Roman London
Tee shirt and Poster

 

Why is this Tee shirt Roman?

Partly because it was bought in Rome, in 1982, on a dark, rainy evening in November, from a shop selling imported, used American clothing. At the time I lived opposite the Aurelian wall in Rome, and the shop was at the market at Porta Pia near the British Embassy, which was my local market. America was the new Rome then, and US clothes were all the rage, continuing a tradition started with the Second World War aid packages. From the All American Boy range, the shirt cost a few thousand lire, and has stood me in good stead ever since, but, as it got older, its prestige lessened until it became the tee shirt I wore for decorating. Hence the splashes of paint and cement from attempts to rebuild, often ancient, houses in Rome and Latium.

It has a series of photo applied to it, all taken in 2009 at the Barbican and at Tower Hill, showing the remains of the Roman Wall in London. Most of what you can see is medieval work, but the lowest parts are Roman. They can be identified  from their more regular shaped stones. There is also the statue of Trajan from Tower Hill.

The framed poster shows the remains of a staircase at Coopers Row behind the Grange Hotel, one of the best bits of the remaining wall.

 

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