Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...
of the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor
Hadrian. Running from
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
on the
River Tyne in the east to
Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is a village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at ...
in the west of what is now
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front of it and behind it that crossed the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large
forts, smaller
milecastle
A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...
s and intervening
turrets.
In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been
customs posts.
A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining
Hadrian's Wall Path
Hadrian's Wall Path is a long-distance footpath in the north of England, which became the 15th National Trail in 2003. It runs for , from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. For most of its length it ...
. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of in northern England. Regarded as a
British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient
tourist attractions
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
. It was designated as a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1987. The turf-built
Antonine Wall in what is now central
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.
Hadrian's Wall marked the boundary between
Roman Britannia
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
and unconquered
Caledonia to the north. The wall lies entirely within England and has never officially formed the
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border () is a border separating Scotland and England which runs for between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The surrounding area is sometimes referred to as "the Borderlands".
The ...
since Roman times, though it is often loosely or colloquially described as being such.
Dimensions
The length of the wall was 80 Roman miles (a unit of length equivalent to about 1,620 yards or 1,480 metres), or 73 modern miles (117 kilometres).
This covered the entire width of the island, from Wallsend on the
River Tyne in the east to
Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is a village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at ...
in the west.
Not long after construction began on the wall, its width was reduced from the originally planned to about , or even less depending on the terrain.
As some areas were constructed of turf and timber, it would take decades for certain areas to be modified and replaced by stone.
Bede, a medieval historian, wrote that the wall stood 12 feet (4 metres) high, with evidence suggesting it could have been a few feet higher at its formation.
R. S. O. Tomlin argues that along the miles-long wall there would have been a tower every third of a mile, adding more to the dimensions of the structure, as evident by the plentiful remains of the
turrets.
Route
![Hadrian's Wall map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Hadrian%27s_Wall_map.svg)
Hadrian's Wall extended west from
Segedunum
Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, North Tyneside in North East England. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use ...
at
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
on the
River Tyne, via
Carlisle and
Kirkandrews-on-Eden, to the shore of the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
, ending a short but unknown distance west of the village of
Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is a village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at ...
.
The
A69 and
B6318
The Military Road is a name given locally to part of the B6318 road in Northumberland, England, which runs from Heddon-on-the-Wall in the east to Greenhead in the west.
It should not be confused with the Roman-built Military Way adjoining ...
roads follow the course of the wall from
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
to
Carlisle, then along the northern coast of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
(south shore of the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...
). The route was slightly north of ''
Stanegate
The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Ty ...
'', an important Roman road built several decades earlier to link two forts that guarded important river crossings:
Corstopitum
Coria was a fort and town south of Hadrian's Wall, in the Roman province of Britannia at a point where a big Roman north–south road (Dere Street) bridged the River Tyne and met another Roman road (Stanegate), which ran east–west between C ...
(
Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Etymology
Corbridge was kno ...
) on the
River Tyne and
Luguvalium
Luguvalium was a Roman town in northern Britain in antiquity. It was located within present-day Carlisle, Cumbria, and may have been the capital of the 4th-century province of Valentia.
Name
The Romans called the settlement at what is today ...
(Carlisle) on the
River Eden.
Although the
curtain wall ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of
milecastle
A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...
s and
turrets is known to have continued along the
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
coast as far as Risehow, south of
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Location ...
. For classification purposes, the milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as
Milefortlet
A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...
s.
Purpose of construction
![Hadrianswall2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Hadrianswall2007.jpg)
Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before
Hadrian's visit to Britain in 122. According to restored sandstone fragments found in
Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction".
Anthony Everitt
Anthony Everitt (born 31 January 1940)[EVERITT, Anthony Michael](_blank)
''Who's Who 201 ...
, ''Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome'' (2009), Random House, Inc, 448 pages; .
One comment on the military purpose of the wall was that, "if there are troublesome tribes to the north, and you want to keep them out, you build a strong defensive wall".
