#AntonineWall

[whencyclopedia]

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall (known in antiquity as the Vallum Hadriani or the Vallum Aelian) is a defensive frontier work in northern Britain which dates from 122 CE. The wall ran from coast to coast at a length of 73 statute miles (120 km). Though the wall is commonly thought to have been built to mark the boundary line between Britain and Scotland, this is not so; no one knows the actual motivation behind its construction but it does not delineate a boundary between two countries.

While the wall did simply mark the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain at the time, theories regarding the purpose of such a massive building project range from limiting immigration, to controlling smuggling, to keeping the indigenous people at bay north of the wall. The wall continued in use until it was abandoned in the early 5th century CE.

Purpose

The military effectiveness of the wall has been questioned by many scholars over the years owing to its length and the positioning of the fortifications along the route. The argument goes that, had the wall actually been built as a defensive barrier, it would have been constructed differently and at another location. Regarding this, Professors Scarre and Fagan write,

Archaeologists and historians have long debated whether Hadrian's Wall was an effective military barrier…Whatever its military effectiveness, however, it was clearly a powerful symbol of Roman military might. The biographer of Hadrian remarks that the emperor built the wall to separate the Romans from the barbarians. In the same way, the Chinese emperors built the Great Wall to separate China from the barbarous steppe peoples to the north. In both cases, in addition to any military function, the physical barriers served in the eyes of their builders to reinforce the conceptual divide between civilized and noncivilized. They were part of the ideology of empire. (Ancient Civilizations, 313)

This seems to be the best explanation for the underlying motive behind the construction of Hadrian's Wall. The Romans had been dealing with uprisings in Britain since their conquest of the region. Although Rome's first contact with Britain was through Julius Caesar's expeditions there in 55/54 BCE, Rome did not begin any systematic conquest until the year 43 CE under the Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 CE).

The revolt of Boudicca of the Iceni in 60/61 CE resulted in the massacre of many Roman citizens and the destruction of major cities (among them, Londinium, modern London) and, according to the historian Tacitus (56-117 CE), fully demonstrated the barbaric ways of the Britons to the Roman mind.

Boudicca's forces were defeated at The Battle of Watling Street by General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus in 61 CE. At the Battle of Mons Graupius, in the region which is now Scotland, the Roman General Gnaeus Julius Agricola won a decisive victory over the Caledonians under Calgacus in 83 CE. Both of these engagements, as well as the uprising in the north in 119 CE (suppressed by the Roman governor and general Quintus Pompeius Falco), substantiated that the Romans were up to the task of managing the indigenous people of Britain.

The suggestion that Hadrian's Wall, then, was built to hold back or somehow control the people of the north does not seem as likely as that it was constructed as a show of force. Hadrian's foreign policy was consistently “peace through strength” and the wall would have been an impressive illustration of that principle. In the same way that Julius Caesar built his famous bridge across the Rhine in 55 BCE simply to show that he, and therefore Rome, could go anywhere and do anything, Hadrian perhaps had his wall constructed for precisely the same purpose.

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[omniatlas]

NEW MAP: Europe 210: Severus’ invasion of Caledonia (21 August 210) https://buff.ly/2ViV6Sa By 207 Septimius Severus felt the need to deal with the growing power of the Maeatae and Caledonians in northern Britain and traveled there with his son Caracalla. Marching beyond Hadrian’s Wall, Severus reestablished the Antonine Wall but was unable to pacify the region before his death in early 211. Now more concerned with the succession, Caracalla abandoned his father’s gains and returned to Rome. #210 #210s #ancientrome #antoninewall #cartographer #spqr #europe #europeanhistory #historic #historical #historie #historisch #historylesson #historylover #historymatters #parthia #septimiusseverus #caracalla #mapa #maps #romanemperor #caesar #hadrianswall #roman #romanempire #romanhistory #romans #caledonia #romanbritain #newmap (at Antonine Wall) https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5DaqcgyB8/?igshid=o8lp8519u0i0

[photosbyjez]

A section of the #antoninewall at Tollpark https://www.instagram.com/p/CN6tBEzsYDP/?igshid=1umyxz1nxvhkz

[4652paces]

Gone and joined the GoPro club - testing the hdr settings of the Hero 7 Black, not too bad for Instagram #goprohero7 #goproscotland #hero7 #black #Scotland #AntonineWall https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnMiVSFYMT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nak7e0g1uhn4

[golfhistorictre-blog]

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First #tour of the week. Decided to drop into #kinneilhouse for a wee photo stop. Lovely historic building and on the site of the #antoninewall the northern border of the #romanempire. #trghe https://golfhistorictre.wixsite.com/trghe (at Kinneil Estate)

[timrichards82]

Just some Roman defence pits. The norm. #antoninewall #earthwork #frontiersofromanempire #romans #scotland #unesco #lilas #roughcastle (at Rough Castle Fort)

[wildeyedsoutherncelt]

