<--- Roman Governor Agricola, statue emplaced on a terrace in 1896 overlooking the Great Bath at the spa in Bath England.  Labeled "Agricola" but there's no contemporary clue of how he really looked .

Flavian Dynasty --->

<--- Publius Cornelius Tacitus.  What we know about Agricola, aside from a few inscription for corroboration, comes from the Tacitus eulogy/ biography/travelogue/anthopology study of the Briton Celts.

<--- Put a framed "Fine Arts" print of this John Harris Valda imagination of the Romans storming ashore on Mona Island for only $64 at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-roman-attack-on-anglesey-john-harris-valda.html.

In 70 AD Agricola was called up again to fight in Britain.  His first job was  to suppress a mutiny of the XX Legion.  After bringing the legion back into line and given command  of the XXth, Argicola, Then he joined (according to Tacitus) the then Roman occupation Governor of Britania, Petilius Cerialis, in bloody battles against the largest and then most powerful Celtic Briton tribal alliance, called for convenience the Brigantes, who controlled central Britain.  Cerialis split the Roman occupation armies into two columns and gave command of the western column to Agricola.  Both columns then worked their way north pushing the Brigantes ahead of them.  On reaching Carlisle, Agricola crossed back eastward through Stainmore Pass and with Cerialis brought the Brigantes to battle and neutralized them.  The battle is thought to have occurred at a stronghold called Stanwick Camp, an Iron Age hillfort.  Agricola was again demobilized having participated in two successful campaigns in Britain (both of which  memorialized by Tacitus).

Agricola was the called up once more by Vespasian in 77/78 AD to be the Governor of the Province (Legatus Augusti pro praetore -- Britain was an imperial rather than a senatoria province and home of four Legions).  During his tenure, until 83/84 AD, he significantly expanded Roman control through his military campaigns in Wales, northern England, and souhern Scotland, culminating in the victory over the Caledonian tribes at the Battle of Mons Graupius.  He also focused on consolidating Roman rule by promoting infrastructure, Roman style towns, and education to Romanize the local population, an important policy that was documented by Tacitus.

Agricola also expanded Roman rule north into Caledonia (modern Scotland). In the summer of 79, he pushed his armies to the estuary of the river Taus, usually interpreted as the Firth of Tay, virtually unchallenged, and established some forts. Though their location is left unspecified, the close dating of the fort at Elginhaugh  in Midlothian makes it a possible candidate.

Excavated part of the Elginhaugh fort

In 81, Agricola "crossed in the first ship" and defeated peoples unknown to the Romans until then. Tacitus, in Chapter 24 of Agricola, does not tell us what body of water he crossed. Modern scholarship favors either the Firth of Clyde or Firth of Forth. Tacitus also mentions Hibernia, so southwest Scotland is perhaps to be preferred.

The text of the Agricola has been amended here to record the Romans "crossing into trackless wastes", referring to the wilds of the Galloway peninsula. Agricola fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single legion and auxiliaries. He had given refuge to an exiled Irish king whom he hoped he might use as the excuse for conquest. This conquest never happened, but some historians believe the crossing referred to was in fact a small-scale exploratory or punitive expedition to Ireland, though no Roman camps have been identified to confirm such a suggestion.

The invasion of Caledonia (Scotland)

The following year, Agricola raised a fleet, named as the Classis Britanica, and encircled the tribes beyond the Forth, and the Caledonians rose in great numbers against him. They attacked the camp of the Legio IX  Hispana  at  night, but Agricola sent in his cavalry and they were put to
flight. The Romans responded by pushing further north.

