Unearthed (2016–…): Season 6, Episode 12 - Rome's Great Wall - full transcript
The Roman Empire built Hadrian's Wall to guard its frontiers at the edge of the world; new discoveries reveal who the Romans were trying to keep out with this 72-mile-long megastructure and what it tells us about the ancient people of Iron Age Britain.
Narrator: On the edge
of the roman empire
Lies a mysterious
ancient mega-structure...
A 73 mile long stone barrier
Called hadrian's wall.
Man: Hadrian's wall
is probably the most exciting
Undertaking of the romans.
Narrator: This giant wall,
Complete with
over 200 towers and 16 forts,
Is the largest monument
left by the romans.
Why did they build it?
Today investigators use
pioneering archaeology,
Drone technology,
and weapons tests
To discover the real story
of this ancient super wall.
Man: This individual
was kneeling down.
And executed from behind.
Narrator: Who are the romans
trying to keep out?
Man: Hadrian's wall,
To certain extent,
doesn't appear to have worked.
Narrator: And what can this
mighty structure tell us
About rome's epic struggle
to defend its empire?
To solve these mysteries,
we'll blow apart hadrian's wall,
Decipher 2,000-year-old
messages,
Unearth hidden battlefields,
And discover the darkest secrets
Of rome's great wall.
UNEARTHED - SEASON 6
EP - 12 - Rome's Great Wall
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is an astonishing
ancient mega structure.
A mighty 73-mile-long
man-made stone barrier.
It splits the island
of britain in two,
Stretching east to west
from coast to coast.
The wall is the brainchild
of the great emperor hadrian,
The roman empire's
most prolific builder.
Its story is shrouded
in mystery.
Man: Hadrian's wall isn't
written about
By very many roman authors,
So we don't ultimately know
What the romans thought
hadrian's wall was for.
Narrator:
Archaeologists used to think
The wall is largely symbolic...
A statement of rome's power.
But today new excavations
By teams of more than 500
Are bringing to life
how the wall once looks.
And its layout reveals
a more forbidding purpose.
In 125 a.D.,
Hadrian's wall is up
to 10 feet thick,
Standing as tall as three men.
Four million tons
of solid limestone blocks
Make it the biggest structure
the romans ever built.
From mighty stone towers
every third of a mile,
Soldiers keep watch 24/7.
And gigantic forts hold almost
100,00 troops to guard the wall.
What scares the romans so much
They build this vast barrier
on the edge of the known world?
What can it tell us
about this great empire
And the enemies
they are trying to keep out?
Archaeologist rob collins
investigates
The origins of hadrian's wall.
He believes it is rome's
Greatest engineering
achievement.
Rob: It's very easy to be wowed
by the colosseum in rome.
But actually if you
think of logistics,
That's a piece of cake.
Hadrian's wall is a much bigger
logistical construction project.
Narrator: Today rob explores
a remote section of the wall
Known as steel rig.
Rob: What we see
with hadrian's wall
Is when the romans
have that choice,
And you have
a dramatic windswept crag,
The romans will build
the monument
On the front edge of that crag,
So it really exaggerates
the height of the wall.
Narrator:
As well as using huge cliffs
To make their walls seem bigger,
The romans dig vast ditches
alongside it.
Rob: When you add those
together,
Hadrian's wall is much more of
a defensive monumental barrier.
♪
Narrator: The mighty roman army
invades britain in 43 a.D.
After 80 years of fighting,
they are masters
Of almost the entire land.
When emperor hadrian comes
to power in 117 a.D.
Britain is supposedly at peace.
But this vast barrier
tells a different story.
Rob: This north facing crag
is actually telling us
Who the monument
is being built against.
They're building it on behalf
of the people to the south,
Who are the residents
of the province of britannia.
And we can see that
they're trying to keep out
Those peoples to the north,
Who we traditionally
called barbarians.
Narrator: These barbarians are
The native people
of northern britain...
Ancient iron age tribes
of fearsome warriors.
But surely they are no match
for the mighty roman army.
Why does hadrian build one
of the world's greatest barriers
To keep them out?
The answer could lie one mile
south of the wall,
At a place called vindolanda.
Here hundreds of archaeologists
are working
On an ambitious project.
They're digging up
an entire roman fort
Built just a few years
before hadrian's wall is built.
The excavations here reveal
signs of fierce
Fighting at this time.
Andrew birley is the site's
lead archaeologist.
Andrew: Vindolanda offers us
an opportunity
To see exactly what's going on
in this landscape
Just before hadrian's wall
is being built.
Narrator:
A thick layer of mud here
Has created an oxygen-free
environment
Which stops many fragile
finds from decaying.
There we go, it's most of...
Your shoe.
Maybe when we clean it up
We might have some stamps
on the leather here.
Narrator:
The mud layer at vindolanda
Is a time capsule
of roman relics...
Like coins
from the time of hadrian,
And a 2,000 year old
wooden toilet seat.
There's evidence of heavy
fighting... arrowheads, swords,
And the tombstone
of a roman centurion.
But the most remarkable haul
Is hundreds
of mysterious chunks of wood.
Sketched onto them
is ink handwriting.
It's the largest find of roman
manuscripts in western europe.
They record life on the frontier
before hadrian's wall goes up.
Can these tablets explain
why the romans are so afraid
Of the barbarians
to their north.
Andrew handles the latest
discovery with great care.
Each postcard sized tablet
is just one millimeter thick.
He uses infrared photography to
brighten the faint ancient ink
And safely decode
their markings.
Some tablets contain roman
shopping lists,
Vacation requests,
And even birthday party
invitations.
One gives a unique insight
into roman relations
With the barbarians
of the north.
Andrew: This is
an intelligence report
Talking about british cavalry,
And basically saying
how irritating they are there.
They have many horses,
But they have to basically
get off their horses
To throw their spears... they're
not very, very effective.
And here is this
wonderful reference
To the word "brittunculi"...
Wretched, nasty little britons,
which is absolutely great.
B-r-t-t-u-n-c-l-I...
Brittunculi...
Nasty little brits.
Narrator: These words are from
around 100 a.D....
20 years
before the wall is built.
They reveal the fierce
northern barbarians are waging
A guerrilla war against rome.
And a tombstone discovered
at vindolanda reveals
This war is still being waged
just two years
Before the wall goes up.
What we've got here is the "d"
from "debus manibus,"
Which is sort of
"to the dearly departed"...
Titus aeneas,
Who is a centurion
Either of the first
cohort of tungrians,
Or in charge of the first cohort
of tungrians.
But the really crucial thing
Is it says he's killed
in the war... in bello.
This is the first hard evidence
we've got
Of that fighting taking place,
And our first victim
of poor old titus aeneas
Killed in the war.
Narrator: This tombstone
is evidence of
A forgotten barbarian uprising:
Almost a century after the
ancient romans invade britain,
They're still locked
in a brutal war.
