RE: Visiting the Antonine Wall - A defensive wall built by the Roman's across Scotland in the 140's AD (1,900 years ago)
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Great post - I didn't realise there was so much left of the Antonine Wall !
It was really strange that the Romans designed buildings to last for centuries, but when it came to expanding the Empire it was entirely down to short-term expedient.
It would have been eminently possible for them to pacify the whole of the British Isles. The tribes were fierce, but the population density in Hibernia and Caledonia was much lower than in more southern parts. The policy of Vastatio (total scorched-earth devastation) while harsh, would have been effective against those tribes who didn't accept trade, client kingdom status and the increasing Romanisation that went with it.
However, it would have taken decades to achieve this, and most emperors wanted a quick victory rather than to spend time developing an outback region. But if one of them had done it before the start of the third century, it could have enabled Britannia to be reduced from a 3/4 legion province to 2 or even 1, and the new tribes would have been a valuable source of additional auxilia for the Danube frontier (75% of British Auxilia units appear to have been stationed in Pannonia and Dacia).
There is actually quite a lot left of the Antonine Wall. You can still see footings and the like of the main forts where they were built from stone, with more visible over towards the Glasgow end. The Fort here in Edinburgh was quite big, and I actually went to see it the other night so I will post about that. Not much remains, and there was even a fairly big bathhouse here, but it was covered back over, so you cant see anything of it, which is a shame. There is also an eagle carved into a rock near here, which is considered Roman and potentially linked to a legion, although not confirmed, which I think is pretty cool - although its so weather worn now that you now have to use your imagination when viewing it !
I agree, conquering all of the British Isles would have been really difficult. The Antonine Wall is clearly placed across the shortest route you can take from East to West in Scotland and makes a huge amount of sense from a defensive perspective, noting that it also encompasses a lot of the best land here. Then trying to control the rest of it above the wall line would have been incredibly difficult due to the landscape and islands, and would have taken way more soldiers and infrastructure, etc, than it was probably worth.