In the summer of 83, Agricola faced the massed armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Tacitus estimates their numbers at more than 30,000. Agricola put his auxiliaries in the front line, keeping the legions in reserve, and relied on close-quarters fighting to make the Caledonians' long unpointed slashing swords useless as they were unable to swing them properly or utilise thrusting attacks.  Even though the Caledonians were put to route and therefore lost this battle, two thirds of their army managed to escape and hide in the Highlands or the "trackless wilds" as Tacitus calls them. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be about 10,000 on the Caledonian side and 360 on the Roman side. A number of authors have reckoned the battle to have occurred in the Grampian Mounth within sight of the North Sea. In particular, Roy, Surenne, Watt, Hogan and others have advanced notions that the site of the battle may have been Kempstone Hill, Megray Hill or other knolls near the Raedykes Roman camp; these points of high ground are proximate to the Elsick Mounth, an ancient trackway used by Romans and Caledonians for military manoeuvres. However, following the discovery of the Roman camp at Durno in 1975, most scholars now believe that the battle took place on the ground around Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. After winnning at Mons Gropius: Satisfied with his victory, Agricola extracted hostages from the Caledonian tribes. He may have marched his army to the northern coast of Britain, as evidenced by the probable discovery of a Roman fort at Cawdor (near Inverness).

Agricola (2nd right) next to young Tacitus Among Roman Generals and Emperors in a frieze from the Great Hall of the National Galleries, Scotland, by William Brassey Hole, 1897.  The frieze, of which this is a segment, continues along the upper edge of all four sides of the Great Hall. <--- The leader of the Caledonians at Mons Graupius, according to Tacitus, was a man named Calgacus (variously  spelled).  An image representing him is in the same frieze with Agricola and Tacitus.  Like those others, we do not know how they really looked. Calgacus is imagined just to the left of Tacitus in the frieze. His name mention by Tacitus has honored him with the title of the first Scotsman mentioned in History.

Agricola also instructed the prefect of the (Classis Britanica) fleet to sail around the north coast, confirming (allegedly for the first time) that Britain was in fact an island.  This voyage, described by Tacitus,  was a significant result for the Roman conquest and also a great accomplishment of the Classis Britannica (the name of the fleet).

Agricola was recalled from Britain in 85, after an unusually long tenure as governor of the province. Tacitus claims that  Domitian ordered his recall because Agricola's successes outshone the emperor's own modest victories in Germany.  Agricola re-entered Rome unobtrusively, reporting, as ordered, to the imperial palace at night. 

The relationship between Agricola and the emperor is unclear; on the one hand, Agricola was awarded triumphal decorations and a statue (the highest military honours apart from an actual triumph); on the other, Agricola never again held a civil or military post, in spite of his experience and renown. He was offered the governorship of the province of Africa, but declined it, whether due to ill health or (as Tacitus claims) the machinations of Domitian.

In 93, Agricola died on his family estates in Gallia Narbonensis (Provence) only at aged fifty-three. According to his son-in-law, Tacitus, rumours circulated attributing the death to a poison administered by emperor Domitian, but no positive evidence for this was ever produced.

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Londinium - London

Londinium, 150 AD,  as developed by the Roman occupation, by this time the provincial capital.   An earlier version had been once completely destroyed with massive casualties in the 60 AD Iceni ("Boudiccan") revolt. The Romans appear to have chosen this place to establish a port, because a bridge across the Thames could be built here at a shallow spot where there was a pre-existing ford, and because it was a place that was tidal and could accommodate Roman shipping.

Unlike many Roman settlements established on already existing Briton Celtic Oppida (La Tene type settlements), there does not appear to have been any previous Iron Age town here before the Claudian conquest of 43 AD.   There are remnants of several Iron Age hillforts and enclosures within greater London today (eg, at Wimbledon and Epping Forest) of the Trinovantes or Catuellauni.

Londinium was established by the Romans about 47 AD, was quickly rebuilt after the Iceni revolt in 60, and became the largest city in the military occupation.  It was enhanced with a forum (70 AD) (later replaced with a larger one (90-120 AD) with a basilica, baths (About 150 AD), an amphitheater (two main phases, ca. 70 and 120 AD) and was walled in 200 AD, about when it began its decline.
 
Londinium Forum with      Baths                        Amphitheatre
Basilicca at rear

<---

The Cripplegate Bastion, technically the rounded section at the right side of the image, added during the Medieval period. After the 5th century Roman withdrawal from Britain, the walls began to collapse due to lack of repairs. They were restored in the late Anglo-Saxon period, a process generally thought to have begun under Alfred the Great after 886. Repairs and enhancements continued throughout the medieval period. The wall largely defined the boundaries of the City of London until the later Middle Ages, when population rises and the development of towns around the city blurred the perimeter.

