The Lingones ( Gaulish : 'the jumpers') were a Gallic tribe of the Iron Age and Roman periods. They dwelled in the region surrounding the present-day city of Langres , between the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis and Gallia Belgica .
116-398: They are mentioned as Língōnes (Λίγγωνες) by Polybius (2nd c. BC), Lingones by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), Pliny (1st c. AD) and Tacitus (early 2nd c. AD), Díngones (Δίγγονες) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), and as Lóngōnes (Λόγγωνες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). The Gaulish ethnonym Lingones literally means 'the jumpers'. It derives from the stem ling- ('to jump'), itself from
232-700: A numerical system , called "the Polybius square ," mentioned in Hist. X.45.6 ff. . This idea also lends itself to cryptographic manipulation and steganography . Modern implementations of the Polybius square, at least in Western European languages such as English , Spanish , French , German and Italian , generally use the Roman alphabet in which those languages are written. However, Polybius himself
348-459: A broad section of the wall and conversely a narrow section. He argues that plans changed during construction of the wall, and its overall width was reduced. Broad sections of the wall are around nine and a half feet (2.9 metres) wide with the narrow sections two feet (61 centimetres) thinner, around seven and a half feet (2.3 metres) wide. Some of the narrow sections were found to be built upon broad foundations, which had presumably been built before
464-616: A certain hagiographic tone when writing of his friends, such as Scipio, and subject to a vindictive tone when detailing the exploits of his enemies, such as Callicrates, the Achaean statesman responsible for his Roman exile. As a hostage in Rome, then as client to the Scipios, and after 146 BC, a collaborator with Roman rule, Polybius was probably in no position to freely express any negative opinions of Rome. Peter Green advises that Polybius
580-604: A continuity between the La Tène and Roman periods on the site of Langres, and the city of Andematunnum appears to have been built at the turn of the 1st century BC on a previous Gallic settlement. The Roman-era civitas of the Lingones was located at the crossroad of the modern départments of Aube , Haute-Marne , Côte d’Or and Yonne . The Cathedral St-Mammes , built in the Burgundian Romanesque style for
696-516: A defensive structure made to keep people out, the wall also kept people within the Roman province . Movement would be channeled through the gates in the wall, where it could be monitored for information , prevented or permitted as appropriate, and taxed. The wall would also have had a psychological impact: For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410 AD, Hadrian's Wall
812-674: A diminution in the Antonine period when the garrison moved north to the Antonine Wall, and recovery in the later 2nd and early 3rd centuries. After Hadrian's death in 138, Emperor Antoninus Pius left the wall occupied in a support role, essentially abandoning it. He began building the Antonine Wall about 160 kilometres (100 mi) north, across the isthmus running west-southwest to east-northeast. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles, or about 60.8 km (37.8 mi), and had more forts than Hadrian's Wall. This area later became known as
928-558: A few feet higher at its formation. Along the length of the wall there was a watch-tower turret every third of a mile, also providing shelter and living accommodation for Roman troops. Hadrian's Wall extended west from Segedunum at Wallsend on the River Tyne , via Carlisle and Kirkandrews-on-Eden , to the shore of the Solway Firth , ending a short but unknown distance west of the village of Bowness-on-Solway . The route
1044-469: A few specific crossing points (and possibly at specific times of year). One such traditional point may be indicated by the concentration of Roman-period metal objects near Great Whittington , about 2 kilometres north along a Roman road from the Portgate on the wall. The coins, mostly silver rather than bronze and suggesting high-value transactions, indicate activity in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries,
1160-457: A few years, the fort was surrounded by Roman camps and bombarded by Roman missiles. It was finally abandoned by about 140. Other sites may have been managed by native groups, probably for the management of livestock and possibly to supply Roman requirements. Pollen evidence suggests that the landscape immediately north of the wall remained generally open, without forest regeneration until the end of Roman rule. At Castle O'er an Iron Age hillfort
1276-549: A height of seven courses. The best example of the Clayton Wall is at Housesteads. After Clayton's death, the estate passed to relatives and was soon lost to gambling. Eventually, the National Trust began acquiring the land on which the wall stands. At Wallington Hall , near Morpeth, there is a painting by William Bell Scott , which shows a centurion supervising the building of the wall. The centurion has been given
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#17327657481331392-529: A historian. According to Edward Tufte , he was also a major source for Charles Joseph Minard 's figurative map of Hannibal 's overland journey into Italy during the Second Punic War . In his Meditations On Hunting , Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset calls Polybius "one of the few great minds that the turbid human species has managed to produce", and says the damage to the Histories
1508-605: A long commentary of his Histories and a biography. Polybius was a close friend and mentor to Scipio Africanus the Younger , and had a lasting influence on his decision-making and life. Polybius was born around 198 BC in Megalopolis , Arcadia , when it was an active member of the Achaean League . The town was revived, along with other Achaean states, a century before he was born. Polybius's father, Lycortas ,
1624-470: A numerous and widespread nobility; the lower orders lived in groups of round houses that left much less archaeological trace. The wall probably cut across a coherent cultural area, and it was planned and built at a time of serious warfare in Britain, which required major Roman reinforcements from outside Britannia. A tablet from Vindolanda describes a centurio regionarius who exercised direct military rule from Carlisle , some 30 years after Roman conquest of
