Hadrian's Wall A Life

by Hingley, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780198707028
• ISBN10: 0198707029
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-11-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In Hadrian's Wall: A Life, Richard Hingley addresses the post-Roman history of this world-famous ancient monument. Constructed on the orders of the emperor Hadrian during the 120s AD, the Wall was maintained for almost three centuries before ceasing to operate as a Roman frontier during the fifth century. The scale and complexity of Hadrian's Wall makes it one of the most important ancient monuments in the British Isles. It is the most well-preserved of the frontier works that once defined the Roman Empire.

While the Wall is famous as a Roman construct, its monumental physical structure did not suddenly cease to exist in the fifth century. This volume explores the after-life of Hadrian's Wall and considers the ways it has been imagined, represented, and researched from the sixth century to the Internet. The sixteen chapters, illustrated with over 100 images, show the changing manner in which the Wall has been conceived and the significant role it has played in imagining the identity of the English, including its appropriation as symbolic boundary between England and Scotland. Hingley discusses the transforming political, cultural, and religious significance of the Wall during this entire period and addresses the ways in which scholars and artists have been inspired by the monument over the years.

Author Biography

Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology, Durham University

Richard Hingley is Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Durham. He is author of a number of books that address the Roman Empire and Roman Britain, including works on the character of the Roman Empire and the significance of Roman models in modern society. He is Director of the Centre for Roman Culture at Durham University and was in charge of the 'Tales of the Frontier' project, a major initiative from which this book is derived.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. A Living Wall
2. Hadrian's Wall
Part One: Picts' Wall
3. Heavenfield: Christian Inspirations
4. Lanercost Priory: The Wall and the English Border
5. Ellenborough (Maryport): Recognizing Roman Civility in the border landscape
Part Two: the Roman Wall
6. Castlesteads: Reviving Interest in the Wall
7. Newcastle and Carlisle: Reconstructing the Roman Wall
8. The Mithraeum at Borcovicium (Housesteads): Reasons to be Cheerful?
9. Wallington Hall: Native Troops on the Wall
10. The Clayton Wall: 'A New Era of Antiquarian Research'
Part Three: Hadrian's Wall
11. The Roman Gate at Hunnum (Halton Chesters): Ethnographic Time
12. Birdoswald: Scientific Archaeology
13. Whin Sill: Defending Ancient Springs
14. The Gateway at South Shields: the Romanization of Tyneside
15. The Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail: the Inclusive Monument
16. Conclusions: The Archaeological Imagination
Appendix 1: Published accounts of the Wall
Table 1: Hadrian's Wall: A timeline
Bibliography
Index