Roman London was, from around 120 until 150, protected by a large fort, with a large garrison, that stood to its north-western side. The fort, now referred to as the Cripplegate Fort, was later incorporated into a complete city-wide defence, with its strengthened northern and western sides becoming part of the Wall which was built around 200. The incorporation of the fort's walls gave the walled area its distinctive shape in the north-west part of the city. For travelers: Several opportunities exist for folks who want to walk along sections of the Roman Londinium walls.  Just search the Internet for "Londinium wall walk".

London Bridge (round black dot, center), was the only bridged crossing of the River Thames near London at the time. The next bridge upstream is at Pontes/Staines.

From https://mappinglondon.co.uk/2013/londons-roman-roads/ The black triangles and circles show known Roman villas and other settlements, while the lines show the main Roman roads at the presumed height of the Roman occupation of Britain – dotted lines show where the road route is not known exactly at the time of the map’s production. The patterns of dots/circles show wooded areas.  The eight roads shown, clockwise from the north, are: Ermine Street (sometimes Ermine Street), heading north to Lindum (Lincoln). A track heading north-east from the Lea (at Stratford) through Epping Forest. A road heading east to Caesaromagus (Chelmsford) and Camulodumum (Colchester). Starts at what is now Old Street, then Crosses Ermine Street at Shoreditch. Watling Street, heading south-east to Rochester, Durovernum (Canterbury) and Dover. A road heading south to Burgess Hill – little trace exists. Stane Street (sometimes Stone Street), heading south-west to Chichester, via Alfoldean (quite near Horsham). Portway, heading west starting along Farringdon Road and Oxford Street, then through Pontes (Staines) towards Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Watling Street, heading north-west to Verulamium (St Albans). Starts on Park Lane/Marble Arch.  Runs both ways, across London.

Londinium

A general outline of Roman London in late antiquity, with the modern banks of the Thames.[1] Discovered roads drawn as double lines; conjectural roads, single lines.
Location	London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′45″N 0°05′26″W
Type	Roman city
History
Founded	43 – 50 AD[2][3]
Periods	Roman Empire

Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain
during most of the period of Roman rule. Most twenty-first century historians think that it was first  a settlement founded shortly after the  Claudian invasion of Britain, on the current site of the City of London, around 47–50 AD, but some defend an older view that the city originated in a defensive enclosure constructed during the Claudian invasion in 43 AD.  Its earliest securely dated structure is a timber drain of 47 AD.

Archeology:  One of Londinium's many wooden drains, not the earliest 47 AD Drain but a later version, a more visible one that shows better how the drains were made.  Wood is often well preserved in London's drenched environment -- gravelly soil over hard clay, the reason so many drains were needed to move rainwater down to the Thames.  The Romans used wood for drains and wells, the abundance of which allows for a complete dendrochrology sequence.

Londinium sat at a key ford at the River Thames which turned the city into a road nexus and major port (which was built between 49 and 52 AD), serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its shrinkage during the 3rd and 4th centuries and final abandonment during the 5th century.

Following the foundation of the town in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of 1.4 sq km (0.5 sq mi), roughly half the area of the modern City of London and equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park.

In 60 or 61 AD, the rebellion of the Iceni under their queen, Boudica, compelled the Roman forces to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the defeat of Boudica by the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, a military installation was established, and the city was rebuilt. It had probably largely recovered within about a decade. During the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Britannia's largest and most prosperous city, and it was provided with large public buildings such as a forum and amphitheatre.  By the 2nd century, Londinium had grown to perhaps 30,000 or 60,000 people, almost certainly replacing  Camulodunum  (Colchester) as the provincial capital, and by the mid-2nd century Londinium was at its height. Its forum basilica was one of the largest structures north of the Alps when  Emperor Hadrian visited Londinium in 122.  Excavations have discovered evidence of a major fire that destroyed much of the city shortly thereafter, but the city was again rebuilt.  By the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium appears to have shrunk in both size and population.