1740-480: A propaganda statement as a functional facility". There is some evidence that Hadrian's Wall was originally covered in plaster and then whitewashed: its shining surface would have reflected the sunlight and been visible for miles around. Hadrian ended his predecessor Trajan 's policy of expanding the empire and instead focused on defending the current borders, namely at the time Britain. Like Augustus, Hadrian believed in exploiting natural boundaries such as rivers for
1856-549: A rampart. Bede obviously identifies Gildas's stone wall as Hadrian's Wall, and he appears to have believed that the Vallum was the rampart constructed by Severus. Many centuries would pass before just who built what became apparent. In the same passage, Bede describes Hadrian's Wall as follows: "It is eight feet in breadth, and twelve in height; and, as can be clearly seen to this day, ran straight from east to west." Bede by his own account lived his whole life at Jarrow , just across
1972-523: A set of maps of England and Wales by county at the start of the 17th century. He describes it as "the Picts Wall" (or "Pictes"; he uses both spellings). A map of Newecastle (sic), drawn in 1610 by William Matthew, describes it as "Severus' Wall", mistakenly giving it the name ascribed by Bede to the Vallum. Matthew's maps for Cumberland and Northumberland show the wall as a major feature and are ornamented with drawings of Roman finds together with (in
2088-421: A solution to their problems that remained relevant for centuries. The primary purpose of the wall was as a physical barrier to slow the crossing of raiders, people intent on crossing its line for animals, treasure, or slaves, and then returning with their loot. The Latin text Historia Augusta states: (Hadrianus) murumque per octoginta milia passuum primus duxit, qui barbaros Romanosque divideret. (Hadrian)
2204-513: A zone of its population, as they are known to have done on the Rhine and for ten Roman miles beyond the Danube frontier. Some sites were still occupied; the fort of Burnswark Hill , previously in ruins, was re-occupied about the time that the wall was built. Possibly this represents a short-lived Roman attempt to establish a cooperative authority on this main route further north to Caledonia . Within
2320-606: Is "without question one of the gravest losses that we have suffered in our Greco-Roman heritage". The Italian version of his name, Polibio, was used as a male first name—for example, the composer Polibio Fumagalli —though it never became very common. The University of Pennsylvania has an intellectual society, the Polybian Society, which is named in his honor and serves as a non-partisan forum for discussing societal issues and policy. Hadrian%27s Wall Hadrian's Wall ( Latin : Vallum Hadriani , also known as
2436-558: Is a universal history which describes and explains the rise of the Roman Republic as a global power in the ancient Mediterranean world . The work documents in detail political and military affairs across the Hellenistic Mediterranean between 264 and 146 BC, and in its later books includes eyewitness accounts of the sack of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BC, and the Roman annexation of mainland Greece after
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#17327657481332552-485: Is considered by some to be the successor of Thucydides in terms of objectivity and critical reasoning , and the forefather of scholarly, painstaking historical research in the modern scientific sense. According to this view, his work sets forth the course of history's occurrences with clearness, penetration, sound judgment, and, among the circumstances affecting the outcomes, he lays special emphasis on geographical conditions. Modern historians are especially impressed with
2668-549: Is exemplified in that of Philip II , who Polybius believed exhibited both excellent military prowess and skill, as well as proficient ability in diplomacy and moral leadership. His beliefs about Philip's character led Polybius to reject the historian Theopompus ' description of Philip's private, drunken debauchery. For Polybius, it was inconceivable that such an able and effective statesman could have had an immoral and unrestrained private life as described by Theopompus. The consequences of bad leadership are also highlighted throughout
2784-634: Is lost as well. Another missing work was a historical monograph on the events of the Numantine War . The largest Polybian work was, of course, his Histories , of which only the first five books survive entirely intact, along with a large portion of the sixth book and fragments of the rest. Along with Cato the Elder (234–149 BC), he can be considered one of the founding fathers of Roman historiography . Livy made reference to and uses Polybius's Histories as source material in his own narrative. Polybius
2900-630: The Achaean War . While Polybius's Histories covers the period from 264 BC to 146 BC, it mainly focuses on the years 221 BC to 146 BC, detailing Rome's rise to supremacy in the Mediterranean by overcoming their geopolitical rivals: Carthage, Macedonia, and the Seleucid empire. Books I-II are The Histories ' introduction, describing events in Italy and Greece before 221/0 BC, including
3016-482: The Anglo-Scottish border , though it is sometimes loosely or colloquially described as such. The length of the wall was 80 Roman miles, equivalent to 73 modern miles; or 117 kilometres (1 Roman mile is equivalent to 1,620 yards; or 1,480 metres). This traversed the entire width of the island, from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. Not long after construction began,
3132-603: The First Punic War , Rome's wars with the Gauls, the rise of the Achaean League (Polybius's own constitution), and the re-establishment of Macedonian power in Greece under Antigonus III Doson and Philip V of Macedon . Books III-XXXIX describe in detail political and military affairs in the leading Mediterranean states, including affairs in ancient Rome and ancient Carthage , ancient Greece and ancient Macedonia , and
3248-586: The Histories . Polybius saw, for instance, the character and leadership of the later Philip V of Macedon , one of Rome's leading adversaries in the Greek East, as the opposite of his earlier exemplary namesake. Philip V became increasingly tyrannical, irrational and impious following brilliant military and political success in his youth; this resulted, Polybius believed, in his abandonment by his Greek allies and his eventual defeat by Rome in 197 BC. Other important themes running throughout The Histories include
