The Secrets Of Antonine Wall: The Sequel To Hadrians Wall | Our History

Series in which historian Bettany Hughes and Ben Robinson presents a unique look at Britain's past by taking to the air and unlocking secrets hidden in the landscape.

In this edition, they head to Scotland to discover that the Romans did not stop at Hadrian's Wall, but pushed deeper north to build the most heavily fortified border in the whole of their empire. The Antonine Wall is a piece of Roman history that many have never heard of. As the stunning aerial photography reveals, this 40-mile long fortification is perhaps the finest Roman frontier ever, lying 100 miles north of the more famous wall built by Hadrian. Using the evidence gathered by Ben's eye in the sky, Bettany pieces together the remarkable story of an emperor's lust for glory and the sequence of events that caused this remarkable feat of construction to be abandoned after just 20 years.

This film was first broadcast: 21 Nov 2014

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[timmaitland]

And the Antonine Wall was NOT the northernmost extent of Roman fortifications. There's the Gask Ridge, which stretches in the direction of Aberdeen and includes a series of fortlets guarding each valley exiting the Highlands.

[keithwaller]

Excellent, lovely to see Bettany again along with Phil Harding my favorite historians on tv.

[ianhamilton]

Wonderful! I walked Hadrian’s Wall in the snow after visiting the Bronte’s parsonage at Haworth maybe twenty years ago. Was mixing two deep loves. Did not manage the Antonine Wall/Ditch but hope to visit Scotland again before dropping off the twig. Loved the comment about Roman propaganda. Sometimes it seemed the Romans just never considered any other way of doing things: bridge across the Rhine? I visited the small village of Mons in Provence (not the WWI one) & wandering about in nearby environs, taking heed about errant sangliers came across what I assume was the part of an aqueduct. It was punched straight through the rocky hillside, at its deepest point being maybe thirty feet in height. The walls still showed clear signs of the chisels used in the construction. Was simply staggering – nothing like the master work of the Pont du Gard, but just evidence of Roman thoroughness & absolute will. Great program and exceptionally well presented. Loved an earlier (much earlier) program by Bettany about the Minoans. Deemed myself so fortunate (as an Australian) to have visited Knossos. Perhaps Bettany will allow me to marry her mother…

[brucemackinnon]

Research the Antonine Plague. About 15 years. Likely smallpox. Empire wide. About 10% of population died, including military. It was a major turning point for the Roman Empire. From here on, it was all downhill.

[postsurrealfish]

Many people forget the environmental conditions at the time and where the average temperature was a few degrees hotter than today and which is called the Roman Warm Period. During those much warmer times we even had vineyards along the now Scottish boarders, until it started to get cold again, with the Romans then leaving to go home.

[ian_b]

So I was in the local pub with some of my colleagues and there was a quiz so we joined in. And the question was about the wall built by the Romans and my mate was like "Hadrian's Wall!" and I said, "they specified it starts with an A" and he immediately went, "Adrian's Wall!".

[havingalook]

Very very interesting and very well presented by Bettany Hughes and Ben Robinson. Well done, thank you for bringing this to us. Cheers

[BritishBeachcomber]

This is even more impressive than Hadrian's Wall. Simply because the evidence of a basic earth wall has survived for 1700 years.

[BuzzSargent]

Brittany has an excellent voice for narrating this show. She brings excitement to a dull topic with real historical significance. Ben Robinson shows how exciting history is and it shows in his face and talk. I wish there was more written record of the people facing the Romans in this period. The idea of facing the most powerful Empire with just locals is a tale told over and over in history. Thanks for a good show. Happy Trails from Florida

[haggismuncher]

We really aren't exposed to just how cool all of our British history is. I've been dying to get up to Scara Brae for ages and also to find a Broch.

[stuartwald]

This was just one of several Roman moves to incorporate the Scottish lowlands (see Agricola, Severus, etc.), but they all foundered on three major points: (1) it was expensive as stated, including the hauling of grain from Yorkshire to feed the troops (taking it to the line of Hadrian's Wall is much less expensive; (2) there was little to loot and exploit by conquest; these were not settled territories nor mining areas, so the upside was low; and (3) every time a major effort was made and was going fairly well (including advancing up the east coast well beyond the Antonine line), troops were/would have to be withdrawn and sent to the Danube frontier or further away, so the remaining garrison would have to fall back to the Hadrian's Wall line which would work fine to control raiding and any major penetrations until the 360's (and that was the fault of a couple of generations of civil wars which had depleted the Roman army).

[snbd]

Always love to see Bettany and listen to her talk with passion about rome and places of antiquity.

[tbjtbj]

I was reading the plaque describing the wall at Falkirk. A small girl came up to me and asked what it said. I told her it described how the Romans came here long ago and built the ditch and wall that we could still see.
She thought about this, and feeling she should give something back, said "At night this wood is full of strange men". So now I know something about the wall that the archaeologists somehow missed.

[ivor]

I came from Bo'ness one of the towns the wall ran through. I remember as a kid the excavation of a roman fort in Kinniel in the early 80's the layout of the fort has been marked with paving slabs and wooden posts. One of those slabs with inscriptions was found in the town.

[garypeacock]

The guy in the national museum of Scotland done well to keep his eyes upwards 😜

[EllieMaes-Grandad]

The Romans did not 'call a halt' at the Tyne valley. They roamed well beyond. The wall was a backstop well inside their territory.

[yourplumbingpal]

Brilliant, really enjoyed this and its in my back yard so to speak.

[dragonr]

We were always taught in history classes that the Romans were present in Scotland they just were unable to conquer it like they did in England and most other countries that they invaded. As kids we used to visit the Antonine wall north of Glasgow

[brianwillson]

This video worth watching just for Bettany. ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[BritishBeachcomber]

The Romans would definitely have used blackthorn, not hawthorn. It has longer, stronger, more vicious thorns. It results in a deep infected wound which, untreated, can be fatal.