Londinium: A Biography - by Richard Hingley (Paperback)

About the Book

"This major new work on Roman London brings together the many new discoveries of the last generation and provides a broad overview of the city from its foundation to the third century AD. Richard Hingley explores the archaeological and historical evidence for London under the Romans, assessing the city in the context of its province and the wider empire. He explores the multiple functions of Londinium over time, considering economy, industry, trade, status and urban infrastructure, but also looking at how power, status, gender and identity are reflected through the materiality of the landscape and waterscape of the evolving city. A particular focus of the book is the ritual and religious context in which these activities occurred. Hingley looks at how places within the developing urban landscape were inherited and considers how the history and meanings of the urban landscapes of Londinium built upon earlier associations from the recent and ancient past. As well as providing a much-needed synthesis of recent scholarship and material evidence, Hingley offers new perspectives that will inspire future debate and research in years to come. This volume is not only an accessible introduction for undergraduate students and anyone interested in the ancient city of London, but also an essential account for more advanced students and scholars"--

Book Synopsis

*** Winner of the PROSE Award (2019) for Classics ***

This major new work on Roman London brings together the many new discoveries of the last generation and provides a detailed overview of the city from before its foundation in the first century to the fifth century AD. Richard Hingley explores the archaeological and historical evidence for London under the Romans, assessing the city in the context of its province and the wider empire. He explores the multiple functions of Londinium over time, considering economy, industry, trade, status and urban infrastructure, but also looking at how power, status, gender and identity are reflected through the materiality of the terrain and waterscape of the evolving city. A particular focus of the book is the ritual and religious context in which these activities occurred. Hingley looks at how places within the developing urban landscape were inherited and considers how the history and meanings of Londinium built upon earlier associations from its recent and ancient past.

As well as drawing together a much-needed synthesis of recent scholarship and material evidence, Hingley offers new perspectives that will inspire future debate and research for years to come. This volume not only provides an accessible introduction for undergraduate students and anyone interested in the ancient city of London, but also an essential account for more advanced students and scholars.

Review Quotes

"This book has long been needed ... [A] successful selection of structural, burial, and epigraphic evidence that serves to illustrate a chronological narrative of the development of Londinium." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"[T]his book will become the go-to book for researching Roman London, to anchor and orientate, and to point toward the archives and publications ... it is the essential collation of recent research that London has been crying out for. As a biography, we see Londinium's birth and questionable parentage, its troubled Boudican infancy, then its maturity, and finally its economic wobbles as age sets in." --American Journal of Archaeology

"An impressive overview of present thought ... This briskly written synthesis, packed with helpful plans, is a great overview of the Roman town, and a handy launchpad for further reading about specific sites." --Current Archaeology

"The book has the feel of an intelligent directory, and will surely be on the shelves of everyone remotely engaged with London's archaeology." --British Archaeology

"Well illustrated with helpful chapter summaries ... particularly valuable is the author's ability to cross traditional (and restricting) boundaries and explore the archaeology in terms of its social, commercial, political and religious significance ... All in all an essential book for anyone studying, researching or just enjoying Roman Britain, English and Roman history, Roman archaeology or urban studies." --Classics for All

"There has clearly been a significant amount of intensive research and thorough reading for this book ... The detailed descriptions of the form, location and chronology of the buildings of Londinium during the period AD 70-120 is particularly notable ... [A] detailed piece of work which has clearly involved much study." --European Journal of Archaeology

"The virtue of Hingley's book is that it brings together a vast quantity of information ... Hingley is to be congratulated: not for writing the biography of Londinium, but for posing the right questions and, hopefully, for enabling other authors and excavators to stand on his shoulders, providing them with a clearer view from the data mountain." --Minerva

"An extraordinary achievement. Richard Hingley guides us expertly through the remains of Roman Londinium, throwing light into the archaeological shadows. This is the benchmark and springboard for any future study." --Michael Shanks, Professor of Classical Archaeology, Stanford University, USA

"Londinium: A Biography is a substantial achievement and an excellent guide to the city's streets, buildings, cemeteries and watercourses. It highlights the value and scope of the hard work being done by the city's archaeologists and demonstrates both the feasibility and potential of ambitious synthetic work on the resulting data ... an invaluable aid to anyone approaching these tasks." --Brittania

"This book deserves to be read with attention: beyond the scholarly information it provides and which makes London one of the best-known Roman agglomerations in the West today ... it offers a remarkable explanatory model of the development of an ancient city, far removed from the worn out patterns that still too often structure our thinking ... This brilliant work should therefore appear in all libraries interested in Roman Antiquity." --Revue des Etudes Anciennes (Bloomsbury Translation)

About the Author

Richard Hingley is Professor of Roman Archaeology at Durham University, UK, and the author of numerous books on Roman Britain, including Hadrian's Wall: A Life (2012), The Recovery of Roman Britain 1586 to 1906 (2008) and Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen (2005).