View source for Hadrian's Wall

{{short description|Defensive fortification in Roman Britain}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Hadrian's Wall
| image = Hadrians Wall map.svg
| caption = The location of Hadrian's Wall in what is now [[northern England]], and the later [[Antonine Wall]] in what is now the [[Central Belt]] of [[Scotland]]
| coordinates = {{coord|55|01|N|2|17|W|type:landmark_region:GB-LND|display=inline,title}}
| location = Northern England
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_date = 1987 <small>(11th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
| designation1_partof = [[Frontiers of the Roman Empire]]
| designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430 430]
| governing_body = [[Historic England]]
| owner = Various private and public ownerships
| length = {{convert|73|mi|km}}
| built = Begun 122 AD
| built_for = [[Hadrian]]
| visitors_num = 100,000+ annually
}}
[[File:Section of Hadrian's Wall 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|315px|A view of a partially-reconstructed section of Hadrian's Wall. The upright stones on top are a modern addition, to deter people from walking on it.]]

'''Hadrian's Wall''' ({{langx|la|Vallum Hadriani}}, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', '''Picts' Wall''', or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive [[fortification]] of the [[Roman province]] of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]], begun in AD&nbsp;122 in the reign of the Emperor [[Hadrian]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/hadrians-wall/hadrian%E2%80%99s-wall-facts|title=Hadrian's Wall: The Facts|date=8 March 2016|website=Visit Hadrian's Wall|language=en|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112558/https://hadrianswallcountry.co.uk/hadrians-wall/hadrian%E2%80%99s-wall-facts|url-status=dead}}</ref> Running from [[Wallsend]] on the [[River Tyne]] in the east to [[Bowness-on-Solway]] in the west of what is now [[northern England]], it was a stone wall with large ditches in front and behind, stretching across the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large [[Castra|forts]], smaller [[milecastle]]s, and intervening [[Turret (Hadrian's Wall)|turrets]].<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been [[customs]] posts.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9558984/Brian-Dobson.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9558984/Brian-Dobson.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Obituary: Brian Dobson |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=21 September 2012|access-date=22 September 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[Hadrian's Wall Path]] generally runs close along the wall. Almost all the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses.<ref name="english-lakes.com" /> None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of the footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Route Description – Hadrian's Wall Path |url=https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/hadrians-wall-path/route/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310125342/https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/hadrians-wall-path/route/ |archive-date=10 March 2023 |access-date=5 September 2023 |website=[[National Trails]]}}</ref> The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of {{convert|73|mi|1|abbr=off}}.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hart-Davis |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Hart-Davis |date=23 June 2011 |title=Hadrian's Wall: A horde of ancient treasures make for a compelling new Cumbrian exhibition |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/hadrians-wall-a-horde-of-ancient-treasures-make-for-a-compelling-new-cumbrian-exhibition-2301329.html |url-status=live |access-date=5 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829190908/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/hadrian-s-wall-a-horde-of-ancient-treasures-make-for-a-compelling-new-cumbrian-exhibition-2301329.html |archive-date=29 August 2023}}</ref> Regarded as a [[Culture of the United Kingdom|British cultural icon]], Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient [[Lists of tourist attractions in England|tourist attractions]].<ref>{{cite news |date=17 March 2010 |title=More than 25,000 people see Hadrian's Wall lit up |work=[[BBC News]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8571921.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829135202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8571921.stm |archive-date=29 August 2023}}</ref> It was designated a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |date=22 July 2004 |title=Hadrian's Wall |url=http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?wci=Node&wce=8410 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040722025655/http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?wci=Node&wce=8410 |archive-date=22 July 2004 |website=[[English Heritage]]}}</ref> The turf-built [[Antonine Wall]] of AD 142 in what is now central [[Scotland]], which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rohl |first1=Darrell Jesse |title=More than a Roman Monument: A Place-centred Approach to the Long-term History and Archaeology of the Antonine Wall |url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9458/1/DarrellRohl_PhDThesis_2014.pdf?DDD6+#page=216 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019225533/https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9458/1/DarrellRohl_PhDThesis_2014.pdf?DDD6+#page=216 |archive-date=2017-10-19 |website=Durham Theses |publisher=Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online ref: 9458 |access-date=14 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Frontiers of the Roman Empire |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809122226/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430 |archive-date=9 August 2023 |access-date=5 September 2023 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 July 2008 |title=Wall gains World Heritage status |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7494680.stm |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829190807/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7494680.stm |archive-date=29 August 2023}}</ref>

Hadrian's Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the [[Anglo-Scottish border]], though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as such.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tighe |first=Chris |date=12 September 2014 |title=Borders held dear to English and Scots |url=https://www.ft.com/content/14e09b78-3a6d-11e4-8ee4-00144feabdc0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019080612/https://www.ft.com/content/14e09b78-3a6d-11e4-8ee4-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=19 October 2022 |access-date=18 March 2017 |website=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2018 |title=Hadrian's Wall |url=https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/hadrians-wall |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829135903/https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/hadrians-wall |archive-date=29 August 2023 |access-date=17 August 2020 |website=[[History (American TV network)|History]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pearson |first=Harry |date=18 January 2023 |title=The extraordinary tale of Hadrian's Wall: 'Men have been deified for trifles compared with this admirable structure' |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/travel/the-extraordinary-tale-of-hadrians-wall-men-have-been-deified-for-trifles-compared-with-this-admirable-structure-245131 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829153731/https://www.countrylife.co.uk/travel/the-extraordinary-tale-of-hadrians-wall-men-have-been-deified-for-trifles-compared-with-this-admirable-structure-245131 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |access-date=5 September 2023 |website=[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]}}</ref>

==Dimensions==
[[File:Limes.webm|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Limes (Roman Empire)|''Limes'']] and Hadrian's Wall (Latin with English subtitles)]]The length of the wall was 80 Roman miles, equivalent to 73 modern miles; or 117 kilometres (1 Roman mile is equivalent to 1,620 yards; or 1,480 metres).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Definition of Roman mile in American English |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/roman-mile |access-date=3 April 2021 |website=[[Collins English Dictionary|Collins Dictionary]]}}</ref> This traversed the entire width of the island, from [[Bowness-on-Solway]] in the west to Wallsend on the [[River Tyne]] in the east.<ref name="Lobell 2017">{{Cite journal|last=Lobell|first=Jarrett A|date=2017|title=The Wall at the End of the Empire|url=|journal=Archaeology|volume=70|issue=3|pages=26–35}}</ref> Not long after construction began, the wall's width was reduced from the originally planned {{Convert|10|ft|m}} to about {{Convert|8|ft|m}}, or even less depending on the terrain.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Some sections were originally constructed of turf and timber, eventually replaced by stone years or decades later.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> [[Bede]], a monk and historian who died in 735, wrote that the wall stood {{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=off}} high, with evidence suggesting it could have been a few feet higher at its formation.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Along the length of the wall there was a watch-tower [[Turret (architecture)|turret]] every third of a mile, also providing shelter and living accommodation for Roman troops.<ref name="Tomlin 2018 p100-102">{{Cite book|last=Tomlin|first=R. S. O.|author-link=Roger Tomlin|title=Britannia Romana: Roman Inscriptions & Roman Britain|publisher=Oxbow Books|year=2018|location=Oxford|pages=100–102}}</ref>

==Route==
[[File:Hadrian's Wall map.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Route of Hadrian's Wall, almost from coast to coast]]
[[File:Ordnance Survey Map of Hadrian's Wall, Published 1964.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Ordnance Survey]] map of Hadrian's Wall, published in 1964. A revised and updated edition was published in 2010.]]
[[File:Hadrian's wall at Greenhead Lough.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|Sections of Hadrian's Wall still remain, particularly in its hilly central sector. Little remains in lowland regions, where it was used as a source of stone for new buildings.]]