Andrew: They have to respond.
They've lost a lot of soldiers,
They've lost guys like this
with a lot of experience.
And one of the responses is
to build hadrian's wall.
To shut down and lock down
the frontier of roman britain.
Narrator:
In the second century a.D.,
The roman army isn't just
locking down
The border in britain...
Their expanding empire creates
Over 4,000 miles of
new frontier,
Which their legions
are struggling to defend.
To stop aggressive tribes
in africa and asia,
The romans build huge forts
to house their armies.
To suppress barbarians
in europe,
They build long palisades of
wooden stakes and watchtowers.
And after a deadly war
in britain,
Emperor hadrian orders
a massive stone wall
Running across the whole island.
Hadrian's great wall
is a reminder set in stone
That even the mighty roman army
Can't conquer all before it.
Here in northern britain is
the limit of the roman empire.
But just how do
the ancient romans
Build such a mighty structure
from coast to coast,
Especially when
they're under attack?
And what can discoveries
underneath the wall
Reveal about new dangers
the roman army faces?
♪
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is the romans' greatest
military structure.
New investigations show
this giant barrier
Is built to defend the empire
From fearsome
northern barbarians.
Just how do the ancient romans
construct a stone barricade
That stretches across
an entire land?
Underneath the wall's
westernmost section,
Archaeologists find a clue.
Lifting up the limestone blocks
Reveals a broad layer
of cobbles...
Remnants of an early version
of hadrian's wall.
Using the bed of cobbles
as a solid foundation,
The romans pile up
strips of turf.
They build a massive
earth-and-grass wall
20 feet wide, 12 feet high,
and 31 miles long.
On top, they add
a wooden walkway and fence...
Turning this pile of turf into
a formidable defensive barrier
Known as a rampart.
What can this discovery
reveal about how the romans
Build hadrian's great stone wall
in hostile lands?
Paul hartson is an expert
in ancient building techniques.
To unlock why the romans
build a defensive turf wall
First against the barbarians,
He sets out to make his own,
Using the tools, techniques,
and materials from the time.
Ramparts and built all over
the roman empire.
By bringing together
some roman reenactors,
We're gonna attempt
to reconstruct
Part of a rampart...
To learn the methodology
And to see just
how long it takes.
Narrator: Paul's team recreates
the working conditions
Of the roman army, and sources
timber from the local area.
Roman soldiers aren't
just expert fighters,
They're expert engineers too,
and are responsible
For constructing
all the empire's fortifications.
Next, the team digs a set
of holes to test one theory
About how this turf wall
is constructed.
The archaeology has shown
a series of holes in the ground.
And there in three rows...
Wide enough to fit two posts.
Narrator: Paul thinks these
holes hold timber posts
Which support
the turf wall's walkway.
They're held together
by earth blocks
That make up the main
body of the wall.
The team digs for two days
to construct the wall's base.
To complete
the defensive barrier,
They build the timber walkway
and shield wall on top.
It's much harder work than we
thought it would be, to be fair.
Narrator: The final turf wall
is formidable.
It stands 16 feet long
and 10 feet high.
But the most impressive feature
of this barrier
Is just how fast it's put up.
Our group, 16 of them,
have managed to complete,
In two days, a section
of turf wall 16 feet long,
And the roman legions of course
Would have been
at this much quicker,
Because they're younger, fitter,
They're men under authority.
Narrator: Investigations like
paul's reveal roman legionaries
Can complete the 31-mile
turf wall in a single summer.
It's the perfect
quick-fix barrier
To protect roman soldiers
from fierce northern tribes.
This is an essential step
to building a stone wall
On the edge of enemy territory.
Paul: The roman army is trying
to establish itself
In a very hostile place.
You can't just fall
into building a stone wall
Without creating a defensive
position in the first place.
You need a place
to store your supplies.
Narrator: On the most hostile
sections of the frontier,
The turf wall is the first stage
Of the romans'
defensive strategy.
♪
They line the wall
with sharp wooden spikes,
And dig a steep
"v" shaped trench
Designed to break
attackers' ankles.
Rebellious northern
barbarians now face
A multilayered kill zone
That is suicide to cross.
Bit by bit, hadrian's men
dismantle the turf wall
So they can rebuild it
even stronger
From solid limestone.
This stone wall
Is an enduring symbol
of the empire's military might,
Its mastery of technology,
And limitless wealth.
Rob: The romans can see
how architecture can project
Imperial power
to supposedly savage barbarians
Who don't know any better.
Building in stone...
It's a statement of,
"look what I can do.
I am the emperor
of the roman empire
And I can keep you
out of my empire."
Narrator: Rome controls its vast
empire by building big,
But what effect does this mighty
barrier have on the fearsome
British tribes
who live in its shadow?
Is a huge change to the wall
made during its construction
Evidence of a new
barbarian uprising?
Or does the wall
crush the revolt for good?
♪
Narrator: At breakneck speed,
Ancient rome is building
a military mega structure
Across northern britain...
Hadrian's wall.
What effect does
this mighty barrier
Have on the native people
of britain?
Does it trigger further revolt,
Or does the roman army
use the wall
To crush its enemies for good?
A clue can be found
in a huge upgrade
The romans make to the wall
two years into its construction.
Originally the wall is meant
to have a fortified gateway
Every mile.
But in its central section
There is evidence roman builders
decide this isn't enough.
Here the romans
demolish an entire tower
To build a huge fort.
It has barracks
That can house 1,000 soldiers
and their horses.
And eventually warehouses
to store
A year's worth of supplies.
And luxurious headquarters
For the commanders
to organize the troops.
Hadrian's wall surrounds
the entire compound.
Is this fort a clue the wall is
turning from a defensive shield
Into a weapon of war
against the barbarians?
Archaeologist nick hodgson
investigates
This radical upgrade
to hadrian's wall.
He explores this fort,
known today as housesteads.
In total the romans
build 16 massive bases
Like this on the wall,
Seven miles apart,
Holding a total of
10,000 troops.
Nick believes the roman decision
to reinforce the wall
Is a sign there is still fierce
fighting on the frontier.
The construction
of the wall itself
Might be sparking a violent new
response from the barbarians.
Demolishing whole lengths
of hadrian's wall...
Demolishing turrets
that had already been built...
To make way for forts,
Obviously shows that
something serious had happened.
Either the romans had realized
That they simply needed
more troops,
Or maybe some episode
of revolt or warfare,
Perhaps even triggered by
The very building of
the wall itself,
Had led to the need to have
troops stationed on the line.
Narrator: The wall isn't just
driving new unrest.
Nick thinks the new look wall
has a profound effect
On the people
living in its shadow.
He investigates
ancient native settlements
Just a few miles
north of the wall.
Using radio carbon dating
of organic matter,
He finds out exactly when
these settlements are inhabited.
The results are shocking.
