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Starting from a famous address by Francis Haverfield, this chapter reflects on the relationship between Romano-British archaeology and the politics of the British empire, challenging any simple equation between the Roman empire and the modern. It also considers the nineteenth-century history of Hadrian's Wall, and its restoration.

The insolence of Photius' synod in 867 was bound to produce reaction and a Roman demand for recognition of papal jurisdiction in relation to Constantinople and all the eastern patriarchates. A faction among powerful figures at Rome had opposed Nicolas' successor, Hadrian II, also wanting an abandonment of Nicolas' policies. This chapter describes the papacy of Hadrian II and his programme of remaining in line with Nicolas, the synod of 869 held in Rome reaffirming a negative judgment on Photius declaring all his ordinations invalid whilst reinstating Ignatius', and the erosion of Roman authority on the Balkan region.

This chapter focuses on a little poem reputed to have been written by the emperor Hadrian (ad 117–38) on his deathbed. It shows that Hadrian's little poem has a very particular tone of voice, and its quiet intimacy in the face of death's separation is an appropriate place to bring the book's exploration of the Latin poets to an end.

I describe a revolving dynamic of monumental destruction and construction, which existed in Jerusalem prior to the Jewish Temple’s destruction in 70 CE. I argue that the continual exchange of demolition and building ascribed an animated sense to monumental remains and invested cosmological and soteriological significance and animistic relevance to construction. In the tensions between local and imperial powers from the first through the fourth centuries, opposed enchanted environments emerged to support notions of spiritual warfare, potentially driven to violence by the urgency of an overriding apocalyptic, eschatological framework. I focus closely on intertwining the material and literary aspects of the Hadrianic period and the Constantinian building project. I argue that in addition to understanding the tradition of imperial building in Jerusalem, we must also grasp a vibrant ritual tradition of resistance shaped by apocalyptic and eschatological literary forms. To make my point, I intersperse readings of the physical city with Ezra 4 and Baruch 2. We can see these texts echo again in the fourth century in the Bordeaux Pilgrim and fourth-century Christians in Jerusalem.

Gellius is tolerant in matters of sexual conduct, not being disturbed even by pederasty with ingenui, but his attitude to women reflects the rigorous sexism of Cato the Elder. He seems to show more sympathy for Hadrian than for his successors, has a taste (at a safe distance) for the severity of ancient punishments and the office of censor, and takes an unexplained interest in embassies. He is sometimes inaccurate in his recollection of names; Egyptians apart, he takes little notice of barbarians save as enemies or foils; he has only a restricted interest in the visual arts, mathematics, music, and natural sciences.

This introductory chapter sketches the cultural background against which Gellius wrote. The character of the second century is considered, and in particular that of its literature, both Greek and Latin. Whereas in Greek the return to the glorious Athenian past had encouraged declaimers of the Second Sophistic to attempt composition in classical Attic, in Latin, rejection of Julio-Claudian modernism and Flavian neoclassicism brought about not the wholesale imitation of Republican Latin implied by the term ‘archaism’, but a mannerism of style that concentrated on finding the most striking individual words, often indeed taken from writers of the Republican period. These writers were coming back into fashion to replace the Silver Latin authors who had fallen from favour, a development that was fostered but not created by the personal tastes of the Emperor Hadrian.

Hadrian's Wall was constructed in the AD 120s and maintained for almost three centuries before ceasing to operate as a Roman frontier during the fifth century. Its scale and complexity means that it is one of the most important ancient monuments in the British Isles and one the most complex and well-preserved frontier works that once defined the boundaries of the Roman empire. In order to address the continuing life of the Wall, this chapter considers the significance of certain places along its line through an approach to its chorography. The aim of this book is to demonstrate that the Wall's Roman identity has been fundamental to its continuing vitality throughout the centuries, including its role and significance in the region, nation, and world today. At the same time, the monument has acquired a range of broader associations as a result of its long and complex sequence of use. It is a composite Wall, but with a Roman identity at the core of its living spirit.

Travelling west along the line of Hadrian's Wall, just before reaching the River Tyne at Chollerford, the visitor arrives at Heavenfield. A large modern wooden cross marks this site of Christian pilgrimage by the side of the road running just to the south of the Wall. Heavenfield remains a significant place today, visited on the first Saturday in August by the Annual Pilgrimage travelling from Hexham Abbey to celebrate the cult of St Oswald. This chapter draws on the writings of Gildas and Bede to argue that the Wall had a particularly Christian association, since these authors viewed it as the final work of a lost empire that had introduced Christianity to Britain. The writings of Gildas and Bede indicate that during the centuries following the ending of Roman rule, at least some educated people in Lowland Britain retained an impression of the origin and history of the Wall. Bede's and Gildas' accounts are important in themselves, since they provide significant interpretations of the Wall, but they also had a sustained impact on later work.

