ABSTRACT
Traditional archaeology has much to say, for much of Roman London’s defensive system is still above ground and visible to the eye. But, for all the evidence above and below ground – carefully surveyed and most intelligently explained – traditional archaeology still finds itself with some unanswerable problems, such as the date at which London was ringed with a continuous wall. The habitable area of London, at least during times of peace, extended far beyond the wall, and since, with other Roman cities on the continent, the area walled represented only a part of the settled area. The Roman government of London had a different method of controlling its mob: chains which prevented the fluid transition of the rabble from one street to the next. The imperial Roman police system was conspicuously efficient, and the corps of vigiles, under the praefectus vigilum, carried out the various duties of both policemen and firemen.
