The path of Hadrian's Wall was originally traced by a series of forts
stretching from Carlisle in the West to Corbridge in the east, a line now called
the Stanegate Frontier. The forts were built during the reigns of Domitian,
Nerva and Trajan, ca. AD 90-100. Apparently, this line failed to pacify the
region as intended, and further steps were needed.
Construction of the wall commenced ca. AD 122, right around the time of the
Emperor Hadrian's personal visit to Britannia. It is unclear whether Hadrian
brought Legio VI with him as a replacement for Legio IX Hispana, or whether it
had come over a few years earlier (ca. AD 119-121). In any case, Legio VI had
already obtained considerable experience building fortifications along the Rhine
frontier in the province of Germania and probably had a first-rate engineering
and construction team in place.
All three Roman legions stationed in Britainnia, II Augusta, VI Victrix and
XX Valeria Victrix, participated in constructing the wall, identifying their
work for posterity by means of inscriptions along its length. Below left
is an illustration by Ron Embleton showing legionaries hard at work building a
section of wall. Built entirely
of
stone (an initial turf section in the west was replaced with stone by AD 158),
the wall averaged eight feet thick and 15 feet high. A large ditch 27 feet wide
and 10 feet deep ran along the northern face. Every Roman mile was marked by a
gated opening guarded by a small fortlet called a "milecastle." Two 20-foot
towers spaced evenly between each milecastle provided a higher vantage for
observation and signaling. In addition, a series of 16 larger forts, some
of which
partially projected beyond the wall, were spaced along its length. A
crenellated parapet sentry walk may have topped the wall, but probably was not
used as a fighting platform since it faced potentially hostile tribes along both
sides. It was more likely used by regular patrols to keep an eye on and control
movements. A Roman road called the "Military Way" follows the wall along
the south side to facilitate supply and communications. A second ditch called a vallum, 20 feet wide, 10 feet deep
and with a flat bottom eight feet wide, dug some distance from the southern face
of the wall, apparently filled a twofold purpose as a boundary line for the
"militarized zone" and a literal
"last ditch" line of defense.
More than two million tons of rock and soil had to be quarried and moved to
build the wall. Although the initial construction seems to have been carried
out quickly (within four years), it was continuously modified, repaired and
strengthened over the next two and a half centuries.
Built solely by legionaries, Hadrian's Wall was occupied by auxiliaries, or
non-citizen soldiers. Their numbers included both infantry and cavalry, and
most of the milecastles and forts have stabling provisions. About 9,500
soldiers manned the wall in most periods, although manpower fluctuated
depending on the threat level. The three British legions were stationed at much
larger fortresses scattered around the province, the closest being Legio VI
Victrix's fortress at Eburacum (York) some 70 miles south of the wall. Below
left, another Ron Embleton painting shows auxiliaries patrolling the parapet
walk.
Hadrian's Wall did not mark the furthest extent of Roman control and
influence in Britain. Several attempts were made to establish Roman control
over Scotland, most notably by the great governor and general Agricola ca. AD
82-86 and by the Emperor Septimius Severus and his sons ca. AD 208-211. Each
time, the Romans determined the far north would require more manpower than it
was worth to hold permanently and settled instead for a buffer zone of control
extending perhaps 50 miles north of the the wall. Several major fortresses,
including Newstead, Carpow and Inchtuthil, were built in Scotland and occupied
for varying periods.
Surprisingly, only 15 years after the completion of Hadrian's Wall, the
Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered construction of a new wall about 80 miles to the
north, along the much shorter Forth-Clyde line. The Antonine Wall was built by
the same three British legions. but this time they used cut turf instead of
stone in its construction. Nineteen forts were built along the wall's 37-mile
length, occupied by about 10,000 auxiliary soldiers. Trouble erupted shortly
after the new wall's completion. Perhaps the Brigantes, Selgovae and other
tribes saw the removal of the southern garrison as an opportunity for revolt.
Several years of tough fighting in the AD 150s, plus reinforcements from
Germany, eventually restored the situation, but the next emperor, Marcus
Aurelius, decided the Antonine Wall was less viable than its predecessor and
ordered its abandonment. Around AD 163, soldiers evacuated the Antonine Wall,
demolishing or burning the milecastles behind them, and reoccupied Hadrian's
Wall.
A peaceful frontier still proved difficult to achieve, however. The wall
garrison came under serious attack ca. AD 180 and again in AD 196-197, when
Clodius Albinus apparently removed some of the wall garrison to take part in his
unsuccessful bid for the throne. Septimius Severus undertook so much
reconstruction ca. AD 200-211 that later generations came to think that he, not
Hadrian, had built the wall in the first place. But the Severan campaigns of AD
208-211 so weakened the northern tribes that the wall came under no further
major attack for another 70-80 years, the first sustained period of peace
northern Britain had enjoyed since the Roman conquest. For the further history
of wall and Roman Britain, see the
Legio VI History page.
Sources: Roman Britain: Outpost of the Empire by H.H.
Scullard (Thames and Hudson, 1979); Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans
by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham (Newcastle, 1984); The Roman Army
in Britain by P.A. Holder (B. T. Batsford, 1982).
