HADRIAN'S WALL

It was in the dense forests of free Germany when emperor Augustus lost three legions, 18,000 men, due to an attack by the local tribes. It was then that the emperor advised his successors to keep the Roman Empire within its limits. 

Of the established Roman frontiers, Hadrian's Wall in northern England and the Antonine Wall in Scotland are amongst the best preserved. These two Roman frontiers show us the way to a history, where imperial power was at its peak and demonstrate where it went wrong for the Romans in Britain, and in the whole of the Empire...

The emperor Hadrian visited Britannia in AD 122 and ordered his generals to build a wall from the Tyne to the Solway, to prevent raiders from the north destroying the strategic Roman base at Corbridge, in Northumberland.

Hadrian’s Wall was 80 Roman miles long - about 73 modern miles or 117 km. It was built in 5 mile stretches, with seventeen forts. Smaller forts called ‘milecastles’ were built every mile and between these were signal turrets. 

Building the wall was a huge undertaking; it took 15 years to build, and sons followed fathers into guarding the wall. Eighteen thousand soldiers worked on it, and 4 million tonnes of stone were used.  It served as a frontier for several Roman incursions into Caledonia. 

Much of Hadrian's Wall was about 10 Roman feet wide - 3m or 9.7 modern feet. It stood about 5 to 6 metres tall (16 to 20 feet). 

By AD 367 the wall was attacked by an alliance of tribes as part of the‘Barbarian Conspiracy’.  The Roman peace – ‘Pax Romana’ - was restored for a short time, but by AD 400 the Empire which had stretched from Newcastle to the Nile was in crisis and the frontier was abandoned.

Mile castles on Hadrian's Wall had gateways, where soldiers could check who was coming and going.

Remains of a 'mile castle' on Hadrian's Wall. The Romans built 80 of these little forts along the Wall, one every Roman mile (about 1480 metres).

Portchester was one of the forts the Romans built to guard the coast of Britain. 
This is what it probably looked like in Roman times.

Lunt Fort (Coventry) is a modern reconstruction of a Roman fort. This photo shows a side view of the wooden walls and gate. 




After all the reading and watching about Hadrian's Wall try to complete the following tasks below:
A MERIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO COMPLETE THIS CORRECTLY