Britannia Superior (c. AD 225–50)

This chapter explores further manifestations of wealth and power in and around early third-century London, particularly evident in the rise of mystery cults and new burial practices. It starts by reviewing evidence of the expansion of the presumed suburban villa and building of a bathhouse at Shadwell c. AD 228. This was perhaps occupied by an important government official linked to the coastal supply routes later developed into the forts of the Saxon shore. Several other villas and townhouses were refurbished at this time, when the temple of Mithras was built. These and other finds reported on here attest to the popularity of a diverse range of mystery and salvation cults, with a particularly wide repertoire of Bacchic motifs. London’s later Roman cemeteries expanded as inhumation gained in popularity, and cremation became a rarer rite. The chapter describes the archaeological evidence for these changed burial practices which can also be linked to the rise of soteriological belief systems that encouraged ideas of physical resurrection. The reasons for these changed mentalities are considered in the context of the history of the period.