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HADRIAN'S WALL

Hadrian's Wall at Milecastle

Emperor Hadrain (A.D. 76-138) ordered and oversaw the building of Hadrian’s Wall near the present-day border between Scotland and England to protect the unstable British provinces from fierce tribes such as the Caledonians, Picts and "Raiding Scots" in present-day Scotland. Hadrian's Wall was a Roman frontier built between A.D. 122 and 130. Running for 117 kilometers (73 miles) between Wallsend-on-Tyne in the east to Bowness on the Solway Firth in the west, it makes use of ridges and crags, particularly Whin Sill, and offers goods view to the north. A deep ditch reinforced some parts of it. Other parts were built on the top of cliffs.

Probably largely built by Roman troops and slaves, Hadrian’s Wall is the most lasting and famous monument left behind by the Romans in Britain and remains a powerful symbol of Roman rule. Stretching from the North Sea near the east coast town of Newcastle to the Irish Sea near Carlisle in the west, the 2000-year-old wall snakes through treeless valleys and over bluffs in a land as big as the sky. The 12 best preserved miles of the wall are located in Northumberland National Park where hills gently rise and fall like waves in a calm sea.

Andrew Curry wrote in National Geographic: “That “outermost island” was where Hadrian built the monument that bears his name, a rampart of stone and turf that cut Britain in half. Today Hadrian’s Wall is one of the best preserved, well-documented sections of Rome’s frontier. Remnants of the 73-mile barrier run through salt marshes, across green sheep pastures, and for one bleak stretch not far from downtown Newcastle, alongside a four-lane highway. Miles of it are preserved aboveground, lining crags that rise high above the rain-swept countryside. [Source: Andrew Curry, National Geographic, September 2012 ]

“More than a century of study has given archaeologists an unparalleled understanding of Hadrian’s Wall. The wall, perhaps designed by Hadrian himself on a visit to Britain in 122, was the ultimate expression of his attempt to define the empire’s limits. In most places the stone wall was an intimidating 14 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Traces of a 9-foot-deep ditch running the length of the wall are still visible today. In the past few decades excavations have uncovered pits filled with stakes between ditch and wall, one more obstacle for intruders. A dedicated road helped soldiers respond to threats. Regularly spaced gates were supported by watchtowers every third of a mile.”

Hadrian and Hadrian’s Wall

Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology magazine: “When the emperor Hadrian visited the province of Britannia in A.D. 122, he was in full command of the entire Roman Empire, which stretched some 2,500 miles east from northern Great Britain to modern-day Iraq, and 1,500 miles south to the Sahara Desert. He had become emperor five years earlier, after a controversial postmortem adoption by his predecessor and guardian Trajan, and he ruled until his death in 138, at the age of 62, likely of a heart attack. In just over 20 years, he became, according to an anonymous ancient source, the “most versatile” of the Roman emperors. He was a battle-tested solider who fought with Trajan in Dacia, a skilled politician who masterminded the consolidation of the empire’s territory, a faithful patron and lover of the arts, and a tireless traveler who visited nearly half the empire during his reign. [Source:Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2017]

“Hadrian is perhaps best known, however, as one of Rome’s most prodigious builders. In this he followed in the emperor Augustus’ footsteps as a ruler who grasped architecture’s inherent ability to express ideology and power. For most of Hadrian’s reign, the empire was at relative peace — the Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace,” was at its height. Thus he didn’t achieve the notable military victories of some of his predecessors. Instead, he turned to art and architecture as a way of legitimizing his rule, demonstrating Roman dominion, solidifying his legacy, and leaving his enduring stamp on the landscape of the empire.

