TRANSACTIONS OF THE GLASGOW ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

NO. VII.

A VISIT TO THE WALL OF HADRIAN.

BY

JOHN BUCHANAN, Esq.

[Read at a Meeting of the Glasgow Archæological Society, on 5th December, 1859.]

THE ruins of this magnificent military barrier constitute perhaps the most impressive monument of the Roman occupation of Britain now extant, whether contemplated as an interesting memorial of ages little known in our insular history, or as a material testimony to that graudeur of design and Herculean labour for which the ancient masters of the world were so remarkable. Lying chiefly in the wilds of Northumberland, and, until a comparatively recent period, difficult, if not dangerous of access, these lonely remains of remote antiquity have been seldom visited in proportion to the interest which they are calculated to excite.

Having at different times examined large sections stretching over many miles, and having on one occasion in particular had the advantage of doing so accompanied by two eminent English antiquaries, one, whose extensive estates are traversed by the best preserved specimens of the Wall itself, including several of the Roman castles; and the other, author of an admirable volume on this ancient barrier, I propose to notice shortly, some of the more striking objects which came under my observation. But, before doing so, it may be useful to review some points in the Wall's history.

In the second century of the Christian era, the conquests of the Romans in Britain embraced nearly the whole of modern England, and a considerable portion of the Scottish Lowlands. But this subjugation had not been accomplished without an obstinate resistance. It required all the bravery and discipline of the legions, led by the most renowned generals of Rome, to advance the imperial eagles into the heart of the then unknown country, and to vanquish the various island-kings who ruled over a fierce and undaunted people. So strong indeed was the national spirit against the invaders, that even

the gentler sex sallied from the woods, and, to the astonishment of the Roman troops, who mistook them for the Furies of classic mythology, joined the British ranks, and nobly fought, side by side, with their painted husbands, brothers, and sons, the numerous, though then unavailing, battles of freedom. It was long before the country was completely subdued. Frequent and bloody revolts took place, one of the most memorable of which was headed by a warrior-queen, who, stimulated by her own and her country's wrongs, collected and led in person a numerous army, and it was only after one of the most sanguinary conflicts which perhaps ever took place in this island, between her and the skilful imperial general Suetonius Paulinus, that Rome triumphed.

In these early wars the Romans encountered a novel species of assailant in the British dogs. These were large and very ferocious mastiffs, of a breed peculiar to the island, trained to attack the bear, the wolf, the celebrated wild bulls, and other savage beasts which infested the forests and wildernesses of ancient Britain; and now when a new foe from afar appeared on the scene, these canine furies rushed with their tatooed masters, amidst loud cries and their own deep hoarse yells, against the Roman light infantry, to their no small annoyance, as these agile soldiers skirmished in front of the impenetrable legions advancing in battle-array. This breed of dogs became famous in the amphitheatre at Rome, where they not only fought with lions, panthers, and other fierce animals, but not unfrequently worried to death groups of the early Christians sewed in the skins of wild beasts, and thrown to them for that dread purpose. So much prized were these mastiffs in Rome, that a Roman officer was appointed to preserve the breed in Britain, under the title of Procurator Cynegii.

Roman-England, thus conquered, was held by means of fortresses, planted in the most advantageous and commanding positions throughout the country. These were connected by roads, bottomed for the first time with stone, along which the cohorts marched, and warlike stores were transported. But within the period now under review no grand line of fortification had been attempted, to mark impressively the determination of Rome not to hold the island by a mere temporary rein, but thoroughly and permanently on massive foundations. Thus the Roman province, though studded with castles, was comparatively open to the wild north, from which, desperate and bloody forays were frequently made, either by the Caledonians them

selves, or in in concert with internal provincial revolts against the common foe.

Matters continued in this state till about the close of Trajan's reign, anno 117. The attention of that warlike monarch was too much directed to his wars in Mesopotamia and the remote East, to induce him to bestow much care on far-distant insular Britain. Revolts and confusion therefore took place, and Roman affairs in this country began to assume a serious aspect. At that critical juncture, Hadrian appeared prominently on the scene.

This great man-one of the best of the emperors—was born at Rome, in January, anno 76. He was the son of a Roman nobleman, cousin to Trajan. His mother was a Spanish lady, a native of Cadiz, that ancient settlement of Rome's great rival-Carthage. Left an orphan at the early age of ten, Hadrian was placed under the guardianship of Trajan and a Roman knight. He became an accomplished scholar, and having entered the army, saw much hard service. In Domitian's reign he commanded a legion in Mœsia (the modern Servia and Bulgaria), and when Trajan became emperor, accompanied that early and constant friend in his celebrated Dacian and Eastern campaigns, where he became thoroughly master of the art of war, and a complete practical soldier. When his great relative died, in the autumn of 117, Hadrian was at Antioch in command of the Roman army of the East, and the soldiers, full of enthusiasm for their favourite general, with shouts raised him on their shields and proclaimed him Emperor. The senate promptly ratified this choice by the legions, and Hadrian ascended the Roman throne at the age of forty-one.

