Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian's Wall
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There is something so compelling about exploring the most remote reaches of any country. Both Marcus and I knew we wanted to see Hadrian’s Wall while in England – the northern-most border of the mighty Roman Empire. The Romans felt the need to build the wall to keep out the “savage” Picts, the Celtic settlers of what the Romans called Britannia. The Romans pushed them into the northern-most region of the island, but couldn’t conquer them. The best they could do was build the 73-mile-long fortification across the northern border to keep them out of Britannia. It was approximately 15 feet high and 9 feet thick back in the day – before the decline of the Roman Empire and locals started carting off stones to build their homes – and was heavily fortified. Every five miles along the wall were huge forts that housed 1000 soldiers, and at every mile in between the forts were milecastles, which housed 30 soldiers. In between every two milescastles were two turrets where four men kept constant watch… for 250 years! Amazing!

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