The Wall: Rome's Greatest Frontier

by Alistair Moffat

A “compelling, thought-provoking and entertaining history” of Hadrian’s Wall, one of Britain’s most intriguing landmarks (Herald). Hadrian’s Wall is the largest and one of the most enigmatic historical monuments in Britain. Nothing else approaches its vast a land wall running seventy-three miles from east to west and a sea wall stretching at least twenty-six miles down the Cumbrian coast. Many of its forts are as large as Britain’s most formidable medieval castles, and the wide ditch dug to the south of the Wall, the vallum, is larger than any surviving prehistoric earthwork. Built in a ten-year period by more than thirty thousand soldiers and laborers at the behest of an extraordinary emperor, the Wall consisted of more than twenty-four million stones, giving it a mass greater than all the Egyptian pyramids put together. At least a million people visit Hadrian’s Wall each year, and it has been designated a World Heritage Site. In this book, based on literary and historical sources as well as the latest archaeological research, Alistair Moffat considers who built the Wall, how it was built, why it was built, and how it affected the native peoples who lived in its mighty shadow. The result is a unique and fascinating insight into one of the wonders of the ancient world. “Wonderfully entertaining.” —The Independent

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland, Ancient History, Archaeology, Audiobook, British Literature

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alistair Moffat is an award winning writer, historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television.

Moffat was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Medieval History. He is the founder of the Borders Book Festival and Co-Chairman of The Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wall is a really good book about Roman influence in Britain in general. It doesn't just talk about that most famous wall, Hadrian's Wall, but it also discusses the Antonine Wall and even references other frontiers that Hadrian created. It deals with the whole period of Roman occupation of Britain, beginning with Julius Caesar and ending with the fall of the Empire. It deals with how various different emperors saw Britain, and touches on the politics in Rome that informed that.

It's detailed but still readable, and Moffat's genuine enthusiasm for the subject shows. Rather than fill the book with footnotes, he's put non-essential-but-relevant information in boxes, to clearly separate it while keeping it handy. There's a section of photographs of the Wall, and the final chapter has suggestions about tourist attractions along it.

It didn't tell me much that I wasn't already vaguely aware of, really, from years of Classics lessons and reading Rosemary Sutcliff, but it was satisfying to get clearer pictures, and to read about the real events that inspired her books (like Carausius and Allectus, in The Silver Branch).

[David Canford · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 8 years old, my parents moved us from Essex near London to Northumbria in the north east of England to be closer to my mother’s family. It’s England’s least populated county, a land of open country, huge long beaches, spectacular castles and ruins. It's where the Vikings first invaded the UK and the border land between England and Scotland.
My relatives in their Geordie dialect would ask if we’d been to see 'the Wal’ as it’s known up there. The first time we did it fired my imagination, standing on the ancient stones as the land dropped sharply away towards Scotland, empty and windswept.
Hadrian’s Wall is Europe’s largest monument stretching over 70 miles from east to west coast, though in parts into longer exists, the stones taken by later generations to build their farmhouses and churches.
This book is a great read. The first half is about Rome invading and colonising Britain and the second half about the wall and also the less long-lasting turf wall built in Scotland, the Antonine wall. The last chapter is about visiting the Wall today, nineteen hundred years after it was built.
If the subject interests you, then I’d very much recommend this book.

[Boy Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book badly mistitled.

This is close to the best Moffat book I've read, it stays on track and winds its way chronologically from Julius Caesar's early adventures in Britiannia towards the collapse of the Roman Empire and the remains of Hadrian's Wall as we know them now.

Unfortunately, Hadrian's Wall doesn't really make an appearance until more than halfway through the book, then it's past us in a flash, as the Antonine Wall gets built and Hadrian's falls into decay and disrepair. Although we do return, it never captures us quite like the first sighting. As such I think this book would have been better titled, The Roman Frontier in Britain. The frontier moved back and forth over the centuries and at that shifting boundary is where the bulk of Moffat's story lies.

He does do a brilliant job with his sources and though there is considerable material for the British Roman frontier, where it's lacking he looks elsewhere. He also keeps one eye on the rest of the empire throughout to add balance and context. Another feature new to Moffat is a bunch of info boxes which segment out his usual segues that are normally in text, I found this division made for a much better reading experience.

The scene setting is very good, and Moffat uses his sources well.

From the Aeneid

"I set upon the Romans bounds neither of space nor of time: I have bestowed upon them empire without limit... to impose the ways of peace, to spare the defeated, and to crush those proud men who will not submit."

