Since my year began in London it makes sense to start there. London is a pretty amazing city. Its history spans at least 2,000 years to the creation of Londinium by the Romans. There isn't much left from those times. Fortunately, London itself has a number of amazing places to visit. From the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace to Big Ben... The number of recognizable landmarks is endless! Unfortunately, I missed most of them. Perhaps I'll go back at a later date but for now all I've seen is Trafalgar Square and the exteriors of a lot of buildings. And the British Museum but I'll get back to that.
So what is there in London that would interest a Classics student?
These are a surviving section of the original Roman walls of Londinium. It is fairly easy to spot this due to the statue of Trajan in front of them. They are located between the Underground Station and this:
So what is there in London that would interest a Classics student?
Londinium Walls
The Tower of London is built right on the old Roman wall. I can only assume that the wall was still being used in Saxon times or else they would have built it elsewhere. That is common elsewhere in Britain so it wouldn't be surprising to find that it is true here as well.
What else needs to be said about one of the most recognizable buildings in the world? It's right next to the Parliament building and within easy walking distance of Trafalgar Square. It's basically the center of the city so starting here you can go in either direction to see the sights. A brief warning: Distances in London may seem short, but it may take a surprisingly long time to get anywhere. I made that mistake on my first day, walking from Trafalgar Square to the Tower of London arriving only just in time to watch them close. Everything closes early in England and like many other places the Tower is closed by 5 PM.
A very large and distinctive concert hall. Located just south of Hyde Park to the west of Buckingham Palace.
Also called the Millenium Ring it is the biggest Ferris Wheel in Europe and was put up during the millenium celebrations. Very nicely lit at night.
51°30'35.49"N, 0° 4'33.94"W
Cleopatra's Needle
This is an Ancient Egyptian obelisk from Alexandria. One of three by that name, the other two being in New York City and Paris. The years have not been kind to it. Though still looking better than the one in Manhattan, the needle shows definite degradation from when it was first installed in 1878. Despite being named after Cleopatra the obelisk is from the time of Tuthmoses III with later additions from Ramesses II. Surrounding the needle are these two sphinxes which are imitations of Egyptian ones.
Modern London
Most of the monuments and buildings in London are medieval or later. Some of the more impressive ones are quite recent indeed. Big Ben was only finished in 1858, Trafalgar Square in 1845, Buckingham Palace in 1705, and the entire city is filled with Victorian architecture.
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace
The home of the Queen. This building is located on the other side of a lavish garden to the west of Parliament. I believe that they offer tours but I never had time to find out. The gardens themselves are also worth checking out.
Royal Albert Hall
The London Eye
The British Museum
The main attraction for any Classics student should be the British Museum. It is filled with artifacts that have been, ah, "borrowed" from other nations. A surprising amount of the world's most famous artifacts are on display here. This is also why other countries tend to be so touchy about foreign archaeologists shipping artifacts out of their countries.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Caracalla
The interior is amazing. I've never seen anything quite like it. It is essentially three buildings forming a rectangle with the interior courtyard covered by a ceiling. The overall impression is that you are outside on some foreign planet. Very cool.
The Egyptian Room
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
The Babylonian Room
The entrance to the Babylonian rooms. There is a vast amount of wall carvings and statues in here. I have to wonder how much is still left in Babylon and the Sumerian citadels. These cities are located in Iraq and Iran so this is one of those cases where removing them for their own protection is probably justified. Every time there is unrest in that region the archaeological sites and museums get looted. Even Egypt with their far more developed antiquities departments and security have problems with looting.
These wall sculptures take up the majority of the room. There are an awful lot of them, generally showing some city being sacked. I was surprised to note that there are rather more items in the Babylonian rooms than in the Egyptian ones. I guess that English archaeologists were on the forefront of Middle Eastern archaeology while they had to share Egyptian artifacts with other Europeans. Certainly England controlled Mesopotamia for a while after the Turks left.
The Greek Room
Somehow they managed to take an entire temple out of the country and fit it in here.
More Elgin Marbles
Alexander the Great
Pericles of Athens
Part of the Elgin Marbles. These were originally on the Parthenon but British treasure hunters tore them down and donated them to the museum. Ask a Greek Archaeologist what they think of that. There is an entire room in the Acropolis Museum in Athens sitting empty waiting for these to be returned.
More Elgin Marbles
Alexander the Great
The Roman Room
Unknown member of the Julio-Claudian family. A nude equestrian statue. This statue is on display in the main interior courtyard.
Bust of Vespasian. I think of the room where these statues were as the Imperial Room. It is filled with statues of almost every emperor for the first 200 years of the Empire. It includes several more from later as well as a collection of coins. These are very good quality statues and some of them are the most frequently used ones for illustrations. This statue of Vespasian for example is generally the one used in history books to illustrate the man. I have a biography of him with just this bust on the cover.
Titus
Trajan
Hadrian
Antoninus Pius
Marcus Aurelius
Caracalla
Ancient Britain Room
The Sutton-Hoo Helmet. An ancient Anglo-Saxon helmet from the 600s found in a grave. Probably the most famous and iconic artifact from that era.
One of the Vindolanda letters. These everyday letters were found in the supply fortress of Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall preserved in mud. They have several of them on display here.
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