# London Revisited: Mosaics, Archers and a Walled Garden

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/london-revisited-mosaics-archers-and-a-walled-garden
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/london-revisited-mosaics-archers-and-a-walled-garden.md
Podcast: [Close Readings](https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264)
Published: 2026-02-23T11:14:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB2129891313.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/LRB2129891313.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/close-readings-6008264/episodes/london-revisited-mosaics-archers-and-a-walled-garden
Duration seconds: 1123

## Resource

After Roman London was hit by a catastrophic fire in about 125 AD, perhaps the result of another local revolt, it entered a new period of sophistication which saw the emergence of elaborate townhouses for its mercantile and administrative elite, richly embellished with mosaics and wall paintings. But the city had stopped growing, and when a devastating plague arrived in about 165 AD, which may well have been Europe’s first encounter with smallpox, it was probably already on a long slow decline caused by its diminishing importance as a trading hub. To continue Roman London’s story to its eventual fate as an abandoned walled garden, Rosemary Hill is joined again by Dominic Perring, author of 'London in the Roman World', to consider what objects such as a Greek spell found on the Thames foreshore, and a small bronze archer found in Cheapside, can tell us about the fortunes of the city, and why the construction of the London Wall in the early third century marked a terminal transformation of its role in the Roman Empire. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applesignuplr Other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/scsignuplr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/close-readings-6008264/episodes/london-revisited-mosaics-archers-and-a-walled-garden/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/close-readings-6008264/london-revisited-mosaics-archers-and-a-walled-garden.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.