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00:01On the edge of the Roman Empire lies a mysterious ancient megastructure,
00:07a 73-mile-long stone barrier called Hadrian's Wall.
00:12Hadrian's Wall is probably the most exciting undertaking of the Romans.
00:15This giant wall, complete with over 200 towers and 16 forts,
00:21is the largest monument left by the Romans.
00:25Why do they build it?
00:28Today, investigators use pioneering archaeology, drone technology and weapons tests
00:35to discover the real story of this ancient super wall.
00:39This individual was kneeling down and executed from behind.
00:45Who are the Romans trying to keep out?
00:50Hadrian's Wall, to a certain extent, doesn't appear to have worked.
00:53And what can this mighty structure tell us about Rome's epic struggle to defend its empire?
01:00To solve these mysteries, we'll blow apart Hadrian's Wall.
01:04Decipher 2,000-year-old messages.
01:08Unearth hidden battlefields.
01:11And discover the darkest secrets of Rome's Great Wall.
01:26Hadrian's Wall is an astonishing ancient megastructure.
01:31A mighty 73-mile-long, man-made stone barrier.
01:36It splits the island of Britain in two, stretching east to west from coast to coast.
01:45The wall is the brainchild of the great emperor Hadrian, the Roman Empire's most prolific builder.
01:54Its story is shrouded in mystery.
01:58Hadrian's Wall isn't written about by very many Roman authors.
02:01So we don't ultimately know what the Romans thought Hadrian's Wall was for.
02:08Archaeologists used to think the wall is largely symbolic.
02:13A statement of Rome's power.
02:16But today, new excavations, by teams of more than 500, are bringing to life how the wall once looks.
02:27And its layout reveals a more forbidding purpose.
02:32In 125 AD, Hadrian's Wall is up to 10 feet thick, standing as tall as three men.
02:41Four million tons of solid limestone blocks make it the biggest structure the Romans ever build.
02:50From mighty stone towers every third of a mile, soldiers keep watch 24-7.
02:59And gigantic forts hold almost 10,000 troops to guard the wall.
03:04What scares the Romans so much they build this vast barrier on the edge of the known world?
03:11What can it tell us about this great empire and the enemies they are trying to keep out?
03:17Archaeologist Rob Collins investigates the origins of Hadrian's Wall.
03:21He believes it is Rome's greatest engineering achievement.
03:27It's very easy to be wowed by the Colosseum in Rome.
03:31But actually, if you think of logistics, that's a piece of cake.
03:34Hadrian's Wall is a much bigger logistical construction project.
03:40Today, Rob explores a remote section of the wall known as steel rig.
03:46What we see with Hadrian's Wall is when the Romans have that choice and you have a dramatic windswept crag,
03:51the Romans will build the monument on the front edge of that crag.
03:55So it really exaggerates the height of the wall.
03:57As well as using huge cliffs to make their walls seem bigger, the Romans dig vast ditches alongside it.
04:04When you add those together, Hadrian's Wall is much more of a defensive monumental barrier.
04:12The mighty Roman army invades Britain in 43 AD.
04:17After 80 years of fighting, they are masters of almost the entire land.
04:24When Emperor Hadrian comes to power in 117 AD, Britain is supposedly at peace.
04:30But this vast barrier tells a different story.
04:34This north-facing crag is actually telling us who the monument is being built against.
04:40They're building it on behalf of the people to the south who are the residents of the province of Britannia.
04:45And we can see that they're trying to keep out those peoples to the north, who we traditionally call barbarians.
04:53These barbarians are the native people of northern Britain.
04:58Ancient Iron Age tribes of fearsome warriors.
05:01But surely they are no match for the mighty Roman army.
05:05Why does Hadrian build one of the world's greatest barriers to keep them out?
05:13The answer could lie one mile south of the wall, at a place called Vindolanda.
05:19Here, hundreds of archaeologists are working on an ambitious project.
05:25They're digging up an entire Roman fort, built just a few years before Hadrian's Wall is built.
05:31The excavations here reveal signs of fierce fighting at this time.
05:37Andrew Burley is the site's lead archaeologist.
05:41Vindolanda offers us an opportunity to see exactly what's going on in this landscape, just before Hadrian's Wall is being
05:48built.