Hadrian's Wall extended west from [[Segedunum]] at [[Wallsend]] on the [[River Tyne, England|River Tyne]], via [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] and [[Kirkandrews-on-Eden]], to the shore of the [[Solway Firth]], ending a short but unknown distance west of the village of [[Bowness-on-Solway]].<ref name="collingwood">{{cite book |first=David J|last=Breeze|author-link=David Breeze|title=John Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall |year= 2006 |publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne |orig-year=1934 |isbn=978-0901082657}}</ref> The route was slightly north of ''[[Stanegate]]'', an important Roman road built several decades earlier to link two forts that guarded important river crossings: [[Corstopitum]] ([[Corbridge]]) on the [[River Tyne]] and [[Luguvalium]] (Carlisle) on the [[River Eden, Cumbria|River Eden]]. The modern [[A69 road|A69]] and [[B6318 Military Road|B6318]] roads follow the course of the wall from [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] to [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]], then along the northern coast of [[Cumbria]] (south shore of the [[Solway Firth]]).

Part of the central section of the wall follows natural cliffs on an [[escarpment]] of the [[Whin Sill]] rock formation.

Although the [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]] ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of [[milecastle]]s and [[Turret (Hadrian's Wall)|turrets]] is known to have continued along the [[Cumbria]] coast as far as Risehow, south of [[Maryport]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Breeze|first=D.J.|author-link=David Breeze|chapter=Roman military sites on the Cumbrian coast|location=Kendal|publisher=Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society on behalf of the Trustees of the Senhouse Roman Museum, Maryport|year=2004|title=Romans on the Solway : essays in honour of Richard Bellhouse|editor1= R.J.A. Wilson |editor2=I.D Caruana|pages=66–94|series=CWAAS Extra Series|volume=31|isbn=978-1873124390}}</ref> For classification purposes, the milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as [[Milefortlet]]s.

==Purpose==
[[File:Hadrianswall2007.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|Hadrian's Wall facing east towards [[Crag Lough]] (the lake in the picture). The rocky outcrop is the [[Whin Sill]], of volcanic origin.]]
Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before [[Hadrian]]'s visit to Britain in 122. According to restored sandstone fragments found in [[Jarrow]] which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction".<ref name="Anthony Everitt">[[Anthony Everitt]], ''Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome'' (2009), Random House, Inc, 448 pages; {{ISBN|0812978145}}.</ref> On Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne in 117, there was unrest and rebellion in [[Roman Britain]] and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the empire, including [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]], [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judea]], [[Libya in the Roman era|Libya]] and [[Mauretania]].<ref name="Anthony Everitt" /> These troubles may have influenced his plan to construct the wall, as well as his construction of frontier boundaries now known as [[Limes (Roman Empire)|''limes'']] in other areas of the empire, such as the ''[[Limes Germanicus]]'' in modern-day Germany.

The novelty of the wall as a departure from traditional Roman military architecture as typified by the Roman ''limes'' has been seen as noteworthy and has led to exceptional suggestions of influence by some scholars, for example D.J Breeze and B. Dobson suggest "Hadrian may have been influenced by travellers' accounts of the [[Great Wall of China]], built some two hundred years before."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breeze, D.J; Dobson, B. |title=Hadrian's Wall |location=London |publication-date=1976 |pages=32}}</ref> This proposal has been challenged by other scholars like Duncan Campbell who argues that, though the scale and design of the wall was novel for Roman military construction, "there was a long tradition of wall-building in the ancient (Mediterranean) world upon which he could have drawn for inspiration without the inconvenience of traversing whole continents in search of a prototype."<ref>Campbell, D. B. (1989). A Chinese Puzzle for the Romans. ''Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte'', ''38''(3), 371–376.</ref>

In recent years, despite the overwhelming evidence over its 400 year manned presence, some scholars have disagreed with the established narrative over how much of a threat the inhabitants of northern Britain presented to the Romans, and whether there was any economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the wall, rather than conquering and annexing what has become Northumberland and the [[Scottish Lowlands]] and then defending the territory with a looser arrangement of forts.<ref name="Anthony Everitt"/> Hadrian and his advisers however produced a solution to their problems that remained relevant for centuries.

The primary purpose of the wall was as a physical barrier to slow the crossing of raiders, people intent on crossing its line for animals, treasure, or slaves, and then returning with their loot.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> The Latin text ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' states:

{{verse translation|lang=la
|(Hadrianus) murumque per octoginta milia passuum primus duxit, qui barbaros Romanosque divideret.
|(Hadrian) was the first to build a wall, eighty miles long, to separate the Romans from the [[barbarians]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breeze|first1=D.J.|author1-link=David Breeze|title=Hadrian's Wall|last2=Dobson|first2=B.|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2000|isbn=978-0140271829|edition=4|location=London|page=5}}</ref>}}

The defensive characteristics of the wall support interpretation, including the pits known as ''cippi'' frequently found on the [[berm]] or flat area in front of the wall.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]] gives a detailed description of the making of ''cippi'' pits in Book VII, Chapter 73 of his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'', as part of his account of his siege of [[Vercingetorix]] in [[Alesia (city)|Alesia]].</ref> These pits held branches or small tree trunks entangled with sharpened branches.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> These would make an attack on the wall even more difficult. It might be thought of as the Roman equivalent of [[barbed wire]], a measure to delay an enemy attack and hold the attackers within range of the missiles of the defenders. The curtain wall was not mainly a continuously-embattled defensive line, rather it would deter casual crossing and be an observation point that could alert Romans of an incoming attack and slow down enemy forces so that additional troops could arrive for support.<ref name="Lobell 2017" />

Besides a defensive structure made to keep people out, the wall also kept people within the [[Roman province]].<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Movement would be channeled through the gates in the wall, where it could be monitored for [[Military intelligence|information]], prevented or permitted as appropriate, and taxed.<ref name="Lobell 2017" />

The wall would also have had a psychological impact:<blockquote>For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410 AD, Hadrian's Wall was the clearest statement of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /></blockquote>

The wall was also a symbolic statement of Rome's imperial power, marking the border between the so called civilized world and the unconquered barbarian wilderness. As British archaeologist [[Neil Faulkner (archaeologist)|Neil Faulkner]] explains, "the wall, like other great Roman frontier monuments was as much a propaganda statement as a functional facility".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Faulkner |first=Neil |author-link=Neil Faulkner (archaeologist) |date=17 February 2011 |title=The Official Truth: Propaganda in the Roman Empire |work=[[BBC History]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/romanpropaganda_article_01.shtml |url-status=live |access-date=5 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829135437/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/romanpropaganda_article_01.shtml |archive-date=29 August 2023}}</ref> There is some evidence that Hadrian's Wall was originally covered in plaster and then whitewashed: its shining surface would have reflected the sunlight and been visible for miles around.<ref name="Anthony Everitt" />