Apparently the vault that you see in the gymnastics comes from this Roman vault that soldiers used to practice getting into the saddle.

"The writer Arrian claimed that well-trained cavalrymen could vault onto their ponies in full armour, while they were cantering - slowly presumably."

The original celtic seasons

"An agricultura, stock-rearing society, the Celtic Kingdoms of Northern Britain and Ireland arranged their year around four turning-points. At Imbolc in late February ewes began to lactate in anticipation of lambing, providing much needed sustinence at the end of a long winter. Up on the hillforts, great bonfires were lit, Kings spoke to their people, and rituals and prayers were offered up to the gods. Beltane in May was the signal to drive flocks and herds up to the high summer pastures, while Lughnasa in August celebrated the first fruits of the year's harvest. At Samhuinn in October the animals were lead back down from what were called the summertowns to the wintertowns in the valleys."

Vegetius on one of the innumerable reasons as to why the Romans were the greatest fighting force of all time.

"Speed in war, wrote the military theorist Vegetius, is more important than courage. And a highly mobile, well-trained and well-led army could hold down vast swathes of territory."

This has an air of Monty Python to it. I can imagine all the different groups turning up and getting into an argument and then killing each other in an Anchorman style battle.

"At summer events along Hadrian's Wall and elsewhere in Roman Britain, several groups of re-enactors can be seen. They drill, form a testudo, charge, fire arrows at targets, and their cavalary soldiers show feats of genuine horsemanship. There are six or seven groups n Britain but each only has twenty or so members at most. What would be most impressive is a combined force - close to a legionary double century. But this is apparently impossible. The different groups do not get on well, each one sniffing at the others' lack of attention to detail, commitment, and well, general Roman-ness."

The more you know.

"Early varities of tomato were yellow and that is why they're called pomodoro "golden apples".

We think our bureaucracies have too much red tape, it seems like the Romans were the masters of it.

"From the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 31BC to the beginning of Diocletian's in AD 284, one historian has calculated that the pen pushers generated about 225 million records of Roman army pay, but only three have been found in reasonable condition. "

I first encountered sea-coal a few weeks ago in another book, I'd never heard of it before. It sounds a lot like the English version of a Dropbear but sure enough, it's real.

"Carbo marinus, or sea-coal, was first picked up on Northumberland and Durham beaches a very long time ago."

Normally that damned If is the only poem of Mr Kipling's I come across. This has that same childish sing song to it but it's also seemingly very apt for how a Centurion would have felt.

The Roman Centurion's Song

Legate, I had the news last night - my cohort ordered home
By ships to Portus Itius and thence by road to Rome.
I've marched the companies aboard, the arms are stowed below:
Now let another take my sword. Command me not to go!

I've served in Britain forty years, from Vectis to the Wall,
I have none other home than this, nor any life at all.
Last night I did not understand, but, now the hour draws near
That calls me to my native land, I feel that land is here.

Here where men say my name was made, here where my work
was done;
Here where my dearest dead are laid - my wife - my wife and
son;
Here where time, custom, grief and toil, age, memory, service,
love,
Have rooted me in British soil. Ah, how can I remove?

For me this land, that sea, these airs, those folk and fields suffice.
What purple Southern pomp can match our changeful Northern
skies,
Black with December snows unshed or pearled with August
haze -
The clanging arch of steel-grey March, or June's long-lighted
days?

You'll follow widening Rhodanus till vine and olive lean
Aslant before the sunny breeze that sweeps Nemausus clean
To Arelate's triple gate; but let me linger on,
Here where our stiff-necked British oaks confront Euroclydon!

You'll take the old Aurelian Road through shore-descending
pines
Where, blue as any peacock's neck, the Tyrrhene Ocean shines.
You'll go where laurel crowns are won, but -will you e'er forget
The scent of hawthorn in the sun, or bracken in the wet?

Let me work here for Britain's sake - at any task you will -
A marsh to drain, a road to make or native troops to drill.
Some Western camp (I know the Pict) or granite Border keep,
Mid seas of heather derelict, where our old messmates sleep.

Legate, I come to you in tears - My cohort ordered home!
I've served in Britain forty years. What should I do in Rome?
Here is my heart, my soul, my mind - the only life I know.
I cannot leave it all behind. Command me not to go!

- Rudyard Kipling

Patrick Leigh Fermor with a beautiful turn of phrase.

