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Don't laugh, I do know the answer, but you might find it very hard to believe.Roman Britain’s ancient “London” was actually named “LONDINIUM”Note, the River Thames was very much wider but also shallower in Roman times, and ships had to stop at London Bridge to unload. More recent centuries saw the riverbanks developed, narrowing the flow but making the river very much deeper than in Roman times.Above; Roman roads and the position of Londinium in Roman “Britannia”.Below illustration. Rome built a great defensive wall all around the city of Londinium, it looked much as this reconstruction picture shows.Ancient Roman London came into existence because there was a shallow river crossing there thousands of years ago (Modern day post roman construction and embankments has greatly deepened the River since those far away days of Rome).Ancient Londinium was where all Roman shipping stopped navigation of the River and unloaded, creating the Docks.In 43 AD, the Roman Army - determined and terrified in equal measure - returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia - a mysterious land ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who can channel the powerful forces of the underworld. Or so they say.Certainly they were fierce in battle. Men who hated invaders and wanted their country back.Its true one of the worse’t enemies of Caesar in Gaul had also been an arch druid. And Druids fought against Rome in Ancient Wales, which like Scotland was never totally conquered. When Rome’s armies attacked the West country settlement which once stood roughly where the more recent town of Shepton mallet stands today, (then in the Ancient Kingdom of Wessex /Saxony after Rome fell), the Legend was that the Druids “cursed the site” and any who inhabited it after their people were massacred. Certainly there was a battle there, many burials of Romans have been found in and around the proximity of Amulet Way (named because they found a buried Amulet there in excavations);.Many English towns and cities came into being due to the Roman Invasion and occupation.London came into being because of Rome, who then was the Invader.The enemy of Rome was the Welsh and British Arch Druid, who could command entire armies against the legions of Rome. Rome’s soldiers had all gone over the countryside to fight the Druidic Armies in Wales, and so there as not many too defend Roman Britain at the time Boudica timed her rebellion; (Did she and the Druids work together, they began their war against Rome’s legions around the same time She attacked the roman garrison town of Camulodonum (Modern Colchester).Roman veterans had stolen her land and Caesar Emperor Nero had publicly humiliated her and had her daughters raped….Armed rebellion followed…Some Ancient Druids.Interestingly, Archaeologists are saying they expect that Dendrochronolgy, the record of tree rings or age of the old Roman wood found, is expected to lead them to discover that the age of the foundation of roman London could be EARLIER than AD 43. Changing even possibly, the date for Rome’s first invasion or settlement in the region, (or perhaps, even in Britain itself? !!). Now that would be “something” special…Very little Roman remains survive in London these days.And Roman ships could not traverse the River Bridge or sail farther along the River Thames, so London became the “Head of navigation” for the Roman navy and merchants vessels all unloaded at Londinium. the birth of the old London Dockyards.Reconstruction of Roman Londinium with the Roman river bridge.Remains of the Roman Londinium defensive walls.Below, this 1,800 year old piece of the Roman London wall was accidently discovered during 1940.Londons old Roman wall actually existed and largely survived for 1,600 years, but largely disappeared in the past few hundred years due to Modern development.Ancient Roman Londinium was once the largest Roman city North of the Alps. It burnt down once completely, but was entirely rebuilt.London Guildhall. Shape suggested for the site below ground of London’s ancient Roman Ampitheatre.During excavations nearby, a Roman grave was discovered, believed to be that of a roman female Gladiatrix who fought in the Ampitheatre there.Roman grave believed to be female gladiator'sAncient Londinium had a Public Ampitheatre. it may have look’d like this.The linear buildings above are likely the Roman Army barrack rooms.A general outline of Roman London in late antiquity, with the modern banks of the Thames.Discovered roads drawn as double lines; conjectural roads, single lines.Roman life in Londinium appears to have in fact been very sophisticated, and rich. Recently, over 10,000 artefacts have been uncovered there in a excavation, centred on Blooberg Place, the archaelogists have dug as deeep as forty feet, uncovering layer upon layer of Roman wooden buildings, remains of a Roman temple dedicated to MITHRAS and even remains of old clothes, and a rare roman wooden door…revealing ancient Londinium to be “The Pompeii” of the Northern Empire. Click url link to read English BBC article below about archaeology excavation in London.'Streets of Roman London' uncovered'Entire streets' of Roman London uncovered in the City. Archaeologists