3364-561: The Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 BC, recording in detail events in Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt and Africa, and documented the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars among many others. Polybius's Histories is important not only for being the only Hellenistic historical work to survive in any substantial form, but also for its analysis of constitutional change and
3480-551: The Proto-Celtic verbal base *leng- ('to jump'; cf. Old Irish lingid 'he jumps'), extended by the suffix - on-es . The name could be interpreted as 'good at jumping (on horseback)', or else as 'the dancers'. The city of Langres , attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Lingonum , is named after the Gallic tribe. The territory of the Lingones was situated on the border separating Gallia Lugdunensis from Gallia Belgica , between
3596-634: The Roman Wall , Picts' Wall , or Vallum Aelium in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia , begun in AD ;122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian . Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England , it was a stone wall with large ditches in front and behind, stretching across
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3712-401: The Roman period , Mars Cicolluis was the main god of the Lingones. Polybius Polybius ( / p ə ˈ l ɪ b i ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Πολύβιος , Polýbios ; c. 200 – c. 118 BC ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period . He is noted for his work The Histories , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in
3828-572: The Scottish Lowlands , sometimes referred to as the Central Belt or Central Lowlands . Antoninus was unable to conquer the northern tribes, so when Marcus Aurelius became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and reoccupied Hadrian's Wall as the main defensive barrier in 164. In 208–211, Emperor Septimius Severus again tried to conquer Caledonia and temporarily reoccupied the Antonine Wall. The campaign ended inconclusively, and
3944-497: The Seleucid empire and Egypt, explaining their increasing " συμπλοκή" (symplokē) or interconnectedness and how they each contributed to Rome's rise to dominance. Only books I-V survive in full; the rest are in varying states of fragmentation. Three discursive books on politics, historiography and geography break up the historical narrative: Polybius held that historians should, if possible, only chronicle events whose participants
4060-711: The Senones and the Sequani . Their capital Andematunnum (present-day Langres , Haute-Marne ) is attested from 43 AD on boundary markers (abbreviated as AND ). It was built on a Bajocian limestone promontory, overlooking the Marne valley to the east and north, and the Bonnelle valley to the west. Only the southern part, open to the Langres plateau , did not possess natural defences. Archeological evidence have demonstrated
4176-537: The Solway Firth ). Part of the central section of the wall follows natural cliffs on an escarpment of the Whin Sill rock formation. Although the curtain wall ends near Bowness-on-Solway, this does not mark the end of the line of defensive structures. The system of milecastles and turrets is known to have continued along the Cumbria coast as far as Risehow, south of Maryport . For classification purposes,
4292-510: The Vallum . The Vallum and the wall run more or less in parallel for almost the entire length of the wall, except between the forts of Newcastle and Wallsend at the east end, where the Vallum may have been considered superfluous as a barrier on account of the close proximity of the River Tyne . The twin track of the wall and Vallum led many 19th-century thinkers to note and ponder their relation to one another. Some evidence appears to show that
4408-506: The 16th century. Consequently, in the late 16th century, Polybius's works found a greater reading audience among the learned public. Study of the correspondence of such men as Isaac Casaubon , Jacques Auguste de Thou , William Camden and Paolo Sarpi reveals a growing interest in Polybius's works and thought during the period. Despite the existence of both printed editions in the vernacular and increased scholarly interest, however, Polybius remained an "historian's historian", not much read by
4524-493: The 3rd and possibly 4th centuries), and it may similarly have been mainly concerned with livestock management and delivery. In general, and as with other Roman frontier lines, Roman coins and pottery did not move across the wall, and the wall seems to have been an effective barrier to trade. A few elite centres continued to import Roman goods, such as the post-160 samian found at Traprain Law . Ongoing exchange may have been managed at
4640-608: The Aetolians, the Carthaginians and the Cretans. Other historians perceive considerable negative bias in Polybius's account of Crete ; on the other hand, Hansen notes that the same work, along with passages from Strabo and Scylax , proved a reliable guide in the eventual rediscovery of the lost city of Kydonia . Polybius was responsible for a useful tool in telegraphy that allowed letters to be easily signaled using
4756-578: The Greeks and the Macedonians). While Polybius was not the first to advance this view, his account provides the most cogent illustration of the ideal for later political theorists. A key theme of The Histories is good leadership, and Polybius dedicates considerable time to outlining how the good statesman should be rational, knowledgeable, virtuous and composed. The character of the Polybian statesman
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4872-442: The Lingones who had remained in the area of Langres and Dijon are attested in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, from dedicatory inscriptions and stamped tiles. The 1st cohort of Lingones (part-mounted) is attested at Bremenium , the Roman fort at High Rochester in north Northumberland, the 2nd cohort of Lingones is attested at Ilkley Roman Fort by their Prefect, and the fourth cohort built part of Hadrian's Wall near Carlisle. During
