Hadrian's Wall: Some Problems

Abstract

.. murumque per octoginta milia passuum primus duxit, qui barbaros Romanosque divideret' (Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Hadrian xi, 2). 'Hadrian was the first to build a wall, eighty miles long, to separate the Romans from the barbarians'. * This paper had its genesis in the annual course 'Hadrian's Wall' sponsored by the Durham University Department of ExtraMural Studies and on which the two authors act as tutors. We would like to thank all the students who took part in discussion on the problems examined in this paper, especially Messrs. B. G. Harris, P. R. Hill, F. C. Lofts and R. Sinclair. Part I is primarily the work of B. Dobson, part IV of D. J. Breeze; parts II and III are joint products, but D. J. Breeze played the major part in preparing them for publication, so the order of names at the head of this paper reflects the share of work as in all our joint publications. The responsibility we are content to share equally.

The impact of the Romans on the environment of northern England: pollen data from three sites close to Hadrian's Wall

“…Woodland regeneration occurs at Fozy Moss and Glasson Moss during the fourth century, this being when Roman troops were being withdrawn from northern Britain (Higham, 1986: 239; Breeze and Dobson, 1987). Although the rate of clearance begins to slow at Walton Moss, there seems to have been no revertence to forest as troops were withdrawn.…”

“…Woodland regeneration is perhaps the result of the Roman invasion of northern Britain in that the north was in a state of widespread rebellion, that Brigantian resistance was strong, with land being abandoned as the tribe attempted to resist the Roman presence (Breeze, 1985;Hanson and Campbell, 1986;Figure 7 Age-depth curve for Fozy Moss. Higham, 1986;1987;Cunliffe, 1991: 207). The small clearances which occur within the overall pattern of regeneration could be the result of the Romans felling trees to acquire land and timber for the construction of the Stanegate frontier -a line of forts, marching camps and a road which was constructed between Kirkbride, on the Solway, to Corbridge, on the Tyne (Breeze and Dobson, 1987: 21;Jones, 1991).…”

“…Poaceae pollen peaks at 60% at the end of the episode, a level not reached again until recent times. This corresponds with the construction of Hadrian's Wall, which was built between AD 122 and 130 from Bowness-on-Solway (Austen, 1991) to Wallsend-on-Tyne (Mann, 1988), with its related structures -the ditch, vallum, forts, milecastles and turrets (Johnson, 1989;Hind, 1989), and with the subsequent and sustained occupation of the area by a garrison of some 9000 troops (Breeze and Dobson, 1987). Walton Moss lies only 2.5 km north of the wall and the renewed clearance was probably the result of timber requirements for the wall and forts such as Carlisle, Stanwix, Netherby, Birdoswald, Nether Denton and Castlesteads which all lie within a 10 km radius of Walton Moss (Ordnance Survey, 1991).…”

“…The Roman invasion of northern England is documented as taking place between AD 71 and 83 (Higham, 1986;Keppie, 1986;Breeze and Dobson, 1987). In the Walton Moss pollen diagram, small rapid fluctuations in the proportions of trees and herbs (phase WLMd), are estimated to date from ca.…”

Problems associated with correlating calibrated radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams with historical events

“…Literary references, such as the narrative of Tacitus, provide calendar dates for the Roman invasion and the building of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, against which we can assess environmental change during the period. For example, we can be fairly precise in stating that the Romans invaded northern Britain in AD 70, that Hadrian's Wall was built between AD 126 and 130, that work began on the Antonine Wall in AD 140 and that Roman rule ended in northern Britain around AD 410 (Higham, 1986;Breeze and Dobson, 1987). These events are likely to be registered in pollen profiles because of the size of the Roman army in northern Britain, the military need for timber used to construct the walls, forts, milecastles and turrets, and that used as fuel and for charcoal used in metal smelting.…”