Although Londinium remained important for the rest of the Roman period, no further expansion resulted.  Londinium supported a smaller but stable settlement population as archaeologists have found that much of the city after this date was covered in dark earth — the by-product of urban household waste, manure, ceramic tile, and non-farm debris of settlement occupation, which accumulated relatively undisturbed for centuries.  Some time between 190 and 225, the Romans built a defensive wall around the landward side of the city. The London Wall survived for another 1,600 years and broadly defined the perimeter of the old City of London

Location: The Londinium site guarded the bridgehead on the north bank of the Thames and a major road nexus shortly after the invasion. It was centred on Cornhill and the River Walbrook, but extended west to Ludgate Hill and east to Tower Hill.  Just prior to the Roman conquest, the area had been contested by the
Catuvellauni based to the west and the Trinovantes based to the east; it bordered the realm of the Cantiaci on the south bank of the Thames.

The Roman city ultimately covered at least the area of the current  City of London, whose boundaries are largely defined by its former wall. Londinium's waterfront on the Thames ran from around Ludgate Hill in the west to the present site of the Tower in the east, around 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi).  The northern wall reached Bishopsgate and Cripplegate near the former site of the Museum of London, a course now marked by the street "London Wall". Cemeteries and suburbs existed outside the city proper. A round temple has been located west of the city, although its dedication remains unclear.

Substantial suburbs existed at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Westminster and around the southern end of the Thames bridge in Southwark, where excavations in 1988 and 2021 have revealed an elaborate building with fine mosaics and frescoed walls dating from 72 AD.  Inscriptions suggest a temple of Isis was located there.

Londinium grew up as a vicus, a community of lower status than a town or a civilian settlement adjacent to and somewhat dependent on a fort.

Londinium soon became an important port for trade between Roman Britain and the Roman provinces on the continent. Tacitus wrote that at the time of the uprising of Boudica, "Londinium... though undistinguished by the name of 'colony', was much frequented by a number of merchants and trading vessels.

Imaginative view of port warehouses along the Thames

Depending on the time of its creation, the modesty of Londinium's first forum may have reflected its early elevation to city (municipium) status or may have reflected an administrative concession to a low-ranking but major Romano-British settlement. It had almost certainly been granted colony (colonia) status prior to the complete replanning of the city's street plan attending the erection of the great second forum with a basilicca around the year 120.

By this time, Britain's provincial administration had also almost certainly been moved to Londinium from Camulodunum (now  Colchester in Essex). The precise date of this change is unknown, and no surviving source explicitly states that Londinium was "the capital of Britain," but there are several strong indications of this status: 2nd-century roofing tiles have been found marked by the "Procurator" or "Publican of the Province of Britain at Londinium", the remains of a governor's palace and tombstones belonging to the governor's staff have been discovered, and the city was well defended and armed, with a new military camp erected at the beginning of the 2nd century in a fort on the north-western edge of the city, despite being far from any frontier. Despite some corruption to the text, the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles indicates that either Restitutus or Adelphius came from Londinium. The city seems to have been the seat of the diocesan vicar (a civil, not a religious post) and one of the provincial governors following the Diocletian Reforms around 300 that spit Britania into more than one province; it had been renamed Augusta—a common epithet of provincial capitals—by 368.

Unlike many cities of Roman Britain, Londinium was not placed on the site of a native settlement or oppidum.  Prior to the arrival of the Roman legions, the area was almost certainly lightly rolling open countryside traversed by numerous streams now underground.  Ptolemy lists it as one of the cities of the Cantiaci, but Durovernu (Roman Canterbury) was their tribal capital (civitas). It is possible that the town was preceded by a short-lived Roman military camp, but the evidence is limited and this topic remains a matter of debate.

Following its foundation in the mid-1st century, early Roman London occupied a relatively small area, about 350 acres (1.4 sq km) or roughly the area of present-day Hyde Park. Archaeologists have uncovered numerous goods imported from across the Roman Empire in this period, suggesting that early Roman London was a highly cosmopolitan community of merchants from across the empire and that local markets existed for such objects.

