Tag: Roman

The London Colosseum

We’re all familiar with the Coloseum in Rome, one of the architectural wonders of both the ancient world and Italy but though the Colosseum is by far the most iconic, there are actually Roman amphitheatres to be found across North Africa and the Middle East, much of Europe and also the British Isles. There is… Continue reading The London Colosseum

Watling Street – A Roman Road through the heart of Britain

Though the Romans are famed for their roads along with many other things, they didn’t invent the idea of roads but rather vastly improved upon what had gone before with better engineering, money and manpower to it easier for their vast armies to police the empire and to a lesser extent to enable trade and… Continue reading Watling Street – A Roman Road through the heart of Britain

An ancient Roman road re-opens in London – Watling Street Revived

You might have seen my last post on the London Temple of Mithras or London Mithraeum. As part of the massive building project which has seen the creation of the new Bloomburg Headquarters and the painstakingly restored and relocated Temple of Mithras, a very ancient roadway has been re-opened that had been lost for much of… Continue reading An ancient Roman road re-opens in London – Watling Street Revived

My New London Roman Walking Tour

You don’t have to go to Rome to see Roman ruins, or even St Albans,  Bath or York.  Though people were all ready living here, it was the Romans who founded the modern city of Londinium that through the millennia has metamorphosed into today what is possibly the greatest city in the world. Much of Roman… Continue reading My New London Roman Walking Tour

London as you’ve never seen it before… at Christmas with the voice of an Angel.

I wasn’t going to blog again, especially so as I have been out on a tour this morning.  It was my inaugrial Sacred, Secret Gardens of London tour today and I was showing round a lovely PhD student studying medicine. Most tourists to London are content with seeing the big tourists sights such as Big… Continue reading London as you’ve never seen it before… at Christmas with the voice of an Angel.

The lost and hidden rivers of London

It’s easy to see London as one big mega city with just one river, what Londoners fondly call old Father Thames. When the tide of the river rises and falls it is almost as if you can see the city itself breathe. The Thames has always been the centre for life in the city even if… Continue reading The lost and hidden rivers of London

Hardknott Pass & Hardknott Fort – Perhaps the most remote Roman outpost in the Empire.

Following my climb up Skiddaw on the first day of my holiday, I fancied something a little bit more sedate, though at times no less hair-raising. After visiting Castlerigg Stonecircle and in keeping with my both laid back approach and fiercely testing idea of approaching my first days off in the year, I decided that I would visit the… Continue reading Hardknott Pass & Hardknott Fort – Perhaps the most remote Roman outpost in the Empire.

Has the birthplace​ of King Arthur been discovered?

In all the names of mythical and semi-mythical beings in history, there are few if any that rank more highly than that of King Arthur and his legendary knights of the Round Table.  Quite why people get so worked up about someone who was for a long time largely thought to be a work of… Continue reading Has the birthplace​ of King Arthur been discovered?

Visualising the spread of cities throughout time

As I’m really busy with my tours this week and don’t have a great deal of time to do a lot of writing, instead I found neat little video that I found that conveys a fascinating subject.  The creation and the spread of cities and hence the spread of civilisation. Even from the graphic below… Continue reading Visualising the spread of cities throughout time