BRITONS CELEBRATE 1,600 YEARS SINCE END OF ROMAN RULE

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Watercolor of Hadrian’s Wall in the snow

In A.D. 122 the Roman Emperor Hadrian visited Britannia, (modern day Great Britain) which was the northwestern outpost of the Roman Empire. Hadrian was having trouble with discipline among his Legions posted there and from the local Barbarians. So he decided to put his troops to work and contain the northern tribes. He ordered the building of a defensive wall and forts along the skinny neck of northern England. It came to be known as Hadrian’s Wall.

March 2010, marked the 1,600th anniversary of the Roman military withdrawal from Britain due to the collapse of Rome itself. To celebrate this anniversary volunteers manned the wall from coast to coast, from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, and lit torches and beacons in commemoration of their freedom from Roman tyranny. What did the Romans ever do for us.

Hadrian’s Wall was 80 Roman miles (73.5 statute miles or 117 kilometers) long, its width and height dependent on the construction materials which were available nearby. East of the River Irthing the wall was made from squared stone and measured 3 meters (9.7 ft) wide and five to six meters (16–20 ft) high, while west of the river the wall was made from turf and measured 6 meters (20 ft) wide and 3.5 meters (11.5 ft) high. This does not include the wall’s ditches, and forts. The central section measured eight Roman feet wide (7.8 ft or 2.4 m) on a 10-foot (3.0 m) base. Some parts of this section of the wall survive to a height of 10 feet (3.0 m).


 

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Holte Ender

Holte Ender will always try to see your point of view, but sometimes it is hard to stick his head that far up his @$$.
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Robert
13 years ago

“What did the Romans ever do for us.” I think Monty Python has the best answer to that:

“But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?”

osori
14 years ago

yeah.Along with American Idol and stupid Reality TV shows. How can it be Reality if you’re watching from home on your couch?
Maybe technology will develop food pellets that TV’s can dispense. Instead of bread and circuses it could be Crap and Pellets.

osori
14 years ago

Tom and Holte, bread and circuses being another parallel IMO.

14 years ago

Hadrian should have fought harder to contain that uppity colony. If he had sent more troops, it would have been a cakewalk. Roman soldiers would have been greeted as liberators. Throngs of grateful Britannians would have showered Roman troops with flowers and ice cream.

14 years ago

There were remnants of a Roman wall behind the horse farm where I used to live in the village of Farningham (1/2 km from the village on Dartford Road).

The story as I heard it: The Romans abandoned Britannia because they got tired of bangers and mash.

Brit in US
14 years ago

Hi — great video. Just a little history note: The Romans never ‘occupied England’ as such. They occupied the part of Celtic Britain which ultimately became England and Wales. The country of England and the English people and language did not actually exist at that time. As the Romans were leaving, the Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes were invading and settling the area that became England (as Gwen notes). They ultimately melded as the English, with an admixture of Danish and other Scandinavian Vikings later. Actually, the Romans never conquered what is now Scotland, so only occupied what is now England and Wales.

14 years ago

And I was just reading last week about Bouddicia’s rebellion. I know I probably did not spell her name correctly.

Jessica
14 years ago

The minute I saw this I was seeing Clive Owen in that King Arthur movie. Really interesting.

14 years ago

Sure Oso… The Arthur myths are all about Romans leaving and the resulting hardship / clan warring and Saxon raiding … great stuff for tale telling.
I like your observation of Hadrain’s Wall… nice post. 🙂

osori
14 years ago

Holte,
I must confess to being ignorant of British history.I had no idea the Roman occupation was 300 years!

I generally think of an occupation either for military purposes-to suppress a recalcitrant populace or as a barrier to an enemy-or to control resources and trade. Would you know Romes intent in occupying Britain?

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