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Hadrian's Wall: AD 122-130
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The great wall across northern Britain, begun on the order of the emperor Hadrian in AD 122, is virtually complete by 130. The speed of construction is astonishing. The wall stretches some 117 km from Bowness on the Solway Firth to Wallsend on the Tyne. For most of its length it is built of stone to a height of about 4.6 metres and a width of 2.7 metres.
Every 1000 paces (a Roman mile) there are small forts on the wall, and spaced along its length seventeen garrisons in which the troops live. Excavations have revealed details of everyday life at this extreme frontier region, including even a Birthday invitation to a party in Vindolanda - the main Roman encampment here in the years before the wall is built.
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