The ''
Historia Augusta'' also states that Hadrian was the first to build a wall from sea to sea to separate the
barbarians from the Romans.
However, this reasoning may not entirely explain all the various motivations Hadrian could have had in mind when commissioning the wall's construction.
On Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne in 117, there was unrest and rebellion in
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...
and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the Empire, including
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...
,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
and
Mauretania.
These troubles may have influenced his plan to construct the wall, as well as his construction of frontier boundaries now known as
''limes'' in other areas of the Empire, such as the ''
Limes Germanicus
The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier'') is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubd ...
'' in modern-day Germany. Scholars disagree over how much of a threat the inhabitants of northern Britain really presented to the Romans, and whether there was any economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the wall, rather than conquering and annexing what has become Northumberland and the
Scottish Lowlands and then defending the territory with a looser arrangement of forts.
Besides a defensive structure made to keep people out, the wall also kept people within the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
.
Since the Romans had control over who was allowed in and out of the empire, the wall was invaluable in controlling trading and the economy.
The wall also had a psychological impact:
For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410 AD, Hadrian's Wall was the clearest statement of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire.
The Wall also provided years of work for thousands of soldiers who were responsible for building and maintaining the structure, which gave the further benefit of preventing any boredom for the soldiers.
It would appear that the wall's primary purpose was as a physical barrier to slow the crossing of raiders and people intent on getting into the empire for destructive or plundering purposes.
"And so, having reformed the army quite in the manner of a monarch, he set out for Britain, and there he corrected many abuses and was the first to construct a wall, eighty miles in length, which was to separate the barbarians from the Romans." ''
Historia Augusta, Life of Hadrian'' 11.2.
Hadrian's Wall was not only a defensive structure but also a symbolic statement of Rome's imperial power marking the border between the so called civilized world and the unconquered barbarian wilderness. As the British archaeologist
Neil Faulkner explains, "the wall, like other great Roman frontier monuments was as much a propaganda statement as a functional facility".
It may be that it was not a last-stand type of defensive line, but, instead, an observation point that could alert Romans of an incoming attack and act as a deterrent to slow down enemy forces so that additional troops could arrive for support.
This view is supported by another defensive measure frequently found on the
berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...
or flat area in front of the wall: pits or holes known as ''cippi'' pits which held branches or small tree trunks entangled with sharpened branches (these were the 'cippi').
The use of such thorns and sharpened stakes was clearly an anti-personnel measure, and might be thought of as the Roman equivalent of
barbed wire.
Once its construction was finished, there is some evidence that Hadrian's Wall was covered in plaster and then whitewashed: its shining surface would have reflected the sunlight and been visible for miles around.
Construction
![Bronze head of Hadrian found in the River Thames in London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Bronze_head_of_Hadrian_found_in_the_River_Thames_in_London.jpg)
Hadrian ended his predecessor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
's policy of expanding the empire and instead focused on defending the current borders, namely at the time Britain.
Like Augustus, Hadrian believed in exploiting natural boundaries such as rivers for the borders of the empire, for example the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
,
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
.
Britain, however, did not have any natural boundaries that could serve this purpose – to divide the province controlled by the Romans from the Celtic tribes in the north.
With construction starting in 122, the entire length of the wall was built with an alternating series of forts, each housing 600 men, and manned milecastles, operated by "between 12 and 20 men".
It took six years to build most of Hadrian's Wall with the work coming from three Roman legions – the
Legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta ( Second Legion "Augustus'") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army that was founded during the late Roman republic. Its emblems were the Capricornus, Pegasus, and Mars. It may have taken the name "''Augusta''" from a victory ...
,
Legio VI Victrix
Legio VI Victrix ("Victorious Sixth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian (who, as Augustus, later became Rome's first emperor). It was the twin legion of VI ''Ferrata'' and perhaps held vet ...
, and
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix, in English Twentieth Victorious Valeria Legion was a legion of the Imperial Roman army.