==Construction==
[[File:Bronze head of Hadrian found in the River Thames in London.jpg|thumb|Bronze head of the Emperor [[Hadrian]], who commissioned the wall's construction, found in 1834 in the River [[Thames]] in London, around {{convert|280|mi|km}} south of Hadrian's Wall]]
Hadrian ended his predecessor [[Trajan]]'s policy of expanding the empire and instead focused on defending the current borders, namely at the time Britain.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Like Augustus, Hadrian believed in exploiting natural boundaries such as rivers for the borders of the empire, for example the [[Euphrates]], [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]].<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Britain, however, did not have any natural boundaries that could serve the purpose to divide the province controlled by the Romans from the Celtic tribes in the north.<ref name="Lobell 2017" />

With construction starting in 122,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breeze|first1=D.J.|author1-link=David Breeze|title=Hadrian's Wall|last2=Dobson|first2=B.|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2000|isbn=978-0140271829|edition=4|location=London|page=86}}</ref> the entire length of the wall was built with an alternating series of forts, each housing 600 men, and manned milecastles, operated by "between 12 and 20 men".<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> It took six years to build most of Hadrian's Wall with the work coming from three Roman legions – the [[Legio II Augusta]], [[Legio VI Victrix]], and [[Legio XX Valeria Victrix]], totalling   15,000 soldiers, plus some members of the Roman fleet.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> The building of the wall was not out of the area of expertise for the soldiers; some would have trained to be surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters.<ref name="Lobell 2017" />

==="Broad Wall" and "Narrow Wall"===
[[File:Hadrian's Wall, junction of the Broad Wall and Narrow Wall bases.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|The footings of the wall, showing the point at which the Broad Wall and the Narrow Wall footings meet]]
[[R. G. Collingwood]] cites evidence for the existence of a broad section of the wall and conversely a narrow section.<ref name="Couse 1990">{{Cite journal|last=Couse|first=G.S.|date=December 1990|title=Collingwood's Detective Image of the Historian and the Study of Hadrian's Wall|url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2505164|journal=History and Theory|volume=29|issue=4|pages=57–77|doi=10.2307/2505164|jstor=2505164|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He argues that plans changed during construction of the wall, and its overall width was reduced.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> Broad sections of the wall are around {{convert|9+1/2|ft|m|abbr=off|spell=in}} wide with the narrow sections {{convert|2|ft|cm|abbr=off|spell=in}} thinner, around {{convert|7+1/2|ft|m|abbr=off|spell=in}} wide.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> Some of the narrow sections were found to be built upon broad foundations, which had presumably been built before the plans changed.<ref name="Couse 1990" />

Based on this evidence, Collingwood concludes that the wall was originally to be built between present-day [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] at its eastern end and [[Bowness-on-Solway]] at its western end, with a uniform width of 10 Roman feet, all in stone.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> On completion, only three-fifths of the wall was built from stone; the remaining western section was a turf wall, later rebuilt in stone.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> Plans possibly changed due to a lack of resources.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> In an effort to preserve resources further, the eastern half's width was therefore reduced from the original ten Roman feet to eight, with the remaining stones from the eastern half used for around {{convert|5|mi|km|abbr=off}} of the turf wall in the west.<ref name="Couse 1990" /><ref name="Tomlin 2018 p100-102" /> This reduction from the original ten Roman feet to eight created the so-called "Narrow Wall".<ref name="Tomlin 2018 p100-102" />

=== Vallum ===
[[File:Hadrian's Wall Vallum - 2007-05-19.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|This ditch-like construction is a section of the [[Vallum (Hadrian's Wall)|Vallum]], to the south of Hadrian's Wall. This section is located near [[Milecastle 42]], around modern Cawfields, placing it slightly to the west of the wall's midpoint.]]
Just south of the wall there is a  deep, ditch-like construction with two parallel mounds running north and south of it, known as the [[Vallum (Hadrian's Wall)|Vallum]].<ref name="Couse 1990" /> The Vallum and the wall run more or less in parallel for almost the entire length of the wall, except between the forts of Newcastle and [[Wallsend]] at the east end, where the Vallum may have been considered superfluous as a barrier on account of the close proximity of the [[River Tyne]]. The twin track of the wall and Vallum led many 19th-century thinkers to note and ponder their relation to one another.<ref name="Couse 1990" />

Some evidence appears to show that the route of the wall was shifted to avoid the Vallum, possibly pointing to the Vallum being an older construction.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> R. G. Collingwood therefore asserted in 1930 that the Vallum was built before the wall in its final form.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> Collingwood also questioned whether the Vallum was an original border built before the wall.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> Based on this, the wall could be viewed as a replacement border built to strengthen the Romans' definition of their territory.<ref name="Couse 1990" />

In 1936, further research suggested that the Vallum could not have been built before the wall because the Vallum avoided one of the wall's milecastles.<ref name="Couse 1990" /> This new discovery was continually supported by more evidence, strengthening the idea that there was a simultaneous construction of the Vallum and the wall.<ref name="Couse 1990" />

Other evidence still pointed in other, slightly different directions. Evidence shows that the Vallum preceded sections of the Narrow Wall specifically; to account for this discrepancy, Couse suggests that either construction of the Vallum began with the Broad Wall, or it began when the Narrow Wall succeeded the Broad Wall but proceeded more quickly than that of the Narrow Wall.<ref name="Couse 1990" />[[File: Hadrians Wall from Housesteads1 crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|right|Part of Hadrian's Wall heading east from [[Vercovicium|Housesteads]] fort, showing the [[Knag Burn Gateway]] in the valley. The very flat top of the wall at centre is a sign of modern consolidation.]]

===Turf wall===
From [[Milecastle 49]] to the western terminus at Bowness-on-Solway, the wall was originally constructed from turf, possibly due to the absence of limestone.<ref name="handbookTW">{{Cite book|first=David J|last=Breeze|author-link=David Breeze|title=John Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall |edition=14 November 2006|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne|year=1934|isbn=978-0901082657|pages=55–62}}</ref> Subsequently, the turf wall was demolished and replaced with a stone wall. This took place in two phases; the first (from the [[River Irthing]] to a point west of [[Milecastle 54]]) during the reign of Hadrian, and the second following the reoccupation of Hadrian's Wall after the abandonment of the [[Antonine Wall]] (though it has also been suggested that this second phase took place during the reign of [[Septimius Severus]]). The line of the stone wall follows the line of the turf wall, apart from the stretch between Milecastle 49 and [[Milecastle 51]], where the line of the stone wall is slightly further to the north.<ref name="handbookTW" />

In the stretch around [[Milecastle 50TW]], it was built on a flat base with three to four courses of turf blocks.<ref name="CumbWest220">{{Citation | last1 = Simpson | first1 = F G | last2 = Richmond | first2 = I A | last3 = St Joseph | first3 = K | year = 1935 | title = Report of the Cumberland Excavation Committee for 1934 <!--chapter = 2. The Turf Wall milecastle at High House--> | journal = Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society | series = new series | volume = 35 | pages = 220–232}}</ref> A basal layer of cobbles was used westwards from [[Milecastle 72]] (at Burgh-by-Sands) and possibly at [[Milecastle 53]].<ref name="CumbWest262">{{Citation | last1 = Simpson | first1 = F G | last2 = MacIntyre | first2 = J | year = 1933 | title = Report of the Cumberland Excavation Committee for 1932 <!--chapter = 2. Banks Burn to Randylands--> | journal = Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society | series = new series | volume = 33 | pages = 262–270}}</ref> Where the underlying ground was boggy, wooden piles were used.<ref name="handbookTW" />

