Name the biggest historical monument in Britain. It's not the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, or any of the countless castles, cathedrals, or Churches that dot the English countryside- it's Hadrian's Wall. Built starting in 122 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the intent was to secure the border of the Roman Empire from the marauding 'barbarians' north of the line, in modern day extreme northern England and Scotland (the wall is not the modern border between England and Scotland, but it's somewhat close).
The Wall tells the story of this impressive achievement, though be warned- the majority of the book is leading up to the construction. It starts when Rome first set foot on the island- during the reign of Julius Caesar, more than 170 years before Hadrian. Moffat briefly takes the reader through Roman occupation of the island, speeding through the Emperors (and their victories and trials in conquering Britain). The story of Rome in Britain is one of oscillating imperial focus- many emperors, when they first came to power, would make conquest a priority (as a show of their strength- both in Britain and elsewhere), then settle down and consolidate as the ever-increasing size of the empire grew unmanageable. So, in the book, you see various landings and invasions of the southern part of the island, and once their place is secure, oscillating periods of expansion towards the north, and consolidation of the winnings. This takes place over decades, even centuries. Legions come and go, sometimes swelling to suppress insurrection or increase holdings, sometimes waning as other parts of the empire require their services.
Eventually, the empire goes into a cycle of consolidation, and Hadrian decides in 122 to construct a wall from coast to coast. 73 miles long, it took about 5 years to build, and it was all done by one man with a shovel. Just kidding- it took an estimated 30,000 men to build it. As impressive as that is, there's more. It wasn't just the wall. They dug a defensive ditch immediately on the north side of the wall, to increase the height, and another ditch well south of the wall, about 7ft deep and 6ft wide, to prevent tribes from attacking (easily) from that direction. The wall and ditch formed a ribbon snaking through the countryside- a military zone. Seems like something they'd use for a long time, right? Get this- they manned it (at first) for only 20 years, and then decided to build another wall about 70 miles north. This one, made out of earth, took a lot less time (it was half as long), and was the result of another period of conquest. They called this one the Antonine Wall. Then, predictably, it grew problematic, so they fell back to Hadrian's Wall, and used it to varying degrees, with varying success, for the next several centuries (they'd return to the Antonine Wall, too, during the aforementioned periods of conquest- it was all a back-and-forth affair). Rome fell apart in the 400s, and it appears that, by 410, most of the island was abandoned by Rome to fend for itself, and predictably, the wall fell into disrepair. Over the centuries, the stone in many areas was taken and used for local buildings, so that parts have disappeared entirely. There are some nice ruins, though- I'll review them in a later post.
This book is chock-full of information. Lots of information about the Roman empire and tidbits of trivia regarding Roman (and British) life abound. You'll learn a lot, but a good deal of it will not concern the wall- it just helps put it in context. It's an impressive structure, and you'll appreciate that after reading this. On the negative side, the book throws out so many names and dates, it seems impossible to really absorb it all- just focus on the gist of the information. Also, be prepared for digressions, to discuss random (but interesting) trivia. In short, if you're interested just in the construction of the wall, then other books would be better, but if you want more of a history of the wall (and Rome in Britain), with good context, this is for you.
Rating: B
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