The origin of the Legion's name is unclear and there are various theories, but the legion may have gained its title ''Valeria ...
, totalling 15,000 soldiers, plus some members of the Roman fleet.
The building of the wall was not out of the area of expertise for the soldiers; some would have trained to be surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters.
"Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall"
R. G. Collingwood cited evidence for the existence of a broad section of the wall and conversely a narrow section.
He argued that plans changed during construction of the wall and its overall width was reduced.
Broad sections of the wall are around nine and a half feet (2.9 metres) wide with the narrow sections two feet (60 centimetres) thinner, around seven and a half feet (2.3 metres) wide.
The narrow sections were found to be built upon broad foundations.
Based on this evidence, Collingwood concluded that the wall was originally due to be built between present-day Newcastle and Bowness, with a uniform width of ten Roman feet, all in stone.
In the end, only three-fifths of it was built from stone and the remaining part in the west was a turf wall, later rebuilt in stone.
Plans possibly changed due to a lack of resources.
In an effort to preserve resources further, the eastern half's width was therefore reduced from the original ten Roman feet to eight, with the remaining stones from the eastern half used for around 5 miles (8 kilometres) of the turf wall in the west.
This reduction from the original ten Roman feet to eight, created the so-called "Narrow Wall".
The Vallum
![Hadrian's Wall Vallum - 2007-05-19](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Hadrian%27s_Wall_Vallum_-_2007-05-19.jpg)
Just south of the wall there is a ten-foot (3-metre) deep, ditch-like construction with two parallel mounds running north and south of it, known as the
Vallum
Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart (Agger) with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch (fossa). The name is derived from '' vallus'' (a ...
.
The Vallum and the wall run more or less in parallel for almost the entire length of the wall, except between the forts of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
at the east end, where the Vallum may have been considered superfluous as a barrier on account of the close proximity of the
River Tyne. The twin track of the wall and Vallum led many 19th-century thinkers to note and ponder their relation to one another.
Some evidence appears to shows that the route of the wall was shifted to avoid the Vallum, possibly pointing to the Vallum being an older construction.
R. G. Collingwood therefore asserted in 1930 that the Vallum was built before the wall in its final form.
Collingwood also questioned whether the Vallum was an original border built before the wall.
Based on this, the wall could be viewed as a new, replacement border, built to strengthen the Romans' definition of their territory.
In 1936, further research suggested that the Vallum could not have been built before the wall because the Vallum avoided one of the Wall's milecastles.
This new discovery was continually supported by more evidence, strengthening the idea that there was a simultaneous construction of the Vallum and the wall.
Other evidence still pointed in other, slightly different directions. Evidence shows that the Vallum preceded sections of the Narrow Wall specifically; to account for this discrepancy, Couse suggests that either construction of the Vallum began with the Broad Wall, or it began when the Narrow Wall succeeded the Broad Wall but proceeded more quickly than that of the Narrow Wall.
Turf wall
From
Milecastle 49
Milecastle 49 (Harrows Scar) was a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall ().
Description
Milecastle 49 is immediately west of the gorge of the River Irthing where the Wall was carried over the river by the bridge at Willowford. The scar or cliff and hen ...
to the western terminus of the wall at Bowness-on-Solway, the curtain wall was originally constructed from turf, possibly due to the absence of limestone for the manufacture of mortar.
Subsequently, the Turf Wall was demolished and replaced with a stone wall. This took place in two phases; the first (from the River Irthing to a point west of
Milecastle 54
Milecastle 54 (Randylands) was a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall ().
Description
Milecastle 54 is on a west-facing hill-slope northwest of the village of Lanercost. There is no trace of the milecastle visible, except for some indistinct earthwork ...
), during the reign of Hadrian, and the second following the reoccupation of Hadrian's Wall after the abandonment of the
Antonine Wall (though it has also been suggested that this second phase took place during the reign of
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
). The line of the new stone wall follows the line of the turf wall, apart from the stretch between Milecastle 49 and
Milecastle 51, where the line of the stone wall is slightly further to the north.