"On the spot, only these stumps remained, but the scene of the dedication is carved in great detail on Trajan's column in Rome, and the Forum pigeons, ascending the shaft in a spiral, can gaze at these very piers in high relief: the balustered bridge soars intact and the cloaked general himself waits beside the sacrifical bull and the flaming altar with his legionaries drawn up helmet-in-hand under the eagle standards."

Who knew Hadrian was so well travelled? He pretty much surveyed the entire empire.

"Hadrian visited virtually every province in the Empire, Hadrian was almost certainly seen in the flesh by more of his subjects than any of those who reigned before or after him. In 121 he began his first tour by riding from Rome to Lyon and then to Germany and Middle Europe to inspect the defences of the Rhine-Danube line. Perhaps his fleet called in a ta London before sailing on to the Tyne in 122. After the Wall was begun the sprawling imperial retinue packed its bags to travel right across France to Tarragona in Spain. Then, in perhaps his most spectacular year, 123, Hadrian crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Africa, the province of Mauretania. From there he sailed the length of the Mediterranean, following the Atlantic current, to Antioch in Syria, where he was first proclaimed Emperor, thence across eastern Turkey to the Black Sea coast and its Greek cities, where he met Antinous. Back in Rome by 125, Hadrian left for Africa in 128, Greece and southern Turkey in 129, Palestine and Egypt in 130, and finally back to Rome in 133-4. His backside was well used to the saddle and his stomach to the roll of the waves."

Auden has a go at the life a Centurion on the wall, I'll leave you to decide if it's better than Kipling.

Roman Wall Blues

Over the heather the wet wind blows,
I've lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.

The rain comes pattering out of the sky,
I'm a Wall soldier, I don't know why.

The mist creeps over the hard grey stone,
My girl's in Tungria; I sleep alone.

Aulus goes hanging around her place,
I don't like his manners, I don't like his face.

Piso's a Christian, he worships a fish;
There'd be no kissing if he had his wish.

She gave me a ring but I diced it away;
I want my girl and I want my pay.

When I'm a veteran with only one eye
I shall do nothing but look at the sky.

- W.H. Auden

An extract of Anglo Saxon poetry.

The Ruin

Splendid this rampart is, though fate destroyed it,
The city buildings fell apart, the works
of giants crumble. Tumbled are the towers,
Ruined the roofs, and broken the barred gate,
Frost in the plaster, all ceilings gape,
Torn and collapsed and eaten up by age.


Well-wrought this wall: Wierds broke it.
Snapped rooftrees, towers fallen,
the work of the Giants, the stonesmiths,
mouldereth.
Rime scoureth gatetowers
rime on mortar.
Shattered the showershields, roofs ruined,
age under-ate them.
And the wielders & wrights?
Earthgrip holds them - gone, long gone
fast in gravesgrasp while fifty fathers
and sons have passed

Vallum just sounds better, at least that's my two cents for why it stuck.

"Vallum may be the accepted name for the vast ditch system dug behind Hadrian's Wall but, in the second century AD, it was the Latin word for a pallisaded rampart. And it is the derivation of the English "wall". Fossa is a ditch or trench, not Vallum. But the original misleading label has stuck."

I'm sure the Welsh all know this because they're all descended from such fierce horse lords but I was surprised to hear it.

"King of Mercia from 757 to 796, Offa fought fierce campaigns against the invading Welsh princes and, to show where their territory ended and his began, he had a vallum magnum built from sea to sea. Stretching 220 kilometres, much longer than Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall put together, it runs from the Severn to the Dee estuary. The largest earthwork ever dug in Europe, at any time, it is an extraordinary - and far from well understood - monument. Offa called on his people to give military service and work in gangs to dig a 2 metre ditch and build up a 7-metre rampart to the east of it. The whole layout is more than 20 metres across.

Imagine being masters of the world. I wonder how the centuries would have felt being called a relatively well-disciplined labour force?

"The abandonment of Hadrian's Wall was not a disaster or a waste, just a matter of strategy. Because they had the army, as much a huge and relatively well-disciplined labour force as a fighting machine, the Romans though on a different scale. They were masters of the world and it was for them to order it as they saw fit."

The importance of the Stirling Gap makes a lot more sense now.

