描述

The Romans founded London in about AD50, and were to administer it from a magnificent civic centre: the forum site. This book Races the transformation of the site from rough scrub land, through a succession of public buildings of increasing size, to the largest and most impressive civic centre in Britain. In an absorbing and well-illustrated study, Peter Marsden draws together the story of the discovery of the forum and basilica and interprets the accumulated evidence for these spectacular Roman buildings. Their history mirrors the ambitions and capabilities of the founders and first rulers of London, whose names and writings are lost. Surprisingly, such dramatic changes took place within the span of a single lifetime, and our knowledge of the forum-basilica complex is entirely due to dedicated archaeological rescue work by a small number of people on numerous building sites since 1881. As modem redevelopment in the capital has resulted in the destruction of much of these ancient remains, only the archaeological data, summarised here, survive as the final record.