Vallum Aelium* - Maybe

So here we go. 4 hours in the car ahead of us en route to N'Castle has driven me (forgive the pun) to the guide book for want of something to do whilst HRH takes the first stint at the wheel. And guess what? It seems pretty much all the 'facts' recorded about the construction of The Wall are at best speculation! Apparently the first written accounts of Roman influence in Northumberland can be attributed to John Hodgson, a local vicar, who wrote six volumes over 20 years, finally published in 1839, presenting a mass of evidence blowing previous theories and attributing the construction (largely) to Hadrian rather than the Emperors before or after. And from what I can gather no-one has convincingly argued against him since. 

What is apparent however is that the beginnings of the 'wall' (rather more turf and timber actually) were constructed during the reign of the previous Emperor, Trajan (AD97-117) with the intention of providing a launch-pad for attacks on the pesky Caledonians! I have to say reading up about this period of British history presents a few parallels with modern times. You will draw your own conclusions but if I were to say that on Hadrian's accession he decided that it was proving all together too costly to keep fighting to take control of those aggressive tribes north of the border and so adopted the defensive approach to keep them out, you will get my drift. 

There ARE writings on the construction of the wall but the earliest date from around 150 years after it was completed and it would appear the Romans were not averse to massaging the truth to suit their  marketing and egotistical needs! 

Most surprising perhaps is that Hadrian's Wall took just 6 years to build and yet only 10 years after it's completion and when his successor took over, Antonius, not to be outdone, decided to push the Empire's border further north and built a wall of his own, leaving Hadrian's famed feat of engineering to languish as a series of trading-post forts rather than a military defensive barrier. Can't wait to see what all the fuss is about. 

*Vallum - wall

Aelium - Hadrian's family name