Talk: Border controls in Roman Britain; the Walls of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, and The Forts of the Saxon Shore Talk
Date: 16th January 2026
Time: 19:30 – 21:30
Presenter: Dr David Rudling
Cost: £10.00 (inc refreshment/drink)
Room: Main Hall
How we manage the borders both around and within the UK today is constantly in the news. Yet, many of the problems we currently face are very similar to those of historical times. This talk will explore the challenges faced in Roman history with a land border to the north for which the solution was fortified walls of stone or turf (created by the Emperors Hadrian and further north by Antoninus Pius). This will be contrasted with the need for a border extending from Norfolk to Hampshire achieved via a string of coastal fortifications. We will consider the relative effectiveness and fates of these various border measures and discuss whether these learnings can have implications for us today.