In the stretch around
Milecastle 50TW, it was built on a flat base with three to four courses of turf blocks.
A basal layer of cobbles was used westwards from
Milecastle 72 (at Burgh-by-Sands) and possibly at
Milecastle 53
Milecastle 53 (Banks Burn) was a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall ().
Description
Milecastle 53 is west of the hamlet of Banks, Cumbria and northeast of Lanercost Priory. It lies 1520 metres west of Milecastle 52 and 1436 metres east of Milecastl ...
.
Where the underlying ground was boggy, wooden piles were used.
At its base, the now-demolished turf wall was wide, and built in courses of turf blocks measuring long by deep by high, to a height estimated at around . The north face is thought to have had a slope of 75%, whereas the south face is thought to have started vertical above the foundation, quickly becoming much shallower.
Standards
Above the stone curtain wall's foundations, one or more footing courses were laid. Offsets were introduced above these footing courses (on both the north and south faces), which reduced the wall's width. Where the width of the curtain wall is stated, it is in reference to the width above the offset. Two standards of offset have been identified: Standard A, where the offset occurs above the first footing course, and Standard B, where the offset occurs after the third (or sometimes fourth) footing course.
Garrison
It is thought that following construction, and when fully manned, almost 10,000 soldiers were stationed on Hadrian's Wall, made up not of the legions who built it but by regiments of
auxiliary infantry and cavalry drawn from the provinces.
Following from this,
David Breeze
David John Breeze, OBE, FSA, FRSE, HonFSAScot, Hon MIFA (born 25 July 1944) is a British archaeologist, teacher and scholar of Hadrian's Wall, the Antonine Wall and the Roman army. He studied under Eric Birley and is a member of the so-ca ...
laid out the two basic functions for soldiers on or around Hadrian's Wall.
Breeze says that soldiers who were stationed in the forts around the wall had the primary duty of defence; at the same time, the troops in the milecastles and turrets had the responsibility of frontier control.
Evidence, as Breeze says, for soldiers stationed in forts is far more pronounced than the ones in the milecastles and turrets.
Breeze discusses three theories about the soldiers on Hadrian's Wall. One, these soldiers who manned the milecastles and turrets on the wall came from the forts near it; two, regiments from auxiliaries were specifically chosen for this role; or three, "a special force" was formed to man these stations.
Breeze comes to the conclusion that through all the inscriptions gathered there were soldiers from three, or even four, auxiliary units at milecastles on the wall.
These units were "''cohors I Batavorum'', ''cohors I Vardullorum'', an un-numbered
Pannonian cohort, and a ''duplicarius'' from Upper Germany".
Breeze adds that there appears to have been some legionaries as well at these milecastles.
Breeze also continues saying that evidence is "still open on whether" soldiers who manned the milecastles were from nearby forts or were specifically chosen for this task, and further adds that "the balance
f evidenceperhaps lies towards the latter".
A surprise for Breeze is that "soldiers from the three British legions" outnumbered the auxiliaries, which goes against the assertion "that legionaries would not be used on such detached duties".
![Miniature statues of Roman Auxiliary Cavalry soldiers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Miniature_statues_of_Roman_Auxiliary_Cavalry_soldiers.jpg)
Further information on the garrisoning of the wall has been provided by the discovery of the
Vindolanda tablets
The Vindolanda tablets were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain (they have since been antedated by the Bloomberg tablets). They are a rich source of information about life on the northern fro ...
just to the south of Hadrian's Wall, such as the record of an inspection on 18 May 92 or 97, when only 456 of the full quota of 756
Belgae troops were present, the rest being sick or otherwise absent.
After Hadrian
![Leahill Turret 51B, looking East](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Leahill_Turret_51B%2C_looking_East._Hadrian%27s_Wall.JPG)
After Hadrian's death in 138, the new emperor,
Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatori ...
