People and society

The social composition of Roman London is described from the evidence of written sources and archaeological finds. Burials, funerary monuments, and writing tablets identify an elite community dominated by the military and administrative establishments—surrounded by businessmen, merchants, and craftsmen—where slaves were an important presence. Many can be identified as immigrants, whose presence can also be read from the evidence of a DNA and isotope analysis. Most of these powerful foreigners wouldn’t have been citizens of London but incolae. Britons were not widely in evidence. Hybrid identities, varied patterns of consumption, and ritual and ceremonial performance are also described from the finds assemblages.