4988-497: The River Tyne from the eastern end of the wall at Wallsend, so as he indicates, he would have been very familiar with the wall. Bede does not mention a walkway along the top of the wall. It might be thought likely that there was, but if so it no longer exists. In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline and military coups loosened the empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the estimated end of Roman rule in Britain ,
5104-404: The Roman administration and its legions were gone, and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. Archaeologists have revealed that some parts of the wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. It has been suggested that some forts continued to be garrisoned by local Britons under the control of a Coel Hen figure and former dux . Hadrian's Wall fell into ruin, and over
5220-419: The Roman equivalent of barbed wire , a measure to delay an enemy attack and hold the attackers within range of the missiles of the defenders. The curtain wall was not mainly a continuously-embattled defensive line, rather it would deter casual crossing and be an observation point that could alert Romans of an incoming attack and slow down enemy forces so that additional troops could arrive for support. Besides
5336-471: The Romans eventually withdrew to Hadrian's Wall. The early historian Bede , following Gildas , wrote ( c. 730 ): [the departing Romans] thinking that it might be some help to the allies [Britons], whom they were forced to abandon, constructed a strong stone wall from sea to sea, in a straight line between the towns that had been there built for fear of the enemy, where Severus also had formerly built
5452-449: The Romans' definition of their territory. In 1936, further research suggested that the Vallum could not have been built before the wall because the Vallum avoided one of the wall's milecastles. This new discovery was continually supported by more evidence, strengthening the idea that there was a simultaneous construction of the Vallum and the wall. Other evidence still pointed in other, slightly different directions. Evidence shows that
5568-541: The Vallum preceded sections of the Narrow Wall specifically; to account for this discrepancy, Couse suggests that either construction of the Vallum began with the Broad Wall, or it began when the Narrow Wall succeeded the Broad Wall but proceeded more quickly than that of the Narrow Wall. From Milecastle 49 to the western terminus at Bowness-on-Solway, the wall was originally constructed from turf, possibly due to
5684-538: The absence of limestone. Subsequently, the turf wall was demolished and replaced with a stone wall. This took place in two phases; the first (from the River Irthing to a point west of Milecastle 54 ) during the reign of Hadrian, and the second following the reoccupation of Hadrian's Wall after the abandonment of the Antonine Wall (though it has also been suggested that this second phase took place during
5800-471: The aim of obtaining firsthand knowledge of historical sites. He apparently interviewed veterans to clarify details of the events he was recording and was similarly given access to archival material. Little is known of Polybius's later life; he most likely accompanied Scipio to Spain, acting as his military advisor during the Numantine War . He later wrote about this war in a lost monograph . Polybius probably returned to Greece later in his life, as evidenced by
5916-820: The ancient diocese that was referred to as Lingonae ("of the Lingones") and rivalled Dijon. Three of its early bishops were martyred by the invasion of the Vandals, about 407. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BC. These Lingones were part of a wave of Celtic tribes that included the Boii and Senones ( Polybius , Histories ii.17). The Lingones may have helped sack Rome in 390 BC. The Gaulish Lingones did not participate in
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#17327657481336032-594: The annual strategia (chief generalship). Polybius's political career was cut short in 168 BC, however; as a consequence of the final defeat of the Antigonid kingdom in the Third Macedonian War , 1,000 Achaeans (including Polybius) with suspect allegiances were interned in Rome and its surrounding area. Polybius's father, Lycortas, was a prominent advocate of neutrality during the Roman war against Perseus of Macedon in 171-168 BC. Lycortas attracted
6148-462: The antiquarian John Clayton . He trained as a lawyer and became town clerk of Newcastle in the 1830s. He became enthusiastic about preserving the wall after inheriting Chesters from his father. To prevent farmers taking stones from the wall, he began buying some of the land on which the wall stood. In 1834, he started purchasing property around Steel Rigg near Crag Lough . Eventually, he controlled land from Brunton to Cawfields. This stretch included
6264-457: The area. In 150, a discharge certificate was issued to Velvotigernus, son of Maglotigernus, after 26 year's service in the classis Germanica . It was found near (not in) the Roman fort of Longovicium . Presumably Velvotigernus was from the upper echelons of British society (his father's name means 'Great master'); he chose to settle near Lanchester some 27km south of the wall. This suggests the rapid development of elements of Roman culture both by
6380-676: The auspices of the Emperor Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus and begun by Julius Civilis in Gaul, the very wealthy city of the Lingones, which had revolted to Civilis, feared that it would be plundered by the approaching army of Caesar. But when, contrary to expectation, the inhabitants remained unharmed and lost none of their property, they returned to their loyalty, and handed over to me seventy thousand armed men. In Roman Britain, at least three named cohorts of Lingones, probably subscripted from among
6496-521: The battles of the Gauls against Caesar. They gained Roman citizenship at the end of the first century AD. They were caught up in the Batavian rebellion (69 AD) described by Tacitus . The strategist Sextus Julius Frontinus , author of the Strategemata , the earliest surviving Roman military textbook, mentions the Lingones among his examples of successful military tactics: In the war waged under
6612-610: The borders of the empire, for example the Euphrates , Rhine and Danube . Britain, however, did not have any natural boundaries that could serve the purpose to divide the province controlled by the Romans from the Celtic tribes in the north. With construction starting in 122, the entire length of the wall was built with an alternating series of forts, each housing 600 men, and manned milecastles, operated by "between 12 and 20 men". It took six years to build most of Hadrian's Wall with