05:49A thick layer of mud here has created an oxygen-free environment, which stops many fragile finds from decaying.
05:59There we go. It's most of your shoe.
06:03Maybe when we clean it up, we might have some stamps on the leather here.
06:09The mud layer at Vindolanda is a time capsule of Roman relics, like coins from the time of Hadrian.
06:17And a 2,000-year-old wooden toilet seat.
06:20There's evidence of heavy fighting, arrowheads, swords, and the tombstone of a Roman centurion.
06:29But the most remarkable hall is hundreds of mysterious chunks of wood.
06:36Sketched onto them is ink handwriting.
06:39It's the largest find of Roman manuscripts in Western Europe.
06:43They record life on the frontier before Hadrian's Wall goes up.
06:48Can these tablets explain why the Romans are so afraid of the barbarians to their north?
06:55Andrew handles the latest discovery with great care.
06:59Each postcard-sized tablet is just one millimeter thick.
07:04He uses infrared photography to brighten the faint ancient ink and safely decode their markings.
07:11Some tablets contain Roman shopping lists, vacation requests, and even birthday party invitations.
07:19One gives a unique insight into Roman relations with the barbarians of the north.
07:26This is an intelligence report talking about British cavalry and basically saying how irritating they are.
07:32They have many horses, but they have to basically get off their horses to throw their spears.
07:36They're not very, very effective.
07:38And here is this wonderful reference to the word Britunculi, Richard, nasty little Britons, which is absolutely great.
07:48B-R-T-T-U-N-C-L-I, Britunculi, nasty little Brits.
07:54These words are from around 100 AD, 20 years before the wall is built.
07:59They reveal the fierce northern barbarians are waging a guerrilla war against Rome.
08:06And a tombstone discovered at Vindolanda reveals this war is still being waged just two years before the wall goes
08:13up.
08:13What we've got here is the D from Debus Manibus, which is sort of to the dearly departed, Titus Annius,
08:20who is a centurion either of the first cohort of Tungrians or in charge of the first cohort of Tungrians.
08:28But the really crucial thing is it says he's killed in the war, in Bello,
08:32because this is the first hard evidence we've got of that fighting taking place
08:36and our first victim of poor old Titus Annius killed in the war.
08:41This tombstone is evidence of a forgotten barbarian uprising.
08:46Almost a century after the ancient Romans invade Britain, they're still locked in a brutal war.
08:53They have to respond. They've lost a lot of soldiers. They've lost guys like this with a lot of experience.
08:59And one of the responses is to build Hadrian's Wall.
09:03To shut down and lock down the frontier of Roman Britain.
09:07In the second century AD, the Roman army isn't just locking down the border in Britain.
09:15Their expanding empire creates over 4,000 miles of new frontier,
09:20which their legions are struggling to defend.
09:25To stop aggressive tribes in Africa and Asia, the Romans build huge forts to house their armies.
09:37To suppress barbarians in Europe, they build long palisades of wooden stakes and watchtowers.
09:48And after a deadly war in Britain, Emperor Hadrian orders a massive stone wall running across the whole island.
09:59Hadrian's Great Wall is a reminder set in stone that even the mighty Roman army can't conquer all before it.
10:07Here in Northern Britain is the limit of the Roman Empire.
10:12But just how do the ancient Romans build such a mighty structure from coast to coast,
10:17especially when they're under attack?
10:20And what can discoveries underneath the wall reveal about new dangers the Roman army faces?
10:40Hadrian's Wall is the Roman's greatest military structure.
10:45New investigations show this giant barrier is built to defend the empire from fearsome northern barbarians.
10:53Just how do the ancient Romans construct a stone barricade that stretches across an entire land?
11:03Underneath the wall's westernmost section, archaeologists find a clue.
11:10Lifting up the limestone blocks reveals a broad layer of cobbles,
11:15remnants of an early version of Hadrian's Wall.
11:20Using the bed of cobbles as a solid foundation, the Romans pile up strips of turf.
11:27They build a massive earth and grass wall,
11:3020 feet wide, 12 feet high, and 31 miles long.
11:36On top, they add a wooden walkway and fence,
11:40turning this pile of turf into a formidable defensive barrier known as a rampart.
11:45What can this discovery reveal about how the Romans build Hadrian's great stone wall in hostile lands?
