Vallum Hadriani – Historia

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'Having completely transformed the soldiers, in royal fashion, he made for
Britain, where he set right many things and - the first to do so - drew a wall
along a length of eighty miles to separate barbarians and Romans.' (Aelius
Spartianus The Augustan History, Hadrian 11.1)
Devised by emperor Hadrian during his visit to Britain in AD122. His visit had
Brigantes tribe of northern Britain, and the need was seen to separate this
war-like race from the lowland tribes of Scotland, with whom they had allied
against Rome during recent troubles.
"Symbol.“
"Tax collection.“
"To keep the Scots out.“
"To keep out the Picts.“
"Control of the population, symbol of power.“
"Hadrian needed to mark the northern limit of the empire.“
"Defence & keeping legions busy to avoid idle minds planning rebellion.“
"Mark the northern edge of the empire, control of local populations, sign
of Roman might.“
"Because they recognised their limitations and wanted to draw a line
around their empire.“
"Mainly for defensive reasons to protect the empire from attacks as they
were unable to conquer the north.“

"To represent Roman culture in the north Britain, and as Hadrian said, 'to
make peace' between different cultures and people.“

"To keep the barbarians under control from the north and also to keep
the men occupied while they were far from home. A statement of
superiority.“

"To protect their empire from the 'wild' scots and to control traffic
between the Roman Empire and Scotland, and also to show how
powerful and mighty Hadrian was."
• Hadrian's Wall is 117 kilometres long and is built in stone. In places it is six
meters high and three meters wide - enough for two soldiers to do sentry
 duty side-by-side. Every Roman mile (about 1500 meters) a mile-castle was
built which housed twenty soldiers. Turrets guarded by soldiers were built
every 500 meters.

• Major forts such as the one at Housesteads, were built along the wall at
every Roman Mile (8 km) These could accommodate between 500 and
1000 Roman soldiers. House steads had a hospital, granary, barracks,
workshop and washroom/toilets built. Stored grain was kept dry by the use
of a hypocaust - this way, soldiers always a reasonable supply of food. A
Roman road called the Stanegate was built to supply the soldiers based at
Hadrian's Wall.

• All the building was done by the Roman soldiers themselves. They were

trained to do this and the army had its own skilled engineers who designed
the wall. That so much of the Wall has survived is a testament to their
building skills.

• The Picts nearly destroyed the wall three times but on every occasion it was
rebuilt by the Romans. For nearly 250 years, Hadrian's Wall was patrolled
and guarded - right on the very edge of the Roman Empire
- (Roman hypocaust systems allowed hot air to circulate beneath the floor and
through the walls of buildings. Floors were raised on brick columns (pilae) or, as in
this case, trenches were cut below the floor to allow the hot air through)

- The Romans began building the wall in 122 A.D.

- The Romans built it because they were afraid that the people of the north
might attack them. The wall was built between Roman Britain and Scotland.
- It took about 14 years to complete Hadrian's Wall. The largest structure
ever made by the Romans.
- Hadrian’s Wall was built on the orders of the Roman emperor Hadrian. It
was constructed by three legions of soldiers.
Housesteads is the best-known fort on Hadrian's Wall, and is one of the most
iconic sites of the Roman Empire. Perched high on its ridge, the remains convey
the spirit of the past as well as the beauty of the present.

Along with Chesters, it was one of the permanent forts added to the Wall around
AD 124, as part of a second plan for the new frontier. Known to the Romans as
'Vercovicium', 'the place of effective fighters', Housesteads was garrisoned by
around 1,000 infantry (generally Tungrians from what is now Belgium), later
reinforced by Germanic cavalry.