"What is now Scotland used to be split into two, and Tacitus thought that the north was like a different island. And it was. Motorways and modern drainage have erased this ancient frontier. Two thousand years ago, landward communications were much more difficult. At the western end of the line of the Antonine Wall, the Highlands rise up abruptly. In the central section, overland travel to the north was made circuitous and even dangerous by the Flanders Moss. A wide tract of treacherous marshland, it made much of the valley of the meandering River Forth impassable in winter and very awkward in summer. Drainage had to wait until the the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Only in the east, through Stirling Gap, was there firm passage. Funnelling under the the glowering crag of the great castle, armies intent on the conquest of all of Scotland were forced to march that route. For this now-lost reason of geography, Stirling held the key to the whole kingdom for many centuries."

I knew Pict but the others were a surprise. I guess this means France is land of the Wreckers.

Picti, meaning 'the painted or tattooed people', was probably a soldiers nickname, perhaps coined in 296 by those garrisons on Hadrian's Wall who had not seen the northern warbands before. It stands in a tradition of noms de guerre which called the Saxons after a short-bladed knife they carried, the Franks, whose name means 'the wreckers', or the Vikings who did exactly that, dodged in and out of the creeks or viks

Man I'd love to see the budget announcement of the Roman Empire. Interesting take on the fall of the Roman Empire.

"By the middle of the third century the imperial budget was running at 225 million denarii per annum and hundreds of millions of coins were being struck to feed it. There was not enough silver in the Empire to make what was needed and consequently coins were primarily minted from base metals. The Emperor Diocletian attempted to check he runaway inflation by issuing an Edict on Prices in 301. It listed cereals, beer, meat and other commodities and attached standard measures and prices to each, as well as the rates of pay for different sorts of worker. Like all attempts at a prices-and-incomes policy, it failed immediately. The market corrected the situation with characteristic crudeness. Exchange was based on bullion, silver or gold, no matter what form it came in. The Roman Empire ultimately fell because it ceased to produce sound money and became less and less able to pay for itself."

Imagine calling your daughter The Wall. Then again I'd leap to marry a woman with a name like 'The Wall'

"Coelius, known as Coel Hen, or Old Cole, by the bards may have been the last Roman-appointed Duke of the Britains, based at the legionary fortress at York. In a bizarre historical memory, he is probably the figure behind the nursery rhyme, Old King Cole. At least eight dynasties list him either as a founder or an early king. The Welsh geneaologies are heavily corrupted in placs and Coel's wife is named as Strawdawl, which translates as 'Wall Road', and his daughter was Gwawl, or 'The Wall'.

[John Nichol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could just as easily have been named 'A Brief History of Roman Britain'.

Beginning with Julius Caesar's brief forays across the channel, Moffat puts the building of Hadrian's Wall into historical context as the Empire fights and subdues the many tribes of Brittania.

As expected, the building and manning of the wall is given a substantial portion of the book, but then the narrative becomes rushed and history seems to go into fast forward as Moffat takes us through the next few hundred years in just 60 or so pages. This shouldn't, however, take away from the substantial achievement in the researching and writing of what is an accessible history book.

[Cindy Tomamichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and well written book. It is written in a chatty yet informative style, and there are tidbits of related information in boxes.

Well worth a read if Hadrian's Wall, Celtic or Roman Britain history is an interest.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much has been written about Hadrian's Wall. Moffat discusses the history of the wall as well as some observations about previously accounts of its history and literature regarding the wall. This was an interesting and informative read.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just recently read a fiction book about archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall, I was interested in the topic and wanted to know more. Some parts of this book were more interesting than others, but overall I enjoyed it. I’d be interested to read more books from this author.

[Mike Hardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is much more than a tourist guide to the ruins of a roman wall, although it is a fascinating one at that. It is actually a survey of the history of the Roman involvement in Britain, beginning with the initial reconnaissance by Julius Caesar and ending with the fading away of the Roman empire on the island ( in Britain, the Roman Empire ended with a whimper, not a bang). As such, it is an invaluable text for the history of Rome itself from the 2nd century AD through the dissolution of the empire in the West. It is filled with details of daily life in Roman Britain, and particularly along the wall itself. It covers not only the lives of the Roman elite and the Roman soldiers who defended the imperium for so long, but describes as far as the sources permit what life was like for the ordinary Briton under Roman rule. It does not dismiss the unconquered Celtic tribes as mere barbarians, but as a separate culture in its own right, which refused to be assimilated and succeeded in adding its own imprint on Britannia.