Nick: Every site
that we can date
Using radio carbon techniques
turns out to have
The same history...
Site desertion, abandonment,
In the decades following
the building of hadrian's wall,
Showing that the wall
had a severe impact
On local society.
Narrator: The wall forever
transforms life
For these british people.
At the same time that the forts
are built,
A barren no-man's land
Over 10 miles wide
is created to the north.
These forts are bases
from which roman soldiers
Can aggressively clear
and patrol this zone.
Housesteads fort
is specifically designed
To allow troops fast
access beyond the wall.
One huge double-doored gate
faces out to the north.
These doors allow troops to
pour out into barbarian lands.
Hadrian's wall is transforming
from a defensive barrier
Into the nerve center
of a giant militarized zone.
The romans destroy
all settlements near the wall,
Creating a barren no-man's land
that's easy to control.
They set up camps
and forts north of the wall,
Extending their reach deep
into barbarian territory.
They draft in fearsome warriors
from overseas provinces...
Brutal spearmen from gaul,
And legendary archers
from the middle east.
And they bring
in the best weapons
From across the empire...
Huge war catapults
that fire deadly missiles...
To bring terror
to this troublesome frontier.
In other provinces
the ancient romans have vast
Natural barriers
to help protect their empire,
Like great rivers,
or the sahara desert.
Here in northern britain,
They create the most
fortified frontier
In the entire roman empire,
Powered by a super-sized
hadrian's wall.
Nick: Hadrian's wall is
like a two-sided coin.
It is a defensive structure,
but at the same time
It's capable
of a really aggressive response
And could be used as a base
For offensive operations
to the north.
Narrator: When emperor hadrian
dies in 138 a.D.,
10,000 troops guard the wall
and patrol its lands.
But is it enough
to cement roman power
Over this dangerous frontier?
Could this great barricade
help the romans
Finally conquer
the entire island of britain?
Or are these lands so hostile
they can never be subdued?
Today new evidence
reveals the shocking truth,
And the site of a deadly battle.
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall...
Straddling coast to coast
across britain.
It's the largest structure left
by the ancient romans.
Could this great wall help
the romans expand their empire
Even further north?
In 140 a.D.,
hadrian's ambitious successor,
Empire antoninus pius,
Orders 5,000 troops
north of the wall.
Is the roman army finally
about to conquer all of britain?
Twenty miles beyond the wall,
Archaeologists find evidence
of a ferocious battle at a site
Known today as burnswark hill.
In roman times,
Burnswark is one of the largest
hill forts north of the wall...
An ancient center
of tribal power.
Its walls provide shelter
for 2,000 barbarians.
Around the hill fort,
Archaeologists unearth signs
of roman warfare...
Dozens of carved red sandstone
balls the size of grapefruits,
Deadly missiles fired
from roman catapults;
And hundreds of lead pellets
the size of marbles.
What can these ancient relics
of battle
Reveal about how the romans deal
With rebellious tribes
north of the wall?
Archaeologist john reid uses
his pioneering drone technology
To hunt for clues to this
2,000 year old mystery.
John: Okay. Ready to roll.
Narrator: From the air,
john reveals
A huge network of ditches
At the base of burnswark hill.
They are defensive trenches dug
by the invading roman troops
Pushing north from their
garrisons at hadrian's wall.
They marked the edges
of two roman camps
Surrounding the enemy's
hilltop fort.
John thinks their close position
is a clue
To the invading romans'
plan of attack.
John:
The romans know that the natives
Did not have distance weapons.
For them, it's all hand-to-hand,
face-to-face fighting.
Narrator: Many roman soldiers
In this strategic advance from
the wall
Are highly trained
in the use of the slingshot.
John believes the position
of their camps
Is designed to let roman
slingers bombard enemy troops.
He uses metal detectors
to search this hill fort site
For evidence
of an ancient aerial attack.
We have a lead slinged bullet.
[ beeping ]
What this is effectively
is an iron age slug.
It's a bullet.
This would have been shot
From a sling
And aimed some pool individual.
Narrator: Across the hill fort,
John finds over
700 slingshot bullets.
To get a better idea
of how they're used in battle,
He works with andy nicholson
an expert in ancient warfare.
Andy and john investigate
The lethal range
of a roman sling.
To do this,
they use a replica weapon
And a ballistic gel,
Which has the same resistance
as human flesh.
The slingshot
is a handheld rope pouch
That launches lead pellets
at deadly high speed.
You're looking at a sling bullet
That's travelling over 60 yards
per second.
The impact damage is phenomenal.
And it not only breaks ribs;
It can cause internal rupturing
and bleeding.
If one of these hits you
in the head
Then that's the end of it.
Narrator: Andy's tests show
the roman sling
Is the handgun
of the ancient world...
A killer weapon
at over 100 yards.
At the top of the hill
where the enemy fought stands,
Andy and john find evidence
The romans
fire other deadly missiles.
Raining down on enemy heads
are heavy sandstone balls.
They are fired up 600 feet
From giant roman crossbows
known as ballistas.
This particular one was found
exactly on this spot
And it is almost
certainly launched
From down there.
Narrator: The powerful hill fort
Is just a day's March
from hadrian's wall.
The roman army
is using maximum force
To advance its new invasion
of the north.
John and andy plot
The hundreds of roman missiles
they find
On a map of the site.
They combine this data
with information
About the range of roman
slingers from their tests.
Their analysis allows them
to piece together
How this pivotal battle unfolds.
The romans build two camps
Either side of burnswark...
From which they deploy their
catapult and slingshot troops.
They rain heavy fire
down into the fort
To terrify and soften up
the enemy.
Then 5,000 heavily armed ground
troops rush from the camps...
And storm the fort.
Any survivors trying to escape
Die in a hail of roman
slingshot fire.
John: This is a very focused
missile attack
On what looks like people
from the hilltop
Trying to escape beyond the
blockade and camp on the north.
Narrator: When the roman army
storms this fortress,
No one gets out alive.
John: Once the assault
actually started,
It was complete extermination
of every living being
On the summit of the hill...
Men, women, and children.
♪
Narrator: This annihilation
Is designed
to show all other tribes
What's in store for you if
you dare stand up to the romans.
The roman troops
blaze a destructive path
75 miles north
of hadrian's wall.
The wall's huge
military infrastructure is key
To supplying this new invasion
with weapons, supplies and men.
But total conquest of britain
Remains tantalizingly
out of reach.
The northern barbarians
fight a guerrilla war
Against the invading roman army.
After two decades
the romans are forced back
To the protection
of hadrian's wall.
The roman army can't crush
the barbarians of the north.
Only the mighty wall
can subdue them.
For the next two centuries.
Ancient rome ends here.
But is the wall ever truly
enough to cement roman rule
Over this dangerous frontier?
What do gruesome new fines
reveal about life
Long after the wall is built?
♪
Narrator:
Hadrian's great wall...
