Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival 2024
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Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Antonine Wall
Constructed around 142 AD by the Romans to mark the north-west frontier of their empire, the Wall was a mighty symbol of their power and authority.
Scotland
Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Antonine Wall
From Old Kilpatrick in the west to near Bo’ness in the east, the Antonine Wall was around 37 miles (60km) long when completed in 142 AD. The wall featured ridges, crests and escarpments to create a forbidding boundary and visible barrier at the Roman Empire’s north-west frontier.
Hadrian’s Wall stretches 70 miles across the north of England from Cumbrian Roman coastal defences at Ravenglass to Wallsend on the east coast. Dating back as early as 112 AD, the route today encompasses archaeological sites, spectacular landscapes, rare wildlife, complete solitude and vibrant cities.
They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites‘ Frontiers of the Roman Empire together with German-Raetian Limes in Germany.
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Did you know..?
There are Roman themed playparks to explore along the Antonine Wall.
The Hadrian’s Wall Path gets over 12,000 walkers a year completing the full trail from across the globe – If you add all those journeys up collectively that is over 1 million miles walked.
It took nearly 3 million tons of stone, 5 to 6 years, and 15,000 Roman soldiers to build it.
It was built by soldiers from 3 legions, the 2nd, 6th, and 20th. Rome’s citizen soldiers served as legionaries, but the Wall was manned by Auxiliaries.
The Vindolanda Tablets is a series of fascinating letters which allow us to learn about the people of the Wall in their own words.
Outside each fort was a civilian settlement, a Vicus, and so the Wall may have been like one long town, with a population of 30,000 people. With soldier’s paid in coin, nearly every coin in the province of Britannia went through the Wall.
The Regina Tombstone found at Arbeia Roman Fort in North Shields belongs to a native British woman who was married to a Palmyrene called Barates (a Syrian)
Housesteads has the best preserved Roman loo in the UK
The Sycamore Gap Tree on Hadrian’s Wall won the 2016 England Tree of the Year – Also known as Robin Hood Tree as it features famously/infamously in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman
Stats
Location: Scotland
Country: United Kingdom
Year of Inscription: 2008
UNESCO Criteria: (ii), (iii), (iv)
Contact information:
For more information about Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Antonine Wall, visit the website
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