A very rewarding story, which is not afraid to take occasional detours to add valuable details about things Roman and British, such as the why the toga, one of the most impractical articles of clothing ever invented, was held in such high esteem by the Romans. A caution, however: it would be wise to come equipped with a good map of Britain, and particularly the border lands with Scotland, as the author guides you along the wall from East to West.

[Mark Piesing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought for me as a gift, I thought I knew a lot about Hadrian’s Wall until I read this book.
A real page turner that places the Wall in the wider context of Roman Britain, and tries to find clues as to what the Ancient Britons thought of their occupiers.
Still, even though the Roman’s were the invaders, colonisers, and slavers, there is something sad, and disturbing, about the fall of Roman Britain, and thus The Wall captures it well.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wealth of info, but a bit dry at some points

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to give this book a little less than a 3-star rating, but 2 is too harsh.

For starters, the title is misleading: the book is a general history of Roman Britain, which doesn't get around to mentioning the wall for several chapters. Not a problem: situating Hadrian's Wall in the context of the greater history of the province makes sense. But, a little more truth in advertising would have been good.

Generally, the book is a solid popular history with good academic sourcing (though I understand there's currently more skepticism about "The Great Barbarian Conspiracy" than Moffatt acknowledges). The major drawbacks stem from Moffatt's apparent focus on an English reading audience: it assumes a much greater familiarity with place names than non-English readers are likely to have, and indulges too often in a twee sense of humor that doesn't translate well. Add to that frequent sidebars on an astonishingly random list of topics and constant referral to Moffatt's favorite topic, the medieval Border Reivers, and Moffatt can come across as more of the blowhard at the corner pub than an entertaining but coherent historian.

[Eddie Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at Hadrian's wall, including an overview of the entire history of the Roman occupation of Britain, and a brief history of the wall up until it started being conserved in modern times. I enjoyed the Roman history sections the most - Moffat's conclusions seem to be that Britain was at best an exotic, prestige Imperial obsession rather than an economic success as a colony. Hadrian's wall was a pragmatic solution to keeping the highland tribes at bay - they weren't worth the effort militarily or financially of invading and keeping pacified. But they kept bouncing back and causing problems, eventually leading to the Romans withdrawing from Britain, wall or no wall. The greatest charm of this book is also its weakest link in some sections - huge amounts of detail to (sometimes) slog through.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading a fair number of books covering Roman Scotland recently and I have found this to be a highly informative one. At times, I wanted to know more about the sources used to make such a convincing account but overall it's a very useful background to the eras prior to the building of Hadrian's Wall and for the decades following after its construction

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read - a lot of background on Roman Britain, before you get to the detail on the wall itself. Not what I was expecting (I was expecting an entire book on the wall), but it makes sense to provide context to the reader who may not have the background knowledge.

[Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but I felt a little disappointed. This may be because there was quite a lot of general history in the book. Maybe it was not the detailed study of the physical wall I was expecting. as a primer however, it serves well.

[Hugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just a book about Hadrian's Wall, but covers the entire Roman conquest of Britain, from the first campaign by Julius Caesar, right through to the final days. Interspersed with snippets of information about life in the Roman empire, it is very entertaining to read.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and informative style. An ideal primer for anyone interested in Hadrian's Wall.

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confess a bias at the outset that I really rate Alastair Moffat as a writer and have enjoyed a number of his books . His scholarship is almost fanatical in its detail - only he could describe in detail how Roman soldiers wiped their bottoms! I have marked it down because its title is misleading - 44% of the book has gone before the wall gets a serious mention .A lot of pages are devoted to the conflict between Rome and Britannia which is understandable but also he delves into the history of the Roman Empire in far more detail than seems necessary .I know there are many good stories to tell about the emperors , I know because it is regurgitated in many books . What I had hoped for was more on the wall its use and a description of walking along it todsy . Alistair Moffat has produced other walking books which delve into history on the way but this book is differently structured and consequently disappointed me a bit though there was still much to enjoy and learn from

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this highly readable book, stuffed with detail. It was fascinating. Unlike most other sources about Hadrian's Wall, this book was rich in details about the local native population. I was prepared to thoroughly enjoy this book because I had walked the Hadrian's Wall Path about a decade earlier. I thought I knew a lot about the Wall but this book really augmented my love of the topic.

Hadrian’s Wall in northern England was built over a 10-year period by more than 30,000 soldiers using more than 24 million stones. Incredible. Even the Vallum (ditches south of the wall) is bigger than any prehistoric earthworks. A great read, using new archaeological research and earlier sources, and including much information about the indigenous population.