The romans build
this military mega-structure
To subdue the hostile tribes
of northern britain.
Generations of roman soldiers
patrol this wall.
Can they ever lower their guard?
Are the fierce barbarians
ever truly crushed?
One mile south of the wall
is the fort of vindolanda.
The romans station
up to 1,000 soldiers here
Throughout their occupation
of britain.
Andrew birley leads a team
of archaeologists
On a five-year excavation here
To investigate life long
after hadrian's wall is built.
In this area where
we're working at the moment
We're excavating a time period
almost a hundred years
After the construction
of hadrian's wall
Things still don't appear
to be settled down.
Narrator: Buried in this corner
of vindolanda,
Andrew's team unearths
gruesome evidence...
Human bones polished
to a high gloss...
Shiny mementos
of conquered enemies;
Flat bone pieces;
Fragments of human scalps roman
soldiers take in battle;
And the remains of a skull...
Most likely a trophy head.
In 200 a.D.,
It sits outside the fort...
A reminder of what happens
to anyone
Who messes
with the roman empire.
After more than a century,
hadrian's wall
Still bears the grisly
scars of violence.
Is the wall even enough to
subdue this fearsome frontier?
Trudi buck is
a forensic archaeologist.
She investigates
the trophy skulls
Found outside the fort
of vindolanda
To see what they can tell us
about the resistance
The romans still face.
Trudi: What we've got
coming through on this point
Is a very distinct,
very narrow cut mark
That's going in at a very
sharp angle into into the head.
It's come from above and gone,
sliced through the skull
And into his brain.
Narrator: The injury on this
skull reveals a man
Who dies in battle,
killed by a roman weapon.
Trudi: It's about
an inch and a half,
Which is same size
as a cavalry sword.
Narrator: A mark to the base of
his skull
Is evidence
he is then decapitated.
Trudi wants to work out
the identity
Of this enemy of the empire.
Trudi: We actually can tell
quite a lot
About this particular individual
because he's got some teeth.
When you're growing up
everything that you eat
And everything that you drink
Is going into the chemical
makeup of your teeth.
Narrator: Analysis of his teeth
shows he's not a local.
That tells us that he came
from the north-west of britain.
He grew up somewhere probably
north of hadrian's wall.
Narrator: To further investigate
the identity of this man,
Forensic scientist
eleanor graham analyzes
A dna sample from his teeth.
It reveals a huge surprise about
This northern barbarian's
father.
You can see there's data
taken from people
From all over the world,
so that the purple areas,
That's showing the europeans.
That red dot there represents
the dna from the tooth sample,
And our individual,
the closest match
Is to the italian population
So he's definitely not british.
That's not what we'd expect
from somebody
That grew up to the northwest of
hadrian's wall.
Narrator: This man is raised
in barbarian lands
Beyond hadrian's wall.
But his italian dna reveals
he's actually the son
Or grandson of a roman.
Incredibly, it seems the roman
soldiers of hadrian's wall
Are now fighting
and killing their own.
One interpretation is that maybe
This is a son of a local woman.
Maybe he's been fighting to
defend the honor of his mother,
Or his grandmother,
who may have had
A less-than-pleasant encounter
with a roman soldier.
Narrator: This unique skull
Gives an astonishing
picture of life
On hadrian's wall 100 years
after it's built.
The frontier is still savage,
dangerous and unpredictable.
Man: You've got heads mounted
on spikes,
And that sends a message
to how threatened
This community of roman soldiers
and their families
Were during this period
of conflict in roman britain.
Narrator: It's not surprising
these soldiers feel terrorized.
Ancient roman texts reveal
tribes in northern britain
Never stop attacking the wall.
In 208 a.D.,
The emperor septimius severus
himself
Brings 40,000 troops from rome
to crush continued rebellions.
He heads north to exterminate
the warring tribes...
But fails to break
their resistance.
♪
The emperor picks up
an infection on the battlefield
And dies before his mission
is complete.
Hadrian's wall is supposed
to cement roman power
In northern britain,
But it ends up being used
to fight a war without end.
Man: We got rebellion, we've
still got a divided country.
Hadrian's wall
To a certain extent
doesn't appear to have worked.
The roman army...
They're here in this area
For 300 years in a state of war.
Narrator: Hadrian's great wall
Never truly subdues these
dangerous lands.
Its soldiers can never
lower their guard.
Its towers and forts remain
a monumental drain
On the roman empires resources.
So what happens when rome's
power starts to crumble...
To both the wall
And its people?
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is rome's greatest
military structure.
It's a monument to the empire's
immense power and wealth.
But in the 5th century a.D.
The roman empire
Comes crashing down.
Germanic invaders
sack the city of rome itself.
What happens to the wall and its
people at the end of the empire?
On the eastern coast
of hadrian's wall
The roman fort of arbeia.
Rebuilt... but in
the 4th century a.D.,
It houses 600 troops who guard
the wall's main seaport.
This is the gateway
to hadrian's wall.
It's the place
where all supplies,
Official travellers,
troop movements,
Arrive in
the northern frontier zone.
Narrator: Here in arbeia,
Archaeologist nick hodgson
hunts for answers.
His excavations reveal
that by the next century
This important base
has fallen into decay.
Coins and imported luxuries
dry up in the early 400s.
It's evidence that the empire
Is struggling to pay
its soldiers here.
Roman order on the wall
is breaking down.
But what really shocks
nick is a grisly discovery
Underneath the commanding
officer's house.
The skeletons of two young men
Showing signs of violent deaths.
Nick: These exhibit the marks
of sword blows.
This one is important
Because it is on the back
of the skull, low down.
And it suggests very strongly
That this individual
was kneeling down
And executed from behind.
♪
Narrator:
The bones also show evidence
They are left
to rot in the open.
Only later does someone
Carefully collect
the bodies and bury them here,
Under the wall fort of arbeia.
The grave's location is
puzzling.
Roman law forbids burial
inside a settlement.
The fact that these burials
are made here at all,
To me signifies that
there's been a decisive break
With the past.
There can no longer
be a community here
Living in traditional
roman fashion.
Narrator: Radiocarbon dating
reveals these unusual bones
Date to the start
of the fifth century...
Exactly when the roman empire
falls into chaos.
They show arbeia,
The most important coastal fort
on hadrian's wall,
Is now no longer
a recognizable roman settlement,
Proof that rome's grip on
the wall and britain
Is weakening.
Soldiers guarding the wall
are being called home
To defend rome.
Any romans that remain
in britain
Can no longer rely
on the empire's army
To protect them
from their enemies.
Nick thinks raiders attack
and slaughter the garrison here.
Nick: It's possible these
are romans.
Possibly the last defending
garrison of the place
Who've come to grief
And have been carefully buried
at some later date by
Romans coming along to clear up
before evacuating.
Narrator: At arbeia,
the end of roman rule
Brings violence, death
and destruction.
