Rome’s Northern Frontier AD 70–235: Beyond Hadrian's Wall

Osprey Fortress #31

by Nic Fields, Donato Spedaliere (Illustrator)

When the Romans first fought against Caledonii during the reign of Agricola (AD 77-84), Agricola established a frontier along the Gask Ridge. He also consolidated the Forth-Clyde isthmus, the location at which the Romans would later build the Antonine Wall from AD 138 to 143. The following 100 years saw a cycle of advance into and retreat from Scotland, until the Romans abandoned the Antonine Wall completely. This book examines the Flavian, Antonine and Severan conquests of Scotland and the fortifications along Rome's northern frontier, and it explores the archaeological remains and places them in historical context.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2005

About the author

Dr Nic Fields started his career as a biochemist before joining the Royal Marines. Having left the Navy, he went back to University and completed a BA and PhD in Ancient History at the University of Newcastle. He was Assistant Director at the British School of Archaeology, Athens, and is now a lecturer in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

ROME'S NORTHERN FRONTIER AD 70-235 was written by a former military man who has authored several books in the Osprey series. Included with the text are photos, color plates, charts, maps and a glossary.

When not risking life and limb, military personnel are kept busy to keep them out of mischief. US troops make their beds and clean their gear, Nelson's sailors swabbed the deck, and Roman legionnaires built roads and fortifications.

If one had been in the service of Rome in AD 70, one might have been building the roads that crisscrossed the empire. These roads, for the quick movement of troops and dispatches, were so well built, unlike the muddy tracks encountered by the German armies in Russia during WWII, that traces of them can still be seen and even used today. If not building roads they built fortifications.

In ancient Britannia, the Roman northern edge of the empire rested on a line of forts and walls that ran along a military road that stretched across the narrowest part of that huge island. The smallest forts, watchtowers actually, were two story wooden buildings built within sight of each other and occupied by eight men. They were surrounded by a wall of turf bricks with a wattle-work parapet on top. All this was enclosed by a ditch. A single entrance that crossed that ditch.

If one were stationed in one of the larger forts than the defenses would have been more substantial. All the buildings inside the walls would have been built of stone. Among these buildings would naturally be the barracks, commander's home, workshops, storage buildings, stables, baths, and of course a latrine. The walls and towers would have been built of stone as well. Surrounding the wall would have been not just one, but a series of ditches, to slow down an attacker. The roadway to the gates would have been laid out so that one approaching the gate would have his exposed sword hand facing the defenders on the wall instead of the shield carried in the left hand. Beyond the ditches would have been an area cleared of trees thereby denying attackers cover. In this exposed ground would be camouflaged pits containing sharpened sticks, much like the punji traps of the Viet Cong centuries later.

One may think that the purpose of all these defensive works was so that the Romans could hunker down and be content to defend the walls. But noooo, these were just to provide protection from a sneak attack, for the Roman tactics were to march out and fight the enemy hand to hand. Of course, in the unlikely event of suffering the embarrassment of being chased off the battlefield, they would have a safe place to run to with their tail between their legs.

One may ask why the Romans didn't just conquer all of Britannia and Scotland as well? To the Romans, it wasn't worth the effort. By building a wall and forts they could slow down an enemy invasion and bring up more troops to crush them. A few scattered raids could be tolerated, and it would give the men policing the border combat experience and thus keep them from getting fat and lazy. Should a new emperor need a military victory to increase his image, then what better place to go to win some laurels than north of the wall?

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Fields adds a very well done book to Osprey's "Fortress" collection, providing a well written accounting of the Roman defenses beyond Hadrian's Wall on the Northern Frontier. Focus is on Agricola's campaigns and constructions, with excellent chapters on the Antonine Wall, the Gask Ridge defenses, and thorough descriptions of the major supporting forts.

This book is an excellent companion to "Fortresses #2 Hadrian's Wall" and adds tremendous detail that was less thoroughly covered there due to the huge amount of material needed to be presented to do an adequate job on Hadrian's Wall.

The artwork and photographs are numerous and very helpful, and gave me a much better feel for how the defenses looked. I especially appreciated the color plates and maps.

This well referenced book will surely be used often by anyone interested in this Roman theatre, and I expect my copy to get well worn as I construct dioramas as part of my wargaming hobby. I will be exploring the more detailed books referenced by Mr. Fields to satisfy my educational needs, of course.

I'm very pleased with this book, and grant it a 4.5 star rating ( it has the same irksome tables I didn't care for in Field's other Osprey books so -0.5). I round up as this was a real pleasure to read and will surely use many of the references provided.

[Koit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive review of the Roman fortifications of the first two centuries in the area to the north of Hadrian's wall. I was impressed by the plentiful tables, totalling not only the benefits and drawbacks of the wall but also it's construction plan, manhours spent, garrison sizes, etc. Overall, this review stands out as a very brief but strong introduction to Rome in Scotland.

What I found missing was the political context. Though the Severian re-expansion into the north is mentioned, barely half a sentence touches on it. The Antonine and Flavian periods are covered in far greater detail, and I think if the book had restricted itself to the pre-Severian period in what it covered, it would have achieved it's goals superbly.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but dense wee book. Some excellent detail on Roman fortifications in Scotland based on the evidence available, with some great description of Roman campaigns. I would have liked more of the wider context, but perhaps this was not the scope of the book. There’s a particularly helpful guide at the end for anyone wanting to get out and visit some of these sites for themselves.
As ever, Osprey the forerunners in books that get to the point in military history.