have even found a Amber Gladiator Amulet fashioned in the shape of a Gladiators helmet, and even old roman Documents…..In pictures: 'Pompeii of the north'Watch the BBC news Video showing the excavations and some of the very many exciting discoveries made at the site in London.Roman London being unearthedAmongst the finds were some rare and unusual and Destinctive Roman Military types of boots, the Roman Military soldiers boots or shoes, leading to a newer understanding of the Roman Military clothing and daily life.There have been other important finds and discoveries over recent years, here is another one at Syon , an old London Village where again 10,000 things were found, including Roman jewellryRoman settlement unearthed in Syon Park, west LondonLondinium 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 England until its abandonment during the fifth century. This is actually quite late in the day for the finish of Rome’s occupation of Britannia, was around AD 407 when the last Roman Legionaries actually left from a Somerset beach at Uphill. So some important influence or “vestige” of the Pax Romanum did actually continue in London for a long time, when already the rest of roman Britain had succumbed to the Saxon invaders.The periods after Rome abandoned Britannia, is sometimes called sub roman Britain.Sub-Roman BritainSub-Roman Britain was the period of Late Antiquity in Great Britain, covering the end of Roman rule in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, and its aftermath into the 6th century. The term "sub-Roman" was originally used to describe archaeological remains such as potsherds found in sites of the 5th and 6th centuries, and hinted at the decay of locally made wares from a previous higher standard that had existed under the Roman Empire. It is now more often used to denote this period of history instead. The term Post-Roman Britain is also used, mainly in non-archaeological contexts.***Post Roman Saxon influence.Although the culture of Britain in the period was mainly derived from Roman and Celtic sources, there were also Saxons settled as foederati in the area, originally from Saxony in northwestern Germany, although the term 'Saxon' was used by the British for all Germanic incomers. Gradually the latter assumed more control (see Anglo-Saxon England). The Picts in northern Scotland were outside the applicable area.Following its foundation in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of 1.4 km (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 tribe under Boudicca forced the garrison to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the defeat of Boudicca by the Roman Military Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus the city was rebuilt as a planned town and recovered within about a decade. During the later decades of the first Century Londinium expanded rapidly, becoming Great Britains largest city. By the turn of the century, Londinium had grown to perhaps 30,000 or 60,000 people, almost certainly replacing Camulodunum (Colchester) as the provincial capital and by the middle of the second century , Londinium was at its height. Its forum and basilica were one of the largest structures north of the Alps when the Emperor Hadrian visited Londinium in 122. Excavations have discovered evidence of a major fire that destroyed most 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.Statue in Modern London showing Queen Boudica of the ICENI Tribe who led a successful rebellion against Roman power in Britannia.Boudica’s Iceni warriors ransacked the garrison town of Colchester, and also Verulamium (Modern day St Albans), and she then burnt down the roman Military Governors headquarters basilica.She and her armies spent that summer looting around Roman settlements. This proved a fatal error militarily, because it permitted the Roman Governor to return from battles against Welsh Druids in Wales, bringing with him a fast moving light cavalry force, which helped to evacuate London and took many Romans to Verulamium (St Albans). In fact, Queen Boudica did arrive in Londinium, finding it almost entirely empty and deserted, and she burnt it down. Burnt London Roman pottery dating from this year has been found in support of this. Also curiously, Anglo Romano British roundhouses nearby were “spared” perhaps on purpose by her.Please click the Museum link below for more of this story from London’s ancient History.https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/application/files/1214/5433/9990/queen-boudica-in-london.pdfShe also destroy’d in another a very large part, possibly up to 80 percent, of the Roman Ninth HISPANA Legion (Spanish men drafted to work for the romans as troops in Britain).Inscriptions have been found, including on an old gateway, bearing their name in Ruins in Modern day England.Rome’s legions got as far as China. Perhaps the mad Emperor Nero “rewarded” their unswerving loyalty with undertaking a mad cap mission into unexplored China following the already known silk road. Incidentaly, its worth remembering at this point, the dead female roman gladiator was found to have been wearing a dress of the very finest Chinese silk, when she was buried by her friends in Londinium…..Rome definitely knew China, and there are wall paintings in Pompeii Italy, depicting men and women in the city wearing Chinese clothes….