6728-556: The case of the Cumberland map) a cartouche in which he sets out a description of the wall. Much of the wall has now disappeared. Long sections of it were used for roadbuilding in the 18th century, especially by General Wade to build a military road (most of which lies beneath the present day B6318 " Military Road ") to move troops to crush the Jacobite rising of 1745 . The preservation of much of what remains can be credited to
6844-531: The centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings. Enough survived in the 7th century for spolia from Hadrian's Wall (illustrated at right) to find its way into the construction of St Paul's Church in Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey , where Bede was a monk. It was presumably incorporated before the setting of the church's dedication stone, still to be seen in the church, dated 23 April 685. The wall fascinated John Speed , who published
6960-501: The conditions there. Polybius was charged with the difficult task of organizing the new form of government in the Greek cities, and in this office he gained great recognition. In the succeeding years, Polybius resided in Rome , completing his historical work while occasionally undertaking long journeys through the Mediterranean countries in the furtherance of his history, in particular with
7076-459: The eastern half's width was therefore reduced from the original ten Roman feet to eight, with the remaining stones from the eastern half used for around 5 miles (8.0 kilometres) of the turf wall in the west. This reduction from the original ten Roman feet to eight created the so-called "Narrow Wall". Just south of the wall there is a ten-foot (three-metre) deep, ditch-like construction with two parallel mounds running north and south of it, known as
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#17327657481337192-603: The education of his sons, Fabius and Scipio Aemilianus (who had been adopted by the eldest son of Scipio Africanus ). Polybius remained on cordial terms with his former pupil Scipio Aemilianus and was among the members of the Scipionic Circle . When Scipio defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War , Polybius remained his counsellor. The Achaean hostages were released in 150 BC, and Polybius
7308-433: The established narrative over how much of a threat the inhabitants of northern Britain presented to the Romans, and whether there was any economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the wall, rather than conquering and annexing what has become Northumberland and the Scottish Lowlands and then defending the territory with a looser arrangement of forts. Hadrian and his advisers however produced
7424-401: The face of John Clayton (above right). In 2021 workers for Northumbrian Water found a previously undiscovered 3-metre section of the wall while repairing a water main in central Newcastle upon Tyne . The company announced that the pipe would be "angled to leave a buffer around the excavated trench". Hadrian's Wall was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and in 2005 it became part of
7540-425: The footings, and some segments display a few courses of modern masonry reconstruction. Many of the excavated forts on or near the wall are open to the public, and various nearby museums present its history. The largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres). Regarded as a British cultural icon , Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions . It
7656-416: The foundation, quickly becoming much shallower. Above the stone curtain wall's foundations, one or more footing courses were laid. Offsets were introduced above these footing courses (on both the north and south faces), which reduced the wall's width. Where the width of the curtain wall is stated, it is in reference to the width above the offset. Two standards of offset have been identified: Standard A, where
7772-533: The full quota of 756 Belgae troops were present, the rest being sick or otherwise absent. By about 200 BC, long before the Romans arrived in Britannia, the zone on both sides of what would become the wall, from Lothian to the north and the River Wear to the south, had become dominated by rectilinear enclosures. These were the nuclei of extensive farming settlements at a high level of the social hierarchy,
7888-411: The geography surrounding one's subject matter to supply an accurate version of events. Polybius himself exemplified these principles as he was well travelled and possessed political and military experience. He consulted and used written sources providing essential material for the period between 264 BC to 220 BC, including, for instance, treaty documents between Rome and Carthage in the First Punic War ,
8004-477: The historian was able to interview, and was among the first to champion the notion of factual integrity in historical writing. In the twelfth volume of his Histories , Polybius defines the historian's job as the analysis of documentation, the review of relevant geographical information, and political experience. In Polybius's time, the profession of a historian required political experience (which aided in differentiating between fact and fiction) and familiarity with
8120-551: The history of the Greek historian Phylarchus , and the Memoirs of the Achaean politician, Aratus of Sicyon . When addressing events after 220 BC, he continued to examine treaty documents, the writings of Greek and Roman historians and statesmen, eye-witness accounts and Macedonian court informants to acquire credible sources of information, although rarely did he name his sources (see, exceptionally, Theopompus ). Polybius wrote several works, most of which are lost. His earliest work
8236-731: The later books of The Histories was preserved in Byzantine anthologies. His works reappeared in the West first in Renaissance Florence . Polybius gained a following in Italy, and although poor Latin translations hampered proper scholarship on his works, they contributed to the city's historical and political discourse. Niccolò Machiavelli in his Discourses on Livy evinces familiarity with Polybius. Vernacular translations in French, German, Italian and English first appeared during
8352-469: The latter". However, soldiers from the three British legions outnumbered the auxiliaries, which goes against the assertion that legionaries would not be used on such detached duties. Further information on the garrisoning of the wall has been provided by the discovery of the Vindolanda tablets just to the south of Hadrian's Wall, such as the record of an inspection on 18 May 92 or 97, when only 456 of
