Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins
Hadrian visits Britain and the Wall is begun, according to the Historia Augusta 'to separate the Romans from the barbarians'. The archaeology shows something more administrative than that phrase suggests: gateways at every Roman mile, indicating regulated passage and probably customs collection, not sealed exclusion. It marks the moment imperial policy turns from expansion to consolidation.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Hadrian's Wall · site · United Kingdom
- The Roman Legion · military_formation · Frontier provinces, principally Rhine, Danube, Britain, Syria, North Africa · not located
- Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus) · person · Rome, Dacia, Mesopotamia; born in Hispania Baetica · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent. This is the standing of the weakest source, not an average.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Hadrian's Wall (World Heritage inscription)
Hadrian's Wall, inscribed in 1987 under reference 430, is a component of the transnational 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire' property together with the German Limes and the Antonine Wall. It runs c. 117 km with milecastles at approximately every Roman mile, indicating a regulated and permeable frontier rather than a sealed barrier.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · inscribed 1987; extended as a transnational property 2005 and 2008 · Partly verified
UNESCO World Heritage List ref. 430, 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire'; https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430 and https://unesco.org.uk/our-network/world-heritage-sites/frontiers-of-the-roman-empire-hadrians-wall
National Heritage List for England: Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Hadrian's Wall) scheduling records
The statutory heritage record documents the surviving fabric of the Wall - curtain, vallum, ditch, milecastles, turrets and forts - segment by segment, providing the archaeological basis for the Wall's course and construction phases rather than relying on literary description.
Historic England · records maintained; entry consulted 2026 · Partly verified
Historic England, National Heritage List for England, list entry 1000098 (Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Hadrian's Wall, Simonburn); https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000098
Recorded on Hadrian's Wall
- The Punic Wars
- The Augustan settlement: Octavian becomes Augustus
- Caesar crosses the Rubicon
- The empire reaches its greatest territorial extent
- Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins
- The Antonine Constitution (Constitutio Antoniniana)
- Alaric's Goths sack Rome
- Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus - the contested 'fall' of the Western Roman Empire
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus - the contested 'fall' of the Western Roman Empire · 0476-09-04
- Alaric's Goths sack Rome · 0410-08-24
- The Antonine Constitution (Constitutio Antoniniana) · 0212
- The empire reaches its greatest territorial extent · 0117
- Caesar crosses the Rubicon · -0049-01-10
- The Augustan settlement: Octavian becomes Augustus · -0027
- The Punic Wars · 264-146 BCE