Introduction

The spatial growth of London has been much influenced by its geomorphology. Until the development of modern transport the spatial and economic growth of London has been concentrated into a west-east belt flanking the Thames, and has been restrained by higher ground from expanding northwards or southwards. An examination of the political history of London from Roman times to the end of the first millennium will show that its demographic and economic growth was for a long time uncertain and depended very largely on the emergence of a strong ruler and a resilient community, capable together of steering the fledging settlements towards political and economic dominance in their respective spatial areas of influence. Throughout the Early-Middle Ages that followed, the growth of London was associated with the subjugation or disappearance of its indigenous population, the Romano-Celts.