Built, occupied and then abandoned by the Romans in the space of twenty years, the Antonine Wall has left its mark on Scotland’s history and landscape. The Wall has been a part of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site since 2008 alongside Hadrian’s Wall and the German Limes. Today you can explore the traces of ramparts, steep ditches, and the remains.
The Antonine Wall (known to the Romans as “Vallum Antonini”) is the biggest, most awe-inspiring building project the people of Scotland had ever seen. It was a turf fortification on stone foundations built by the Romans in 142 AD across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde.
Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles (63 km) and was around 3 meters (10 ft) high and 5 meters (16 ft) wide.
But its history in Scotland (which was known as Caledonia at the time) is part of a much bigger story.
The emperor Hadrian (reigned AD 117–38) visited Britain in 122 AD and, according to one of his biographers, he “put many things to right and was the first to build a wall, 80 miles long from sea to sea, to divide the barbarians from the Romans.” This would go on to become Hadrian’s Wall, and stretched from Wallsend on the River Tyne to Bowness on the Solway Firth, constructed of stone and turf.
When Hadrian died in 138 AD, Antoninus Pius (reigned AD 138–61) succeeded to the throne. It has been speculated that he may have been chosen by Hadrian as his successor because of the likelihood that he would pursue peace and almost certainly follow Hadrian’s own non-expansionist policies, having the required military credentials to strengthen his new imperial powers. However, despite being a wealthy nobleman with a good record, Antoninus lacked military experience.
Antoninus then chose an invasion in Britain to increase his prestige with a military triumph north of Hadrian’s Wall. This invasion took place in 139/42 AD and was commemorated by coins of AD 143, where, at this time, the emperor was proclaimed Imperator for the victory.
The invasion resulted in the establishment of a new frontier line across Forth-Clyde isthmus and the creation of a new wall constructed from turf. This was, of course, the Antonine Wall.
The Wall was occupied for around twenty years and is estimated to have taken around 12 years to complete. However, with limited evidence of s time scale, it is possible that it was actually a much shorter construction period. Some of the archaeological evidence from several Antonine Wall sites indicates possible changes in the frontier’s overall plan, as well as the reconfiguration and rebuilding of certain forts.
It was previously thought that there were two distinct occupations of the Antonine Wall (with an occupational gap between AD 155-58), but that idea has since been rejected. Now, the Wall’s Roman occupational history is widely viewed as a short but continuous period.
By the time the decision to abandon the Wall was made, it is possible that the process of abandonment took over more than six years, meaning they would have left it around 164 AD or later. From this point forward, Hadrian’s Wall was restored and continued to function as the primary frontier of Roman Britain until the early fifth century, when the official Roman occupation of Britain came to an end.
Most of the wall and its associated fortifications have been destroyed over time, but some remains are still visible today and many of these have come under the care of Historic Scotland and the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
The Antonine’s Wall is now a World Heritage Site, and the UK government’s nomination of the Antonine Wall for World Heritage status to the international conservation body UNESCO was first officially announced in 2003. Since then it has been backed by the Scottish Government in 2005 and by Scotland’s then Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson in 2006 before finally reaching its status on 2008.
People can visit several individual sites along the line of the Wall in care of Historic Scotland. These sites are at: Bar Hill Fort, Bearsden Bath House, Castlecary, Croy Hill, Dullatur, Rough Castle, Seabegs Wood, Watling Lodge and Westerwood in Cumbernauld.
Classic Culture 