The Antonine Wall
While most people have heard of Hadrian’s wall, which was begun in 122 AD at the behest of Emperor Hadrian, fewer people are familiar with the Antonine wall, which was constructed on the orders of his successor, Antonius Pius. The Antonine wall is a turf wall built by the Roman legions, starting in 142 AD, across the belt of Scotland from the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth. With a length of 39 miles, the wall was on average ten feet high and sixteen feet wide. To further augment the defenses, the Romans dug out a deep ditch on the north side and built a wooden palisade along the top of the wall. The wall took twelve years to build and included 19 forts. We have visited both Bar Hill, and Rough Castle, which is the best preserved Read more…
Birdoswald Roman Fort
Birdoswald is the most well-preserved of any of the 16 forts along Hadrian’s Wall. The wall here was begun in turf around 122 AD, some of which is still visible today. Then, starting in the 130s, the wall was rebuilt in stone 50 meters to the north. Today the wall at Birdoswald is the longest surviving contiguous portion of Hadrian’s wall. In addition to the turf wall and later stone wall, visible remains at Birdoswald also include the headquarters building, granaries, barracks, and the only exercise and drill hall found in a Roman auxiliary fort. Birdoswald was occupied from 122 until approximately 400 AD, primarily by soldiers from Dacia, now modern day Romania. The Roman policy was to recruit soldiers from people they’d conquered and then send them to faraway places. In so doing, they severed the soldiers’ connection with Read more…
Housesteads Roman Fort
Housesteads Roman Fort is located midway along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. One name for it is Vercovicium. The fort is one of fifteen built along Hadrian’s Wall and the most complete example of a Roman fort in Britain. It was built within the first decade after the wall was begun in 122 and was garrisoned by 800 men until the 4th century AD. The men who manned the fort were Roman auxiliary forces, composed of infantry and cavalry raised from the conquered peoples of the empire. Still visible today are the remains of the walls, barracks, hospital, and the best preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain. Note the absence of running water. Housesteads was completely dependent upon rainwater for its supply. Housesteads does not relate directly to my books, but when Meg time travels to Hadrian’s Wall, she lands Read more…
Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s Wall “was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire. It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between. There was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum, another ditch with adjoining mounds. It is thought that the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the wall’s defensive military role, its gates may have been used as customs posts.[1] A significant portion of Read more…
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