Over its venerable history, Hadrian's Wall has had an undeniable
influence in shaping the British landscape, both literally and
figuratively. Once thought to be a soft border, recent research has
implicated it in the collapse of a farming civilisation centuries in the
making, and in fuelling an insurgency characterised by violent upheaval.
Examining the everyday impact of the Wall over the three centuries it
was in operation, Matthew Symonds sheds new light on its underexplored
human story by discussing how the evidence speaks of a hard border
scything through a previously open landscape and bringing dramatic
change in its wake. The Roman soldiers posted to Hadrian's Wall were
overwhelmingly recruits from the empire's occupied territories, and for
them the frontier could be a place of fear and magic where supernatural
protection was invoked during spells of guard duty.
Since antiquity, the Wall has been exploited by powers craving the
legitimacy that came with being accepted as the heirs of Rome: it helped
forge notions of English and Scottish nationhood, and even provided a
model of selfless cultural collaboration when the British Empire needed
reassurance. It has also inspired creatives for centuries, appearing in
a more or less recognisable guise in works ranging from Rudyard
Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill to George R. R. Martin's A Game of
Thrones. Combining an archaeological analysis of the monument itself
and an examination of its rich legacy and contemporary relevance, this
volume presents a reliable, modern perspective on the Wall.