8468-512: The local upper classes and by immigrants either attracted by commercial possibilities or officially encouraged to settle. Northwards a very different picture emerges. A large area of what is now southern Scotland as far as Lothian, and the Northumbrian coastal plain, lost its monumental building tradition of substantial timber roundhouses and earthwork enclosures. Very little late Roman pottery has been found there. The Romans may have cleared
8584-428: The machines Archimedes created for the defense of Syracuse against the Romans, where Polybius praises the 'old man' and his engineering in the highest terms, and an analysis of the usefulness of astronomy to generals (both in the Histories ). Polybius was considered a poor stylist by Dionysius of Halicarnassus , writing of Polybius's history that "no one has the endurance to reach [its] end". Nevertheless, clearly he
8700-674: The manner in which Polybius used his sources, particularly documentary evidence as well as his citation and quotation of sources. Furthermore, there is some admiration of Polybius's meditation on the nature of historiography in Book 12. His work belongs, therefore, amongst the greatest productions of ancient historical writing. The writer of the Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1937) praises him for his "earnest devotion to truth" and his systematic pursuit of causation. It has long been acknowledged that Polybius's writings are prone to
8816-477: The many existent inscriptions and statues of him there. The last event mentioned in his Histories seems to be the construction of the Via Domitia in southern France in 118 BC, which suggests the writings of Pseudo-Lucian may have some grounding in fact when they state, "[Polybius] fell from his horse while riding up from the country, fell ill as a result and died at the age of eighty-two". The Histories
8932-466: The milecastles west of Bowness-on-Solway are referred to as Milefortlets . Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before Hadrian 's visit to Britain in 122. According to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction". On Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne in 117, there
9048-606: The mixed constitution. Polybius's discussion of the separation of powers in government, of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", all influenced Montesquieu 's The Spirit of the Laws , John Locke 's Two Treatises of Government , and the framers of the United States Constitution . The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), who published studies related to him for 50 years, including
9164-543: The most important teachers of constitutional theory. Since the Age of Enlightenment , Polybius has in general held appeal to those interested in Hellenistic Greece and early Republican Rome, while his political and military writings have lost influence in academia. More recently, thorough work on the Greek text of Polybius, and his historical technique, has increased the academic understanding and appreciation of him as
9280-433: The narrative of the historical events, Polybius also included three books of digressions. Book 34 was entirely devoted to questions of geography and included some trenchant criticisms of Eratosthenes , whom he accused of passing on popular preconceptions or laodogmatika . Book 12 was a disquisition on the writing of history, citing extensive passages of lost historians, such as Callisthenes and Theopompus . Most influential
9396-433: The offset occurs above the first footing course, and Standard B, where the offset occurs after the third (or sometimes fourth) footing course. It is thought that following construction and when fully manned, almost 10,000 soldiers were stationed on Hadrian's Wall, made up not of the legions who built it but by regiments of auxiliary infantry and cavalry drawn from the provinces. Following from this, David Breeze lays out
9512-453: The plans changed. Based on this evidence, Collingwood concludes that the wall was originally to be built between present-day Newcastle and Bowness-on-Solway, with a uniform width of 10 Roman feet, all in stone. On completion, only three-fifths of the wall was built from stone; the remaining western section was a turf wall, later rebuilt in stone. Plans possibly changed due to a lack of resources. In an effort to preserve resources further,
9628-673: The public at large. Printings of his work in the vernacular remained few in number—seven in French, five in English ( John Dryden provided an enthusiastic preface to Sir Henry Sheers' edition of 1693) and five in Italian. Polybius's political analysis has influenced republican thinkers from Cicero to Charles de Montesquieu to the Founding Fathers of the United States . John Adams , for example, considered him one of
9744-595: The region. Nevertheless, the settlement pattern in the area did not change immediately after the wall was built, and the groups who fought the Romans may have been from previously pacified tribes to the south, or from far north of the wall. The Roman soldiers of the garrison, with their families and other immigrants, may have amounted to some 22-30% of the population of the region. They could not have been supplied entirely from local resources, although any local surpluses would have been taxed or requisitioned. Military conscripts may also have been levied from nearby groups. To
9860-470: The reign of Septimius Severus ). The line of the stone wall follows the line of the turf wall, apart from the stretch between Milecastle 49 and Milecastle 51 , where the line of the stone wall is slightly further to the north. In the stretch around Milecastle 50TW , it was built on a flat base with three to four courses of turf blocks. A basal layer of cobbles was used westwards from Milecastle 72 (at Burgh-by-Sands) and possibly at Milecastle 53 . Where
9976-440: The role of Fortune in the affairs of nations, how a leader might weather bravely these changes of fortune with dignity, the educational value of history and how it should demonstrate cause and effect (or apodeiktike ) to provide lessons for statesmen, and that historians should be "men of action" to gain appropriate experience so as to understand how political and military affairs are likely to pan out ( pragmatikoi ). Polybius
