She became useful and productive, but was always dispensable, making headline news in Rome only when war broke out. This forces a reliance on what is recovered from the ground. There is no avoiding the reality that pottery and coin evidence is far too imprecise, however carefully researched, to provide exact chronologies when historical references and inscriptions are lacking. In the period , around the same time as the Antonine Wall was begun, coins were struck depicting Britannia, and were followed by a similar issue which is normally only found in Britain for the years Such coins were usually produced at times of military success, but they do not always explicitly state this.
The arrival of legionary reinforcements at Newcastle from Germany or the return of detachments temporarily sent to Germany, and rebuilding at Birrens, about this time might suggest something was afoot.
Destruction and repair on the Antonine Wall may be attributable to these implicit phases of warfare. But archaeologists have no doubt that the Antonine Wall saw two distinct phases of occupation, following careful examination of two levels of destruction and demolition debris.
The problems are when and for how long, and whether the phases ended because of defeat or deliberate withdrawal. These have proved difficult to resolve. Calpurnius Agricola was sent to govern Britain around He is mentioned by the biographer of Marcus Aurelius, and his name appears on inscriptions at Carvoran and Stanwix.
It seems reasonable to assume that the Antonine Wall had, by then, been given up for good. Some of the turrets were demolished between this period and c. It is unlikely that the Walls were occupied simultaneously. So, a logical assumption would be that somewhere between the late s and early s a decision was made to give up the Antonine Wall.
The visible fort at South Shields seems to belong to this period, and reinforced control of the lower reaches of the river Tyne to the east of the end of the Wall at Wallsend. The Roman army retained a precarious hold on northern Britain. Cassius Dio, describing the reign of Commodus , mentions a war in Britain which he said was the most troublesome of the reign. Damage at some forts, such as Haltonchesters, has been attributed to this event, but only on the loosest circumstantial association.
It was built by the Roman army on the orders of the emperor Hadrian following his visit to Britain in AD The Antonine Wall was constructed starting around AD , and was occupied for about twenty years.
Scotland perhaps became simply not worth the bother for the Romans, who were forced to fight and defend deep elsewhere. Bar Hill offers the best views of the Antonine Wall in its wider landscape setting.
Castlecary is one of the largest forts on the Antonine Wall, and only one of two that featured stone ramparts. As built, the wall was typically a bank, about four metres 13 feet high, made of layered turves and occasionally earth with a wide ditch on the north side, and a military way on the south. Visitors can walk the wall admiring the stunning nature surrounding it, roaming like the Romans once used to, or just simply enjoying the peace and fresh air.
This became known as the Antonine Wall.
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