Roman Wall (1956)

[Music] Hrien became emperor of Rome in AD 117. By this time, Roman expansion had reached its height, and he ruled a vast empire stretching from Africa to Britain, the Rine, the Danube, and the Euphrates. Like Augustus, Hadrien believed that further expansion would weaken the empire and that consolidation was now needed. This was put into effect by building frontier barriers from the Rine to the Danube. And in Britain, a new boundary marked the extent of Roman rule. This was Hadrien's wall. To the north of this wall lay the wild country of Calonia. To the south, beyond the hills, lay Roman Britain. Let us try to reconstruct this wall and find out something of the men who built and defended it. When completed, the wall was 80 Roman miles long, equivalent to 73 of our miles, and it ran from the tine, where Wall's end now stands to the Sway F. It was built of stone and was about 15 ft high with battlements on the north a further 5 ft high. The effective height therefore was approximately 20 ft. In front of it to the north was a large ditch and in front of this again the earth taken from it was piled up to form a mound nicely sloped to the north to afford no cover to an enemy. Behind the wall to the south was another large earthwork known as the Valum. It consisted of a ditch and two mounds of earth constructed from the material taken from the ditch. The vellum was not made for defense purposes. It merely marked the boundary of the military zone. The area between the mounds which were 100 Roman feet apart was cleared and the ditch running along its axis provided a formidable obstacle. In this model we can see the south mound, the track which provided lateral communication, the ditch and the mound. The wall was faced with squared stones. Between the facings, the space was filled in with rough stones set in mortar made from local limestone. In this diagram, we can see the squared facings and between them the core of rough stones in mortar. At intervals along the wall, the Roman soldiers built forts. These forts housed the main garrisons defending the wall. Between the forts at intervals of a mile were smaller buildings, the mile castles. These housed the small patrolling garrisons. Between each pair of mile castles were two turrets. These turrets were small signaling towers manned day and night by soldiers from the mile castles working in watches. The troops garrisoned in the mile castles defended the wall while the men in the larger forts dealt with the enemy. The Roman method of defense was not merely to repulse attacks from the wall itself, but to send forces out to attack the enemy. Meanwhile, behind the wall and out of sight of the foe, they could gather their forces and make a mile castle was most convenient. If possible, they developed a pinser movement which drove the enemy against the wall and its ditch. For this reason, the forts and mile castles had gates to the north as well as to the south. The cavalry and infantry came from distant parts of the empire to man the wall. To the north, the soldiers looked across wild and barren country. This was the land of the barbarians. To the south lay the Roman province, a land of marshes with a scattered romanized population. Buildings in the towns were in the Roman style and occasionally copied the finest examples of Roman architecture. The Roman peace encouraged a life of cultured prosperity. The Britain themselves skilled craftsmen quickly assimilated the crafts of Rome. The Roman soldier had to be a versatile character, equally able to conduct a military campaign or build a fort, a granary or a road. The soldiers themselves built the wall, each unit of 80 men being allocated a length of about 45 yards. Inscriptions mark the end of each section. And this one tells us that the centuria of Valerius Maximus built a section of the wall. This one names the centuria of Sorio. Let us discuss the buildings associated with the wall in greater detail. The mile castles which housed the patrolling troops had barrack and stores accommodation for between 25 and 50 men as well as a gate to the south. Each one had a gate to the north. The forts, of which there were 16 along the length of the wall, accommodated either 500 or 1,000 men. This is a model of Husted's fort, which held 1,000 infantry. Long barrack buildings occupied the east and west ends of the fortified area. In the center was the headquarters building from which the regiment was administered. On one side of it were the granaries in which food supplies for a year were stored. On the other side was the commanding officer's house, a family dwelling built around a garden court to ensure privacy. All the forts had four wide main gateways with double portals in order that the garrison might deploy quickly in making a sally. The final aspect of the organization of the wall to which we have not yet referred is that of communications. A road running behind the wall to connect forts and mile castles replaced the former track along the valley. A footpath led off to each turret. This road was linked to two great lines of communication. the road to York and the other to Chester, both important Roman garrisons. Thus, the Sixth Legion at York or the 20th Legion at Chester could reinforce the wall in an emergency, although the regular function of these roads was the transport of supplies in conditions of peace. Finally, we see in this reconstructed drawing what a typical section of the wall must have looked like with the area of the vellum between the two earn mounds cleared and the wall and its earthworks running away into the distance. Today, nearly 1600 years after the last Roman soldier left it, much of the wall remains. We can still trace the ditch in front of the wall in many places. And behind it, to the south, the outline of the earthworks of the Valum. Remains of some of the Roman buildings are still to be found. And here are portions of the granaries at Hosted's Fort. The supports for the raised floor, allowing air to circulate beneath it, are still in place. The masonry of this turret stands yet some 13 or 14 courses high. As you look first to the east and then to the west and trace the long line of the wall winding for miles from end to end of perilous ledges and climbing from hill to hill. As you turn north to the long flat wastess and pathless mosses, the vision of a great empire rises. Here on the uttermost limits of the Roman world, the desolate land has been stamped forever with a sign of its former lords. [Music] On these high emoars, we can realize almost more clearly than in the forum of Rome the secret of that defense by which Rome guarded the fabric of civilization through the centuries. [Applause]