But is it the same story
everywhere along the wall?
40 miles west,
Back at the roman
fort of vindolanda,
Archaeologist rob collins
has mapped out
How this military base
Also transforms as the empire
approaches its end.
Rob: At the start of
the fifth century,
One of the things
that we find archaeologically
Is that these granary buildings
Shrunk back
from this whole building
To have a much smaller granary
that occupied
Maybe 30 to 40 percent of the
space of a granary previously,
Which suggests
that there are fewer soldiers.
Narrator: Just like it arbeia,
the roman army
Soon leaves this mighty fort
for good.
As the empire crumbles,
Some wealthy roman families
stay in britain.
They battle for power
amongst themselves
And against barbarian warriors.
Rob: Probably one of the best
places to survive
In post-roman britain
Would be in the frontier zone,
because at least there,
There are men who are soldiers,
who have weapons
And know how to use them.
Narrator:
During these troubled times
There is evidence civilians move
inside roman forts
Like vindolanda for protection.
Rob: Hadrian's wall ends up
being a source of power
And perhaps security
for local communities
For centuries afterwards.
Narrator: This once-mighty
symbol of roman occupation
Now plays savior
to local people...
The final chapter
in the astonishing 300-year
Story of rome's greatest
mega-structure.
♪
Hadrian's wall is more
than just a gigantic barrier.
The romans build it
to stamp their authority
On a newly conquered province...
And as a springboard
to invade barbarian lands.
But the mighty roman empire
never fully subdues
The fierce tribes
beyond the wall.
Hadrian's wall
Is a monument to both the vast
power of the roman empire
And its limit.
It is a symbol
of the rise and fall
Of ancient rome.
♪
♪
♪
of the roman empire
Lies a mysterious
ancient mega-structure...
A 73 mile long stone barrier
Called hadrian's wall.
Man: Hadrian's wall
is probably the most exciting
Undertaking of the romans.
Narrator: This giant wall,
Complete with
over 200 towers and 16 forts,
Is the largest monument
left by the romans.
Why did they build it?
Today investigators use
pioneering archaeology,
Drone technology,
and weapons tests
To discover the real story
of this ancient super wall.
Man: This individual
was kneeling down.
And executed from behind.
Narrator: Who are the romans
trying to keep out?
Man: Hadrian's wall,
To certain extent,
doesn't appear to have worked.
Narrator: And what can this
mighty structure tell us
About rome's epic struggle
to defend its empire?
To solve these mysteries,
we'll blow apart hadrian's wall,
Decipher 2,000-year-old
messages,
Unearth hidden battlefields,
And discover the darkest secrets
Of rome's great wall.
UNEARTHED - SEASON 6
EP - 12 - Rome's Great Wall
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is an astonishing
ancient mega structure.
A mighty 73-mile-long
man-made stone barrier.
It splits the island
of britain in two,
Stretching east to west
from coast to coast.
The wall is the brainchild
of the great emperor hadrian,
The roman empire's
most prolific builder.
Its story is shrouded
in mystery.
Man: Hadrian's wall isn't
written about
By very many roman authors,
So we don't ultimately know
What the romans thought
hadrian's wall was for.
Narrator:
Archaeologists used to think
The wall is largely symbolic...
A statement of rome's power.
But today new excavations
By teams of more than 500
Are bringing to life
how the wall once looks.
And its layout reveals
a more forbidding purpose.
In 125 a.D.,
Hadrian's wall is up
to 10 feet thick,
Standing as tall as three men.
Four million tons
of solid limestone blocks
Make it the biggest structure
the romans ever built.
From mighty stone towers
every third of a mile,
Soldiers keep watch 24/7.
And gigantic forts hold almost
100,00 troops to guard the wall.
What scares the romans so much
They build this vast barrier
on the edge of the known world?
What can it tell us
about this great empire
And the enemies
they are trying to keep out?
Archaeologist rob collins
investigates
The origins of hadrian's wall.
He believes it is rome's
Greatest engineering
achievement.
Rob: It's very easy to be wowed
by the colosseum in rome.
But actually if you
think of logistics,
That's a piece of cake.
Hadrian's wall is a much bigger
logistical construction project.
Narrator: Today rob explores
a remote section of the wall
Known as steel rig.
Rob: What we see
with hadrian's wall
Is when the romans
have that choice,
And you have
a dramatic windswept crag,
The romans will build
the monument
On the front edge of that crag,
So it really exaggerates
the height of the wall.
Narrator:
As well as using huge cliffs
To make their walls seem bigger,
The romans dig vast ditches
alongside it.
Rob: When you add those
together,
Hadrian's wall is much more of
a defensive monumental barrier.
♪
Narrator: The mighty roman army
invades britain in 43 a.D.
After 80 years of fighting,
they are masters
Of almost the entire land.
When emperor hadrian comes
to power in 117 a.D.
Britain is supposedly at peace.
But this vast barrier
tells a different story.
Rob: This north facing crag
is actually telling us
Who the monument
is being built against.
They're building it on behalf
of the people to the south,
Who are the residents
of the province of britannia.
And we can see that
they're trying to keep out
Those peoples to the north,
Who we traditionally
called barbarians.
Narrator: These barbarians are
The native people
of northern britain...
Ancient iron age tribes
of fearsome warriors.
But surely they are no match
for the mighty roman army.
Why does hadrian build one
of the world's greatest barriers
To keep them out?
The answer could lie one mile
south of the wall,
At a place called vindolanda.
Here hundreds of archaeologists
are working
On an ambitious project.
They're digging up
an entire roman fort
Built just a few years
before hadrian's wall is built.
The excavations here reveal
signs of fierce
Fighting at this time.
Andrew birley is the site's
lead archaeologist.
Andrew: Vindolanda offers us
an opportunity
To see exactly what's going on
in this landscape
Just before hadrian's wall
is being built.
Narrator:
A thick layer of mud here
Has created an oxygen-free
environment
Which stops many fragile
finds from decaying.
There we go, it's most of...
Your shoe.
Maybe when we clean it up
We might have some stamps
on the leather here.
Narrator:
The mud layer at vindolanda
Is a time capsule
of roman relics...
Like coins
from the time of hadrian,
And a 2,000 year old
wooden toilet seat.
There's evidence of heavy
fighting... arrowheads, swords,
And the tombstone
of a roman centurion.
But the most remarkable haul
Is hundreds
of mysterious chunks of wood.
Sketched onto them
is ink handwriting.
It's the largest find of roman
manuscripts in western europe.
They record life on the frontier
before hadrian's wall goes up.
Can these tablets explain
why the romans are so afraid
Of the barbarians
to their north.
Andrew handles the latest
discovery with great care.
Each postcard sized tablet
is just one millimeter thick.
He uses infrared photography to
brighten the faint ancient ink
And safely decode
their markings.
Some tablets contain roman
shopping lists,
Vacation requests,
And even birthday party
invitations.
