Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall was built on the orders of emperor Hadrian.  Emperor Hadrian(emperor of the Roman empire) was born 76 AD and died 138 AD.  Hadrian's Wall was built, beginning in AD 122, to keep Roman Britain safe from hostile attacks from the Picts.  The Picts where the predominant people in northern Scotland.  Hadrian's Wall was the northernmost boundary of the Roman empire until early in the fifth century when the Atnonine Wall was built.

Hadrian's Wall stretched from the North Sea to the Irish Sea.  The wall was 73 miles long, 8 to 10 feet wide, and 15 feet high.  In addition to the wall, the Romans built a system of small forts called milecastles which held up to 60 men at each fort.  Sixteen larger forts, holding from 500 to 1000 troops, also were built inside the wall, with large gates on the north face.

Housesteads is the most complete Roman fort in Britain and one of the best preserved Roman forts anywhere.  The fort was occupied by Roman soldiers for about 300 years and changed quite a bit over the centuries.  Housesteads Roman fort was like a little town for the soldiers.

The end of Roman Britain came in the early fifth century AD.  The Roman empire was under attack in many places, including Hadrian's Wall.  When Barbarian tribes invaded German land in 406 AD a self-declared emperor in Britain, Constantine III, withdrew the field army from Britain to fight in Germany but some troops remained.  The field army never returned and Rome abandoned Britain.  This was effectively the end of over 300 years of Roman rule.

 This is a picture of my dad and me standing on Hadrian's Wall near Housesteads Roman fort.

This is a picture of Housesteads fort at Hadrian's Wall or rather the footprint of the fort because as you can see there isn't much left of it now.