DOI: 10.53084/2220-9050.2025.31.1.005

A.E. Baryshnikov, L.V. Chernyshov
Experiments in Urbanism in the Northwest of the Empire: Batavodur and Londinium

Abstract: The paper compares two important urban centers of Roman Imperial North-West – Londinium (London) and Batavodur (Nijmegen). The authors outline key factors that contributed to the emergence of the towns and their subsequent fates, determine the chronology and phases of the urban development and their significance for the surrounding regions. Both towns emerged as a result of the deliberate provincial policy of Roman governors, both were severely damaged in I AD due to anti-Roman rebellions, both were very important centers of cultural and economic interaction. Nevertheless the towns were different in several important aspects such as the legal status (seems that Londinium was not granted a status of municipium), the significance for the region (Londinium was in fact a center of the whole province while Batavodur served as a center of Batavian civitas), the logic of the development (Londinium existed primarily as a trade and logistical hub while Batavodur was a military and political center).

Keywords: Roman Britain, Batavians, Londinium, Batavodur, urbanization, Roman urba nism, Roman provinces

To cite this article: Baryshnikov A.E., Chernyshov L.V. Experiments in Urbanism in the Northwest of the Empire: Batavodur and Londinium. Aristeas XXXI (2025): 94–114.

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Author:

Anton E. Baryshnikov
Leonid V. Chernyshov