One gives a unique insight
into roman relations
With the barbarians
of the north.
Andrew: This is
an intelligence report
Talking about british cavalry,
And basically saying
how irritating they are there.
They have many horses,
But they have to basically
get off their horses
To throw their spears... they're
not very, very effective.
And here is this
wonderful reference
To the word "brittunculi"...
Wretched, nasty little britons,
which is absolutely great.
B-r-t-t-u-n-c-l-I...
Brittunculi...
Nasty little brits.
Narrator: These words are from
around 100 a.D....
20 years
before the wall is built.
They reveal the fierce
northern barbarians are waging
A guerrilla war against rome.
And a tombstone discovered
at vindolanda reveals
This war is still being waged
just two years
Before the wall goes up.
What we've got here is the "d"
from "debus manibus,"
Which is sort of
"to the dearly departed"...
Titus aeneas,
Who is a centurion
Either of the first
cohort of tungrians,
Or in charge of the first cohort
of tungrians.
But the really crucial thing
Is it says he's killed
in the war... in bello.
This is the first hard evidence
we've got
Of that fighting taking place,
And our first victim
of poor old titus aeneas
Killed in the war.
Narrator: This tombstone
is evidence of
A forgotten barbarian uprising:
Almost a century after the
ancient romans invade britain,
They're still locked
in a brutal war.
Andrew: They have to respond.
They've lost a lot of soldiers,
They've lost guys like this
with a lot of experience.
And one of the responses is
to build hadrian's wall.
To shut down and lock down
the frontier of roman britain.
Narrator:
In the second century a.D.,
The roman army isn't just
locking down
The border in britain...
Their expanding empire creates
Over 4,000 miles of
new frontier,
Which their legions
are struggling to defend.
To stop aggressive tribes
in africa and asia,
The romans build huge forts
to house their armies.
To suppress barbarians
in europe,
They build long palisades of
wooden stakes and watchtowers.
And after a deadly war
in britain,
Emperor hadrian orders
a massive stone wall
Running across the whole island.
Hadrian's great wall
is a reminder set in stone
That even the mighty roman army
Can't conquer all before it.
Here in northern britain is
the limit of the roman empire.
But just how do
the ancient romans
Build such a mighty structure
from coast to coast,
Especially when
they're under attack?
And what can discoveries
underneath the wall
Reveal about new dangers
the roman army faces?
♪
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is the romans' greatest
military structure.
New investigations show
this giant barrier
Is built to defend the empire
From fearsome
northern barbarians.
Just how do the ancient romans
construct a stone barricade
That stretches across
an entire land?
Underneath the wall's
westernmost section,
Archaeologists find a clue.
Lifting up the limestone blocks
Reveals a broad layer
of cobbles...
Remnants of an early version
of hadrian's wall.
Using the bed of cobbles
as a solid foundation,
The romans pile up
strips of turf.
They build a massive
earth-and-grass wall
20 feet wide, 12 feet high,
and 31 miles long.
On top, they add
a wooden walkway and fence...
Turning this pile of turf into
a formidable defensive barrier
Known as a rampart.
What can this discovery
reveal about how the romans
Build hadrian's great stone wall
in hostile lands?
Paul hartson is an expert
in ancient building techniques.
To unlock why the romans
build a defensive turf wall
First against the barbarians,
He sets out to make his own,
Using the tools, techniques,
and materials from the time.
Ramparts and built all over
the roman empire.
By bringing together
some roman reenactors,
We're gonna attempt
to reconstruct
Part of a rampart...
To learn the methodology
And to see just
how long it takes.
Narrator: Paul's team recreates
the working conditions
Of the roman army, and sources
timber from the local area.
Roman soldiers aren't
just expert fighters,
They're expert engineers too,
and are responsible
For constructing
all the empire's fortifications.
Next, the team digs a set
of holes to test one theory
About how this turf wall
is constructed.
The archaeology has shown
a series of holes in the ground.
And there in three rows...
Wide enough to fit two posts.
Narrator: Paul thinks these
holes hold timber posts
Which support
the turf wall's walkway.
They're held together
by earth blocks
That make up the main
body of the wall.
The team digs for two days
to construct the wall's base.
To complete
the defensive barrier,
They build the timber walkway
and shield wall on top.
It's much harder work than we
thought it would be, to be fair.
Narrator: The final turf wall
is formidable.
It stands 16 feet long
and 10 feet high.
But the most impressive feature
of this barrier
Is just how fast it's put up.
Our group, 16 of them,
have managed to complete,
In two days, a section
of turf wall 16 feet long,
And the roman legions of course
Would have been
at this much quicker,
Because they're younger, fitter,
They're men under authority.
Narrator: Investigations like
paul's reveal roman legionaries
Can complete the 31-mile
turf wall in a single summer.
It's the perfect
quick-fix barrier
To protect roman soldiers
from fierce northern tribes.
This is an essential step
to building a stone wall
On the edge of enemy territory.
Paul: The roman army is trying
to establish itself
In a very hostile place.
You can't just fall
into building a stone wall
Without creating a defensive
position in the first place.
You need a place
to store your supplies.
Narrator: On the most hostile
sections of the frontier,
The turf wall is the first stage
Of the romans'
defensive strategy.
♪
They line the wall
with sharp wooden spikes,
And dig a steep
"v" shaped trench
Designed to break
attackers' ankles.
Rebellious northern
barbarians now face
A multilayered kill zone
That is suicide to cross.
Bit by bit, hadrian's men
dismantle the turf wall
So they can rebuild it
even stronger
From solid limestone.
This stone wall
Is an enduring symbol
of the empire's military might,
Its mastery of technology,
And limitless wealth.
Rob: The romans can see
how architecture can project
Imperial power
to supposedly savage barbarians
Who don't know any better.
Building in stone...
It's a statement of,
"look what I can do.
I am the emperor
of the roman empire
And I can keep you
out of my empire."
Narrator: Rome controls its vast
empire by building big,
But what effect does this mighty
barrier have on the fearsome
British tribes
who live in its shadow?
Is a huge change to the wall
made during its construction
Evidence of a new
barbarian uprising?
Or does the wall
crush the revolt for good?
♪
Narrator: At breakneck speed,
Ancient rome is building
a military mega structure
Across northern britain...
Hadrian's wall.
What effect does
this mighty barrier
Have on the native people
of britain?
Does it trigger further revolt,
Or does the roman army
use the wall
To crush its enemies for good?
A clue can be found
in a huge upgrade
The romans make to the wall
two years into its construction.
Originally the wall is meant
to have a fortified gateway
Every mile.
But in its central section
There is evidence roman builders
decide this isn't enough.
Here the romans
demolish an entire tower
To build a huge fort.
It has barracks
That can house 1,000 soldiers
and their horses.
And eventually warehouses
to store
A year's worth of supplies.