“In Rome itself, the emperor sponsored numerous building projects, both to enrich the lives of its citizens and tie himself to the city’s past. At the site of the Pantheon, the spectacular domed temple in the heart of Rome that Hadrian is credited with completing, he linked his own rule to one of Rome’s most revered men, the first-century B.C. consul Marcus Agrippa — a great builder in his own right. Hadrian chose to retain the facade of Agrippa’s much earlier temple on the front of the Pantheon, while at the same time providing a new venue for the worship of all the gods. Hadrian also designed what is thought to have been the largest temple in ancient Rome, an enormous edifice honoring the goddess Venus Felix, a “bringer of good fortune,” and Roma Aeterna, or “Eternal Rome,” a double dedication whose symbolism, like the immense temple itself, was impossible to miss. Outside Rome, Hadrian displayed his personal love of all things Greek, and he combined it with the clear message that Rome was now in charge. In Athens, for example, he restored the Greek Olympieion, or Temple of Olympian Zeus, and erected a new gold-and-ivory statue to the god, but also placed four statues of himself in front of the main shrine and a large Roman-style arch at the entrance to the temenos, or sanctuary.

In the provinces, as in Rome, architecture served symbolic as well as utilitarian purposes. Hadrian sponsored the renovation of ancient cities such as Smyrna, now Izmir in modern Turkey, founded entirely new ones such as Antinoopolis in Egypt, and commissioned the construction of public architecture — theaters, temples, arches, municipal buildings, and countless statues and inscriptions — everywhere he went. These sites often exhibit a mix of local and imported styles and tastes, and brought what Duke University historian Mary Boatwright calls a “‘Roman’ visual vocabulary” to much of the empire, uniting the vast territory in a way that proclamations and policy often could not. But there was one place where the emperor thought something entirely different was required.

By the time Hadrian visited Britannia, his plan to end Trajan’s policy of extending the empire’s territory at all costs had already played out in Mesopotamia, where he had ceded newly conquered lands east of the Euphrates River and restored the border to its previous location. In this, too, he followed Augustus, who had espoused the principle that borders should be defendable, and, whenever possible, formed by natural boundaries, such as the Euphrates, the Rhine and Danube Rivers, and the Atlantic Ocean. But Great Britain has no broad rivers running through its center to delineate the border between the province of Britannia and the lands north, which were occupied by indigenous Celtic tribes with whom the Romans often came into conflict and who, early in Hadrian’s reign, were in rebellion.

“Hadrian decided that the only solution was to build a wall. There were already man-made fortifications along parts of the empire’s other frontiers, mostly constructed of timber, earth, and turf. But on no other frontier did an emperor construct a wall made almost entirely of stone — the formidable edifice now known as Hadrian’s Wall, much of which survives to this day.

Composition of Hadrian's Wall

During Roman times Hadrian’s Wall was three meters (10 feet) wide and four to four and a half meters (13 and 15) feet high— high enough so that a man standing on the shoulders of another man still couldn't reach the top. Signal stations were set up every mile and every five miles or so there was a castle. As a testimony of how much the Scots were feared 13,000 soldiers and 5,500 horsemen were positioned along the wall. To put these numbers in perspective William the Conqueror captured England with a force of only 7,000 men.

There are fortresses every mile along, and turrets at every third-of-a-mile point, with ditches and banks both north and south. Soldiers carved their names and regiments on stones to show which part of the wall they built — around 50 of them are on display at Chesters fort. [Source: Julia Buckley, CNN, May 26, 2024]

In the Roman era, a traditional fighting ditch stood on the north side of the wall. On the south side was a three-meter (10-foot) -deep, six-meter (20-foot) -wide ditch intended to keep smugglers and local inhabitants at bay. Causeways were built across these ditches at the forts. The largest fort enclosed nine acres and housed 1000 men. Each fort had a central headquarters, a chapel for storing sacred weapons, rows of slate-roofed barracks, storage granaries, cookhouses and latrines with running water large enough to accommodate 20 men at one time.

