During the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Britannia's largest city, and it was provided with large public buildings such as a forum and amphitheatre. It had probably largely recovered within about a decade. Following the defeat of Boudica by the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus a military installation was established, and the city was rebuilt. In 60 or 61 AD, the rebellion of the Iceni under Boudica compelled the Roman forces to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. It sat at a key ford at the River Thames which turned the city into a road nexus and major port (which was built between 49 and 52 AD ), serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century.įollowing the foundation of the town in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of 1.4 km 2 (0.5 sq mi), roughly half the area of the modern City of London and equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park. Its earliest securely-dated structure is a timber drain of 47 AD.

Most twenty-first century historians think that it was originally a settlement established shortly after the Claudian invasion of Britain, on the current site of the City of London around 47–50 AD, but some defend an older view that the city originated in a defensive enclosure constructed during the Claudian invasion in 43 AD. Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule.

World of warships forums shrunk?