Decline of Londinium -- 2nd century and later:   Roman civilization as a whole reached its zenith during the mid-1^st century, at around the same time that London was being established. While London matured and grew on the western extreme of the empire through the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries, it was protected from troubles in Rome and elsewhere, and occasionally prospered,

London Mithraeum with a modern representation of a missing tauroctony, bull-slaying, sculpture.  Secret rites associated with Mithraism would be performed on the platform in front of the sculpture.  Some sources say that the rite of initiation included a repetition of the bull-slaying with the bull's blood showering over the initiates.  Mithraism was a male only Mystery Religion and was particularly popular in the Roman military ranks.  Its main rival was Christianity which, after the conversion of Emperor Constantine I, the Great, became the official religion of the Empire.  Christianity grew faster, with the fiancial support of rich Roman widows.
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Amphitheater 
 
No Roman city worthy of its name (e.g., not Londinium) would be without an Amphitheatre (the word means two theatrons facing each other).  The one in Londinium

Found

Under the Saxon Medieval Church of All Hallows by the Tower is a small museum that houses, among a wealth of Roman, Saxon, and "other" artifacts, what has aptly been described as an undistinguished Roman Londinium floor -- not mosaic or inlay or anything special, just neatly arrayed small cobbles, enough to prove that Romans were there.  I'd love to see what might be under that floor. Also in the crypt is what sometimes is said to be a  Roman arch.  It fits the definition of the Roman architectural TYPE of arch: it is semi-circular at the top with straight sides, so it is architecturally  Roman.  But as for who built the arch, it looks Saxon:  the rounded section appears to be made of "Roman Brick", but the laying of the bricks, their angles, are off.  The mortar between the bricks could easily be dated, but the guide wasn't able to tell me if tests had ever been applied.

Found in 2013 at a site once occupied by a Londinium cemetery and initially thought to be a recent garden decoration, this Roman eagle with captive snake made of Cotswald limestone was soon identified as an authentic, very well carved and preserved 1st or 2nd century Londinium artifact.  It stands a little more than two feet high.  The eagle's broken off (look closely) right wing has not been reattached, but rather it and the eagle rest together in a purpose-built frame in the Museum of London.  The symbolism is understood as the struggle of good, the eagle, against evil, the snake.  In Roman mythology the image of an eagle represents Jupiter (a name derived from "Zeus Pater") This Eagle/snake theme is common in funerary contexts and an important Roman cemetery is known to have been located on the site. It is believed by archaeologists that this statue once stood in a niche a rich mausoleum, the foundations of one were also uncovered during excavation. The lack of weathering on the statue corroborates this theory, as does the absence of detail on the back of the sculpture; suggesting it once sat it an alcove. The piece was described by National Geographic as "the finest piece of Roman sculpture ever found in London".  Link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/eagle-serpent-limestone-sculpture-discovery-roman-london-science-archaeology

  .
A set of metal banquet utensils found at the bottom of a Roman well in Londinium, now in the Museum of London.  The Museum's collection of Roman artifacts runs to tens of thousands.  the BritishMuseum, also in London, has many thousand additional pieces, although not in a separate "Londinium Collection".  Both museums have searchable Internet data bases, but although all artifacts seem to have informational listings, not all are photographed.  Oxford's Ashmolian also has no separate Londinium Collection, but, again, has many artifacts

The third century "Bucklersby Pavement" mosaic was discovered in central London in 1869.  The Museum of London,where it now resides (display pictured) calls it one of the most important relics from Londinium. The upper image is a drawing that appeared in a London newspaper while the mosaic was being excavated.  The discovery of the "Pavement" caused great excitement.

Replica versions of the Bucklersby Pave-ment are found at a few locations including the site of the London Mithraeum and the Purbeck House Hotel. The Pavement was originally found near the Mithraeum site.  The Hotel, in Swanage, England, was built as a private residence by George Burt, whose company worked on the construction of Queen Victoria Street, London, where the original Pavement was unearthed. -------------------------------------------------- A more recently discovered (2022) 1st or 2nd century mosaic is thought to be the floor of a triclinium, a dining room, in a mansio, a high end temporary residence for official government travelers or curiers. A triclinium could accommodate three  wide reclining couches on three sides of the room.  On each couch three persons would lay sideways to eat.  Overeating or drinking to excess or drinking unwatered wine was considered declasse.