“Hadrian's Wall makes use of locally-available materials. Running for forty-five miles from the east, the Wall was built of stone. The stone wall had two outer faces of dressed stone, containing a centre of rubble. The remaining thirty-one miles of the Wall in the west was built of turf. The turf wall, constructed from turf blocks, was built either from the prepared ground or upon a bed of cobbles.” On “locally-quarried stone. Roman stone-masons have left inscriptions in the stones which describe the location of these quarries. |::|

Construction of Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian's wall was made from 25 million lunch-box-size stones. In the interior of the wall was poured mortar, and tons of rubble, dirt and gravel. The wall was built at a rate of five wall miles and one fort a year per legion. Although the wall wasn't finished until A.D. 122 most of the work was complete in three years.

Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology magazine: “Hadrian’s Wall spanned 73 miles, or 80 Roman miles, the entire width of the island, from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. At first the eastern part of the wall was built of stone, the western half of turf and timber, but the plan for the wall changed soon after it was begun. Its overall width was reduced to about eight feet, or even less in some places depending on the terrain, and the 30-mile turf-and-timber section from Bowness east to the River Irthing began to be replaced by stone, though this modification would not be completed for decades. [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2017]

“The majority of the construction was accomplished in six years, mainly by 15,000 troops from the three Roman legions stationed in Britain at the time — the II Augusta, VI Victrix, and XX Valeria Victrix — along with some members of the Roman fleet, using the ample supply of local stone as well as the natural features of the landscape, and largely without the use of mortar.

The medieval monk, historian, science writer, and theologian, the Venerable Bede, describes the wall as standing 12 feet high, although some archaeologists believe it might have once stood a few feet higher. At each Roman mile along the span, there was a fortified milecastle, and between each milecastle were two observation towers. There were also forts, likely 16 in total, spaced about seven miles apart. To augment its effectiveness and create a military zone, a 19-foot-deep by 10-foot-wide ditch with mounds flanking it, called the Vallum, was constructed south of the wall. A 10-foot-deep, 28-foot wide, V-shaped ditch was dug on the north side of the wall as an additional defensive measure. When fully manned, not by the legions that built it, but by regiments of auxiliary infantry and cavalry drawn from the provinces, at its height under Hadrian, nearly 10,000 soldiers were stationed on the wall.

Purpose of Hadrian’s Wall

Building Hadrian's Wall

Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology magazine: “Much current archaeological and historical research on Hadrian’s Wall centers on the question of its purpose. At first, this might seem obvious — if there are troublesome tribes to the north, and you want to keep them out, you build a strong defensive wall. In fact, the late-Roman author of Hadrian’s biography in the Historia Augusta states that Hadrian “was the first to build a wall 80 miles from sea to sea to separate the barbarians from the Romans.” [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2017]

But this undoubtedly biased view is not the only possible answer, and, as with his other construction projects across the empire, Hadrian likely had multiple objectives in mind. The wall was also built to keep people in, within the confines of a Roman province. It allowed the Romans to direct civilian traffic in and out of the empire, a powerful weapon in exerting economic control over those wishing to obtain access to Roman markets. Construction and maintenance of the wall provided years of work for thousands of soldiers who, particularly until near the end of the second century, had very little to do owing to the relative quiet that prevailed across the empire. Idle, bored soldiers — who are already being paid — are never a good thing. Furthermore, the Roman legions had all the expertise required to build the wall as they traveled with their own surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters.

“Beyond its practical purposes, the psychological impact of the wall must have been tremendous. For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410, Hadrian’s Wall was the clearest statement possible of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire.

“The Roman conquest of Britain began in earnest in the mid-first century A.D. Although the Romans had first come to the island a century earlier, rebellions had pulled Julius Caesar back to the continent. Britain remained free until A.D. 43, when the emperor Claudius led an invasion force of as many as 40,000 legionary and auxiliary troops. The complete subjugation of the island would take decades, but from that point on, the Roman army left its permanent mark.