, left the wall occupied in a support role, essentially abandoning it. He began building the
Antonine Wall about north, across the
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...
running west-south-west to east-north-east. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles, or about , and had more forts than Hadrian's Wall. This area later became known as the
Scottish Lowlands, sometimes referred to as the
Central Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is the Demography of Scotland, area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in ...
or
Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
.
Antoninus was unable to conquer the northern tribes, so when
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and reoccupied Hadrian's Wall as the main defensive barrier in 164. In 208–211, the Emperor
Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...
again tried to conquer
Caledonia and temporarily reoccupied the Antonine Wall. The campaign ended inconclusively and the Romans eventually withdrew to Hadrian's Wall. The early historian
Bede (AD 672/73–735), following
Gildas
Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...
, wrote (circa AD 730):
![Weihinschrift Hadrian Jarrow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Weihinschrift_Hadrian_Jarrow.png)
Bede obviously identified Gildas's stone wall as Hadrian's Wall (built in the 120s) and he would appear to have believed that the ditch-and-mound barrier known as the Vallum (just to the south of, and contemporary with, Hadrian's Wall) was the rampart constructed by Severus. Many centuries would pass before just who built what became apparent.
In the same passage, Bede describes Hadrian's Wall as follows: "It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height; and, as can be clearly seen to this day, ran straight from east to west." Bede by his own account lived his whole life at
Jarrow, just across the River Tyne from the eastern end of the Wall at
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
, so as he indicates, he would have been very familiar with the Wall. What he does not say is whether there was a walkway along the top of the wall. It might be thought likely that there was, but if so it no longer exists.
In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline and military coups loosened the Empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the estimated
end of Roman rule in Britain, the Roman administration and its legions were gone and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. Archaeologists have revealed that some parts of the wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. It has been suggested that some forts continued to be garrisoned by local Britons under the control of a
Coel Hen
Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman or Sub-Roman ...
figure and former . Hadrian's Wall fell into ruin and over the centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings. Enough survived in the 7th century for
spolia
''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...
from Hadrian's Wall (illustrated at right) to find its way into the construction of St Paul's Church in
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey, where Bede was a monk. It was presumably incorporated before the setting of the church's dedication stone, still to be seen in the church, dated 23 April 685.
![clayton painting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Clayton_painting.jpg)
The wall fascinated
John Speed, who published a set of maps of England and Wales by county at the start of the 17th century. He described it as "the Picts Wall" (or "Pictes"; he uses both spellings). ''A map of Newecastle'' (sic), drawn in 1610 by William Matthew, described it as "Severus' Wall", mistakenly giving it the name ascribed by Bede to the Vallum. The maps for
Cumberland and
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
not only show the wall as a major feature, but are ornamented with drawings of Roman finds, together with, in the case of the Cumberland map, a
cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...
in which he sets out a description of the wall itself.
Preservation by John Clayton
Much of the wall has now disappeared. Long sections of it were used for
roadbuilding
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
in the 18th century, especially by
General Wade
Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Alliance before leading the construction of barra ...
to build a military road (most of which lies beneath the present day B6318 "
Military Road
{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The following is a list of military roads worldwide.
Australia
* Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman
* Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne
* Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just nort ...
") to move troops to crush the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...
. The preservation of much of what remains can be credited to the antiquarian
John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...
. He trained as a lawyer and became
town clerk
A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...
of Newcastle in the 1830s. He became enthusiastic about preserving the wall after a visit to
Chesters. To prevent farmers taking stones from the wall, he began buying some of the land on which the wall stood. In 1834, he started purchasing property around Steel Rigg near
Crag Lough
Crag Lough is an inland lake at the southern edge of Northumberland National Park,
north of Bardon Mill, and north of the B6318 Military Road in Northumberland, northern England. At this point Hadrian's Wall is at the top of a line of crags, t ...
. Eventually, he controlled land from Brunton to Cawfields. This stretch included the sites of Chesters, Carrawburgh, Housesteads, and Vindolanda. Clayton carried out excavation at the fort at Cilurnum and at Housesteads, and he excavated some milecastles.