And luxurious headquarters
For the commanders
to organize the troops.
Hadrian's wall surrounds
the entire compound.
Is this fort a clue the wall is
turning from a defensive shield
Into a weapon of war
against the barbarians?
Archaeologist nick hodgson
investigates
This radical upgrade
to hadrian's wall.
He explores this fort,
known today as housesteads.
In total the romans
build 16 massive bases
Like this on the wall,
Seven miles apart,
Holding a total of
10,000 troops.
Nick believes the roman decision
to reinforce the wall
Is a sign there is still fierce
fighting on the frontier.
The construction
of the wall itself
Might be sparking a violent new
response from the barbarians.
Demolishing whole lengths
of hadrian's wall...
Demolishing turrets
that had already been built...
To make way for forts,
Obviously shows that
something serious had happened.
Either the romans had realized
That they simply needed
more troops,
Or maybe some episode
of revolt or warfare,
Perhaps even triggered by
The very building of
the wall itself,
Had led to the need to have
troops stationed on the line.
Narrator: The wall isn't just
driving new unrest.
Nick thinks the new look wall
has a profound effect
On the people
living in its shadow.
He investigates
ancient native settlements
Just a few miles
north of the wall.
Using radio carbon dating
of organic matter,
He finds out exactly when
these settlements are inhabited.
The results are shocking.
Nick: Every site
that we can date
Using radio carbon techniques
turns out to have
The same history...
Site desertion, abandonment,
In the decades following
the building of hadrian's wall,
Showing that the wall
had a severe impact
On local society.
Narrator: The wall forever
transforms life
For these british people.
At the same time that the forts
are built,
A barren no-man's land
Over 10 miles wide
is created to the north.
These forts are bases
from which roman soldiers
Can aggressively clear
and patrol this zone.
Housesteads fort
is specifically designed
To allow troops fast
access beyond the wall.
One huge double-doored gate
faces out to the north.
These doors allow troops to
pour out into barbarian lands.
Hadrian's wall is transforming
from a defensive barrier
Into the nerve center
of a giant militarized zone.
The romans destroy
all settlements near the wall,
Creating a barren no-man's land
that's easy to control.
They set up camps
and forts north of the wall,
Extending their reach deep
into barbarian territory.
They draft in fearsome warriors
from overseas provinces...
Brutal spearmen from gaul,
And legendary archers
from the middle east.
And they bring
in the best weapons
From across the empire...
Huge war catapults
that fire deadly missiles...
To bring terror
to this troublesome frontier.
In other provinces
the ancient romans have vast
Natural barriers
to help protect their empire,
Like great rivers,
or the sahara desert.
Here in northern britain,
They create the most
fortified frontier
In the entire roman empire,
Powered by a super-sized
hadrian's wall.
Nick: Hadrian's wall is
like a two-sided coin.
It is a defensive structure,
but at the same time
It's capable
of a really aggressive response
And could be used as a base
For offensive operations
to the north.
Narrator: When emperor hadrian
dies in 138 a.D.,
10,000 troops guard the wall
and patrol its lands.
But is it enough
to cement roman power
Over this dangerous frontier?
Could this great barricade
help the romans
Finally conquer
the entire island of britain?
Or are these lands so hostile
they can never be subdued?
Today new evidence
reveals the shocking truth,
And the site of a deadly battle.
♪
Narrator: Hadrian's wall...
Straddling coast to coast
across britain.
It's the largest structure left
by the ancient romans.
Could this great wall help
the romans expand their empire
Even further north?
In 140 a.D.,
hadrian's ambitious successor,
Empire antoninus pius,
Orders 5,000 troops
north of the wall.
Is the roman army finally
about to conquer all of britain?
Twenty miles beyond the wall,
Archaeologists find evidence
of a ferocious battle at a site
Known today as burnswark hill.
In roman times,
Burnswark is one of the largest
hill forts north of the wall...
An ancient center
of tribal power.
Its walls provide shelter
for 2,000 barbarians.
Around the hill fort,
Archaeologists unearth signs
of roman warfare...
Dozens of carved red sandstone
balls the size of grapefruits,
Deadly missiles fired
from roman catapults;
And hundreds of lead pellets
the size of marbles.
What can these ancient relics
of battle
Reveal about how the romans deal
With rebellious tribes
north of the wall?
Archaeologist john reid uses
his pioneering drone technology
To hunt for clues to this
2,000 year old mystery.
John: Okay. Ready to roll.
Narrator: From the air,
john reveals
A huge network of ditches
At the base of burnswark hill.
They are defensive trenches dug
by the invading roman troops
Pushing north from their
garrisons at hadrian's wall.
They marked the edges
of two roman camps
Surrounding the enemy's
hilltop fort.
John thinks their close position
is a clue
To the invading romans'
plan of attack.
John:
The romans know that the natives
Did not have distance weapons.
For them, it's all hand-to-hand,
face-to-face fighting.
Narrator: Many roman soldiers
In this strategic advance from
the wall
Are highly trained
in the use of the slingshot.
John believes the position
of their camps
Is designed to let roman
slingers bombard enemy troops.
He uses metal detectors
to search this hill fort site
For evidence
of an ancient aerial attack.
We have a lead slinged bullet.
[ beeping ]
What this is effectively
is an iron age slug.
It's a bullet.
This would have been shot
From a sling
And aimed some pool individual.
Narrator: Across the hill fort,
John finds over
700 slingshot bullets.
To get a better idea
of how they're used in battle,
He works with andy nicholson
an expert in ancient warfare.
Andy and john investigate
The lethal range
of a roman sling.
To do this,
they use a replica weapon
And a ballistic gel,
Which has the same resistance
as human flesh.
The slingshot
is a handheld rope pouch
That launches lead pellets
at deadly high speed.
You're looking at a sling bullet
That's travelling over 60 yards
per second.
The impact damage is phenomenal.
And it not only breaks ribs;
It can cause internal rupturing
and bleeding.
If one of these hits you
in the head
Then that's the end of it.
Narrator: Andy's tests show
the roman sling
Is the handgun
of the ancient world...
A killer weapon
at over 100 yards.
At the top of the hill
where the enemy fought stands,
Andy and john find evidence
The romans
fire other deadly missiles.
Raining down on enemy heads
are heavy sandstone balls.
They are fired up 600 feet
From giant roman crossbows
known as ballistas.
This particular one was found
exactly on this spot
And it is almost
certainly launched
From down there.
Narrator: The powerful hill fort
Is just a day's March
from hadrian's wall.
The roman army
is using maximum force
To advance its new invasion
of the north.
John and andy plot
The hundreds of roman missiles
they find
On a map of the site.
They combine this data
with information
About the range of roman
slingers from their tests.
Their analysis allows them
to piece together
How this pivotal battle unfolds.
The romans build two camps
Either side of burnswark...
From which they deploy their
catapult and slingshot troops.