“At the time of the construction of Hadrian’s Wall, there were likely about 35,000 Roman soldiers in Britain, and twice as many people associated with military installations there. Assuming a total population on the island of around one to two million people, as much as 10 percent of its inhabitants were supported by the empire. This, explains archaeologist Andrew Birley, had a tremendous impact on the environment, trade, economics, law and order, governance, and, indeed, every aspect of life. Although its effect on some segments of society, such as the native population of Great Britain, is not well understood, a great deal has been learned, particularly over the last 100 years, from excavations of sites on and associated with the wall. Hadrian’s Wall is a microcosm of the Roman world — its military strategy, building techniques, material culture, and the lives not only of its soldiers, but also of the thousands of men, women, and children who lived on the empire’s northern frontier.

Purpose of Hadrian's Wall: a Frontier Zone Not an Invasion Stopper

Andrew Curry wrote in National Geographic: “Scholars today ask a key question that must have crossed the minds of Roman soldiers shivering through long watches in the English rain: What were they doing there in the first place? The scale of the wall and its system of ditches, ramparts, and roads suggest that the enemy could be deadly. Yet reports from Vindolanda hardly portray a garrison under pressure. Aside from a few scattered clues—like the tombstone of luckless centurion Titus Annius, who was “killed in the war”—there are no direct references to fighting anywhere on the British frontier. The big building project to the north isn’t even mentioned. “You get a sense something’s up. Colossal amounts of supplies are being ordered,” says Andrew Birley, director of excavations at Vindolanda and Hadrian biographer Anthony Birley’s nephew. “But they don’t refer to the wall itself.” “ [Source: Andrew Curry, National Geographic, September 2012 ]

Hadrian’s Wall, it was long thought, was built to keep the tribes northern tribes from invading Roman Britain. It was not formidable enough to keep determined individuals out, but it was obstructive enough to halt an invading army, with its requisite supply wagons and horses. The wall also signified the limit of Roman expansion. By building it from sea to sea, the Romans admitted they did not have the resources to pacify the tribes in Scotland. The goal was to keep them at bay. In the A.D. 2nd century, the Roman Empire reached its limit and one of Hadrian’s major contributions was saying enough was enough: lets focus on keeping the existing empire together rather being compelled to constantly expand it.

According to the BBC: “The Wall was not designed to prevent movement, but rather to control it, as can be seen in the numerous gateways or milecastles which, as their names suggests, were placed at regular mile intervals along the length of the Wall. Although the Wall had a military function, and enabled watching and patrolling, over time it attracted wider settlement and trade to its forts and garrisons. [Source: BBC |::|]

Hadrian's Wall west of Housesteads

Hadrian’s Wall Infrastructure

Jarrett A. Lobell wrote in Archaeology magazine: ““Although infantry was the lifeblood of the Roman army, cavalry provided a crucial element of the Roman military system across the empire. During excavations of the barracks at Segedunum on Hadrian’s Wall, the mystery of where the horses were kept was solved. “We had never been able to identify stables in Roman forts because we were always thinking of separate stables and soldiers’ barracks,” says Segedunum archaeologist Nick Hodgson. “But since we were able to recognize the long, deep pits for the horses’ waste under the barracks’ floors, it’s universally recognized that the horses and men were accommodated together — three horses and three troopers to a room.” This allowed the men to keep a close eye on their very valuable roommates. [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2017]

“In the Roman period, the fort at South Shields, which overlooks the entrance to the River Tyne, guarded port access to Hadrian’s Wall. Several forts were built at the site, first under the emperor Hadrian, and then under Marcus Aurelius, but in the first decades of the third century A.D., the fort’s southern wall was removed and the fort’s main function as the guardian of the harbor changed. With the addition of 13 granaries to the original two that were standard — with a further six constructed later — South Shields, whose Latin name may be Arbeia, became the main supply base for the whole of Hadrian’s Wall. [Source: Jarrett A. Lobell, Archaeology magazine, May-June 2017]