This chapter reviews the formation of the northern frontier of the kingdom of England from the eleventh to the later sixteenth century. Through a study of the physical and symbolic roles of the Wall, it explores the origins of the concept linking this Roman monument to the delimitation of the northern boundary of England. This theme draws upon a significant location along the Wall's line, Lanercost Priory (Cumbria). Lanercost is a medieval religious house that was founded during the later half of the twelfth century, in the contested borderlands between England and Scotland. The construction of the Priory drew both physically and conceptually upon the remains of the Picts' Wall located 700 metres to the north. During the late sixteenth century, the buildings of the converted Priory were to become the home of Christopher Dacre, one of the Elizabethan gentlemen responsible for the maintenance of order along England's northern frontier.

John Collingwood Bruce was one of the most significant Wall experts of the nineteenth century. In 1849, Bruce organized a tour for a group of interested individuals, the first of the Hadrian's Wall Pilgrimages that have visited the Wall on regular occasions since. This first Pilgrimage explored the entire length of the Wall and included a visit to the Roman remains at Borcovicium and the temple dedicated to Mithras just to the south. While little of the temple of Mithras at Housesteads was visible at the time of the first Pilgrimage, Bruce drew religious and imperial messages from this place of pagan worship. The impressive features that were just beginning to be uncovered at the fort inspired Bruce to draw a comparison between the fallen empire of Rome and the glorious contemporary domestic, religious, and imperial condition of Britain. He assessed the significance of the Wall's remains by emphasizing its contemporary political and cultural importance — metaphorically rebuilding its remains as a topic of current political, religious, and cultural concern. In this context, Bruce was reacting to almost a century of comparative disregard for the Wall, a situation that is explored in this chapter. The focus then turns to Bruce's Borcovicium lecture.

This chapter was inspired by a painting entitled Building of the Roman Wall, which may be viewed at Wallington Hall in Northumberland. This imposing composition, completed in June 1857, shows the rebuilding of Hadrian's Wall from its foundations. Wallington Hall is a neoclassical country house that is maintained for visitors by the National Trust. The central hall is hung with a series of eight paintings by William Bell Scott, which portrays scenes from the history of Northumberland. Scott (1811–1890) was a well-known artist, poet, and friend of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The painting depicts ancient Britons and also Roman soldiers from across the empire, and it would appear that Scott was casting a reflective gaze on Britain's imperial concerns at a time of particular pressure by effecting an opening-up of the Roman frontier that drew upon the evidence for the diverse communities along this ancient Wall.

This chapter explores the contributions of John Clayton and John Collingwood Bruce to knowledge of the Wall. It draws upon the section of curtain Wall reconstructed by Clayton along the central upland section of its course — the so-called ‘Clayton Wall’. While William Bell Scott was painting the canvas for Wallington Hall, Clayton was engaged in uncovering and rebuilding the physical fabric of the Wall. The chapter examines the idea of the metaphorical and physical rebuilding of the Wall through an assessment of the contributions of Clayton and Bruce to Wall studies, by selecting themes related to the way that knowledge and understanding were built up during the second half of the nineteenth century. The development of knowledge about the history and structure of the Wall at this time resulted in a fundamental re-conceptualization of its significance and a growing international appreciation of the monument.

This chapter first addresses the writings of Robert Henry Forster, who called himself an ‘Amateur Antiquary’. Despite his claim to amateur status, Forster combined an interest in creative writing with considerable skills as an archaeological excavator and made a significant contribution to the Edwardian excavations at Corbridge. The discussion then turns to Rudyard Kipling' very different account of the Wall, but one that also aimed to bring the remains of the monument to life.

This chapter explores a programme of archaeological research conducted from the last decade of the nineteenth century to the 1940s. This work explored the date of construction, identity, and signature of these frontier works, by addressing the location, form, and sequence of the individual features of the frontier. R. G. Collingwood, one of the most influential archaeologists involved in this work, defined ‘The period of scientific excavation’ in his important article ‘Hadrian's Wall: A History of the Problem’, arguing that it commenced in 1891 and lasted until his own time. The chapter examines Collingwood's claim that archaeological studies of the Wall had become more professional and scientific. It also considers the extent to which the great era of excavation resulted in a philosophy of thought that has damaged subsequent research on the Wall.

This chapter focuses on two disputes that arose in 1930 and 1957 respectively, events that drew attention to the protection of the archaeological remains of the best-preserved section of Hadrian's Wall. The first of these public arguments was over the threat posed by quarrying. Large-scale extraction had commenced during the nineteenth century at several sites along the central section of the Wall and in some areas this substantially destroyed the fabric of the Wall. In 1930 it was proposed that stone should be extracted on a large scale at Shield on the Wall, six kilometres to the west of Housesteads. These works, if permitted, would have created a very serious impact on the physical fabric and setting of the best-preserved and most atmospheric part of the Wall, and the growing public appreciation of the importance of these remains gave rise to a strong resistance to the scheme. The chapter assesses the popularity of the Wall and the response of the establishment to the threat of quarrying, which swiftly led to a strengthening of the ancient monument legislation in order to protect the monument. It also explores the subsequent designation, management, consolidation, and display of this increasingly famous section of the Wall, including an assessment of the current significance of this iconic landscape.