Among other generous deeds consequent on this elevation, Hadrian remitted the whole arrears of taxes, and burnt in the forum of Trajan all the schedules of the debts, amounting to several millions sterling. He then betook himself to a close survey of his enormous empire, the greatest the world ever saw; stretching from the confines of Hindostan on the east, to the mountains of Scotland on the west; and comprehending Persia, the whole of modern Asiatic and European Turkey, the Crimea, Greece, Egypt, Northern Africa, Italy, the Mediterranean Islands, Germany, the Spanish Peninsula, France, the Cantons of Switzerland, the countries along the Rhine, and great part of Britain. The reins of this mighty empire, then in the zenith of its power, were assumed by a man, sagacious in council, firm in purpose, undaunted in war. While Trajan had sought to enlarge,

Hadrian's prudence led him rather to contract the boundaries of Rome's enormous and overgrown dominions. Grand defensible frontiers were preferred by the latter, to the undefined and seemingly boundless marches of the former. In order that he might actually see and judge for himself, inquire into and reform abuses, the new Emperor resolved to travel over and inspect the whole of his vast territories a Herculean task, which occupied him no less than eighteen years.

In furtherance of this resolution Hadrian turned his steps towards Britain, his attention to which had been early and urgently called by the imperial lieutenant's alarming reports on the rebellious state of the island. Taking with him additional troops, the warlike monarch arrived in this country anno 120. With a vigorous hand he crushed revolt and fully re-established Roman pre-eminence. Marching often on foot at the head of the legions, he shewed them that although an emperor he was not the less a soldier, and encouraged them by sharing with alacrity the fatigues, privations, and dangers incident to war. He penetrated to the very heart of Scotland, where the great Agricola had, forty years previously, signally defeated the confederated tribes of the wild North; and having thus acquired a good knowledge, not only of the physical features and probable extent of the country, but also of the warlike stubborn character of the aboriginal people, he resolved to plant in deep and permanent foundations the Roman power in Britain, and create a formidable military curb against both provincial revolt and northern inroads. This object was to be accomplished by vast and massive lines of fortification drawn completely across the island. The point he selected was the track of country between the embouchure of the Tyne near Newcastle and the estuary of the Solway, a few miles north-west from Carlisle. The plan of the works was this:

First. A huge wall of solid stone, about nine feet thick, nineteen feet high, and seventy-three miles in length.

Second. Along the north side of this wall an immense trench, on an average fifteen feet deep and thirty-six feet wide.

Third. On the inner or south side of the wall a military road paved with stone, about seventeen feet broad, for the march of troops and transport of warlike stores.

Fourth. South from the military causeway were three parallel lines of earthworks nearly as high as the great stone wall itself,

and along the space between the northmost and the second of these earthen parallelograms was another trench of nearly the same dimensions as the one outside the murus.

To defend these formidable barriers there were seventeen great forts, fifty-one castles, and three hundred and twenty watch-towers. These were built chiefly against and along the inner side of the great Wall, and were so placed that at every fourth mile stood one of the fortresses; at every mile a castle; and between each castle, four of the military turrets or watch-towers. The form of these forts and castles was square, in the usual Roman fashion, protected by solid stone walls several feet thick, and flanked by ditches; the entrances being secured by double-barred gates and guard rooms. The forts embraced a space of from three to six acres each, according to circumstances. Each fort was garrisoned by a cohort about 500 strong, commanded by a military præfect. The castles held about 100 soldiers under a centurion. The turrets were stone boxes about ten

feet square, the walls of which were three feet thick, each turret holding probably half a-dozen men, performing the duty of watchers or sentinels. The total force guarding these lines may have been about fourteen thousand.

The west end of this grand military barrier was at Bowness, on the Solway, a few miles from Carlisle, and not far from the pillar long afterwards erected to mark the death-scene of that unprincipled aggressor on Scottish liberties, the first Edward; while the eastern extremity rested at the now well-known village near Newcastle called Walls-end, significant of its ancient Roman origin.

Besides these various forts, strong stations were thrown out as supporters and rallying-points, both towards what is now the Scottish Border, to break the first surge of the Picti, or painted people, from their gloomy forests and marshes in any assault on the wall, as well as to have a hold of the outlying district; and also towards the English side, beyond the lines of earthworks, to serve the same purpose, against any sudden attack by the subjugated Britons from innerEngland. Military roads connected all these outlying works with the grand chain of fortifications already described.

Such was the plan designed by the practical military genius of Hadrian to hold firmly Britain to Rome, and worthy of his name and renown.

An opinion long prevailed that these great fortified lines were not the design of one man, but of several, at successive periods of Rome's