Post-war reconstruction (c. AD 61–70)

Abstract

London was rebuilt after the Boudican revolt, chiefly in the period AD 62–4. Military engineers set a new fort over the ashes of the city destroyed by British rebels, rebuilt the harbour with massive new quays, introduced new hydraulic engineering to supply London’s bathhouses, and established new roads and causeways to speed the movement of people and goods. The presence of detachments of auxiliary soldiers used to garrison the city after the revolt is witnessed by exchanges recorded in wooden writing tablets, and by finds of military and cavalry equipment. High status cemeteries included the tomb of the procurator Julius Classicianus, an exceptional group of exotic cinerary urns including one carved from Egyptian porphyry, and the inhumation of a woman dressed in a way that might identify her as a member of the pre-Roman aristocracy. Irregular and fragmented burials are also described, and it is suggested that these may witness practices of corpse abuse and necrophobic ritual. The mutilated corpses of those denied normal burial may have been dispatched to the underworld by disposal in water, and disturbed corpses besides London Bridge may include the victims of Roman retributive violence following the Boudican revolt.