A HISTORY OF LONDON discoveries throw but little light on the occupation of London in the Bronze Age, which may be considered to extend from 1800 to 500 b.c. ; and the succeeding Early Iron Age or late Celtic period is barely represented, except in the Thames, which then constituted the chief highway into the interior. On the north bank, in Brick Hill Lane, Upper Thames Street, a bronze spoon of curious type was found in 1852 (or 1822), and with it in the national collection is another found in the Thames. Fourteen specimens are known, all from the British Isles, and their design proves them of early British origin, but their use remains a mystery. A bronze helmet found in Moorgate Street in 1843 may belong to the pre-Roman period, but was inadequately described without illustration and is not known to exist at the present time. It was of hemispherical form tapering above to hold a crest, and measured 8| in. in height.* An embossed bronze fragment found in Tower Street * is a graceful example of late Celtic art, and may have been affixed to the front of a shield, but is too small to carry conviction as to its use.
Evidence in support of a British settlement here before the Romans is mainly negative. Sir John Evans mentions only one coin of the period from London — a gold piece struck for Cunobelin at Colchester, with an ear of corn and camv on the obverse, and a horse with cvn on the reverse. Cunobelin reigned from about B.C. 5 to a.d. 40 or 43, his coinage showing strong Roman influence ; and as no extant specimens can be referred to a mint at London, the conclusion is inevitable that the City was at that time much less important than Verulamium, Camulodunum, or even Silchester.^
Julius Caesar's second attempt on Britain brought him into the neighbourhood of the Lower Thames, and there are indications that he crossed the river at Brentford ; ^ hence the fact that he omitted to mention London is somewhat significant. The high gravel banks, now covered with houses and partly obliterated, may have been utilized from time to time as a camping ground by the Cassii, the Trinobantes, or even the Cantii, to whom Ptolemy assigns the settlement at London ; but the site was at that time so completely surrounded by rivers, swamps, and forests, that the Britons seem to have preferred other localities for permanent habitation. In spite of the failure of Julius, Rome exercised considerable influence in Britain during the next hundred years, and Strabo remarks that the invasion of B.C. 54 made almost the whole island familiar to the Romans. It was indeed on the pretext of settling the dissensions of certain British chiefs, one of whom had appealed to him, that the Emperor Claudius in the year 43 sent over an army under the command of Aulus Plautius. When the success of the campaign was assured he himself crossed the Channel to reap the fruits of victory ; and after a stay of sixteen days assumed the vain- glorious title of Britannicus. An inscription ^ from his triumphal arch still survives at Rome, and his coinage marks the subjection of Britain.
- Arch. Journ. xxvi, 54 (both figured), also pp. 35-51 ; Roach Smith, Cat. Lond. Antlq. 82, no. 368 ;
Guide to Antiq. of Early Iron Age (B.M.), p. 137, fig. 125 ; Arch. Cambremis (3rd ser.), viii, 210 ; cf. (4th ser.), ii, 1—20. ' Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. 2), iii, 518. • Brit. Mus. from Mayhew Collection, figured Journ. Brit. Arch. Assoc, xxxix, 9 1 , fig. 4. ' Evans, Coins of the Ancient Britons, 215; Supplement, 559. "Montagu Sharpe, Arch. Journ. Ixiii, 31. Caesar found the Thames fordable only at one point (where he crosied), and that with difficulty ; De Bello Gallico, v, 18. ' Ephem. Epigr. i, 1 20.