At its base, the turf wall was {{convert|6|m|ft|abbr=off}} wide, built in courses of turf blocks measuring {{convert|18|inch|cm|order=flip|abbr=in}} long by {{convert|12|inch|cm|order=flip|abbr=in}} deep by {{convert|6|inch|cm|order=flip|abbr=in}} high, to a height around {{convert|3.66|m|ft|abbr=off}}. The north face is thought to have had a slope of 75%, whereas the south face is thought to have started vertical above the foundation, quickly becoming much shallower.<ref name="handbookTW" />

===Standards===

Above the stone curtain wall's foundations, one or more footing courses were laid. Offsets were introduced above these footing courses (on both the north and south faces), which reduced the wall's width. Where the width of the curtain wall is stated, it is in reference to the width above the offset. Two standards of offset have been identified: Standard A, where the offset occurs above the first footing course, and Standard B, where the offset occurs after the third (or sometimes fourth) footing course.<ref name="handbook">{{Cite book|first=David J.|last=Breeze|author-link=David Breeze|title=John Collingwood Bruce's Handbook to the Roman Wall |edition=14th|date=2006|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne|orig-year=1934|isbn=978-0901082657|page=53}}</ref>

==Garrison==
It is thought that following construction and when fully manned, almost 10,000 soldiers were stationed on Hadrian's Wall, made up not of the legions who built it but by regiments of [[Auxilia|auxiliary infantry and cavalry]] drawn from the provinces.<ref name="Lobell 2017" /> Following from this lays out the two basic functions for soldiers on or around Hadrian's Wall.<ref name="Breeze 2003">{{Cite journal|last=Breeze|first=David J.|author-link=David Breeze|date=2003|title=Auxiliaries, Legionaries, and the Operation of Hadrian's Wall|journal=Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement|volume=46|issue=81|pages=147–151|doi=10.1111/j.2041-5370.2003.tb01980.x}}</ref> Breeze says that soldiers who were stationed in the forts around the wall had the primary duty of defence; at the same time, the troops in the milecastles and turrets had the responsibility of frontier control.<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> Evidence, as Breeze says, for soldiers stationed in forts is far more pronounced than the ones in the milecastles and turrets.<ref name="Breeze 2003" />

Breeze discusses three theories about the soldiers on Hadrian's Wall. Firstly, these soldiers who manned the milecastles and turrets on the wall came from the forts near it. Secondly, regiments from auxiliaries were specifically chosen for this role. Thirdly, "a special force" was formed to man these stations.<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> Breeze comes to the conclusion that through all the inscriptions gathered there were soldiers from three, or even four, auxiliary units at milecastles on the wall.<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> These units were "''cohors I Batavorum'', ''cohors I Vardullorum'', an un-numbered [[Pannonia]]n cohort, and a ''duplicarius'' from [[Germania Superior|Upper Germany]]".<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> Breeze adds that there appears to have been some legionaries as well at these milecastles.<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> Breeze states that evidence is "still open on whether" soldiers who manned the milecastles were from nearby forts or were specifically chosen for this task, and he adds that "the balance [of evidence] perhaps lies towards the latter".<ref name="Breeze 2003" /> However, soldiers from the three British legions outnumbered the auxiliaries, which goes against the assertion that legionaries would not be used on such detached duties.<ref name="Breeze 2003" />

==Social and economic impact==

===Unified cultural area===
By about 200 BC, long before the Romans arrived in Britannia, the zone on both sides of what would become the wall, from [[Lothian]] to the north and the [[River Wear]] to the south, had become dominated by rectilinear enclosures. These were the nuclei of extensive farming settlements at a high level of the social hierarchy, a numerous and widespread nobility; the lower orders lived in groups of round houses that left much less archaeological trace. The wall probably cut across a coherent cultural area, and it was planned and built at a time of serious warfare in Britain, which required major Roman reinforcements from outside Britannia.<ref name="BruhnHodgson2022">{{cite journal|title=The social and economic impact of Hadrian's Wall on the Frontier Zone in Britain |first1=James |last1=Bruhn |first2=Nick |last2=Hodgson |journal=Britannia |volume=53 |year=2022 |doi=10.1017/S00681113X22000241 |pages=125–157|doi-broken-date=16 June 2025 }}</ref> A tablet from [[Vindolanda]] describes a ''centurio regionarius'' who exercised direct military rule from [[Carlisle]], some 30 years after Roman conquest of the region. Nevertheless, the settlement pattern in the area did not change immediately after the wall was built, and the groups who fought the Romans may have been from previously pacified tribes to the south, or from far north of the wall.<ref name="BruhnHodgson2022"/>

The Roman soldiers of the garrison, with their families and other immigrants, may have amounted to some 22-30% of the population of the region. They could not have been supplied entirely from local resources, although any local surpluses would have been taxed or requisitioned. Military conscripts may also have been levied from nearby groups.<ref>[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae]] 1338, [[Anthony Birley]] 2001. 'The Anavionenses', in N Higham (ed.) Archaeology of the Roman Empire: A tribute to the life and works of Professor Barri Jones. British Archaeological Reports International Series S940, Oxford, pp 15-24. As referenced page 132 in {{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022}}</ref>

===South of the wall===
To the south, between the wall and the [[River Tees]], Roman-style settlements appear in the early 2nd century, very shortly after the wall was built. This is earlier than Roman villas in Yorkshire further south. [[Mortarium|Mortaria]] stamped with the name {{sc|ANAVS}} were produced at [[Faverdale]], some 80 kilometres south of the wall, and most of those found have come from the fort of [[Coria (Corbridge)|Coria]]. Anaus was probably an immigrant to the area.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|p=139}}</ref> In 150, a discharge certificate was issued to Velvotigernus, son of Maglotigernus, after 26 year's service in the [[classis Germanica]]. It was found near (not in) the Roman fort of [[Longovicium]]. Presumably Velvotigernus was from the upper echelons of British society (his father's name means 'Great master'); he chose to settle near Lanchester some 27km south of the wall.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|p=140}}</ref> This suggests the rapid development of elements of Roman culture both by the local upper classes and by immigrants either attracted by commercial possibilities or officially encouraged to settle.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|p=141}}</ref>

===North of the wall===
Northwards a very different picture emerges. A large area of what is now southern Scotland as far as Lothian, and the Northumbrian coastal plain, lost its monumental building tradition of substantial timber roundhouses and earthwork enclosures. Very little late Roman pottery has been found there. The Romans may have cleared a zone of its population, as they are known to have done on the [[Rhine]] and for ten Roman miles beyond the [[Danube]] frontier. Some sites were still occupied; the fort of [[Burnswark Hill]], previously in ruins, was re-occupied about the time that the wall was built. Possibly this represents a short-lived Roman attempt to establish a cooperative authority on this main route further north to [[Caledonia]]. Within a few years, the fort was surrounded by Roman camps and bombarded by Roman missiles. It was finally abandoned by about 140.

