Hadrian’s Wall by Adrian Keith Goldsworthy (PDF)

Description

From an award-winning historian of ancient Rome, a definitive history of Hadrian’s Wall Stretching eighty miles from coast to coast across northern England, Hadrian’s Wall is the largest Roman artifact known today. It is commonly viewed as a defiant barrier, the end of the empire, a place where civilization stopped and barbarism began. In fact, the massive structure remains shrouded in mystery. Was the wall intended to keep out the Picts, who inhabited the North? Or was it merely a symbol of Roman power and wealth? What was life like for soldiers stationed along its expanse? How was the extraordinary structure built — with what technology, skills, and materials? In Hadrian’s Wall, Adrian Goldsworthy embarks on a historical and archaeological investigation, sifting fact from legend while simultaneously situating the wall in the wider scene of Roman Britain. The result is a concise and enthralling history of a great architectural marvel of the ancient world.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐“… the Roman army was designed for mobile warfare and not static defense … In all its phases, Hadrian’s Wall was designed to allow the Roman army ready access across its line. By the third century, more than one-fourth of the soldiers stationed in or near the Wall were cavalrymen … Such a strong force of good-quality cavalrymen allowed the army to patrol far in advance of the Wall, and even well beyond its outpost forts. They acted as a reminder of Roman strength and of the army’s long reach …” – from HADRIAN’S WALLFor one contemplating a visit to Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England, or for one lucky enough with available time and interest to already have done so (such as myself), HADRIAN’S WALL by Adrian Goldsworthy is a must read.Starting with a Chronology summarizing a timeline (from 55 BC to 410 AD) for Rome’s involvement with the conquest and occupation of Britannia, the author – an award winning historian with several non-fiction books about Rome and its army to his credit ‒ then details in the first nine chapters what is known about the need for the Wall, its genesis, and the form and manning of it from available archeological and written evidence: Britannia as the Empire’s outpost, about Emperor Hadrian himself, building and garrisoning the Wall, the Wall’s evolution under subsequent emperors, the anatomy of its parts (turrets, mile castles, forts, ditches), forts and attached towns, soldiers and civilians, life on the Wall, how the Wall “worked”, and the end of Empire. In a final chapter, Goldsworthy suggests how to best visit and explore the Wall.An Appendix lists known and probable garrison units in the second and third centuries and c. 400 for each of the forts along the Wall’s length: Wallsend, Newcastle, Benwell, Rudchester, Halton Chesters, Chesters, Carrawburgh, Housesteads, Vindolanda, Great Chesters, Carvoran, Birdoswald, Castlesteads, Stanwix, Burgh-by-Sands, Drumburgh, Bowness-on-Solway, South Shields, Birrens, Netherby, Bewcastle, High Rochester, and Risingham.HADRIAN’S WALL is peppered with a good amount of black and white photos with accompanying descriptions. A map of the Wall is included.I wish I’d had this book to read before my various trips to the Wall in the 1970s and 80s. (The attached photo is a 1976 snap of the walkway on top of the Wall near Housesteads fort at Whin Sill; for conservation reasons, it’s the only short stretch of Wall that can actually be walked upon.)My previous experience with the author’s books was an excellent three-volume set of historical novels (VINDOLANDA, THE ENCIRCLING SEA, BRIGANTIA) based on the fictional exploits of Flavius Ferox, a centurio regionarius stationed in the north of Britannia thirty years before the Wall’s completion. Adrian was careful to state that nothing in these novels was contradicted by available evidence of the time and place. He based all three books on unearthed scraps of written sources. For instance, in HADRIAN’S WALL he states:“… and the Vindolanda tablet mention men with the title of ‘centurio regionarius’, who probably were responsible for dealing with the locals in a set area.”