11:54Paul Hartson is an expert in ancient building techniques.
11:58To unlock why the Romans build a defensive turf wall first against the barbarians,
12:03he sets out to make his own.
12:05Using the tools, techniques, and materials from the time.
12:10The ramparts are built all over the Roman Empire.
12:13By bringing together some Roman re-enactors,
12:15we're in an attempt to reconstruct part of a rampart,
12:19to learn the methodology, and to see just how long it takes.
12:23Paul's team recreates the working conditions of the Roman army,
12:26and sources timber from the local area.
12:29Roman soldiers aren't just expert fighters.
12:32They're expert engineers, too,
12:34and are responsible for constructing all the Empire's fortifications.
12:40Next, the team digs a set of holes to test one theory about how this turf wall is constructed.
12:46The archaeology has shown a series of holes in the ground,
12:50and they're in three rows, and wide enough to fit two posts.
12:55Paul thinks these holes hold timber posts which support the turf wall's walkway.
13:01They're held together by earth blocks that make up the main body of the wall.
13:07The team digs for two days to construct the wall's base.
13:12To complete the defensive barrier, they build the timber walkway and shield wall on top.
13:17It's much harder work than we thought it would be, to be fair.
13:21The final turf wall is formidable.
13:24It stands 16 feet long and 10 feet high.
13:28But the most impressive feature of this barrier is just how fast it's put up.
13:33Our group, 16 of them, have managed to complete, in two days,
13:38a section of turf wall 16 feet long.
13:41Now, the Roman legions, of course, would appeal to this much quicker,
13:43because they're younger, fitter, they're men under authority.
13:48Investigations like Paul's reveal Roman legionaries can complete the 31-mile turf wall in a single summer.
13:56It's the perfect quick fix barrier to protect Roman soldiers from fierce northern tribes.
14:01This is an essential step to building a stone wall on the edge of enemy territory.
14:08The Roman army is trying to establish itself in a very hostile place.
14:13You can't just fall into building a stone wall without creating a defensible position in the first place.
14:19You need a place to store your supplies.
14:23On the most hostile sections of the frontier, the turf wall is the first stage of the Roman's defensive strategy.
14:34They line the wall with sharp wooden spikes and dig a steep V-shaped trench designed to break attackers' ankles.
14:47Rebellious northern barbarians now face a multi-layered kill zone that is suicide to cross.
14:57Bit by bit, Hadrian's men dismantle the turf wall so they can rebuild it even stronger from solid limestone.
15:07This stone wall is an enduring symbol of the empire's military might, its mastery of technology, and limitless wealth.
15:17The Romans can see how architecture can project imperial power to supposedly savage barbarians who don't know any better.
15:25Building in stone, it's a statement of, look what I can do, I am the emperor of the Roman Empire,
15:30and I can keep you out of my empire.
15:33Rome controls its vast empire by building big.
15:37But what effect does this mighty barrier have on the fearsome British tribes who live in its shadow?
15:44Is a huge change to the wall made during its construction evidence of a new barbarian uprising?
15:51Or does the wall crush the revolt for good?
16:09At breakneck speed, ancient Rome is building a military megastructure across northern Britain.
16:16Hadrian's Wall.
16:18What effect does this mighty barrier have on the native people of Britain?
16:23Does it trigger further revolt?
16:25Or does the Roman army use the wall to crush its enemies for good?
16:31A clue can be found in a huge upgrade the Romans make to the wall two years into its construction.
16:39Originally, the wall is meant to have a fortified gateway every mile.
16:43But in its central section, there is evidence Roman builders decide this isn't enough.
16:50Here, the Romans demolish an entire tower to build a huge fort.
16:58It has barracks that can house 1,000 soldiers and their horses.
17:07And eventually, warehouses to store a year's worth of supplies.
17:14And luxurious headquarters for the commanders to organize the troops.
17:21Hadrian's Wall surrounds the entire compound.
17:25Is this fort a clue the wall is turning from a defensive shield into a weapon of war against the
17:32barbarians?
17:35Archeologist Nick Hodgson investigates this radical upgrade to Hadrian's Wall.
17:40He explores this fort, known today as Howsteads.
17:45In total, the Romans build 16 massive bases like this on the wall.
17:50Seven miles apart.
17:52Holding a total of 10,000 troops.
