Londinium 2000

What do you think of “Gladiator”? – An excellent movie at a perfect time to boost our exhibition... This is the opinion of Hedley Swain, director of the Archaeological Department of the Museum of London and curator of “High Street Londinium”.

Londinium 2000: Romans are back! By Margherita Calderoni
	A “shopping Centre” of Roman Britannia is to be recreated to allow modern visitors to experience London in AD 100 by walking through houses, shops and workshops on the via Decumana, the main street of the Roman City. The same which runs today along the City of London, testifying how the present shops are just perpetuing a trading tradition started by their predecessors in the same spot 900 years ago. Actually, the exhibition is based exactly on the results of archaeological excavations at No 1 Poultry where archaeologists were gratified by the discovery of the single largest and most complete section of Roman London yet uncovered during the dig for the property development project.	Margherita Calderoni is a journalist, historian and lecturer. She graduated in classical studies and gained a PhD in Mathematics at Florence University. She has worked in Italy, USA, Venezuela and, since 1993, in London, UK. Art, travel and features correspondent for Italian and American newspapers and magazines. Being born in Florence she has kept close ties with her home town and works with Agenzia Immobiliare Toscana, a real estate agency specializing in Tuscany properties.
“High Street Londinium”, the Roman exhibition open from the 21th of July to the 7^th of January 2001 at the Museum of London.
“We didn’t find marble columns or bathhouses with gorgeous mosaics” Mr Swain says “ After all London was a Wild West town out of the edge of the world, busy, dirty and smelly, so the buildings were rough and solid, made of timber and mud, virtually prefabricated and probably put together by the military”. The excellent archaeological preservation due to the kind of soil has allowed also to understand how these buildings were related to the system of streets, alleys and drains. Three town blocks were uncovered, crowded with buildings bounded to the east by a stream , which supplied fresh water, and to the south by the main road, which was made of hard-packed gravel and as 9 meters wide. Far from being a cheap Disneyland, the reconstruction of this earlier version of Oxford street has been accurately supervised by the archaeologists who have given directions for using original materials and methods. “You will be able to explore, to open chests and poke about inside the buildings “ Mr Swain explains” they are a baker’s, a carpenter’s workshop and a shop selling quality pottery and tableware, known as Samian, a sort of today Spode. They will be fitted out as they would have been in AD 100 because of the strict rigor in the use of the information gleaned from the site.” Information which come from items of every kind, from domestic appliances to working tools to decorative and luxury objects: people will experience the feel and the smell of living in this urban outpost of the Empire which after being destroyed by the vengeful army of Boadicea in 61 AD was rebuilt because some administrator decided it was a good place for a commercial centre after all. He proved to be a farsighted guy because a year later Londinium was again a bustling town full of traders and artisans from abroad , living and working alongside the native population who started to be very proud of its “romanisation". “Sometime history books are dull and boring “ Mr Swain adds” We wanted to bring history to life, to make people visualize a section of Roman London in a more lively way. And after having walked through yards, crossed drains and looked out onto busy street they will see the actual Roman finds in the second part of the exhibition. “ Among the most remarkable objects, for instance, they will see delightful bronze lamps, exquisite pieces of jewelery, beautiful votive statuettes, coins, leather and metal miscellany. But before that, you could have the opportunity to make your own clay artifact under the direction of an expert in the pottery shop or to taste Moretum and Puls punica or whatever the cook in residence will prepare according to the old recipies from Apicius and other Roman chefs. It will mark the revival of Roman food after the celebrated Mediterranean Diet following the wave of olive oil in the shopping basket of English ladies : actually Britons seem to have always been in need of improvements in their kitchens and Romans introduced them to many herbs and spices in use today. Guests at the inauguration may prefer champagne to Mulsum, wine mixed with honey, but after all France as well owes the Romans the systematic plantation of fruitful vineyards, so it is only proper that the exhibition is sponsored by Rome. More exactly, by Banca di Roma whose English branch is just built over the Roman Amphitheatre of Londinium. “ I am very glad for our involvement in this project, the bigger sponsorship out of Italy” Managing Director Corrado Amari says” High Street Londinium is an experiential exhibition intended to better understand the Roman roots of the city and to enjoy a Roman Holiday of the past.” For the opening they have invited Gianluca Vialli as one of the most known Italian celebrity in London: for those who fail to see the connection with the Roman civilization it should be remembered that sport is one of the many aspect of Culture and that soccer is pleased to trace its noble origins from the Roman game Arpastum.		a a ..items of every kind, from domestic appliances to working tools to decorative and luxury objects... a a a a a a “ I am very glad for our involvement in this project, the bigger sponsorship out of Italy” Managing Director Corrado Amari says”

Londinium 2000: Romans are back!