Scholars believe that this repurposing of the fort was tied to the emperor Septimius Severus’ invasion of Scotland and his plan for Rome to attempt, once again, to occupy the entirety of northern Britain. As part of this effort, Severus ordered that Hadrian’s Wall be rebuilt where needed, which likely was the reason that the wall was originally identified as the “Severan Wall.” Septimius Severus’ campaign would, in the end, prove unsuccessful and be abandoned by his son Caracalla. Though originally intended to supply the tens of thousands of troops Septimius Severus brought with him for the invasion, for a century after the effort failed, Arbeia nevertheless remained a main supply base for soldiers on the wall. “This has really important implications for understanding how the Roman army provisioned itself and about its relationships with local people,” says archaeologist Nick Hodgson. “The default modern assumption has been that Hadrian’s Wall’s army got its foodstuffs from the local population, whether by taxation, requisition, or purchase. But Arbeia casts doubt on this because it suggests a continuing reliance on imported materials, perhaps from southern Britain, or even from the continent. It’s a more complicated method of supplying the army than the rather more cozy model of getting it all from local farmers.”

Vindolanda and Roman Forts Near Hadrian’s Wall

Situated a few miles behind Hadrian’s Wall was a string of forts, evenly spaced a half a day’s march apart. Each fort could house between 500 and 1,000 men, capable of responding quickly to any attacks. Housesteads Roman Fort is one the best preserved forts in the country. Located on a high ridge. It covers an area of five acres. Within its walls are a number of buildings including the fort's headquarters and commander's house, granaries, barracks, a hospital, and latrines. |::|

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was occupied by the Romans roughly from A.D. 85 to 370. Artifacts found b archaeologists have included Roman boots, shoes, armour, jewelry and coins. Perhaps the most interesting discovery has been the Vindolanda tablets, which contains letters and notes by soldiers stationed there, found in a waterlogged trash pile.

Artifacts at Hadrian’s Wall and What They Say

Julia Buckley of CNN wrote: pottery brought to the camps — from the Low Countries and North Africa — shows that the soldiers “brought their families, who cooked in traditional style.” Archaeologists have found what seems to be an ancient tagine for North African-style cooking. A tombstone from Arbeia fort for a woman named Regina shows she was a freed slave from southern Britain who was bought by — and married to — a Syrian soldier. [Source: Julia Buckley, CNN, May 26, 2024]

Another woman buried at Birdoswald fort was laid to rest with chainmail that appears to be from modern-day Poland. “Perhaps she married someone in the army,” says McIntosh, who calls the wall a “melting pot of people from all over the world under the banner of the army.” “They brought their own religions, as well as worshipping Roman gods and adopting local deities,” she adds. At Carrawburgh, a temple to Mithras — an originally Persian deity — sat near a spring with a shrine to a local water spirit.

At Vindolanda there are the remains of at least nine forts over 14 levels. “When the Romans would leave, they would knock down timber forts, and cover the area with turf and clay, sealing the layers underneath,” British Museum curator Barbara Birley told CNN. “Because it happened so many times, the bottom five or six layers are sealed in anaerobic conditions, so things don’t decay. When we get down there, we get wooden objects, textiles, anything organic.”

Vindolanda has the largest collection of Roman textiles from a single site in western Europe, as well as the largest leather collection of any site in the Roman empire — including 5,000 shoes, and even a broken leather flip-flop. “We probably had a population of 3,000 to 6,000 depending on the period, so 5,000 is a lot,” says Birley. Abdy, the shoes evoke the conditions of the wet borderlands. “Women’s and children’s shoes are hobnailed — you needed it in the mucky frontier dirt tracks. They’re very evocative.” There’s even a wig made from a local plant, hair moss, which is said to repel midges — the scourge of Scotland during the summer. A centurion’s helmet is also crested with hairmoss — the ancient equivalent of spraying yourself with insect repellent.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.

Last updated October 2024