10092-401: The route of the wall was shifted to avoid the Vallum, possibly pointing to the Vallum being an older construction. R. G. Collingwood therefore asserted in 1930 that the Vallum was built before the wall in its final form. Collingwood also questioned whether the Vallum was an original border built before the wall. Based on this, the wall could be viewed as a replacement border built to strengthen
10208-412: The scale and design of the wall was novel for Roman military construction, "there was a long tradition of wall-building in the ancient (Mediterranean) world upon which he could have drawn for inspiration without the inconvenience of traversing whole continents in search of a prototype." In recent years, despite the overwhelming evidence over its 400 year manned presence, some scholars have disagreed with
10324-414: The sites of Chesters, Carrawburgh , Housesteads , and Vindolanda . Clayton carried out excavation at the fort at Cilurnum and at Housesteads, and he excavated some milecastles. Clayton managed the farms he had acquired and succeeded in improving both the land and the livestock. He used the profits from his farms for restoration work. Workmen were employed to restore sections of the wall, generally up to
10440-420: The soldiers on Hadrian's Wall. One, these soldiers who manned the milecastles and turrets on the wall came from the forts near it; two, regiments from auxiliaries were specifically chosen for this role; or three, "a special force" was formed to man these stations. Breeze comes to the conclusion that through all the inscriptions gathered there were soldiers from three, or even four, auxiliary units at milecastles on
10556-527: The south, between the wall and the River Tees , Roman-style settlements appear in the early 2nd century, very shortly after the wall was built. This is earlier than Roman villas in Yorkshire further south. Mortaria stamped with the name ANAVS were produced at Faverdale , some 80 kilometres south of the wall, and most of those found have come from the fort of Coria . Anaus was probably an immigrant to
10672-497: The square, a letter could be deduced. In The Histories , Polybius specifies how this cypher could be used in fire signals, where long-range messages could be sent by means of torches raised and lowered to signify the column and row of each letter. This was a great leap forward from previous fire signaling, which could send prearranged codes only (such as, 'if we light the fire, it means that the enemy has arrived'). Other writings of scientific interest include detailed discussions of
10788-404: The square, the final "5,5" code point encodes the spaces in between words. Alternatively, it can denote the end of a sentence or paragraph when writing in continuous script. Five numbers are then aligned on the outside top of the square, and five numbers on the left side of the square vertically. Usually these numbers were arranged 1 through 5. By cross-referencing the two numbers along the grid of
10904-414: The suspicion of the Romans, and Polybius subsequently was one of the 1,000 Achaean nobles who were transported to Rome as hostages in 167 BC, and was detained there for 17 years. In Rome, by virtue of his high culture, Polybius was admitted to the most distinguished houses, in particular to that of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus , the conqueror in the Third Macedonian War , who entrusted Polybius with
11020-447: The two basic functions for soldiers on or around Hadrian's Wall. Breeze says that soldiers who were stationed in the forts around the wall had the primary duty of defence; at the same time, the troops in the milecastles and turrets had the responsibility of frontier control. Evidence, as Breeze says, for soldiers stationed in forts is far more pronounced than the ones in the milecastles and turrets. Breeze discusses three theories about
11136-410: The underlying ground was boggy, wooden piles were used. At its base, the turf wall was 6 metres (20 feet) wide, built in courses of turf blocks measuring 46 cm (18 inches) long by 30 cm (12 inches) deep by 15 cm (6 inches) high, to a height around 3.66 metres (12.0 feet). The north face is thought to have had a slope of 75%, whereas the south face is thought to have started vertical above
11252-526: The wall as a departure from traditional Roman military architecture as typified by the Roman limes has been seen as noteworthy and has led to exceptional suggestions of influence by some scholars, for example D.J Breeze and B. Dobson suggest "Hadrian may have been influenced by travellers' accounts of the Great Wall of China , built some two hundred years before." This proposal has been challenged by other scholars like Duncan Campbell who argues that, though
11368-406: The wall's width was reduced from the originally planned 10 feet (3.0 m) to about 8 feet (2.4 m), or even less depending on the terrain. Some sections were originally constructed of turf and timber, eventually replaced by stone years or decades later. Bede , a monk and historian who died in 735, wrote that the wall stood 12 feet (3.7 metres) high, with evidence suggesting it could have been
11484-467: The wall. These units were " cohors I Batavorum , cohors I Vardullorum , an un-numbered Pannonian cohort, and a duplicarius from Upper Germany ". Breeze adds that there appears to have been some legionaries as well at these milecastles. Breeze states that evidence is "still open on whether" soldiers who manned the milecastles were from nearby forts or were specifically chosen for this task, and he adds that "the balance [of evidence] perhaps lies towards
11600-503: The whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts , smaller milecastles , and intervening turrets . In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts. Hadrian's Wall Path generally runs close along the wall. Almost all the standing masonry of the wall was removed in early modern times and used for local roads and farmhouses. None of it stands to its original height, but modern work has exposed much of
11716-465: The work coming from three Roman legions – the Legio II Augusta , Legio VI Victrix , and Legio XX Valeria Victrix , totalling 15,000 soldiers, plus some members of the Roman fleet. The building of the wall was not out of the area of expertise for the soldiers; some would have trained to be surveyors, engineers, masons, and carpenters. R. G. Collingwood cites evidence for the existence of
