What did the Romans ever do for us? Hadrian’s Wall

Published on 22/07/2012 00:00

Hadrian, the third of the five “good emperors”, ruled the Roman empire from 10 August AD 117 to 10 July, AD 138. Born near modern-day Seville in Spain, he was an enlightened intellectual but also a military man who led the second Roman war against the Jews in Jerusalem.

A lover of travel, he journeyed to every outpost of the empire, and was particularly devoted to Greece. He was artistic, with a passion for both architecture and poetry. He was also believed to be homosexual, and named a city after his lover, a Greek youth named Antinous, after he drowned during a trip along the Nile.

However Hadrian is perhaps best known for the 73-mile long Hadrian’s Wall, which was the most heavily fortified border in his empire and sections of which still stand today. It was constructed under his orders after a visit to Britain, to keep the empire intact and “separate the Romans from the Barbarians”.

Hadrian died, aged 62, of heart failure. His famous wall was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987.

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