Many have heard of Hadrian's Wall, but there is another famous Roman wall located in Scotland: The Antonine Wall. The fascinating #WorldHeritageSite of the Antonine Wall, once the most northern frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain, today offers great walking routes surrounded by nature. This three to four meters high stone and turf fortification stretches for nearly 60km across the Central Belt of Scotland between the towns of Bo’ness on the Firth of Forth and Old Kilpatrick on the Firth of Clyde, and is a popular site. Despite the passage of time, substantial lengths of the wall survived. The best preserved stretch of ditch, the 8km long Watling Lodge, is set in attractive countryside with oak woodland in Falkirk. Visitors can walk the wall admiring the stunning nature surrounding it, roaming like the #Romans once used to, or just simply enjoying the peace and fresh air. The photo shows a field to the west of the 15th-century Kinneil House ( west of Bo'ness in east-central Scotland), where you can see the only example of Antonine Wall fortlet remains still visible today. The fortlet is marked out by original stone kerbing of its ramparts and part of the rampart of the #AntonineWall, which served as the north wall of the fortlet. Stone paving fills out the areas where original stonework has not survived. Timber posts mark out the location of Roman period post-holes, which give an indication of the gateways to the fortlet and its internal buildings. #KinneilHouse is now in the control of Historic Scotland, and provides easy access to the Antoine Wall fortlet.

[tailormadeitineraries]

The Antonine Wall, the small brother of Hadrian's Wall, runs through the grounds of Callendar House. #falkirk #antoninewall #tailormadeitineraries #willjourney #welltravelled #passportexpress #passionpassport #dametraveler #travel #vacation #wanderlust #travelblogger #worldplaces #travelling #explore #scotlandlover #scotlandsbeauty #visitscotland #loves_scotland #igersscots #insta_scot #ig_scotland #instascotland #insta_scotland #igersscotland #loves_united_scotland #scotlandsites #scotspirit #travelingram #callendarhouse (at Antonine Roman Wall)

[whencyclopedia]

Roman Britain

Britain was a significant addition to the ever-expanding Roman Empire. For decades, Rome had been conquering the Mediterranean Sea – defeating Carthage in the Punic Wars, overwhelming Macedon and Greece, and finally marching into Syria and Egypt. At long last, they gazed northward across the Alps towards Gaul and ultimately set their sights across the channel (they believed it to be an ocean) into Britannia. After Claudius' invasion in 43 CE, part of the island became a Roman province in name, however, conquest was a long process. Constantly rebellious and twice reorganized, it was finally abandoned by the Romans in 410 CE.

Britain before Rome

At the time of the Roman arrival, Britain (originally known as Albion) was mostly comprised of small Iron Age communities, primarily agrarian, tribal, with enclosed settlements. Southern Britain shared their culture with northern Gaul (modern-day France and Belgium); many southern Britons were Belgae in origin and shared a common language with them. In fact, after 120 BCE trading between Transalpine Gaul intensified with the Britons receiving such domestic imports as wine; there was also some evidence of Gallo-Belgae coinage.

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[whencyclopedia]

Legions of Britain

After the Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 CE) successfully conquered Britain in 43 CE, four legions were left there to maintain the peace: XIV Gemina, II Augusta, IX Hispana, and XX Valeria Victrix. However, by the end of the decade, XIV Gemina was replaced by II Adiutrix.

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[omniatlas]

NEW MAP: Europe 142: Principate of Antoninus Pius (26 Apr 142) https://buff.ly/39DHPYI Hadrian died in 138 and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius. Antoninus’ 22-year reign was the most peaceful of all the Roman emperors, with no known major revolts or wars. However, he did expand Roman power by extending the frontier in Britain to the Firth of Forth and by appointing a new king of Armenia (displacing Shah Vologases III of Parthia). #2ndcentury #ancienthistory #ancientrome #antonine #antoninewall #ancient #antoninuspius #cappadocia #cartografia #europe #europeanhistory #historian #historicalplace #historie #history #historygeek #historylesson #historylover #mapping #maps #judea #parthia #roman #romanempire #romanhistory #romans #scotland #romanbritain #hadrian #newmap (at Antonine Wall) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gqJdtgubi/?igshid=1n8q6ucorolr1

[timrichards82]

Antonine Wall at Rough Castle Roman Fort #roughcastle #antoninewall #bigditch #falkirk #romans #earthwork #unesco #scotland #frontiersofromanempire (at Rough Castle Fort)

[photosbyjez]

Long Lost Wall Covered in Daffodils

Long Lost Wall Covered in #Daffodils is my latest post for Debbie's #6WS & OWS: Lost #photography #antoninewall

Hi all 😃 I’ve somehow managed to combine my entry for Debbie’s Six Word Saturday & One Word Sunday: Lost, into one post 😂 This shot is of the old Antonine Wall as it runs through what is now Falkirk. This lost wall used to be the northern frontier of what was the Roman Empire, until they were forced to pull back to the more famous Hadrian’s Wall. This section, that has the road to Callendar…

[photosbyjez]

Wordless Wednesday July 21

This shot from an old section of the #AntonineWall near Cumbernauld, looking east is my latest post for Wordless Wednesday July 21 #photography #landscape

Old section of the Antonine Wall, looking east

[photosbyjez]

Wordless Wednesday Jun 23

This shot of the Forth & Clyde Valley from the #AntonineWall is my latest post for Wordless Wednesday Jun 23 #photography #landscape

Forth & Clyde Valley

[photosbyjez]

Giant Roman Head -- #PPAC #1

Giant #Roman Head is my entry for the first #PPAC #1 #photography #AntonineWall

Hi all 😃 My entry for the first Photographing Public Art Challenge, set this week by Marsha. This giant roman head sculpture sits on what was once the site of the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Giant Roman Head (more…)