11832-418: Was Book 6, which describes Roman political, military, and moral institutions, which he considered key to Rome's success; it presented Rome as having a mixed constitution in which monarchical , aristocratic and popular elements existed in stable equilibrium. This enabled Rome to escape, for the time being, the cycle of eternal revolutions ( anacyclosis ) faced by those with singular constitutions (i.e. many of
11948-401: Was a biography of the Greek statesman Philopoemen ; this work was later used as a source by Plutarch when composing his Parallel Lives ; however, the original Polybian text is lost. In addition, Polybius wrote an extensive treatise entitled Tactics , which may have detailed Roman and Greek military tactics . Small parts of this work may survive in his major Histories , but the work itself
12064-585: Was a prominent, land-owning politician and member of the governing class who became strategos (commanding general) of the Achaean League. Consequently, Polybius was able to observe first hand during his first 30 years the political and military affairs of Megalopolis, gaining experience as a statesman . In his early years, he accompanied his father while travelling as ambassador . He developed an interest in horse riding and hunting, diversions that later commended him to his Roman captors. In 182 BC, he
12180-430: Was among the first historians to attempt to present history as a sequence of causes and effects, based upon a careful examination and criticism of tradition. He narrated his history based upon first-hand knowledge. The Histories capture the varied elements of the story of human behavior: nationalism , xenophobia , duplicitous politics, war, brutality, loyalty, valour, intelligence, reason and resourcefulness. Aside from
12296-645: Was chronicling Roman history for a Greek audience, to justify what he believed to be the inevitability of Roman rule. Nonetheless, Green considers Polybius's Histories the best source for the era they cover. For Ronald Mellor , Polybius was a loyal partisan of Scipio , intent on vilifying his patron's opponents. Adrian Goldsworthy , while using Polybius as a source for Scipio's generalship, notes Polybius's underlying and overt bias in Scipio's favour. H. Ormerod considers that Polybius cannot be regarded as an 'altogether unprejudiced witness' in relation to his bêtes noires ;
12412-459: Was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The turf-built Antonine Wall of 142 in what is now central Scotland , which briefly superseded Hadrian's Wall before being abandoned, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. Hadrian's Wall marked the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia to the north. The wall lies entirely within England and has never formed
12528-446: Was given an annexe and a network of ditched and banked boundaries. The sites at Pegswood Moor and St. George's Hospital, Morpeth , also show probable stock enclosures and droveways, far less substantial than the massive Iron Age sites in the area. The site at Huckhoe is the only one in this area to produce evidence of post-Hadrianic domestic residence (Roman coarse pottery, probably containers of high-prestige imported food, as late as
12644-414: Was given the honour of carrying the funeral urn of Philopoemen , one of the most eminent Achaean politicians of his generation. In either 170 BC or 169 BC, Polybius was elected hipparchus (cavalry officer) and was due to assist Rome militarily during the Third Macedonian War , although this never came about. This office was the second highest position of the Achaean League and often presaged election to
12760-537: Was granted leave to return home, but the next year he went on campaign with Scipio Aemilianus to Africa, and was present at the Sack of Carthage in 146, which he later described. Following the destruction of Carthage, Polybius likely journeyed along the Atlantic coast of Africa, as well as Spain. After the destruction of Corinth in the same year, Polybius returned to Greece, making use of his Roman connections to lighten
12876-469: Was slightly north of Stanegate , an important Roman road built several decades earlier to link two forts that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum ( Corbridge ) on the River Tyne and Luguvalium (Carlisle) on the River Eden . The modern A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle , then along the northern coast of Cumbria (south shore of
12992-401: Was the clearest statement of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire. The wall was also a symbolic statement of Rome's imperial power, marking the border between the so called civilized world and the unconquered barbarian wilderness. As British archaeologist Neil Faulkner explains, "the wall, like other great Roman frontier monuments was as much
13108-435: Was the first to build a wall, eighty miles long, to separate the Romans from the barbarians . The defensive characteristics of the wall support interpretation, including the pits known as cippi frequently found on the berm or flat area in front of the wall. These pits held branches or small tree trunks entangled with sharpened branches. These would make an attack on the wall even more difficult. It might be thought of as
13224-537: Was unrest and rebellion in Roman Britain and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the empire, including Egypt , Judea , Libya and Mauretania . These troubles may have influenced his plan to construct the wall, as well as his construction of frontier boundaries now known as limes in other areas of the empire, such as the Limes Germanicus in modern-day Germany. The novelty of
13340-429: Was widely read by Romans and Greeks alike. He is quoted extensively by Strabo writing in the 1st century BC and Athenaeus in the 3rd century AD. His emphasis on explaining causes of events, rather than just recounting events, influenced the historian Sempronius Asellio . Polybius is mentioned by Cicero and mined for information by Diodorus , Livy , Plutarch and Arrian . Much of the text that survives today from
13456-434: Was writing in Greek, and would have implemented his cipher square in the Greek alphabet. Both versions are shown here. In the Polybius square, letters of the alphabet were arranged left to right, top to bottom in a 5 × 5 square. When used with the 26-letter Latin alphabet two letters, usually I and J, are combined. When used with the Greek alphabet, which has exactly one fewer letters than there are spaces (or code points) in
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