⭐4 stars simply because it’s the best mouse in a horse show.It’s obvious from the lack of books available on the subject that there is not anything like a major interest regarding the subject; no one willing to spend the time and effort to do a really good effort on the subject finds it profitable to do so. When we went to the visitors’ center near Gilsland, my wife was probably not alone in wondering why we had ‘wasted the time’ to get here; I touched the stones placed by the Legionnaires some 2,000 years ago and was pleased. We had a good lunch in Carlisle soon after, so all was well.Graphically, the book is a total failure. On pg. 16, there is what purports to be a map of the Wall. Obviously, any map of a lengthy wall requires a landscape vs. a portrait orientation. In this case, the landscape format is jammed crosswise into the portrait page in a small format. By actual measure, the initial caps on the city/fort names measure some .035” (.09mm) in height. The features noted on the map (rivers, etc) did not get such a generous allotment.This is inexcusable. If a map is intended to convey information, it must be sized to do so. I don’t propose to be an editor, but the author through the publisher ought to be embarrassed to have their names attached to such a pathetic effort.The remainder of the photos and illustrations are such as to be an embarrassment to a 1925 National Geographic magazine issue; I have some, I know. This is the 21st century;The text makes it barely worth the price; Goldsworthy presents what we know about the wall clearly. Equally, he clearly presents what we assume about the wall, and never confuses the two. We’re left with impressions and what we can hope to be knowledge of how it was built and why, how it was used, how it was altered, bypassed and then again modified and employed. All within the social, military and commercial contexts of the time(s).Wonderful work on the text; the books suffers from what should be easily corrected graphic mistakes. This is the 21st century; manipulating graphics is within the skill set of your 15 year old nephew, for pete’s sake.

⭐A very good highly detailed description of the wall and the world in which it existed. It may be overly detailed for casual readers

⭐As stated by other reviewers, a quick and pleasant read; I would recommend for a weekend beach trip or a long flight.Topic may be a bit dull for some readers of Roman history as Adrian relays descriptions of the wall and its ancillary structures. “Hadrian’s Wall” is not nearly as actioned packed as “Punic Wars” and “Cannae” (no fault of his own!), which is to be expected.However, if you are into reading lengths of foundations, heights of walls, and depths of pits, this is your book (luckily, I am).All in all, I would recommend!

⭐This is a departure from Goldworthy’s titles that I have read in the past. His triumphs with books like “Pax Romana” and “Augustus” are dense, brilliant, and hundreds of pages long. “Hadrian’s Wall” is different. First, it is less than 200 pages in length, inclusive of front and end matter. Next it has pictures and maps throughout that usually appear at the most convenient location in text.Brevity aside, Goldworthy’s writing is always superb, and he does not disappoint here. The work is very accessible and readable, yet it provides great detail on the wall, the Roman Army, and Roman Britain as a whole. Moreover, there is no scholar better qualified to discuss the Roman Army than Mr. Goldworthy. The book was a quick and pleasant read that leaves one wanting to visit the wall.

⭐This is a short but easy to read and quite comprehensive introduction and a handy little guide to Hadrian’s Wall which is targeted at the general public. The main text makes up about 150 pages divided into an introduction and 10 chapters although each of these also contains photos and illustrations explaining how the Wall was built and showing some of the types of auxiliary troops that occupied it.While the approach is roughly chronological, the book also contains dedicated chapters on “building and manning the Wall”, on the interactions between the Wall and the towns and soldiers and civilians and on Life on the Wall. The author also brings together in a seamless way the narrative sources, the findings of multiple excavations of various parts of Hadrian’s Wall (and, to a lesser extent, Antonin’s Wall) over more than a century and a half. He also throws in some literary references and bedtime tales – Kipling’s Puck of Pook’s Hills and the Roman centurion of the 30th legion. These might arise some childhood memories (and not only the author’s by the way) even if – as the author shows in the rest of this little booklet – the Wall was garrisoned by auxiliaries as opposed to legionaries, and if the 30th never seems to have served in Britannia.This impressive little book ends with a tenth chapter that contains the core information that you need to know to visit the main sites of the Wall and its main museums. IT is completed with a short but extremely useful list of “suggestions for further reading”. Five stars with no hesitation for a remarkable little piece that is small enough to fit in your pocket when visiting.

⭐I’ve not read this thoroughly yet, as I bought for future use, but it looks as if it contains a lot of information, and tipsfor intending visitors.

⭐A superb read by a superb historian

⭐Brilliant book – anyone interested in HW or British Historty should be engrossed.

⭐Short and to the point: scholarly and informative. Great guide to what is there.

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