Clayton managed the farms he had acquired and succeeded in improving both the land and the livestock. He used the profits from his farms for restoration work. Workmen were employed to restore sections of the wall, generally up to a height of seven courses. The best example of the Clayton Wall is at Housesteads. After Clayton's death, the estate passed to relatives and was soon lost to gambling. Eventually, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust began acquiring the land on which the wall stands. At Wallington Hall, near Morpeth, there is a painting by William Bell Scott, which shows a centurion supervising the building of the wall. The centurion has been given the face of John Clayton (above right).
Later discoveries
In 2021 workers for Northumbrian Water found a previously undiscovered section of the wall while repairing a water main in central
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
. The company announced that the pipe would be "angled to leave a buffer around the excavated trench".
World Heritage Site
Hadrian's Wall was declared a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 1987, and in 2005 it became part of the transnational "Frontiers of the Roman Empire" World Heritage Site, which also includes sites in Germany.
Tourism
![Beacons lit along Hadrians Wall (geograph 4917923)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Beacons_lit_along_Hadrians_Wall_%28geograph_4917923%29.jpg)
Although Hadrian's Wall was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, it remains unguarded, enabling visitors to climb and stand on the wall, although this is not encouraged, as it could damage the historic structure. On 13 March 2010, a public event Illuminating Hadrian's Wall took place, which saw the route of the wall lit with 500 beacons. On 31 August and 2 September 2012, there was a second illumination of the wall as a digital art installation called "Connecting Light", which was part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, London 2012 Festival. In 2018, the organisations which manage the Great Wall of China and Hadrian's Wall signed an agreement to collaborate for the growth of tourism and for historical and cultural understanding of the monuments.
Hadrian's Wall Path
In 2003, a National Trail footpath was opened that follows the line of the wall from
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
to
Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is a village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at ...
. Because of the fragile landscape, walkers are asked to follow the path only in summer.
Roman-period names
Hadrian's Wall was known in the Roman period as the ''vallum'' (wall), and the discovery of the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan (pictured below right) in Staffordshire in 2003 has thrown further light on its name. This copper alloy pan (''trulla'') from the 2nd century is inscribed with a series of names of Roman forts along the western sector of the wall: [Bowness-on-Solway] [Drumburgh] [Stanwix] [Castlesteads]. This is followed by the words . Hadrian's family name was ''Aelius'', and the most likely reading of the inscription is ''Valli Aelii'' (genitive case, genitive), Hadrian's Wall, suggesting that the wall was called by the same name by contemporaries. However, another possibility is that it refers to the personal name Aelius Draco.
Two bronze vessels that are very similar to the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan are the Rudge Cup, found in Wiltshire in 1725, and the Rudge Cup#Amiens Skillet, Amiens Skillet, found in Amiens in northern France in 1949. They also bear the Latin names of Hadrian's Wall forts round their rims, beneath which are representations of a turreted or battlemented wall, thought to depict Hadrian's Wall.
Forts
The Latin and Romano-Celtic names of all of the Hadrian's Wall forts are known, from the ''Notitia Dignitatum'' and other evidence such as inscriptions. They are listed here from east to west, in their Latin and modern English names:
*
Segedunum
Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, North Tyneside in North East England. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use ...
(
Wallsend
Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.
History Roman Wallsend
In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...
)
* Pons Aelius (
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
)
* Condercum (Benwell, Benwell Hill)
* Vindobala (Rudchester)
[The suffix "chester" reflects the presence of a Roman castra.]
* Hunnum (Halton Chesters)
* Cilurnum (Chesters Roman Fort, Chesters aka Walwick Chesters)
* Procolita (Carrowburgh)
* Vercovicium (Housesteads)
* Aesica (Great Chesters)
* Magnis (Carvoran), Magnis (Carvoran)
* Banna (Birdoswald), Banna (Birdoswald)
* Camboglanna (Castlesteads)
* Uxelodunum (Stanwix. Also known as Petriana)
* Aballava (Burgh-by-Sands)
* Coggabata (Drumburgh)
* Mais (Bowness), Mais (
Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness-on-Solway is a village in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at ...
