It is because so many building projects are on the go in London at any one time, there are only a small number of Roman remains visible. Yet it is for that very reason that since the Millennium there have been a great number of archaeological finds. Archaeologists are called in each time there is a building project on the go. It is well worth while getting hold of recent accounts of Roman London as they take this immense amount of archaeological work into consideration.
A good starting point is an archaeological report on London published in 2000 with a substantial section devoted to Roman London.
Having read that introduction it is then worth trying to get hold of Dominic Perring’s account of London in this period after almost a quarter of a century of archaeological exploration.
Perring, Dominic. London in the Roman World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Richard Hingley offers a different perspective. Both he and Perring take into account the discovery of the Bloomberg tablets.
Hingley, Richard. Londinium: A Biography: Roman London from Its Origin to the Fifth Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.
One of the first major excavations at the turn of the Millennium was at a site adjacent to the later Bloomberg excavations. The finds there and at the Bloomberg excavations are contemporary. It is a quirk of corporate sponsorship of archaeological excavations, without which very little would take place, that the wax writing tablets from 1 Poultry and elsewhere from mid first century Londinium are identified differently.
Rowsome, Peter. Heart of the City: Roman, Medieval and Modern London Revealed by Archaeology at 1 Poultry. London: MOLA, 2000.
No doubt because of that corporate sponsorship, publications to do with the Bloomberg excavations are freely available online.
Wright, Susan M., ed. Archaeology at Bloomberg. London: Museum of London Archaeology, 2017.
There is a wonderful display of many of the artefacts, including some of the most significant wax writing tablets at the Bloomberg Corporation’s European Headquarters. It is at the entrance to the London Mithraeum, dating from about the third century CE. The malls and pedestrian walk ways at ground level trace the route of roads discovered in the excavations. To visit the London Mithraeum is itself an immersive experience.
London Museum's Blog on the London Mithraeum
The Bloomberg tablets were so well preserved because they were buried in damp anaerobic conditions mainly on the banks of a tributary of the Thames, long since filled in. London Museum’s blog, Lost Rivers, the Walbrook tells its story.
Not far, marked out in the square outside London’s Guildhall and well preserved and imaginatively displayed in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery.
The Roman Amphitheatre, Central London
Another place, not far from the London Monument is one of London’s hidden treasures. It is a piece of the Wooden wharves that lined the banks of the Thames between what is now London Bridge and the Walbrook. It is tucked away near the porch of St Magnus the Martyr’s Church, and located under an arch that at one time was part of the pedestrian access to London Bridge, on the site of the very first Roman crossing of the River Thames. Having found the wharf timber, it was worth going up the nearby stairs to a public viewing platform with commanding views of the modern London Bridge and the Thames. Note: London Bridge is NOT to be confused with Tower Bridge, a much later crossing of the Thames.
Peter Rowsome has prepared an excellent Map of Roman London which is well worth getting hold of. Not only is it an excellent map (although pre-dating the discovery of the Bloomberg tablets), it also serves as a guide to Roman London.
Rowsome, Peter. Londinium - a New Map and Guide to Roman London. London: Museum of London Archaeology, 2011.
At the end of 2026, London Museum will relocate to what used to be the Smithfield Market. The Bloomberg Tablets will be displayed in all their splendour there.
The Roman Galleries at the British Museum are a wonderful introduction to the world of the Roman Empire. The British gallery has good displays of the Vindolanda Tablets and of the Uley Tablets. They also have interesting displays of the first Christians in Roman Britain.
The Roman Empire in the British Museum
Roman Britain in the British Museum
Those and other Middle Eastern galleries serve as an excellent introduction to the world of the Bible. Brian Edwards and Clive Anderson have produced a step-by-step guide through the
British Museum with the Bible. Be sure to get the latest edition!
Edwards, Brian, and Clive Anderson. Through the British Museum: With the Bible. 6th edn. Leominster: Day One, 2019.