(its mentioned in another of my article answers on Rome).its just the sort of scheme the insane Nero was capable of….right up his “street”. DNA Tests of Chinese people with green eyes show they may be descendants of Roman legionaries.It fits the time slot for the Ninth to “disappear”.Latin features and other typically Roman type races , show up as DNA and morphological traces amongst some Chinese people. Are these men and also women truly descendants of the lost legion?Chinese sources since 1950, have been saying there are definite traces of roman descent in at least one area of China, now felt to have actually be founded in or around 104 BC. Please click Url link below to read more.DNA tests show Chinese villagers with green eyes could be descendants of lost Roman legionRoman general Crassus might not have been alone in his defeat in China….others may also have gone to China…Legio IX Hispana. Legio Nona Hispana (Ninth Spanish Legion ) was a Roman legion which operated from the 1st century BC until mid-2nd century AD. But simply “disappeared” !!!The Roman Legion, ‘The Ninth Hispana’ has evoked a great deal of Literary and recent Film Mystery. It can be confirmed with certainty only from the Military legion records of Rome, found carved onto Trajan’s Column, that this famous Army Group marched into History sometime between AD 108 and 165 AD. Some say it perished in Scotland, others that the soldiers were transferred elsewhere in the Empire. Records are many, but incomplete, and uncertain. Certainly though, they suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Queen Boudica the Iceni and the Tronovantes tribes, who formed a large part of her Britannic Army in the rebellion against roman rule.The Trinovantes (or Trinobantes*) were one of the Celtic tribes of pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex and Suffolk, and included lands now located in Greater London. They were bordered to the north by the Iceni, and to the west by the CatuvellauniThe Battle of Camulodunum, also known as the Massacre of the Ninth Legion, was the major military victory of the Iceni and their allies over an organised Roman army during the revolt of Boudica against the Roman occupation of Britain. A large vexillation of the Legio IX Hispana were destroyed by the rebels. While attempting to relieve the besieged colonia of Camulodunum (Colchester, Essex), legionaries of the Legio IX Hispana led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis, were attacked by a horde of British tribes, led by the Iceni. Possibly 80% of the Roman foot-soldiers were killed in the battle. The event is recorded by the historian Tacitus in his Annals.Above. The area in general where Queen Boudicas victory over the Ninth Hispana took place near Camulodunum (Modern day Colchester in Essex county) .This was a gross insult and affront to the roman Military power and to Caesar’s rule and personal authority himself. It required severe punishment or Roman reprisals. The imperial roman eagle was torn down by an Brittannic Iceni Mob, and Rome then sent legions which finally destroy’d her Armies and quelled the rebellion.One determined woman gave roman Military authority a nasty surprise; Queen Boudica is always remembered.Battle of Watling Street.The precise location is not known, but most historians place it between Londinium and Viroconium ( Wroxeter in Shropshire ), on the Roman Road now known as Watling Street. This name for the road originated in Anglo-Saxon times, thus the modern name of the battle is anachronistic as well as being somewhat speculative.The principal roman road became nicknamed Wattling Street. Somewhere here, Queen Boudica made her final last stand against the Armies of Rome. In fact her forces outnumbered Roman Army prestige in the region, though she suffered defeat….Click URL Link below for more about Queen Boudica and the battle.The Success of the Roman Republic and EmpireThe final confrontation…..The decisive battle ending the Boudican Revolt took place in Roman Britain in AD 60 or 61 between an alliance of British peoples led by Boudica and a Roman army led by Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. Although heavily outnumbered, the Romans decisively defeated the allied tribes, inflicting heavy losses on them.Is Celtic Birdlip Grave the Final Resting Place of Queen Boudicca?Over a century ago, a group of workmen stumbled upon three ancient Celtic graves near Birdlip in Gloucestershire, England. The central grave contained the remains of a woman, along with a hoard of treasures, including a bronze mirror described as one of the finest items of Celtic art to survive today. A number of scholars have suggested that the grave may be the long lost resting place of Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni tribe, a Celtic clan which united a number of British tribes in revolt against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire in 60-61 AD.Artefacts found in the tomb believed to be of Iceni Queen Boudica.In 60 AD life changed dramatically for Boudicca, with the death of her husband. As Prasutagus had ruled as a nominally independent, but forced ‘ally’ of