BUILDING HADRIAN’S WALL
How the Roman Empire used artful engineering and widespread influence to forge this snaking wall across Britain
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
After its invasion of Britain in 43 CE, the Roman Empire continued to expand and conquer territory in the north. By 122 CE the empire ruled all of Britain except for Caledonia – a historical area covering most of modern-day Scotland – and northern England. To prevent further attacks from Caledonian warriors, referred to as barbarians by the Romans, Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a barrier to separate the territories and keep their conquered land safe. This would become known as Hadrian’s Wall, and the main structure consisted of a 73-mile wall with 80 forts called milecastles, 17 larger forts called cohort castles and two lookout turrets per milecastle to ensure that the entire stretch was under surveillance at all times.