Highlights on Hadrian's Wall

[caldrail]

A video here about Hadrian's Wall, who actually built it, and who made this known to us.

 

[guidoLaMoto]

Hadrian's Wall may have provided some mild psychological deterrence to those nasty barbarians, as a statement of "we don't want you on our side" but not much of a physical deterrent . It's not so high or wide in most places to be more than a mild amusement to anyone accustomed to living outside 24 hrs  day, sleeping on rocks or doing without a nearby KwikTrip for an afternoon snack of a strawberry slushy & order of fries...But it did provide a good line of sight for sentries posted in camps or guard towers very 2 miles along its route (one mile of visibility in either direction) to serve as an early warning system for the Romans.

[caldrail]

Bear in mind it was a secure border to control and tax travel, not to prevent it, nor was the parapet wide enough for defence in full.  That's why it had seventy odd gates in it, one every mile, though I accept one opened onto a precipice. The Wall was fairly formidable as such but as modern experience tells us, people can get very imaginative when they're motivated to get past an obstacle.