17:55Nick believes the Roman decision to reinforce the wall is a sign there is still fierce fighting on the frontier.
18:02The construction of the wall itself might be sparking a violent new response from the barbarians.
18:09Demolishing whole lengths of Hadrian's Wall.
18:11Demolishing turrets that had already been built to make way for forts.
18:16Obviously shows that something serious had happened.
18:20Either the Romans had realized that they simply needed more troops.
18:25Or maybe some episode of revolt or warfare.
18:29Perhaps even triggered by the very building of the wall itself.
18:33Had led to the need to have troops stationed on the line.
18:40The wall isn't just driving new unrest.
18:43Nick thinks the new look wall has a profound effect on the people living in its shadow.
18:51He investigates ancient native settlements just a few miles north of the wall.
18:56Using radiocarbon dating of organic matter, he finds out exactly when these settlements are inhabited.
19:03The results are shocking.
19:06Every site that we can date using radiocarbon techniques turns out to have the same history.
19:15The site desertion, abandonment in the decades following the building of Hadrian's Wall.
19:22Showing that the wall had a severe impact on local society.
19:29The wall forever transforms life for these British people.
19:34At the same time that the forts are built, a barren no man's land over 10 miles wide is created
19:40to the north.
19:41These forts are bases from which Roman soldiers can aggressively clear and patrol this zone.
19:48Howstead's fort is specifically designed to allow troops fast access beyond the wall.
19:54One huge double-doored gate faces out to the north.
19:58These doors allow troops to pour out into barbarian lands.
20:04Hadrian's Wall is transforming from a defensive barrier into the nerve center of a giant militarized zone.
20:15The Romans destroy all settlements near the wall, creating a barren no man's land that's easy to control.
20:25They set up camps and forts north of the wall, extending their reach deep into barbarian territory.
20:33They draft in fearsome warriors from overseas provinces, brutal spearmen from Gaul, and legendary archers from the Middle East.
20:44And they bring in the best weapons from across the empire.
20:48Huge war catapults that fire deadly missiles to bring terror to this troublesome frontier.
20:57In other provinces, the ancient Romans have vast natural barriers to help protect their empire.
21:03Like Great Rivers or the Sahara Desert.
21:09Here in Northern Britain, they create the most fortified frontier in the entire Roman Empire.
21:16Powered by a supersized Hadrian's Wall.
21:20Hadrian's Wall is like a two-sided coin.
21:24It is a defensive structure, but at the same time, it's capable of a really aggressive response.
21:31And could be used as a base for offensive operations to the north.
21:37When Emperor Hadrian dies in 138 AD, 10,000 troops guard the wall and patrol its lands.
21:46But is it enough to cement Roman power over this dangerous frontier?
21:52Could this great barricade help the Romans finally conquer the entire island of Britain?
21:57Or are these lands so hostile, they can never be subdued?
22:01Today, new evidence reveals the shocking truth and the site of a deadly battle.
22:23Hadrian's Wall.
22:24Hadrian's Wall, straddling coast to coast across Britain.
22:28It's the largest structure left by the ancient Romans.
22:32Could this great wall help the Romans expand their empire even further north?
22:38In 140 AD, Hadrian's ambitious successor, Emperor Antonius Pius, orders 5,000 troops north of the Wall.
22:48Is the Roman army finally about to conquer all of Britain?
22:5320 miles beyond the Wall, archaeologists find evidence of a ferocious battle at a site known today as Burnswark Hill.
23:03In Roman times, Burnswark is one of the largest hill forts north of the Wall.
23:09An ancient center of tribal power.
23:13Its walls provide shelter for 2,000 barbarians.
23:19Around the hill fort, archaeologists unearth signs of Roman warfare.
23:24Dozens of carved red sandstone balls the size of grapefruits.
23:29Deadly missiles fired from Roman catapults.
23:33And hundreds of lead pellets the size of marbles.
23:40What can these ancient relics of battle reveal about how the Romans deal with rebellious tribes north of the Wall?
23:49Archaeologist John Reed uses pioneering drone technology to hunt for clues to this 2,000-year-old mystery.
23:58Okay, so he's ready to roll.
24:01From the air, John reveals a huge network of ditches at the base of Burnswark Hill.
24:07They are defensive trenches dug by the invading Roman troops, pushing north from their garrisons at Hadrian's Wall.
