Londinium

Londinium was a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 43. Its bridge over the River Thames turned the city into a road nexus and major port, serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century.

Following its foundation in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of 1.4 km² (0.5 sq mi), roughly equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park, with a fortified garrison on one of its hills. In the year 60 or 61, the rebellion of the Iceni under Boudica forced the garrison to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the Iceni's defeat at the Battle of Watling Street, the city was rebuilt as a planned Roman town and recovered within about a decade. During the later decades of the 1st century, Londinium expanded rapidly and quickly became Great Britain's largest city. By the turn of the century, Londinium had grown to about 60,000 people and almost certainly replaced Camulodunum (Colchester) as the provincial capital. During the 2nd century, Londinium was at its height. At the time, its forum and basilica were the largest north of the Alps. Emperor Hadrian visited in 122. Excavations have discovered evidence of a major fire which destroyed most of the city shortly thereafter, but the city was again rebuilt. In the second half of the 2nd century, Londinium appears to have shrunk in both size and population.

Londinium (Batman TV series)

The three-part Londinium episode during Batman's third and final season ("The Londinium Larcenies", "The Foggiest Notion", and "The Bloody Tower") was the series' tribute to the Swinging London period of the 1960s. At the time of the show, everything British was "hot" in North America. Many aspects of London were parodied during the three episodes. The city's name is changed to Londinium, which was the name of an important trading and administrative centre of Roman Britannia, which was slightly smaller than the City of London where the modern British capital is now situated. Scotland Yard becomes "Ireland Yard" in the series. Carnaby Street becomes "Barnaby Street". Fleet Street, the city's press district, is changed to "Bleet Street". The prime minister is called the first minister. There is a jokey reference to The Beatles when Bruce Wayne refers to a drum-playing Dick Grayson as "Ringo."

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