Other sites may have been managed by native groups, probably for the management of livestock and possibly to supply Roman requirements. Pollen evidence suggests that the landscape immediately north of the wall remained generally open, without forest regeneration until the end of Roman rule.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|pp=142–5}}</ref> At [[Eskdalemuir|Castle O'er]] an Iron Age hillfort was given an annexe and a network of ditched and banked boundaries.<ref>Mercer R 2018. Native and Roman on the Northern Frontier; Excavations and Survey in a Later Prehistoric Landscape in Upper Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. Edinburgh. As referenced in {{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|pp=145-149}}</ref> The sites at [[Pegswood]] Moor and St. George's Hospital, [[Morpeth, Northumberland|Morpeth]], also show probable stock enclosures and droveways, far less substantial than the massive Iron Age sites in the area. The site at [[Huckhoe Settlement|Huckhoe]] is the only one in this area to produce evidence of post-Hadrianic domestic residence (Roman coarse pottery, probably containers of high-prestige imported food, as late as the 3rd and possibly 4th centuries), and it may similarly have been mainly concerned with livestock management and delivery.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|pp=145–149}}</ref>

===Limited contact across the wall===
In general, and as with other Roman frontier lines, Roman coins and pottery did not move across the wall, and the wall seems to have been an effective barrier to trade. A few elite centres continued to import Roman goods, such as the post-160 samian found at [[Traprain Law]]. Ongoing exchange may have been managed at a few specific crossing points (and possibly at specific times of year). One such traditional point may be indicated by the concentration of Roman-period metal objects near [[Great Whittington]], about 2 kilometres north along a Roman road from the [[Portgate]] on the wall.<ref>{{harvnb|Bruhn|Hodgson|2022|pp=152–153}}</ref> The coins, mostly silver rather than bronze and suggesting high-value transactions, indicate activity in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, a diminution in the Antonine period when the garrison moved north to the Antonine Wall, and recovery in the later 2nd and early 3rd centuries.<ref>Collins R, Biggins J. A. [https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-3433-1/dissemination/AAseries5/AA542typeset/archael542-235-267-collins.pdf Metal-detecting and geophysical survey at Great Whittington, Northumberland]. Archaeologica Aeliana 2013. 5th series 42, pp 235-67. Accessed 19 May 2023.</ref>

==After Hadrian==
[[File:Leahill Turret 51B, looking East. Hadrian's Wall.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Leahill Turret, Hadrian's Wall|Leahill Turret]] in [[Cumbria, England]], is a typical example of the intermediate [[Turret (Hadrian's Wall)|turrets]] built into the wall between the [[milecastles]].]]
After Hadrian's death in 138, Emperor [[Antoninus Pius]] left the wall occupied in a support role, essentially abandoning it. He began building the Antonine Wall about {{convert|160|km|mi|-1}} north, across the [[isthmus]] running west-southwest to east-northeast. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles, or about {{convert|37.8|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and had more forts than Hadrian's Wall. This area later became known as the [[Scottish Lowlands]], sometimes referred to as the [[Central Belt]] or [[Central Lowlands]].

Antoninus was unable to conquer the northern tribes, so when [[Marcus Aurelius]] became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and reoccupied Hadrian's Wall as the main defensive barrier in 164. In 208–211, Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] again tried to conquer Caledonia and temporarily reoccupied the Antonine Wall. The campaign ended inconclusively, and the Romans eventually withdrew to Hadrian's Wall. The early historian [[Bede]], following [[Gildas]], wrote ({{circa|730}}):

{{blockquote|text= [the departing Romans] thinking that it might be some help to the allies [Britons], whom they were forced to abandon, constructed a strong stone wall from sea to sea, in a straight line between the towns that had been there built for fear of the enemy, where Severus also had formerly built a rampart.||Bede, ''[[Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'', Book I Chapter 12}}

[[File:Weihinschrift Hadrian Jarrow.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Two Roman inscriptions found built into [[Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey]] (now [[St Paul's Church, Jarrow]]) in 1782, mentioning [[Hadrian]] above and the [[Roman province|Province]] of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]] below. They are possibly from a dedication slab or a [[Tropaion|victory monument]] at the very eastern end of the wall.<ref>RIB 1051. Imperial dedication, romaninscriptionsofbritain.org</ref>]]
Bede obviously identifies Gildas's stone wall as Hadrian's Wall, and he appears to have believed that the Vallum was the rampart constructed by Severus. Many centuries would pass before just who built what became apparent.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 April 2021 |title=Wall of Severus |url=http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/s_wall.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829135319/http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/s_wall.htm |archive-date=29 August 2023 |access-date=12 April 2016 |website=from DOT to DOMESDAY |publisher=}}</ref>{{sps|date=September 2022}} In the same passage, Bede describes Hadrian's Wall as follows: "It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height; and, as can be clearly seen to this day, ran straight from east to west." Bede by his own account<ref>Bede, ''[[Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'', Book 5 Chapter 24, "I have spent all the remainder of my life in this monastery."</ref> lived his whole life at [[Jarrow]], just across the River Tyne from the eastern end of the wall at Wallsend, so as he indicates, he would have been very familiar with the wall. Bede does not mention a walkway along the top of the wall. It might be thought likely that there was, but if so it no longer exists.

In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline and military coups loosened the empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the estimated [[end of Roman rule in Britain]], the Roman administration and its legions were gone, and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. Archaeologists have revealed that some parts of the wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. It has been suggested that some forts continued to be garrisoned by local Britons under the control of a [[Coel Hen]] figure and former {{lang|la|[[dux]]}}. Hadrian's Wall fell into ruin, and over the centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings. Enough survived in the 7th century for [[spolia]] from Hadrian's Wall (illustrated at right) to find its way into the construction of St Paul's Church in [[Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey]], where Bede was a monk. It was presumably incorporated before the setting of the church's dedication stone, still to be seen in the church, dated 23 April 685.<ref>''The Buildings of England: County Durham'' by [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] and Elizabeth Williamson (1985 edition), p.338. The inscription reads: {{sc|DEDICATIO BASILICAE SCI PAVLI VIIII KL MAI ANNO XV ECFRIDI REG CEOLFRIDI ABB EIVSDEMQ Q ECCLES DO AVCTORE CONDITORIS ANNO IIII}}. This translates as "The dedication of the church of St Paul on the ninth before the [[kalends]] of May [23 April] in the fifteenth year of King [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]] and the fourth year of [[Ceolfrith]], abbot, and with God's help the founder of this church". (''St Paul's Church Jarrow'', undated guidebook by Peter Hiscock, p. 4.)</ref>

[[File:clayton painting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''Building the Roman Wall'' by [[William Bell Scott]], at [[Wallington Hall]]; the face of the centurion is that of the antiquarian [[John Clayton (Newcastle)|John Clayton]]. The painting might imply that the wall was built by slaves, which it was not.]]

The wall fascinated [[John Speed]], who published a set of maps of England and Wales by county at the start of the 17th century. He describes it as "the [[Picts]] Wall" (or "Pictes"; he uses both spellings). ''A map of Newecastle'' (sic), drawn in 1610 by William Matthew, describes it as "Severus' Wall", mistakenly giving it the name ascribed by Bede to the Vallum. Matthew's maps for [[Cumberland]] and [[Northumberland]] show the wall as a major feature and are ornamented with drawings of Roman finds together with (in the case of the Cumberland map) a [[cartouche (cartography)|cartouche]] in which he sets out a description of the wall.