[Shelley Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am fascinated by the Romans and really interested by one of their most intriguing remains: Hadrian's Wall, in northern Britain. This is an easy-to-read, detailed account of the building of the Wall, who built it and why. Along the way you'll learn more about the presence, history and lasting effects of the Romans in Britain.

There are boxes scattered throughout the text with interesting tidbits about Roman history, social life and beliefs. While the book may be too detailed if you want a quick introduction to to the history of Hadrian's Wall, it is a thorough and enjoyable exploration of the Wall.

[Pallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with no previous knowledge about Hadrian, The Wall or Roman Britain. It served it’s purpose and I’ll pick up some more books about the Romans. Or hiking The Wall, that seems like fun as well.

I was a little annoyed at the preface when talking about ramparts and fortifications, “Perhaps the attraction comes from years of television and film: American Indians charging across the plains, whooping and yelling, hurtling towards camera, loosing off arrows at the good guys safe behind the stockade…” Yes in reference to the world of movies where natives are bad and cowboys are good but I hate that, make it stop.

3,5 rounding up

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When… I asked myself, did we start producing writers who make history a fun read / listen ?
Long may they continue 🤗
The Wall: Rome’s greatest frontier is a rollicking good tramp through history following the paving stones to the Roman border which crossed Britain between the Bowness-on-Solway and Wallsend, and… they built a wall to remind us that way back when inhumanity is humanity based.
Thank you for your collected words Alistair Moffat and your eloquence James Cameron Stewart, very much appreciated gentlemen. :-)

[Simon Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in the shadow of the wall and my grandfather was secretary of the vindolanda trust under robin birley so this was a wonderful journey back in town for me for so many reasons. Moffat’s book is the most approachable and interesting book I have read about the wall and he does a great job of setting it all in a wider context. He is right that vindolanda is the most inportant Roman site in england, due to its letters. A good read for anyone interested in Roman Britain, the wall or the Roman Empire in general. Thank you taking me back on time so well.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for anyone with any interest in Roman Britain. Fantastically written and seamlessly blending a treasure trove of factual information, with rich storytelling to create a book which I struggled to put down. Having walked The Wall from North Shields to Bowness-on-Solway before, I wish I'd read this book before I went. But it inspires me to put on my boots and walk it again, with a head now full of knowledge and context.
This might have been the first Alistair Moffat book I've read, but it certainly won't be the last.

[Koit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A high 3.5/5.0

A very enjoyable read of the history of one of the most well-known symbols in Britain. The book covered the Roman era British realms in more detail than I thought it would while actually speaking less of the wall and more trying to get across its impact. It's an approach I can appreciate though I will note that for a person trying to understand the importance and relevance of the Wall after the 5th century, there's very little here (and definitely nothing structured).

[Leila Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like history, Roman history especifically and/or is fascinated by this extraordinary piece of architecture that's Hadrian's wall, this is an excellent book. I'll say that it's better yet to those like me who had the wonderful opportunity to visit parts of the wall (where I bought the book, by the way). It's like an extended trip. It's a real joy to learn what we can about places we visit or would like to visit.

[Gilly Wilford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, lively and entertaining history of Hadrian's Wall and, more generally, Roman rule in Britain from Caesar's first landing to the withdrawal of Rome in the 4th century.

This is clearly meticulously researched but it wears its learning lightly, making it a delight to read and it feels more like a novel than a learned tome. What a pleasant and enjoyable way to read history. I will read this again.

[Ben Sledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished just in time for my Hadrian's wall hike next week! I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about the Roman Empire, but I learned a lot reading this book. A little too much time was spent on pre-Wall context for me, but enjoyable and informative nonetheless. I particularly enjoyed the perspectives of the native Britons, which are often overlooked when discussing humanity's 'golden era'. Now to see the real thing.

[Stacie Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another classic Moffat book. At this point I've read/listened to several. This book centers around Rome in Britain and the building of the two walls. Most know of the Hadrian one but also discussed is the Antonine one. It starts with Julius Caesar conquering, to when the Western Roman Empire had to let it go back to the locals. This is well read and I recommend this to anyone that might find this interesting.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is clearly a well-researched book. I read it in preparation for seeing Hadrian’s Wall this year, and while it did give me a great appreciation for what I will see, I think you can only really enjoy this book if you are interested in the history of the Roman Empire as a whole. There is a significant amount of political/historical context provided. Unfortunately that is not my particular area of interest, but the chapter focused on the wall itself was very interesting.