Anyone arriving at Tower Hill Station to visit the Tower of London might be puzzled to see a statue of a Roman Emperor next to be what appears to be the remains of an old stone wall.
The wall is more easily explained. It is part of the remains of a fortified Wall that was built by the Romans to protect London (then called Londinium) in about AD 200. The wall, mostly gone now, spread its arms around the old city and was about 2.5 miles in length and in its heyday, an impressive 8 feet (2.5 metres) thick and a mighty 20 feet (6 m) high.
Exactly why it was built is subject to debate. Some say it was built to protect London from attacks from early Anglo-Saxon pirates who were trying their luck on these shores. Another theory is it was built because of the fear that Picts, a fierce Scottish tribe from Caledonia had overwhelmed the defences on Hadrian’s Wall along the England/Scotland border, and were hell bent on attacking London.
Many believe however it was built by the Roman Governor at the time, Clodius Albinus, who seeing the turmoil going on in Rome, decided to proclaim himself Emperor, and then as an afterthought, construct a wall around Londonium to consolidate his power. (It didn’t help him in the end. He took his army to Gaul to take on the ruling Emperor Septimus Severus and got totally annihilated in the process!)
Either way, the remains of the wall leave us with a tantalising glimpse of Roman London. The walls were built with Kentish ragstone which was brought up by barge from Kent along the Thames (called Tamesis by the Romans – dark river). Interesting Fact: In 1962 archaeologists discovered a sunken Roman barge, complete with its cargo of Kentish ragstone, at the bottom of the Thames near Blackfriars Bridge.
So, leaves the question who is the Roman Emperor next to the wall? You might think it must be our very own, the ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful Roman Governor Clodius Albinus. Good guess but wrong.
Could it be Emperor Hadrian who came to Britain in AD122 and had a thing about building Roman walls (he built Hadrian’s Wall in the north). Wrong again. Maybe its Claudius, who was the emperor at the time of the Roman Conquest of Britain in AD45. Nope.
It turns out to be the Roman Emperor Trajan who ruled Rome between AD98-117. Heard of him? Neither had I until I looked him up. Turns out he’s considered one of the best and most pious of all the Roman Emperors, often described as one of the ‘five good emperors’.
His connection with Britain? None. The only reason why he’s here is a local reverend, affectionally called Tubby Clayton, admired him so much he asked The Tower Hill Improvement Trust to erect a statue to Trajan, and in 1980 they duly obliged.
One little teaser to leave you with. Little is known of the sculptor, but the story goes that the statue was rescued from a scrapyard in Southampton and if you go up and give him a good look, his head doesn’t actually fit his body!