ABSTRACT
The latest historical references to London as a Roman city are made in connection with two Roman expeditions to restore order to the province during the 360s. Problems in 360 were followed in 367 by a near complete breakdown of order following an organized barbarian incursion. London clearly remained the appropriate administrative centre for imperial recovery operations, and from these references we also know that the city had at some stage gained the honorific title of Augusta. The archaeological counterpart to these references, and the physical demonstration of Rome's continued commitment to the province and its urban order, were the city bastions. Bastions were added to the walls of several Romano-British cities during the middle years of the fourth century. In London D-shaped bastions were added to the eastern side of the city c. AD 351—75 and were set along the wall, from the Walbrook to the Tower, at roughly 50—55 m intervals (Fig. 53) (Maloney 1979; 1983; 108; Marsden 1980, 172). A badly truncated masonry structure was found attached to the outer face of the city wall in recent excavations at 85 London Wall and might have been part of the foundation of a bastion, the westernmost in the series (Heathcote 1989, 52). The bastions on the western side of the city were most probably medieval additions; for reasons of economy or indifference this part of the city wall was not altered in the fourth century. It is possible that some bastions may, however, have been added along the eastern end of the riverside wall (Maloney 1983). Similarities in construction suggest that alterations to the town gates might have been contemporary with the construction of the bastions, and a new flat-bottomed city ditch was certainly dug at this time. The extension of the western end of the riverside city wall found at Baynard's Castle may also have been built in these years (Hill et al. 1980; Sheldon and Tyers 1983), and the watchtower at Shadwell was probably abandoned soon after AD 360 (Johnson 1975). It is also conceivable that Southwark had been provided with a defensive circuit which was reorganized at this date; a large east—west aligned ditch, in excess of 1.5 m deep and 5 m wide, was found in excavations at Tooley Street and contained fills dated to the second half of the fourth century (Graham 1988, 46). The defences of London had clearly been comprehensively redesigned during the middle years of the fourth century and there is every possibility that this was decided on in an attempt to restore confidence after the troubles of the 360s (Merrifield 1983,235).