===Preservation by John Clayton===
[[File:Hadrians Wall with Weedkiller.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Hadrian's Wall near [[Banna (Birdoswald)|Birdoswald Fort]], known to the Romans as ''Banna'', with a man spraying weedkiller to reduce biological weathering to the stones.]]
Much of the wall has now disappeared. Long sections of it were used for [[roadbuilding]] in the 18th century,<ref name="english-lakes.com">{{cite web |title=Hadrian's Wall |url=http://www.english-lakes.com/hadrians_wall.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019152718/https://www.english-lakes.com/hadrians_wall.htm |archive-date=19 October 2022 |access-date=12 April 2016 |website=English Lakes}}</ref> especially by [[General Wade]] to build a military road (most of which lies beneath the present day B6318 "[[Military Road (Northumberland)|Military Road]]") to move troops to crush the [[Jacobite rising of 1745]]. The preservation of much of what remains can be credited to the antiquarian [[John Clayton (town clerk)|John Clayton]]. He trained as a lawyer and became [[town clerk]] of Newcastle in the 1830s. He became enthusiastic about preserving the wall after inheriting [[Cilurnum|Chesters]] from his father. To prevent farmers taking stones from the wall, he began buying some of the land on which the wall stood. In 1834, he started purchasing property around Steel Rigg near [[Crag Lough]]. Eventually, he controlled land from Brunton to Cawfields. This stretch included the sites of Chesters, [[Carrawburgh]], [[Housesteads]], and [[Vindolanda]]. Clayton carried out excavation at the fort at [[Cilurnum]] and at Housesteads, and he excavated some milecastles.

Clayton managed the farms he had acquired and succeeded in improving both the land and the livestock. He used the profits from his farms for restoration work. Workmen were employed to restore sections of the wall, generally up to a height of seven courses. The best example of the Clayton Wall is at Housesteads. After Clayton's death, the estate passed to relatives and was soon lost to gambling. Eventually, the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] began acquiring the land on which the wall stands. At [[Wallington Hall]], near Morpeth, there is a painting by [[William Bell Scott]], which shows a [[centurion]] supervising the building of the wall. The centurion has been given the face of John Clayton (above right).

===Later discoveries===
In 2021 workers for [[Northumbrian Water]] found a previously undiscovered 3-metre section of the wall while repairing a water main in central [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. The company announced that the pipe would be "angled to leave a buffer around the excavated trench".<ref name="bbc2021">{{cite news |date=11 August 2021 |title=Hadrian's Wall section found under Newcastle street |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-58175985 |url-status=live |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829140702/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-58175985 |archive-date=29 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="nw">{{cite web |date=10 August 2021 |title=Hadrian's Wall discovered underneath one of Newcastle's busiest streets |url=https://www.nwg.co.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/ancient-roman-road-discovered-underneath-one-of-newcastles-busiest-streets/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829135321/https://www.nwg.co.uk/news-and-media/news-releases/ancient-roman-road-discovered-underneath-one-of-newcastles-busiest-streets/ |archive-date=29 August 2023 |access-date=28 August 2021 |website= |publisher=[[Northumbrian Water Group]] |language=en}}</ref>

===World Heritage Site===
Hadrian's Wall was declared a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1987, and in 2005 it became part of the transnational "[[Frontiers of the Roman Empire]]" World Heritage Site, which also includes sites in Germany.<ref name=":1" />

===Tourism===
Although Hadrian's Wall was declared a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1987, it remains unguarded, enabling visitors to climb and stand on the wall, although this is not encouraged, as it could damage the historic structure. On 13 March 2010, a public event [[Illuminating Hadrian's Wall]] took place, which saw the route of the wall lit with 500 beacons. On 31 August and 2 September 2012, there was a second illumination of the wall as a digital art installation called "Connecting Light", which was part of the [[2012 Cultural Olympiad|London 2012 Festival]]. In 2018, the organisations which manage the [[Great Wall of China]] and Hadrian's Wall signed an agreement to collaborate for the growth of tourism and for historical and cultural understanding of the monuments.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Leung |first1=Bo |last2=Wang |first2=Kaihao |date=24 January 2018 |title=Two historic structures in wall-to-wall collaboration |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/china-watch/culture/china-uk-heritage-project/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502100258/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/china-watch/culture/china-uk-heritage-project/ |archive-date=2 May 2019}}</ref>

===Hadrian's Wall Path===
{{Main|Hadrian's Wall Path}}
In 2003, a [[National Trail]] footpath was opened that follows the line of the wall from [[Wallsend]] to [[Bowness-on-Solway]].<ref name=":0" /> Because of the fragile landscape, walkers are asked to follow the path only in summer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Every Footstep Counts – The Trail's Country Code |url=http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/HadriansWall/text.asp?PageId=27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128040034/http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/HadriansWall/text.asp?PageId=27 |archive-date=28 November 2007 |access-date=26 November 2007 |website=[[National Trails]]}}</ref>

==Roman-period names==
[[File:Staffordshire Moorlands Pan (1284837406).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Staffordshire Moorlands Pan]], which may provide the ancient name of Hadrian's Wall (it reads in part VALI AELI, ie. the Wall of Hadrian, using his family name of [[Aelia (gens)|Aelius]])]]
Hadrian's Wall was known in the Roman period as the ''vallum'' (wall), and the discovery of the [[Staffordshire Moorlands Pan]] in [[Staffordshire]] in 2003 has thrown further light on its name. This copper alloy pan (''trulla'') from the 2nd century is inscribed with a series of four names of Roman forts along the western sector of the wall: {{sc|MAIS}} [Bowness-on-Solway] {{sc|COGGABATA}} [Drumburgh] {{sc|VXELODVNVM}} [Stanwix] {{sc|CAMBOGLANNA}} [Castlesteads]. This is followed by the words {{sc|RIGORE VALI AELI DRACONIS}}. Hadrian's family name was ''Aelius'', and the most likely reading of the inscription is ''Valli Aelii'' ([[genitive case|genitive]]), Hadrian's Wall, suggesting that the wall was called by the same name by contemporaries. However, another possibility is that it refers to the personal name Aelius Draco.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Staffordshire Moorlands Pan |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1577008&partId=1 |access-date=25 February 2019 |website=[[British Museum]]}}</ref><ref>Hodgson, Hadrian's Wall, p. 23</ref>

Two bronze vessels that are very similar to the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan are the [[Rudge Cup]], found in [[Wiltshire]] in 1725, and the [[Rudge Cup#Amiens Skillet|Amiens Skillet]], found in [[Amiens]] in northern France in 1949. They also bear the Latin names of Hadrian's Wall forts round their rims, beneath which are representations of a turreted or battlemented wall, thought to depict Hadrian's Wall.

===Forts===
{{Hadrian's Wall Route}}
[[File:Beacons lit along Hadrians Wall (geograph 4917923).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|In March 2010, to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]], a series of 500 beacons were successively lit along the length of Hadrian's Wall.]]
The Latin and Romano-Celtic names of all of the Hadrian's Wall forts are known, from the ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' and other evidence such as inscriptions. They are listed here from east to west, in their Latin and modern English names:
* [[Segedunum]] ([[Wallsend]])
* [[Pons Aelius]] ([[Newcastle upon Tyne]])
* [[Condercum]] ([[Benwell|Benwell Hill]])
* [[Vindobala]] ([[Rudchester]])<ref name="Chester">The suffix "chester" reflects the presence of a Roman [[castra]].</ref>
* [[Hunnum]] ([[Halton Chesters]])<ref name="Chester"/>
* [[Cilurnum]] ([[Chesters Roman Fort|Chesters]] aka [[Walwick Chesters]])<ref name="Chester"/>
* [[Procolita]] ([[Carrawburgh]])
* [[Vercovicium]] ([[Housesteads]])
* [[Aesica]] ([[Great Chesters]])<ref name="Chester"/>
* [[Magnis (Carvoran)|Magnis]] (Carvoran)
* [[Banna (Birdoswald)|Banna]] ([[Birdoswald]])
* [[Camboglanna]] (Castlesteads)
* [[Uxelodunum]] ([[Stanwix]]. Also known as [[Petriana]])
* [[Aballava]] ([[Burgh-by-Sands]])
* [[Coggabata]] ([[Drumburgh]])
* [[Mais (Bowness)|Mais]] ([[Bowness-on-Solway]])

