Blogging from: Hadrian’s Wall on October 27th, 2019
Bloggers: Leo and Alex
Steps taken: 14,200
We emerged from our Holiday Inn battlements on the Scottish frontier, ready to assume our duties on the wall.
Our first site for the day was Birdoswald, a Roman fort on Hadrian’s Wall. Birdoswald showcased seven phases of construction, featuring an early Hadrianic original construction, a Severan reconstruction phase in the 3rd century CE, late and post-Roman phases, and more. We noticed that the Romans had blocked off one of the gates to the encampment in the late empire, presumably because they could not afford to defend it from attack.
As you might imagine, a lots of soldiers require lots of food. Birdoswald featured two horrea, or granaries, built on raised platforms to allow drainage. At this site, one of the two granaries was converted into a dining hall as the Roman period ended.
We discussed the purpose of Hadrian’s wall over snacks. Was it purely a defensive barrier, in the words of a local Englishman, “to keep out the bloody Scots?” Or is it better interpreted as a visual instantiation of Roman militarism than a functional barrier? We ended with a discussion of the various functions the wall may have served, discussing its social, economic, and political functions.
After our visit to Birdoswald, our wall-patrolling duties whisked us away to Corbridge. Corbridge was originally a Roman army supply base, but later became a legionary encampment. The Emperor Hadrian is said to have traversed its roads himself.
We briefly visited the Corbridge museum, which while small, packed quite the punch. The museum held finds from across the local area, including a beautifully preserved shrine to Sol Invictus, the Roman God of the unconquered son.
At this site, we could see the high-functioning efficiency of Roman infrastructure. Corbridge has two horrea, or granaries, that have their own loading docks designed so that foodstuffs could be loaded easily onto wagons. We also noticed a nearby fountain that provided a stream of water from an adjoining aqueduct to the encampment. Corbridge has an underground strongroom that was used to hold valuables, as well as legionary walls that sequestered the soldiers from the townspeople.
The night ended on bittersweet notes of feta and honey as we held our last meal with professor Stewart before the banquet. The group feasted on a delicious and scarcely pronounceable meal of Souvlaki,Youvetsi, and Stifado.
Ciao!