)
Turrets on the wall include:
* Leahill Turret, Hadrian's Wall, Leahill Turret
* Milecastle 7#Turret 7B, Denton Hall Turret
Outpost forts beyond the wall include:
* Habitancum (Risingham)
* Bremenium (Rochester, Northumberland, High Rochester)
* Bewcastle Roman Fort, Fanum Cocidi (Bewcastle) (north of Birdoswald)
* Ad Fines (Chew Green)
Supply forts behind the wall include:
* Alauna (Maryport), Alauna (
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Location ...
)
* Arbeia (South Shields)
* Coria (Corbridge), Coria (
Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.
Etymology
Corbridge was kno ...
)
* Whitley Castle, Epiacum (Whitley Castle near Alston, Cumbria, Alston)
* Vindolanda (Little Chesters or Chesterholm)
* Vindomora (Ebchester)
In popular culture
Books
*''The Eagle of the Ninth'' is a celebrated children's novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, published in 1954. It tells the story of a young Roman officer venturing north beyond Hadrian's Wall in search of the missing Aquila (Roman), Eagle standard of the lost Ninth Legion. It was inspired by the bronze Silchester eagle found in 1866. The book itself inspired the 2011 film The Eagle (2011 film), ''The Eagle''.
*The Jim Shepard short story collection ''Like You'd Understand Anyway'' (2007) includes a story titled "Hadrian's Wall" which is an imagined account of a clerk living and working during the wall's construction.
* Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling contributed to the popular image of the "Great Pict Wall" in his short stories about Parnesius, a Roman legionary who defended the wall against the Picts. These stories are part of the ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' anthology, published in 1906.
* American author George R. R. Martin has acknowledged that Hadrian's Wall was the inspiration for The Wall (A Song of Ice and Fire), the Wall in his best-selling series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', dramatized in the fantasy TV series ''Game of Thrones'', in which the wall is also in the north of its country and stretches from coast to coast.
* In M. J. Trow's fictional ''Britannia'' series, Hadrian's Wall is the central location, and
Coel Hen
Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman or Sub-Roman ...
and Padarn Beisrudd are portrayed as limitanei (frontier soldiers).
* ''Hadrian's Wall'' by Adrian Goldsworthy is a short history of the wall.
Films
* The 1991 American romantic action adventure film ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' uses Sycamore Gap as a location.
*The 2011 action drama film The Eagle (2011 film), ''The Eagle'' tells the story of a young Roman officer setting out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of the Ninth Legion. The 2010 film Centurion (film), ''Centurion'' tells a similar story.
* The wall has also been featured as a major focal point of the 2004 ''King Arthur (2004 film), King Arthur'' in which one of the primary gates is opened for the first time since its construction to allow Arthur and his knights passage into the north for their quest. The climactic Battle of Badon between the Britons led by King Arthur, Arthur and his knights, and the Saxons led by Cerdic and his son Cynric are set just inside the wall.
Music
* The opening track from Maxim Reality, Maxim's first solo album ''Hell's Kitchen (Maxim album), Hell's Kitchen'' is named "Hadrian's Wall".
Television
* The seventh episode for the eighth season of the documentary television series ''Modern Marvels'' was about Hadrian's Wall.
It was released on 1 March 2001.
Poetry
* The English poet W. H. Auden wrote a script for a BBC radio documentary called ''Hadrian's Wall'', which was broadcast on the BBC's north-eastern Regional Programme in 1937. Auden later published a poem from the script, "Roman Wall Blues", in his book ''Another Time (book), Another Time''. The poem is a brief monologue spoken in the voice of a lonely Roman soldier stationed at the wall.