[[File:Milecastle 39 on Hadrian's Wall.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The remains of Castle Nick, [[Milecastle 39]], near Steel Rigg, between [[Housesteads]] and The Sill Visitor Centre for the [[Northumberland National Park]] at [[Once Brewed]]]]
Turrets on the wall include:
* [[Leahill Turret, Hadrian's Wall|Leahill Turret]]
* [[Milecastle 7#Turret 7B|Denton Hall Turret]]

Outpost forts beyond the wall include:
* [[Habitancum]] ([[Risingham]])
* [[Bremenium]] ([[Rochester, Northumberland|High Rochester]])<ref name="Chester"/>
* [[Bewcastle Roman Fort|Fanum Cocidi]] ([[Bewcastle]]) (north of Birdoswald)
* Ad Fines ([[Chew Green]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.genuki.bpears.org.uk/NBL/Gaz1868.html |title=GENUKI: The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) – Northumberland |publisher=Genuki.bpears.org.uk |date=3 August 2010 |access-date=26 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505010924/http://www.genuki.bpears.org.uk/NBL/Gaz1868.html |archive-date=5 May 2013 }}</ref>

Supply forts behind the wall include:
* [[Alauna (Maryport)|Alauna]] ([[Maryport]])
* [[Arbeia]] ([[South Shields]])
* [[Coria (Corbridge)|Coria]] ([[Corbridge]])
* [[Whitley Castle|Epiacum]] (Whitley Castle near [[Alston, Cumbria|Alston]])
* [[Vindolanda]] ([[Little Chesters]] or [[Chesterholm]])<ref name="Chester"/>
* [[Vindomora]] ([[Ebchester]])<ref name="Chester"/>

==In popular culture==
{{RomanMilitary}}
===Books===
* ''[[The Eagle of the Ninth]]'' is a celebrated children's novel by [[Rosemary Sutcliff]], published in 1954. It tells the story of a young Roman officer venturing north beyond Hadrian's Wall in search of the missing [[Aquila (Roman)|Eagle standard]] of the lost [[Ninth Legion]]. It was inspired by the bronze [[Silchester eagle]] found in 1866. The book itself inspired the 2011 film [[The Eagle (2011 film)|''The Eagle'']].
* The [[Jim Shepard]] short story collection ''Like You'd Understand Anyway'' (2007) includes a story titled "Hadrian's Wall" which is an imagined account of a clerk living and working during the wall's construction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Like You'd Understand, Anyway (review) |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jim-shepard/like-youd-understand-anyway/ |access-date=6 September 2021 |work=Kirkus Reviews |date=25 September 2007 |language=en}}</ref>
* Nobel Prize-winning English author [[Rudyard Kipling]] contributed to the popular image of the "Great Pict Wall" in his short stories about Parnesius, a Roman legionary who defended the wall against the [[Picts]]. These stories are part of the ''[[Puck of Pook's Hill]]'' anthology, published in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mackenzie|first=Donald|date=2 August 2005|title=On the Great Wall|url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_ongreatwall1.htm|access-date=2 April 2021|website=Kipling Society}}</ref>
* American author [[George R. R. Martin]] has acknowledged that Hadrian's Wall was the inspiration for [[The Wall (A Song of Ice and Fire)|the Wall]] in his best-selling series ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', dramatized in the fantasy TV series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', in which the wall is also in the north of its country and stretches from coast to coast.<ref name="george R R Martin">{{cite web|last=Martin|first=George R. R
|title=A Conversation With George R. R. Martin|url=http://www.sfsite.com/01a/gm95.htm|work=The SF Site|access-date=10 September 2011}}</ref>
* In [[M. J. Trow]]'s fictional ''Britannia'' series, Hadrian's Wall is the central location, and [[Coel Hen]] and [[Padarn Beisrudd]] are portrayed as [[limitanei]] (frontier soldiers).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Trow|first=M. J.|author-link=M. J. Trow|date=2014|title=The Wall (Britannia #1)|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22054898-the-wall|access-date=2 April 2021|website=Good Reads}}</ref>
* ''Hadrian's Wall'' by [[Adrian Goldsworthy]] is a short history of the wall.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Hadrian_s_Wall.html?id=hv8vDwAAQBAJ ''Hadrian's Wall''], Adrian Goldsworthy (2018) – Google Books</ref>

===Films===
* The 1991 American romantic action adventure film ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'' uses [[Sycamore Gap tree|Sycamore Gap]] as a location.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) Filming & Production|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102798/locations|access-date=2 April 2021|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> Hadrian's Wall still stands tall at the site, but the sycamore tree does not.
* The 2011 action drama film [[The Eagle (2011 film)|''The Eagle'']] tells the story of a young Roman officer setting out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of the Ninth Legion. The 2010 film [[Centurion (film)|''Centurion'']] tells a similar story.
* Hadrian's Wall was also featured as a major focal point of the 2004 film ''[[King Arthur (2004 film)|King Arthur]]'', in which one of its primary gates is opened for the first time since its construction to allow Arthur and his knights passage into the north for their quest. The climactic [[Battle of Badon]] between the Britons led by [[King Arthur|Arthur]] and his knights, and the Saxons led by [[Cerdic]] and his son [[Cynric]], is set just inside the wall.

===Music===
* The opening track from [[Maxim Reality|Maxim]]'s first solo album ''[[Hell's Kitchen (Maxim album)|Hell's Kitchen]]'' is named "Hadrian's Wall".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nekozine.co.uk/maxim/hellskitchen/hellskitchen.html|title=MAXIM : Hells Kitchen – the album, scans and info|work=Nekozine.co.uk|access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref>

===Television===
* The seventh episode for the eighth season of the documentary television series ''Modern Marvels'' was about Hadrian's Wall.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Modern Marvels (1993–) Hadrian's Wall|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0875392/|access-date=2 April 2021|website=IMDb}}</ref> It was released on 1 March 2001.<ref name=":3" />

===Poetry===
* The English poet [[W. H. Auden]] wrote a script for a BBC radio documentary called ''Hadrian's Wall'', which was broadcast on the BBC's north-eastern Regional Programme in 1937.  Auden later published a poem from the script, "Roman Wall Blues", in his book ''[[Another Time (book)|Another Time]]''.  The poem is a brief monologue spoken in the voice of a lonely Roman soldier stationed at the wall.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roman Wall Blues|url=https://kidsofthewild.co.uk/2019/05/27/hadrians-wall-poem-roman-wall-blues-auden/|access-date=3 April 2021|website=Kids of the Wild|date=27 May 2019 }}</ref>

===Video games===
* Hadrian's Wall appears in ''[[Assassin's Creed Valhalla]]''. The site can be visited by protagonist Eivor of the Raven Clan during the 870s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Assassins Creed Valhalla: Is There Anybody Out There trophy – how to unlock?|url=https://guides.gamepressure.com/assassins-creed-valhalla/guide.asp?ID=56500|access-date=3 April 2021|website=Game Pressure}}</ref>
* Hadrian's Wall appears in ''[[Crusader Kings III]]'' as a historical building which provides an economic benefit to the player or AI that controls the province.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Crusader Kings 3 Special Buildings Guide|url=https://segmentnext.com/crusader-kings-3-special-buildings/|access-date=2 October 2023|website=SegmentNext|date=13 May 2023 }}</ref>
* The world's first digital reconstruction of the entire Hadrian's Wall system is available for [[Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020|''Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020'']].

