The Jupiter Myth
Page 33
The Thames in this period was much wider than now. It was bridged from an island in Southwark, just downstream of the present London Bridge, and what evidence we have suggests that several versions existed between the Invasion and the second century, developing from wooden ones to the permanent stone one, which did come ashore at an extensive wharf system. There may have been a ferry landing to one side, and on the other there is evidence of a grand stone building, possibly with a colonnade, which has been identified as a possible customs house for the port.
The governor’s palace, built in the last decades of the century, lies partly under Cannon Street Station. Who knows where the procurator lived? Somewhere decent, given that he ran the works budget!
Southwark did have a mansio, which would have been new, and a Temple of Isis.
Greenwich Park had a Vespasianic temple complex, reinvestigated by “The Time Team,” which would just have been visible on its hilltop from the house where I finished this novel . . . I do not believe Roman villa developers failed to exploit Greenwich, but the “love nest” with the landing stage is invented.
Lindsey Davis
London, 2002