Rome, he left his kingdom jointly to his wife and daughters, and the Roman emperor., who was then Emperor Nero. However, Roman law only allowed inheritance through the male line, so when Prasutagus died, his kingdom was annexed, the nobles were taken as slaves, Boudicca was publicly flogged, and their daughters were raped. This would prove to be the catalyst that would see Boudicca demanding revenge against the brutal invaders of her lands.There have been excavations at or near Birdlip in Gloucestershire, the link here takes you to a very excellent Academic professional report of ONE of those archaeological excavations, it is in a professional black and white format. Click here on the Url to see the report then made by CHARLES PARRY. Dated 1987 to 1988.http://www.bgas.org.uk/tbgas_bg/v116/bg116025.pdfHere lies the earthly remains of Queen Boudica and her two daughters, Isolda and Siora. Roman Historian Tacitus clearly said that she escaped after the battle and fled with her daughters to another part of the country, where she took poison drank from a poisoned chalice and died.“Isolda.”Isolda ferch Prasutagus Daughter of Queen Boudica of the Iceni Tribe..Isolda ferch Prasutagus (42-61 AD) was the first daughter of the Iceni king Prasutagus and his wife Boudicca. On Prasutagus' death in 60 AD, his Roman overlords violated his will by plundering his kingdom, deposing his nobles, and by allowing for Isolda and her sister Siora ferch Prasutagus to be raped as Boudicca was flogged. Boudicca and her daughters committed suicide when the Iceni Revolt was crushed in 61 AD.Above. Queen Boudica centre, with Isolda and Siora her two daughters. They were much wrong’d by Emperor Nero and his Britannia based soldiers….“Ut notum mihi et tibi est melior quam amavit et perdidit nunquam amavit umquam omnino "………………………………..Translation from Latin.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. Sometime between 190 and 225, the Romans built a defensive wall around the landward side of the city. Along with Hadrian's Wall and the Roman road network this wall was one of the largest construction projects carried out in Roman Britain. The London defensive stone wall survived for another 1,600 years and broadly defined the perimeter of the old City of London.EPILOGUEA Strange and unusual tale.Some years ago, the author himself encountered several people, who had claimed through Mediumship contacts, that they had been raped by roman soldiers in a “past life” in England. They all claimed that the roman Centurion they had known was a good man, a good soldier to them, but that his “men” had carried out a terrible act of barbarity under the influence of strong drink during his enforced absence on other duty’s. Upon his return the Centurion found the three women had been raped and a terrible tragedy ensued….He denounced against his men’s behaviour. He survived the ensuing disorder and later returned to Rome.It was also claimed by some, though quite of course impossible to PROVE, that the author was the actual reincarnation of that roman centurion whose men broke discipline long ago. Was this the origin of the iceni rebellion? Only the sands of time can now tell.Curiously, when he was a very young man, a woman from Gloucester gifted him a ring engraved with the helmet and head of a roman centurion…..Above. Over many years and at different times and places, some claimed the author shown above, served as a Roman centurion in Britannia, and that he had the great miss fortune to have been “in charge” (though not present at the time) when soldiers , drunk, from his Military “Century” raped three women….Through recent research, (not then known when the story was first told to him) a link to a roman family from antiquity has been discovered, though dating not from the time of Nero. This neither proves nor disproves anything, so it will never be established through any scientifically approved methods;The author is descended from the Sygarii family, a rare case through the Bishop Arnulf of Metz, for a descent from Antiquity from imperial Rome. From soldier and senator Flavius Afranius Sygarius.So it is quite possible the authors ancestors served Rome in Britain at some time.A ring similar to one like this was gifted to the author when young by a woman from Gloucestershire. Its a Modern piece of jewellr’y, no marvel. But the later discoveries and events in the authors life led to some strange stories surfacing of a long ago past involving Rome his serving soldiers in his “Century,” and Britain and three women…..Curiously, too, the author has ALWAYS HATED the Roman Emperor NERO all his life, when studying history, he had always felt a deep anger and disgust for Nero.Nero gave the order for the rape and public humiliation of Queen Boudica…..Nero also burned Rome and placed the blame on all the Christians, resulting in terrible bloodshed and violent disorder. Nero died at the hands of his own soldiers the Praetorians.One of the authors roman ancestors did get promoted to office within the praetorian Guard.Translation into Modern English of the latin“To have known and to have Loved and lost is better than to have never ever Loved at all".*** The term “Saxon” was used to describe all non English new comers from Germanic origins.