Hadrians Wall
Hadrian’s Wall was not meant to be an absolute barrier against a full scale barbarian invasion from the north. Rather it defined the limits of Roman power, providing a means to regulate the flow of commerce and peoples between the Roman province of Britain and the barbarian lands to the north, as a barrier against barbarian raids, and to establish peace and security in the region. The gates through the Wall served as customs posts in order to provide a means to tax commerce flowing through them.
Construction of the Wall was conducted by soldiers from all three of the legions then occupying Britain. The route of the Wall took advantage of the terrain to maximize its strength. In part it followed the rock escarpment known as the Great Whin Sill.
When finished, within ten years after it was started, the Wall consisted of a limestone barrier about five to six meters high and two and a half meters wide, except for a section west of Irthing which was built of turf and was six meters wide and three and a half meters high. Later, the turf wall was replaced by one built of sandstone with the same dimensions of the limestone barrier east of Irthing
Small forts called milecastles were built along the Wall spaced about one Roman mile apart. .These forts, which guarded gates through the Wall, had garrisons of a few dozen auxiliary soldiers each and had a pair of high turrets which were used for observation and for signaling with other forts along the Wall. There were also between fourteen and seventeen larger forts that contained garrisons of five hundred to a thousand troops each. Small towns arose around these larger forts, feeding off of the commerce inherent in the care and feeding of hundreds of Roman soldiers. Only auxiliary troops, consisting of non Roman citizens, manned Hadrian’s Wall. The legions remained in their garrisons to the south.
South of the main wall, a ditch was created running parallel to the Wall, about six meters wide and three meters deep, bound by a berm on either side ten meters wide. Beyond the berms was an earth bank about six meters wide by two meters high. Causeways crossed over the ditch at regular intervals. A glacis or artificial earthen slope was built north of the Wall, along with another ditch with sharpened, wooden stakes designed to slow any assault on the Wall. The total garrison of the Wall was probably about ten thousand, with infantry along the Wall in the forts and cavalry units stationed at either end.
Hadrian’s Wall actually was abandoned for a time during the reign of Antoninus Pius, who built another wall about 160 kilometers north, in the middle of modern Scotland. This position proved to be untenable and was abandoned by Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian’s Wall remained the northern limits of the Roman Empire from 164 until the end of Roman Britain in the fifth century.
Hadrian’s Wall suffered its first real test in the year 180 and again between the years 196 and 197 during an upsurge in barbarian raids. The Emperor Septimus Serverus savagely suppressed the northern British tribes in the early third century and established a peace that lasted for the rest of that century.
By the end of the fourth century, the decline of the Western Roman Empire had taken its toll. In 410 the Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain and the defense of the Wall fell to local Britains. There is some evidence that the Wall was occupied in this way for several generations throughout the fifth century. But eventually, Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned and fell into ruin.
For the next fifteen centuries, parts of the Wall were used as building material. But some parts of Hadrian’s Wall remain. The Wall is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England. Large parts of it can be seen by hiking along it. There are itineraries for those who want to see the Wall by car and tours available by bus. It remains a reminder of the glory that was Rome, nearly two thousand years ago.
