Hadrian's Wall

Link to pictures  https://picasaweb.google.com/112835634611494716810/HadrianSWall?authkey=Gv1sRgCITagruc2fKSOw#

How do you put time into perspective?  Today (5 November 2011) we went to Hadrian’s Wall.  We visited places on the wall that brought images of the peoples that have been gone for 10’s of hundreds of years.   We walked along ramparts, and visited bath houses that superseded the pilgrims by 1400 years.

Hadrian’s Wall began construction in AD 122. Accounts state that it took between 6 and 10 years and some three Roman legions (about 15,000 people) to complete approximately 73 miles (80 roman miles) worth of wall.  D wants to know how long it would take them to put a wall across Florida.  The Romans wanted to keep out the Barbarians.  D wants to keep them in.  I tell her she should be grateful that they stay willingly and that she escaped.  (No offense to our friends in Florida!!!)

Along with the wall they constructed forts every mile and 2 watch towers in between.  The first site we visited was Chester’s Roman Fort. (Cilurnum).  We were one of the first ones on the grounds… it was if you could hear the echoes of the lives lived there.  The fact that it was as well preserved after nearly 2000 years was amazing to me.  The builders left a legacy of engineering and permanence that survived both time and circumstance.  There were aqueducts and drainage systems, there were heated floors, and horse stables… each of these built by men millennia ago as they protected a Roman frontier grossly extended and far away from their native homes.

The best preserved of any of the Fort features was the Roman bath house… the architects were amazing as they allotted for changing rooms with cubbies,  dry heat treatments, and steam saunas of varying temperatures to each individuals liking.  As a side note I was particularly fascinated by a huge tree that had one of its limbs cut off… the limb was in fact larger than the trunk of most other trees… it was near impossible to capture the size of this beast with a camera.  In consideration of the tree… the building surrounding it must have predated the sapling that became the tree by many hundreds of years.

Following our walk through the ancient fort, we visited a rather impressive museum on the grounds that housed a collection that spanned the length of the wall.  The collection was of tools, pottery, glassworks grain mills, and many other things that brought the inhabitants of the fort and the wall alive once more.  The museum also housed pieces of the walls and buildings.  Many of the preserved artifacts were inscribed… some were simple tombstones, other were dedicatory inscription to a host of Gods and Goddesses.  Some of the writings were personal in memory to those that lived and died in this lonely place.  As Britain grew, people tore down the walls and buildings to use the precut stones for their current needs.  Who knows where all of the pieces ended up? 

Our next stop was in the middle of a sheep field.  At first we couldn’t find the location until we looked down into a knoll separated by two hillsides.  After a short walk we arrived at the Temple of Mithrias.  Honestly it looked bigger in the pictures… the whole thing was about 15 feet wide by about 30 feet long.   This was to the Persian God Mithra.  In short, it was a cult that was common among Roman soldiers but there are few FACTS about the religion.   Mithras was born from a rock, killed a bull and dined with the sun god Sol.  The Alter even had coins on it. No, we didn’t take them…. And no they weren’t Roman… mostly little British stuff. 

As we looked at the Temple, I was reminded as to how different we are as people… I thought of those who must have come to this remote little temple to pay their offerings.  In the museum earlier, we saw miniature cast offerings that were left on alters… it impressed upon me the need for a God (or in their case many gods).  It seems the further we wander from the comforts of our own homes and families, the more we feel the need to reach out for the comforts of our God(s).

Our final stop of the day…. (Because we are getting old) was to another amazing fort.  Housesteads (Vercovicium) was further west and sat on a majestic hillside that had expansive views of valleys to the north and the south.  It is considered in the literature to be the most imposing site on the wall.  The walk was steep and nearly a half mile.  The view however was worth it. 

One of the best parts was the view of the wall crossing the valley to the east.  The wall was basically intact as it swept across the adjoining hills and valleys.  It was approximately six to eight feet wide and though it was hard to tell from the distance, it was about 5 or 6 feet high, although at its prime it was probably about 15 feet high. 

The fort was perhaps twice the size of Chester and yet it remained a model of uniformity and disciplined architecture.  The greatest difference between the forts was that Housesteads was built in layers along the hillside.  It made use of the slopes in its architecture and added variety to an otherwise uniform plan.

Here is a word of advice.  Don’t take the north gate if you are pulling a wagon.  The drop from the entrance of the Northgate was about 40 feet into the gorge below… as we would say, it’s a dooooooozy.  As we looked out over the north valley, in the distance we could see a fog bank that must have been forming over ponds in the valley… it would be very easy to envision the barbarian hordes sneaking through the fog and attacking without warning.   Could have been a scary place to live… especially for superstitious people.

A final note about the amazing places… the more we looked at them, the more we could feel the humanity that lived within the walls… the tightness of the quarters defied the Hollywood image of the massive Roman Empire… these were austere conditions and small personal spaces. The quarters were small, cramped and minimal compared to our images of Rome and the great conquerors.  These were people that lived a closely confined military lifestyle for prolonged periods of time away from otherwise comforts and pleasantries.  They were an amazing people that created something from rock and not much else on one of the most dangerous and isolated places in their known world.

Their accomplishments have literally lasted through centuries of time and still touched the feelings of personal sacrifice in us.  The thoughts of these pioneers of the wall have had D and me wondering… what they were thinking… did they ever imagine that two millennia would pass and people would still be examining their handy work.  Were they egotistical enough to think that what they had built would literally last forever?  Also, have we given thought of what we are leaving behind for others to find… will it be a lasting legacy, and will we be proud to leave it?