===Board games===
* A board game with the same name was released in 2021, in which you are tasked with the construction and defence of the wall.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Be a Roman General in Hadrian's Wall|url=https://geektyrant.com/news/be-a-roman-general-in-hadrians-wall|access-date=14 May 2022|website=GeekTyrant|date=15 January 2021 }}</ref> In 2022 the game was nominated for the [[List of Game of the Year awards (board games)#American Tabletop Awards|American Tabletop Awards]] in the Strategy Game category.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2022 American Tabletop Award Winners|url=https://americantabletopawards.com/2022-american-tabletop-award-winners|access-date=14 May 2022|website=The American Tabletop Awards|date=11 April 2022 }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="190">
File:Poltross burn milecastle.jpg|Poltross Burn, [[Milecastle 48]], which was built on a steep slope
File:Hadrian's Wall at Sycamore Gap - geograph.org.uk - 4593047.jpg|The [[Sycamore Gap]] tree, which was felled in 2023 in an act of vandalism (also known as the "[[Robin Hood]] Tree", because it appeared in the film ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'')<ref>Sycamore Gap, a section of the wall between two crests just east of Milecastle 39, is locally known as the "Robin Hood Tree" for its use in the 1991 film ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'' (1991).</ref>
File:Hadrian's Wall with sheep 1.jpg|Hadrian's Wall with sheep
File:Hadrians Wall 05.JPG|The remains of the southern [[granary]] at [[Housesteads]], showing under-floor pillars to assist ventilation
File:Hadrian's Wall reconstruction at Vindolanda.jpg|A modern reconstruction of a short segment of Hadrian's Wall at [[Vindolanda]]
</gallery>

==See also==
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Danevirke]]
* [[List of English Heritage properties|English Heritage properties]]
* [[Gask Ridge]]
* [[Hadrianic Society]]
* [[History of Cumbria]]
* [[History of Northumberland]]
* [[History of Scotland]]
* [[List of walls]]
* [[Offa's Dyke]]
* [[Scots' Dike]]

{{div col end}}

==References==
{{notelist|refs=

}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|editor1-first=Marta |editor1-last=Alberti
|editor2-first=Katie |editor2-last=Mountain
|title=Hadrian's Wall: Exploring its Past to Protect its Future
|date=2022
|publisher=Archaeopress Publishing
|location=Summertown, Oxford, UK
|isbn=978-1-80327-274-0}}
* {{cite book|first=A.R. |last=Birley| title=Hadrians Wall Illustrated Guide |place=London|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO)|date=1963|url=https://archive.org/details/HadriansWallIllustratedGuideBirleyHMSOImages}}
* Burton, Anthony. ''Hadrian's Wall Path''. 2004. Aurum Press Ltd. {{ISBN|185410893X}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Breeze |first1=David John |title=Hadrian's Wall |date=2023 |publisher=Archaeopress|location=Oxford |isbn=9781803274164}}
* {{cite book |last1=Breeze |first1=David J. |title=The hinterland of Hadrian's Wall|date=2023 |publisher=Archaeopress|location=Oxford |isbn=9781803275475}}
* Chaichian, Mohammad. 2014. "[https://www.amazon.com/Empires-Walls-Globalization-Migration-Domination/dp/1608464229 Hadrian's Wall: An Ill-Fated strategy for Tribal Management in Roman Britain]", in ''Empires and Walls: Globalization, Migration, and Colonial Domination'' (Brill, pp.&nbsp;23–52).
* Davies, Hunter. ''A Walk along the Wall'', 1974. Weidenfeld & Nicolson: London {{ISBN|0297767100}}.
* [[Guy de la Bédoyère|de la Bédoyère, Guy]]. ''Hadrian's Wall: A History and Guide''. Stroud: Tempus, 1998. {{ISBN|0752414070}}.
* ''England's Roman Frontier: Discovering Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall Country''. Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd and Carlisle Tourism Partnership. 2010.
* Forde-Johnston, James L. ''Hadrian's Wall''. London: Michael Joseph, 1978. {{ISBN|0718116526}}.
* Hadrian's Wall Path (map). Harvey, 12–22 Main Street, Doune, Perthshire FK16 6BJ. [http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/ harveymaps.co.uk]
* {{cite book |first=Charlotte |last=Higgins |author-link=Charlotte Higgins |year=2014 |title=Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain |chapter=Chapter Seven: Hadrian's Wall |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5FtECgAAQBAJ&pg=PT175 |location=London |publisher=Vintage|isbn=978-0099552093}}
* {{cite book|last=Hodgson |first=Nick |title= Hadrian's Wall|publisher=Robert Hale |location =Marlborough, UK |year=2017|isbn=978-0719818158 }}
* [[Alistair Moffat|Moffat, Alistair]], ''The Wall''. 2008. Birlinn Limited Press. {{ISBN|1841586757}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Shanks |first1=Michael |author-link = Michael Shanks (archaeologist)|title='Let me tell you about Hadrian's Wall ...' Heritage, Performance, Design. <!-- |journal=Text of the Reinwardt Memorial Lecture--> |date=2012 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3765554}}
* Speed, John – A set of Speed's maps were issued bound in a single volume in 1988 in association with the British Library and with an introduction by [[Nigel Nicolson]] as ''The Counties of Britain: A Tudor Atlas by John Speed''.
* {{cite journal|last1=Murphy|first1=K|last2=Collins|first2=R|title=WallGIS: A Database and GIS for Hadrian's Wall (Data paper)|journal=Internet Archaeology|date=2024|issue=67|doi=10.11141/ia.67.24|doi-access=free|url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue67/24/index.html}}
* [[Roger Tomlin|Tomlin, R. S. O.]], "Inscriptions" in ''Britannia'' (2004), vol. xxxv, pp.&nbsp;344–345 (the Staffordshire Moorlands cup naming the Wall).
* Wilson, Roger J. A., ''A Guide to the Roman Remains in Britain''. London: Constable & Company, 1980; {{ISBN|009463260X}}.

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{wikivoyage|Hadrian's Wall}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kkr42 In Our Time Radio series with Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, David Breeze, Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham and Lindsay Allason-Jones OBE, FSA, FSA Scot, Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151226224258/http://www.visitnorthumberland.com/hadrians-wall Hadrian's Wall on the Official Northumberland Visitor website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150623150713/http://hadrianswallforum.proboards.com/ Hadrian's Wall Discussion Forum]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=430 UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5119840.stm News on the Wall path]
* [http://www.english-lakes.com/hadrians_wall.htm English Lakes article]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091217160522/http://www.iromans.co.uk/ iRomans]{{snd}}website with interactive map of Cumbrian section of Hadrian Wall
* [http://www.hadrianswall.org.uk Well illustrated account of sites along Hadrian's Wall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529224141/http://hadrianswall.org.uk/ |date=29 May 2020 }}

{{Hadrian's Wall forts}}{{Geography of Scotland}}{{World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom}}
{{English heritage cumbria}}
{{Authority control}}

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