We said goodbye to our hosts at the Stables Bed and Breakfast near Newcastle and were in search of Hadrian's Wall. Our host had said it was easy to find. After all it was 74 miles long and stretched the breadth of England. Via a few small signs and a bit of luck we found it. O,r at least a part of it. We parked the little Benz by the side of the country lane and read the historical placard about the wall before crossing the fence for the short walk uphill to the wall remains.
Crossing the fence was an easy chore because there was a stairway. I don't think that I'd seen anything like it elsewhere. The British seem to make all historical sites easily accessible, and it was only about a fifty yard walk to the ruins. After yesterday's walk up to Durham's cathedral this was a break! It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining, the grass green and sheep bleating softly.
Hadrian's Wall, built about 122 A.D., and would you believe that Hadrian was the Roman emperor at that time? The wall is 74 miles long and was designed to keep the Picks of Scotland out of England or restrict the movement of the people within the wall. The Picks were the blue-faced barbarian ancestors of Braveheart and perhaps me. The wall was constructed of stone for the most part and twelve feet high. There were forts at 5000 foot intervals called mileforts and turrets between the mileforts. We were looking at one of the turrets. Over one thousand years ago roman soldiers were standing here armed with spears, shields and swords. From this point they maintained the security of the massive Roman Empire. This was the frontier and I was standing in their foot steps. Once manned by soldiers from throughout the Empire, Spainards, Greeks, or North Africans, the wall was later manned by local Britons. The construction of this part of the wall is stone; some 30 odd miles are of earth. Indeed Roman stone quarries are found along the length of the stone portion of the wall, and there are deposites of lime nearby for making concrete, the building material invented by the Romans. But this morning there is no rattling of weapons, just the soft bleating of sheep and the joyous laughter of a two-year-old tumbling is the soft green grass. There is a family of mom, dad, children, and grandpa visiting the site as well, and I, lost in my thoughts of ancient soldiers, stand in awe of the achievement of Roman engineers. Only one caveat at this site: watch out for the sheep dung!
Oh, by the way, "Patefacio vestri libri" translated from Latin is "Open your books...". The first thing my eigth-grade Latin teacher would say when we entered the schoolroom.
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Good post! Did you know that the Romans had the first real professional army? The soldiers were well fed and trained. They even had medical help right on the battlefield. Also they were the first to fight in small groups like the platoons and squads of today's modern armies.
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