24:16They mark the edges of two Roman camps surrounding the enemy's hilltop fort.
24:22John thinks their close position is a clue to the invading Romans' plan of attack.
24:27The Romans know that the natives do not have distance weapons.
24:33For them, it's all hand-to-hand, face-to-face fighting.
24:37Many Roman soldiers in this strategic advance from the Wall are highly trained in the use of the slingshot.
24:43John believes the position of their camps is designed to let Roman slingers bombard enemy troops.
24:50He uses metal detectors to search this hill fort site for evidence of an ancient aerial attack.
25:00What this is, effectively, is an Iron Age slug. It's a bullet. This would have been shot from a sling
25:08and aimed at some poor individual.
25:12Across the hill fort, John finds over 700 slingshot bullets.
25:17To get a better idea of how they're used in battle, he works with Andy Nicholson, an expert in ancient
25:24warfare.
25:26Andy and John investigate the lethal range of a Roman sling.
25:30To do this, they use a replica weapon and a ballistic gel, which has the same resistance as human flesh.
25:39The slingshot is a hand-held rope pouch that launches lead pellets at deadly high speed.
25:48You're looking at a sling bullet that's traveling at over 60 yards per second.
25:54The impact damage is phenomenal, and it not only breaks ribs, it can cause internal rupturing and bleeding.
26:01If one of these hits you in the head, then that's the end of it.
26:05Andy's tests show the Roman sling is the handgun of the ancient world.
26:10A killer weapon at over 100 yards.
26:15At the top of the hill, where the enemy fort stands, Andy and John find evidence the Romans fire other
26:21deadly missiles.
26:24Raining down on enemy heads are heavy sandstone balls.
26:27They are fired up 600 feet from giant Roman crossbows known as ballistas.
26:34This particular one was found exactly on this spot, and it is almost certainly launched from down there.
26:43The powerful hill fort is just a day's march from Hadrian's Wall.
26:50The Roman army is using maximum force to advance its new invasion of the north.
26:57John and Andy plot the hundreds of Roman missiles they find on a map of the site.
27:02They combine this data with information about the range of Roman slingers from their tests.
27:08Their analysis allows them to piece together how this pivotal battle unfolds.
27:16The Romans build two camps either side of Bernswark.
27:21From which they deploy their catapult and slingshot troops.
27:28They rain heavy fire down into the fort.
27:32To terrify and soften up the enemy.
27:38Then 5,000 heavily armed ground troops rush from the camps.
27:43And storm the fort.
27:48Any survivors trying to escape.
27:52Die in a hail of Roman slingshot fire.
27:58There's a very focused missile attack on what looks like people from the hilltop trying to escape beyond the blockade
28:07and camp on the north.
28:08When the Roman army storms this fortress, no one gets out alive.
28:13Once the assault actually started, it was complete extermination of every living being on the summit of the hill, men,
28:23women and children.
28:29This annihilation is designed to show all other tribes what's in store for you if you dare stand up to
28:35the Romans.
28:38The Roman troops blaze a destructive path 75 miles north of Hadrian's wall.
28:44The wall's huge military infrastructure is key to supplying this new invasion with weapons, supplies and men.
28:52But total conquest of Britain remains tantalizingly out of reach.
28:57The northern barbarians fight a guerilla war against the invading Roman army.
29:03After two decades, the Romans are forced back to the protection of Hadrian's wall.
29:08The Roman army can't crush the barbarians of the north.
29:12Only the mighty wall can subdue them.
29:15For the next two centuries, ancient Rome ends here.
29:21But is the wall ever truly enough to cement Roman rule over this dangerous frontier?
29:29What do gruesome new finds reveal about life long after the wall is built?
29:48Hadrian's Great Wall.
29:51Hadrian's Great Wall.
29:51The Romans build this military megastructure to subdue the hostile tribes of northern Britain.
30:00Generations of Roman soldiers patrol this wall.
30:03Can they ever lower their guard?
30:06Are the fierce barbarians ever truly crushed?
30:12One mile south of the wall is the Fort of Vindolanda.
30:16The Romans station up to 1,000 soldiers here throughout their occupation of Britain.
30:23Andrew Burley leads a team of archaeologists on a five-year excavation here
30:28to investigate life long after Hadrian's wall is built.
