Southwark Roman Mausoleum
About
Archaeologists working near Borough Market in 2022 uncovered the most intact Roman mausoleum ever found in Britain, its interior floor and mosaic still standing on a raised platform where burials once rested. More than eighty surrounding graves held copper bracelets and glass beads belonging to the Roman community of Southwark. The largest mosaic panel dates to the late second or early third century CE, placing the mausoleum's main construction phase after that point. It had not yet been built when Trajan died in 117 CE.
What happened here
The tomb is built where the traffic is: on the road out of town, facing the carriageway, close enough to read at walking pace. That is the design brief. Inside there may be a single chamber for one family or niches for dozens, with cremation urns or, increasingly, bodies laid out. Outside there is a portrait, an inscription giving the dead their offices and their years, and often a bench, because visitors come back. The family returns on the anniversary and at the February festival of the dead, brings wine and food, and eats a meal at the graveside. Endowments are left to keep it up and lawsuits follow when they are not honoured. A grand tomb is the last public building a family gets to commission.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →