Roman London’s Port Became Redundant In The Third Century AD
A series of changes that contributed to the redundancy of London’s port took place during the period of wider disruptions known as the ‘Third-Century Crisis’ - a time of political instability, plague, barbarian invasion, and economic turbulence. The utility of the term ‘crisis’ has recently been questioned, given the variations of circumstance, but in many spheres the problems were acute.
The Third-Century Crisis
The historical narrative tends to start with the assassination of the emperor Severus Alexander in 235 AD, after which there was a rapid succession of brief reigns and damaging frontier wars. In the north-west provinces matters reached a breaking point around 258 AD, when the Emperor Gallienus weakened control of the Rhine frontier by transferring troops to Pannonia. Franks and Alemanni from beyond the Rhine, who had been a threat throughout the 250s AD, used this opportunity to raid deep into Gaul. Order was restored by troops commanded by Postumus, who then rebelled from Gallienus’ rule to establish a Gallic Empire (Imperium Galliarum) that divorced Gaul, Britain and Spain from the rest of the empire for some 15 years.
Bust of Emperor Gallienus in the Romano-Germanic Museum of Cologne. (Mid- the third century AD) (Public Domain)
