What Is Hadrian's Wall?

to the Romans I sign no limit of things nor of time to them I have given Empire without end [Music] Hadrian's Wall [Music] Imperial Rome's defense against the marauding barbarians north of Britannia the Empire's northernmost province [Music] construction of the wall began in 122 C II under emperor hadrian and took around six years to complete crossing northern Britain from the River Tyne near the North Sea to the solway firth on the Irish Sea it is the largest Roman artifact anywhere sixteen forts were built into the wall each housing 800 soldiers typically each fort had its own stable granary hospital and toilets in between these large forts a series of gates were guarded by a smaller fault or mile castle this cross-section of the defensive structure shows the engineering skill of the ancient Romans comprised of a ditch a wall a military way and Vallum it's easy to see how it would slow invading tribes the modification of the landscape to suit Imperial Rome's purpose highlights their desire to impose their will upon the environment [Music] Hadrian's Wall was a formidable physical barrier that also served an important symbolic function in terms of the ideology of empire the Roman Empire one of the largest in history was at its most expansive in 117 C II and Emperor Trajan Roman rule extended across Africa north of the Sahara the Mediterranean Gaul the Balkans Dacia Asia Minor the Caucasus Mesopotamia and areas of jamar Nia and Britannia between 55 to 60 million people were under its rule almost a quarter of the world population at that time unlike his predecessor Trajan Hadrian didn't continue the expansionist policy less obsessed with the concept of empire without end Hadrian wanted to stabilize then consolidate the empire his foreign policy encouraged peace through strength rather than perpetual wars of conquest and once built the wall not only demarcated the Roman Empire's sphere of influence but in the Roman mind the limit of the civilized world beyond it lay the barbarians it was the line that separated order from chaos for the Romans order was represented physically in the form of infrastructure roads aqueducts and for theatres forums and temples and when open centers were established they were laid out on a grid when the Roman Empire invaded and annexed the region they wanted to conquer the people and gain territory it was a political act and the intention was to civilize the barbaric tribes romanization the assimilation of concord people into the empire occurred on a daily basis after conquering the ancient Britons and Celts the Romans introduced them to their concepts of religion law politics and economics along Hadrian's Wall military supply contracts for food and resources were given to people near the fortified camps but for the most part interaction across the divide occurred regularly gates in the war were used for commerce and trade to collect tax minimize smuggling and control immigration under Hadrian the time for war at least notionally was over and it was time for peace [Music] Hadrian's Wall serve many purposes but perhaps its most important purpose was as a physical reminder of the intangible might and power of the Roman Empire it reinforced Rome's supreme confidence that they could go anywhere and do anything [Music] you [Music]

Channel: ClickView

Views: 63,780

Keywords: Hadrians Wall, what is Hadrians Wall, British History, Medieval history, history, United Kingdom, Emperor Hadrian, Britannia, Roman Empire, Ancient History, teaching resources, classroom resources, history resources, history videos

Id: __qgHhgaZnk

Length: 5min 35sec (335 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 04 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/LordJim11]

Nice. Home turf. Walked the length when I was 17 (almost, the first eight miles were through Newcastle and although there are visible remains I wasn't going to haul a back-back from Wallsend when I lived a mile from the start of the good bit.) Four nights in the tent. Me and a mate.

At 18 I spent a season digging at Vindolanda, an administrative and civilian fort three miles south of the Wall. Found quite a few horse bones. It all counts. These days it's an impressive site with a really nice tea-room. Excellent cheese scones.

If you get up there, happy Hexham is the best base and The Milecastle is the best pub on the central, best preserved section. Great food. Strong on game, but they cater to veggies as well. I usually go for the smoked salmon (local catch). Any of you get up here, lunch and a pint is on me.

[u/Squrlz4Ever]

This is probably the best short video I've seen on the topic. Great post.