30:33In this area where we're working at the moment, we're excavating a time period almost 100 years after the construction
30:39of Hadrian's wall.
30:40Things still don't appear to be settled down.
30:45Buried in this corner of Vindolanda, Andrew's team unearths gruesome evidence.
30:50Human bones polished to a high gloss.
30:54Shiny mementos of conquered enemies.
30:57Flat bone pieces.
30:59Fragments of human scalps Roman soldiers take in battle.
31:04And the remains of a skull.
31:07Most likely a trophy head.
31:09In 200 AD, it sits outside the fort.
31:12A reminder of what happens to anyone who messes with the Roman Empire.
31:17After more than a century, Hadrian's wall still bears the grisly scars of violence.
31:23Is the wall even enough to subdue this fearsome frontier?
31:30Trudy Buck is a forensic archaeologist.
31:34She investigates the trophy skulls found outside the fort of Vindolanda.
31:39To see what they can tell us about the resistance the Romans still face.
31:45What we've got coming through on this point is a very distinct, very narrow cut mark that's going in at
31:54a very sharp angle into the head.
31:56It's come from above and gone, sliced through the skull and into his brain.
32:04The injury on this skull reveals a man who dies in battle, killed by a Roman weapon.
32:10It's about an inch and a half, which is the same size as a cavalry sword.
32:14A mark to the base of his skull is evidence he is then decapitated.
32:20Trudy wants to work out the identity of this enemy of the empire.
32:25We actually can tell quite a lot about this particular individual because he's got some teeth.
32:30When you're growing up, everything that you eat and everything that you drink is going into the chemical makeup of
32:34your teeth.
32:36Analysis of his teeth shows he's not a local.
32:40It tells us that he came from the northwest of Britain.
32:44He grew up somewhere probably north of Hadrian's Wall.
32:49To further investigate the identity of this man,
32:53forensic scientist Eleanor Graham analyzes a DNA sample from his teeth.
32:58It reveals a huge surprise about this northern barbarian's father.
33:02You can see that it's data taken from the people from all over the world.
33:07So that the purple area is like showing the Europeans.
33:10That red dot there represents the DNA from the tooth sample.
33:13And our individual, the closest match is to the Italian population.
33:18So it's definitely not British.
33:20That's not what we'd expect from somebody that grew up to the northwest of Hadrian's Wall.
33:24This man is raised in barbarian lands beyond Hadrian's Wall.
33:30But his Italian DNA reveals he's actually the son or grandson of a Roman.
33:37Incredibly, it seems the Roman soldiers of Hadrian's Wall are now fighting and killing their own.
33:43One interpretation is that maybe this is the son of a local woman.
33:48Maybe he's been fighting to, you know, defend the honor of his mother or his grandmother,
33:53who may have had a less than pleasant encounter with a Roman soldier.
33:59This unique skull gives an astonishing picture of life on Hadrian's Wall 100 years after it's built.
34:07The frontier is still savage, dangerous and unpredictable.
34:12You've got heads mounted on spikes.
34:15And that sends a message to how threatened this community of Roman soldiers and their families were during this period
34:21of conflict in Roman Britain.
34:23It's not surprising these soldiers feel terrorized.
34:31Ancient Roman texts reveal tribes in northern Britain never stop attacking the Wall.
34:39In 208 AD, the Emperor Septimius Severus himself brings 40,000 troops from Rome to crush continued rebellions.
34:50He heads north to exterminate the warring tribes.
34:55But fails to break their resistance.
35:02The Emperor picks up an infection on the battlefield and dies before his mission is complete.
35:13Hadrian's Wall is supposed to cement Roman power in northern Britain.
35:17But it ends up being used to fight a war without end.
35:21We've got rebellion. We've still got a divided country.
35:24Hadrian's Wall, to a certain extent, doesn't appear to have worked.
35:28The Roman army, they're here in this area for 300 years in a state of war.
35:35Hadrian's Great Wall never truly subdues these dangerous lands.
35:39Its soldiers can never lower their guard.
35:42Its towers and forts remain a monumental drain on the Roman Empire's resources.
35:48So what happens when Rome's power starts to crumble?
35:52To both the Wall and its people?
36:08Hadrian's Wall is Rome's greatest military structure.
