Hadrian's Wall

By James L. Forde-Johnston

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0718116526
• ISBN13: 9780718116521
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Joseph
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Best I've Seen on the Subject

This is still the best book I've read on Hadrian's Wall. Published in the 70's you can still buy it. The author does a great job of explaining the history of the wall and the significance and the impact it had on Roman Britain. It has great photos and very good outlines and graphs of the forts along the wall. He explains clearly the system of turrets and mile castles all along the wall. It is a little dated and I am sure they have excavated more or built other replicas of various buildings and civilian settlements along the wall, but this is still a great reference for anyone interested in Roman Britain. The author explains the wall was built as part of Hadrian's efforts to consolidate the Roman Empire (122 CE). When Hadrian died the policy of consolidation went away and the Roman army attempted to conquer the rest of Scotland and another wall was built about fifty miles north of Hadrian's wall, but the Romans were never able to fully conquer Scotland and the line of defense ended up back at Hadrian's wall and there it stayed until the fall of the empire itself. In the chapter on the history of the wall the author explains what the wall was used for. You see it wasn't really to defend against constant invaders along the wall. It was most likely used as a jumping point for the Roman Legions to be based and then moved forward past the wall and into the open fields where the Roman army was at its best. The most amazing thing is how long this wall stretched and it had armed guards every half mile. I bought this book to help me in an upcoming trip to Hadrian's Wall. The author also recommends the best sites to see along the wall and since it spans over 70 miles across England I don't think you could see all of it in one weekend. The tips on what to see are very helpful. Other chapters include Housesteads, Chesters, and Birdoswald which were the largest forts along the wall and where most of the army was based. There is a little social history in these chapters since these forts also had the largest civilian settlements and it is where the Roman army lived and socialized with civilians. They also raised families and retired at these locations. The book has a small bibliography, but not many books have been written on the subject so that is understandable.