Having become fascinated with Roman Britain as a child
reader of Rosemary Sutcliff's historical fiction (including her excellent book Eagle of the Ninth, which was recently resurrected
as a passable Hollywood blockbuster), Hadrian's Wall was high on my destination
list when visiting Northern England in the early 1990s. I was not disappointed.
Built on the order of Emperor Hadrian in 122 CE, the wall
marked the northern limit of the Roman Empire for nearly
300 years. As both an engineering feat and embodiment of the might of one of
the word's first superpowers, Hadrian's Wall was
deservedly inscribed as a world heritage site in 1987.
Today, Hadrian's Wall continues to be
the focus of archaeological excavation and study. In a remarkable parallel with
the challenges facing contemporary Europe,
archaeological discoveries in the vicinity of the Wall include a "refugeecamp" near a Roman fort thought to have housed hundreds of families that
were regarded as traitors and collaborators in the eyes of tribes rebelling
against Roman rule in the early 2nd century CE.
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