This is a seventy-three-mile Roman stone wall on the northern border of the province Britannia, built by Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD. The Romans had conquered Britannia much earlier, in 43 BC. But fights with northern tribes did not cease for a long time; it was necessary to have an impenetrable stone wall, which was also helpful when the Romans had to collect their taxes.

How big is it?
It is long and massive: some stretches reached five metres in height and three meters in width! Smaller and larger forts, observation towers, and milecastles were also built along the wall, flanked by ditches on both sides.

Emperor Hadrian gave orders to build the wall in 122 AD. The work took at least six years to finish and involved thousands of soldiers from three Roman legions.

The building progressed from east to west, which we know from the builders’ inscriptions. The wall crosses the Island of Great Britain south of the Scottish border, from one coast to the other. A large part of the wall still stands today; it is a four- or five-day hike to walk along and visit the forts’ ruins.

Hadrian’s Wall has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. You can read more about it HERE.

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Crack open the Lexicon to learn more about → Hadrian and the Roman → legions.

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Find out more about Britannia and other Roman provinces in this fun activity.