At the start of the month, I headed to Hadrian’s Wall to attend some of the Roman events taking place to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall being a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 1,900 years since Hadrian became Emperor. Hadrian’s Cavalry was the theme chosen for the celebrations with a fantastic programme of… Continue reading Turma! Hadrian’s Cavalry Charge in Carlisle
On this day (10th January) in 49 BC, Julius Caesar and his troops famously crossed the Rubicon, the river marking the boundary between the province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. Taking the 13th Legion over this forbidden frontier constituted an act of treason and triggered civil war in Rome. According to the historian Suetonius, Caesar… Continue reading Crossing the Rubicon
Read ⇒ Top 10 Sights along Hadrian's Wall --- Hadrian's Wall has long attracted hikers and history fans and is now the heart of an 84-mile-long (135 km) National Trail through some of Britain's most beautiful countryside. Hadrian's Wall stretches coast to coast across northern England, from Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway on the west… Continue reading Walking Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s Wall Trust has launched a new fundraising campaign to ensure the World Heritage Site survives for future generations. People are invited to attach their names to a stone, not on Hadrian’s Wall itself but on a virtual realisation of it on the website adoptastone.co.uk. Linda Tuttiett, Hadrian’s Wall Trust chief executive, explained: "The budget… Continue reading Adopt a stone and help save Hadrian’s Wall
I recently resumed my travels on the Limes Germanicus and headed north along Rome's frontier in the Roman province of Germania Inferior. The Lower Germanic Limes extended from the North Sea at Katwijk in the Netherlands to Bonna along the Lower Rhine. Numerous museums with impressive collections of Roman artefacts can be found by the… Continue reading The face of mock battles – images of Roman cavalry helmets from Germania Inferior
In February 98 AD, Hadrian travelled from Moguntiacum (Mainz) to Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne) to inform Trajan, the then governor of Germania Inferior, of the death of his adoptive father Nerva (who had died on 27 January) and to congratulate him on his accession to the imperial throne. Hadrian's first visit to the German provinces as… Continue reading Marble head of Hadrian, Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne
Last week, I was fortunate enough to visit the archaeological site of Augusta Raurica, the Roman town on the river Rhine at Augst (Switzerland). 2000 years ago, Roman army veterans and local Celts established a large town there. At that time Augusta Raurica was located on the edge of the Roman Empire on the border… Continue reading Picture of the day: the Roman theatre at Augusta Raurica (Augst, Switzerland), the best-preserved ancient complex north of the Alps
From one end of the empire to another! The Roman empire encircled the Mediterranean Sea, and beyond that, lay its frontiers. At its height, the empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea, through the deserts of the Middle East to the Red Sea, and across North Africa. The “Limes” represents the border line… Continue reading Exploring the Limes Germanicus – images from Rome’s Germanic Frontier