Video games
*Hadrian's Wall appears in ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla''. The site can be visited by protagonist Eivor of the Raven Clan during the 870s.
Board games
*A board game with the same name was released in 2021, in which you are tasked with the construction and defence of the wall. In 2022 the game was nominated for the List of Game of the Year awards (board games)#American Tabletop Awards, American Tabletop Awards in the Strategy Game category.
Gallery
File:Poltross burn milecastle.jpg, Poltross Burn, Milecastle 48, which was built on a steep slope
File:CRW 2684.jpg, Sycamore Gap (the "Robin Hood Tree", so called because it appears in the film ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'')[Sycamore Gap, a section of the wall between two crests just east of Milecastle 39, is locally known as the "Robin Hood Tree" for its use in the 1991 film ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991).]
File:Hadrian's Wall with sheep 1.jpg, Hadrian's Wall with sheep
File:Hadrians Wall with Weedkiller.JPG, Hadrian's Wall near Banna (Birdoswald), Birdoswald Fort, known to the Romans as ''Banna'', with a man spraying weedkiller to reduce biological weathering to the stones
File:Hwallcup.jpg, The Staffordshire Moorlands Pan, which may provide the ancient name of Hadrian's Wall (it reads in part VALI AELI, ie. the Wall of Hadrian, using his family name of Aelia (gens), Aelius)
File:Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall.jpg, The remains of Castle Nick, Milecastle 39, near Steel Rigg, between Housesteads and The Sill Visitor Centre for the Northumberland National Park at Once Brewed
File:Hadrians Wall 05.JPG, The remains of the southern granary at Housesteads, showing under-floor pillars to assist ventilation
See also
* Danevirke
* List of English Heritage properties, English Heritage properties
* Gask Ridge
* Hadrianic Society
* History of Cumbria
* History of Northumberland
* History of Scotland
* List of walls
* Offa's Dyke
* Scots' Dike
* Via Hadriana
References
Sources
*
* Burton, Anthony. ''Hadrian's Wall Path''. 2004. Aurum Press Ltd. .
* Chaichian, Mohammad. 2014. "Hadrian's Wall: An Ill-Fated strategy for Tribal Management in Roman Britain", in ''Empires and Walls: Globalization, Migration, and Colonial Domination'' (Brill, pp. 23–52). https://www.amazon.com/Empires-Walls-Globalization-Migration-Domination/dp/1608464229.
* Davies, Hunter. ''A Walk along the Wall'', 1974. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: London .
* de la Bédoyère, Guy. ''Hadrian's Wall: A History and Guide''. Stroud: Tempus, 1998. .
* ''England's Roman Frontier: Discovering Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall Country''. Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd and Carlisle Tourism Partnership. 2010.
* Forde-Johnston, James L. ''Hadrian's Wall''. London: Michael Joseph, 1978. .
* Hadrian's Wall Path (map). Harvey, 12–22 Main Street, Doune, Perthshire FK16 6BJ
harveymaps.co.uk*
*
* Moffat, Alistair, ''The Wall''. 2008. Birlinn Limited Press. .
*
* Speed, John – A set of Speed's maps were issued bound in a single volume in 1988 in association with the British Library and with an introduction by Nigel Nicolson as ''The Counties of Britain: A Tudor Atlas by John Speed''.
* Tomlin, R. S. O., "Inscriptions" in ''Britannia'' (2004), vol. xxxv, pp. 344–5 (the Staffordshire Moorlands cup naming the Wall).
* Wilson, Roger J. A., ''A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain''. London: Constable & Company, 1980; .
External links
In Our Time Radio series with Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, David Breeze, Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham and Lindsay Allason-Jones OBE, FSA, FSA Scot, Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle Hadrian's Wall on the Official Northumberland Visitor websiteHadrian's Wall Discussion ForumUNESCO Frontiers of the Roman EmpireNews on the Wall pathiRomanswebsite with interactive map of Cumbrian section of Hadrian Wall
Well illustrated account of sites along Hadrian's Wall
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