36:12It's a monument to the Empire's immense power and wealth.
36:17But in the 5th century AD, the Roman Empire comes crashing down.
36:22Germanic invaders sack the city of Rome itself.
36:27What happens to the Wall and its people at the end of the Empire?
36:34On the eastern coast of Hadrian's Wall, the Roman fort of Arbea.
36:39Rebuilt, but in the 4th century AD, it houses 600 troops who guard the Wall's main seaport.
36:46This is the gateway to Hadrian's Wall.
36:50This is the place where all supplies, official travelers, troop movements arrive in the northern frontier zone.
37:00Here in Arbea, archaeologist Nick Hodgson hunts for answers.
37:06His excavations reveal that by the next century, this important base has fallen into decay.
37:14Coins and imported luxuries dry up in the early 400s.
37:18It's evidence that the Empire is struggling to pay its soldiers here.
37:23Roman order on the wall is breaking down.
37:27But what really shocks Nick is a grisly discovery underneath the commanding officer's house.
37:34The skeletons of two young men showing signs of violent deaths.
37:40These exhibit the marks of sword blows.
37:46This one is important because it is on the back of the skull, low down.
37:51And it suggests very strongly that this individual was kneeling down and executed from behind.
38:03The bones also show evidence they are left to rot in the open.
38:08Only later does someone carefully collect the bodies and bury them here, under the wall fort of Arbea.
38:16The grave's location is puzzling.
38:20Roman law forbids burial inside a settlement.
38:23The fact that these burials are made here at all, to me, signifies that there's been a decisive break with
38:32the past.
38:33There can no longer be a community here living in traditional Roman fashion.
38:42Radiocarbon dating reveals these unusual bones date to the start of the 5th century.
38:48Exactly when the Roman Empire falls into chaos.
38:52They show Arbea, the most important coastal fort on Hadrian's Wall, is now no longer a recognizable Roman settlement.
39:01Proof that Rome's grip on the wall and Britain is weakening.
39:07Soldiers guarding the wall are being called home to defend Rome.
39:12Any Romans that remain in Britain can no longer rely on the Empire's army to protect them from their enemies.
39:19Nick thinks raiders attack and slaughter the garrison here.
39:23It's possible these are Romans, possibly the last defending garrison of the place,
39:29who've come to grief and have been carefully buried at some later date by Romans coming along to clear up
39:37before evacuating.
39:42At Arbea, the end of Roman rule brings violence, death and destruction.
39:47But is it the same story everywhere along the wall?
39:52Forty miles west, back at the Roman fort of Vindolanda,
39:59archaeologist Rob Collins has mapped out how this military base also transforms as the Empire approaches its end.
40:06At the start of the 5th century, one of the things that we find archaeologically is that these granary buildings
40:11shrunk back from this whole building to have a much smaller granary
40:16that occupied maybe 30 to 40 percent of the space of a granary previously, which suggests that there are fewer
40:24soldiers.
40:25Just like at Arbea, the Roman army soon leaves this mighty fort for good.
40:32As the Empire crumbles, some wealthy Roman families stay in Britain.
40:38They battle for power amongst themselves and against barbarian warriors.
40:43Probably one of the best places to survive in post-Roman Britain would be in the Frontier Zone,
40:49because at least there there are men who are soldiers who have weapons and know how to use them.
40:54During these troubled times, there is evidence civilians move inside Roman forts like Vindolanda for protection.
41:02Hadrian's Wall ends up being a source of power and perhaps security for local communities for centuries afterwards.
41:09This once mighty symbol of Roman occupation now plays savior to local people.
41:15The final chapter in the astonishing 300-year story of Rome's greatest megastructure.
41:26Hadrian's Wall is more than just a gigantic barrier.
41:30The Romans build it to stamp their authority on a newly conquered province,
41:35and as a springboard to invade barbarian lands.
41:40But the mighty Roman Empire never fully subdues the fierce tribes beyond the wall.
41:46Hadrian's Wall is a monument to both the vast power of the Roman Empire and its limit.
41:53It is a symbol of the rise and fall of ancient Rome.
42:25by my
42:25the Mamla's Wall is but Holmes's whole the hydrogen azul of the GrandHa hält in its existence,
42:29When the Earth seems to float,
42:29On top of the beginnen угcio.
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