The Tower of London has existed for over eight centuries, and long before the Conquest the site was occupied by a Roman fortification. It is the most time-honoured building in Great Britain, and probably the foremost building (not a ruin) in the world.
With so much in London that is new, it is a source of the deepest pride to every Londoner that there is a relic of the past of unequalled interest, on whose walls are written the chief incidents of the history of England. The name has long been a puzzle, but Mr. Horace Round has explained it, and thus thrown a fresh light upon the study of Norman military architecture.
There were two different kinds of fortified places during the mediæval period, viz., (1) the Roman 'castrum,' or 'castellum,' which survived in the fortified enclosure, and (2) the mediæval 'motte,' or 'tour,' which survived in the central keep. When the 'tour' coalesced with the 'castellum,' a name was required for the entire fortress. Sometimes the keep was added to the castle, and sometimes the castle to the keep. It was then a question which word should prevail,--'tour' (turris), or chastel (castellum). Generally, the word castle has prevailed, but the respective strongholds in the capitals of Normandy and England were the 'Tour de Rouen,' and the 'Tower of London.'[89]
Gray alludes to the 'towers of Julius,' and Shakespeare's reference to the place is equally erroneous:--
'_Prince Edward._ I do not like the Tower of any place, Did Julius Cæsar build that place, my lord? _Buckingham._ He did, my gracious lord, begin that place, Which since succeeding ages have re-edified. _Prince Edward._ Is it upon record, or else reported Successively from age to age, he built it? _Buckingham._ Upon record, my gracious lord.' (_Richard III._, act iii. sc. i.)
Of course, Julius Cæsar had nothing to do with the Tower, but the Roman remains that have been discovered on the site prove that this grand strategical position had been utilised from the early period of London's history.
Mr. George T. Clark writes: 'When, having crossed the Thames, the Conqueror marched in person to complete the investment of London, he found that ancient city resting upon the left bank of its river, protected on its landward side by a strong wall, a Roman work, with mural towers and an exterior ditch.'[90]