Hadrian’s Wall
After visiting Britain in 122, Hadrian ordered a fortified wall across the island from the Tyne to the Solway Firth; built by three legions in about six years, it became the northern frontier of the empire.
- Date
- 122 – c. 128start: year known; end: year known, approximate · duration: ≈ 6 years
- Place
- Hadrian’s Walltoday: Northumberland and Cumbria, England · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Hadrian, Roman Empire
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Vallum Aelium; Адрианов вал
The wall ran for about 117 km (73 miles) from Wallsend on the Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway, with a small fort (milecastle) every Roman mile, turrets between them and larger forts along its line. It was built by soldiers of the II Augusta, VI Victrix and XX Valeria Victrix legions. It controlled movement across the frontier as much as it defended the province; its exact purpose is still debated.
Under Antoninus Pius the Romans advanced to a new turf wall between the Forth and the Clyde (begun about 142), but in the 160s they returned to Hadrian’s Wall, which remained the frontier until the end of Roman rule in Britain. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84 · Western and Central Europethe northern frontier of the conquered province
Related events
- Trajan’s Parthian campaign114–117 · Middle East and EgyptHadrian turned from conquest to guarding fixed frontiers
- End of Roman rule in Britain383–410 · Western and Central Europethe frontier of Roman Britain until its end
Same participants
- Antonine Plague165–180 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire
Adjacent events in the thread
- Ptolemy’s Almagestc. 150 · Middle East and Egypt
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Trajan’s Dacian Wars101–106
Middle East and Egypt
- Trajan’s Parthian campaign114–117
- Ptolemy’s Almagestc. 150
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Hadrian's Wall
- Wikipedia (Russian): Вал Адриана
- Breeze D. J., Dobson B. Hadrian’s Wall. — 4th ed. — London: Penguin, 2000.
- Wikidata: Q57357