and again by his son, Austen, in 1936, to describe the anxieties of an age in which uncertainty appears to be the only certainty: the "Chinese curse" on which it is supposedly based is almost certainly a myth). In Cicero's case, he was living through the final years of the Roman Republic, fearful of the onset of a tyranny that he would not, in the end, live to see: for, whilst the historian (or, for that matter, the historical novelist) looks back on past uncertainties with the luxury and benefits of hindsight; those who live through such an age can only guess at where the winds of fortune might blow them.

Cicero, Musei Capitolini, Rome. Photo: Jose Luiz (licensed under CCA).

Many of us in Europe, the United States, and the Commonwealth, have grown up with the idea that we live in "democracies," and associate the birth of democracy not with Rome, but with Athens. That is certainly where the word (meaning government by the people) has its origins, but a time-traveler from ancient Greece or Rome would not recognise our systems of governance as "democratic."

The "golden age" of democratic Athens had long since ended when Cicero, as a young man, visited the city to study philosophy, politics and rhetoric. This "golden age" had, arguably, lasted for less than a century (480-404 BC), and the Athenian model of democracy was widely seen as a failed political experiment. Whilst in Athens, Cicero read Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics, both of which identify democracy as a dysfunctional form of government. He also read the works of the later Greek historian, Polybius (200-118 BC), who argued that, in practice, most political systems of his day (he was thinking, in particular, of the Roman system, which he admired) combined elements of different theoretical systems, such as democracy, monarchy and aristocracy.

Cicero returned to Rome intent on putting into practice what he had learned. The "aristocratic" element of the Roman constitution was represented by the Senate, but, as he was not an aristocrat by birth, he did not have an automatic seat there.

The Curia Julia in the Forum of Rome, one of several buildings in which the Senate meetings were held. Photo: Giovanni Dall' Orto (reproduced with permission).

The rather limited "democratic" element was represented by public assemblies, and by opportunities for a few men to gain admittance to the Senate by election, as Cicero did.

A Roman elector casting his vote, denarius of C. Cassius Longinus, 63 BC. Photo: Classical Numismatic Group (licensed under GNU).

The "monarchical" element was represented by the Consuls, elected, in each case, just for one year, with two serving at any one time, so that they could act as checks and balances on one another. Cicero served as Consul in 63 BC. This was the highest office under the Roman Republic, the equivalent of a modern presidency.

A Roman Consul, accompanied by Lictors. Photo: Classical Numismatic Group (licensed under GNU).

The Rome of Cicero's day was deeply divided along lines of wealth. On the one hand, aristocratic military commanders such as Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Pompey the Great, returned from their foreign campaigns with almost unimaginable wealth in plunder and slaves: their veterans typically had far greater loyalty to them than to the Roman state, and organised themselves into competing mobs in support of the political ambitions of their respective commanders. On the other hand, many ordinary Romans lived in desperate poverty. With the crumbs from their own tables, and promises (however empty) of more to follow, Populares, such as Caesar, Crassus and Pompey, sought to recruit the poor to their cause.

Marcus Licinius Crassus, believed to have been one of the richest men ever to have lived. A property speculator, and a political ally of Julius Caesar, he played a key role in putting down the slave rebellion of Spartacus. Photo: The Louvre (image is in the Public Domain).

Propaganda cups handed out by political candidates to potential voters with gifts of food or drink. One is inscribed with the name of Cato (a representative of the Optimate faction), the other with the name of Catiline (one of the Populares). Photo: Salvatore Falco (licensed under CCA).

Cicero, in company with Plato, Aristotle, and Polybius, was no democrat. He feared the mobs, and the power of brute force that they might lend to a potential tyrant. What he was, above all, was an advocate of constitutional government; of the idea that the political process (as defined by precedent - the Roman Republic did not have a written constitution) was at least as important as political outcomes. Through his written treatises, De Re Publica ("On the Commonwealth" - from which we take our word "Republic"), and De Offiiis ("On Duties"), this idea has arguably had more influence on modern systems of government than the direct democracy of Athens in the Fifth Century BC. This idea, however, carries its own dilemmas, as Cicero learned to his cost.

Cicero's De Officiis was the second book to be printed in Europe, after the Gutenberg Bible. This is King Henry VIII's personal annotated copy, printed around 1500. Photo: Folger Shakespeare Library (licensed under CCA).

When, during the course of his Consulship, he had to face down an attempted coup d'etat, led by a Senator named Catiline, he acted swiftly to execute the conspirators, without the formality of a trial. Although he had the support of the Senate in doing so, he must, as an experienced lawyer as well as a politician, have known that he was acting unconstitutionally, and he was subsequently exiled. Neither his books, nor those of Plato, Aristotle or Polybius, provide a satisfactory answer to the question as to when, and under what circumstances, a constitutional ruler may be justified in acting outside the constitution. Catiline had already violated the constitution: both by assembling an illegal army, and camping it outside Rome; and by entering secret negotiations with a foreign power (the Gaulish Allobroges tribe), which Cicero learned of through his network of spies.

On his return from exile, Cicero cautiously welcomed the assassination of Julius Caesar, but this "liberation" did not follow the course he might have wished to see. Power was seized by one faction after another, each of them backed by the sort of armed force he had always feared. He himself was seized by forces loyal to Mark Antony, and his head and hands (the instruments of his oratory) displayed on the Rostra (speakers' platform) from which he had denounced Catiline to the Roman people.

The Rostra of the Roman Forum. Photo: O. Mustafin (licensed under CCA).

Yet when, in the modern context, we think about Mark Antony, we almost inevitably remember the fictional speeches scripted for him by Shakespeare, many centuries after his death, whereas, in Cicero's case, it is his own words that echo down to us through the centuries:

"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludat? Quem ad finem, sese effrenata iactabit audacia?"

"When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?"

Mark Patton is a published author of historical fiction and non-fiction, whose books can be purchased from Amazon.