They rain heavy fire
down into the fort
To terrify and soften up
the enemy.
Then 5,000 heavily armed ground
troops rush from the camps...
And storm the fort.
Any survivors trying to escape
Die in a hail of roman
slingshot fire.
John: This is a very focused
missile attack
On what looks like people
from the hilltop
Trying to escape beyond the
blockade and camp on the north.
Narrator: When the roman army
storms this fortress,
No one gets out alive.
John: Once the assault
actually started,
It was complete extermination
of every living being
On the summit of the hill...
Men, women, and children.
♪
Narrator: This annihilation
Is designed
to show all other tribes
What's in store for you if
you dare stand up to the romans.
The roman troops
blaze a destructive path
75 miles north
of hadrian's wall.
The wall's huge
military infrastructure is key
To supplying this new invasion
with weapons, supplies and men.
But total conquest of britain
Remains tantalizingly
out of reach.
The northern barbarians
fight a guerrilla war
Against the invading roman army.
After two decades
the romans are forced back
To the protection
of hadrian's wall.
The roman army can't crush
the barbarians of the north.
Only the mighty wall
can subdue them.
For the next two centuries.
Ancient rome ends here.
But is the wall ever truly
enough to cement roman rule
Over this dangerous frontier?
What do gruesome new fines
reveal about life
Long after the wall is built?
♪
Narrator:
Hadrian's great wall...
The romans build
this military mega-structure
To subdue the hostile tribes
of northern britain.
Generations of roman soldiers
patrol this wall.
Can they ever lower their guard?
Are the fierce barbarians
ever truly crushed?
One mile south of the wall
is the fort of vindolanda.
The romans station
up to 1,000 soldiers here
Throughout their occupation
of britain.
Andrew birley leads a team
of archaeologists
On a five-year excavation here
To investigate life long
after hadrian's wall is built.
In this area where
we're working at the moment
We're excavating a time period
almost a hundred years
After the construction
of hadrian's wall
Things still don't appear
to be settled down.
Narrator: Buried in this corner
of vindolanda,
Andrew's team unearths
gruesome evidence...
Human bones polished
to a high gloss...
Shiny mementos
of conquered enemies;
Flat bone pieces;
Fragments of human scalps roman
soldiers take in battle;
And the remains of a skull...
Most likely a trophy head.
In 200 a.D.,
It sits outside the fort...
A reminder of what happens
to anyone
Who messes
with the roman empire.
After more than a century,
hadrian's wall
Still bears the grisly
scars of violence.
Is the wall even enough to
subdue this fearsome frontier?
Trudi buck is
a forensic archaeologist.
She investigates
the trophy skulls
Found outside the fort
of vindolanda
To see what they can tell us
about the resistance
The romans still face.
Trudi: What we've got
coming through on this point
Is a very distinct,
very narrow cut mark
That's going in at a very
sharp angle into into the head.
It's come from above and gone,
sliced through the skull
And into his brain.
Narrator: The injury on this
skull reveals a man
Who dies in battle,
killed by a roman weapon.
Trudi: It's about
an inch and a half,
Which is same size
as a cavalry sword.
Narrator: A mark to the base of
his skull
Is evidence
he is then decapitated.
Trudi wants to work out
the identity
Of this enemy of the empire.
Trudi: We actually can tell
quite a lot
About this particular individual
because he's got some teeth.
When you're growing up
everything that you eat
And everything that you drink
Is going into the chemical
makeup of your teeth.
Narrator: Analysis of his teeth
shows he's not a local.
That tells us that he came
from the north-west of britain.
He grew up somewhere probably
north of hadrian's wall.
Narrator: To further investigate
the identity of this man,
Forensic scientist
eleanor graham analyzes
A dna sample from his teeth.
It reveals a huge surprise about
This northern barbarian's
father.
You can see there's data
taken from people
From all over the world,
so that the purple areas,
That's showing the europeans.
That red dot there represents
the dna from the tooth sample,
And our individual,
the closest match
Is to the italian population
So he's definitely not british.
That's not what we'd expect
from somebody
That grew up to the northwest of
hadrian's wall.
Narrator: This man is raised
in barbarian lands
Beyond hadrian's wall.
But his italian dna reveals
he's actually the son
Or grandson of a roman.
Incredibly, it seems the roman
soldiers of hadrian's wall
Are now fighting
and killing their own.
One interpretation is that maybe
This is a son of a local woman.
Maybe he's been fighting to
defend the honor of his mother,
Or his grandmother,
who may have had
A less-than-pleasant encounter
with a roman soldier.
Narrator: This unique skull
Gives an astonishing
picture of life
On hadrian's wall 100 years
after it's built.
The frontier is still savage,
dangerous and unpredictable.
Man: You've got heads mounted
on spikes,
And that sends a message
to how threatened
This community of roman soldiers
and their families
Were during this period
of conflict in roman britain.
Narrator: It's not surprising
these soldiers feel terrorized.
Ancient roman texts reveal
tribes in northern britain
Never stop attacking the wall.
In 208 a.D.,
The emperor septimius severus
himself
Brings 40,000 troops from rome
to crush continued rebellions.
He heads north to exterminate
the warring tribes...
But fails to break
their resistance.
♪
The emperor picks up
an infection on the battlefield
And dies before his mission
is complete.
Hadrian's wall is supposed
to cement roman power
In northern britain,
But it ends up being used
to fight a war without end.
Man: We got rebellion, we've
still got a divided country.
Hadrian's wall
To a certain extent
doesn't appear to have worked.
The roman army...
They're here in this area
For 300 years in a state of war.
Narrator: Hadrian's great wall
Never truly subdues these
dangerous lands.
Its soldiers can never
lower their guard.
Its towers and forts remain
a monumental drain
On the roman empires resources.
So what happens when rome's
power starts to crumble...
To both the wall
And its people?
Narrator: Hadrian's wall
Is rome's greatest
military structure.
It's a monument to the empire's
immense power and wealth.
But in the 5th century a.D.
The roman empire
Comes crashing down.
Germanic invaders
sack the city of rome itself.
What happens to the wall and its
people at the end of the empire?
On the eastern coast
of hadrian's wall
The roman fort of arbeia.
Rebuilt... but in
the 4th century a.D.,
It houses 600 troops who guard
the wall's main seaport.
This is the gateway
to hadrian's wall.
It's the place
where all supplies,
Official travellers,
troop movements,
Arrive in
the northern frontier zone.
Narrator: Here in arbeia,
Archaeologist nick hodgson
hunts for answers.
His excavations reveal
that by the next century
This important base
has fallen into decay.
Coins and imported luxuries
dry up in the early 400s.
It's evidence that the empire
Is struggling to pay
its soldiers here.
Roman order on the wall
is breaking down.
But what really shocks
nick is a grisly discovery
Underneath the commanding
officer's house.
The skeletons of two young men
Showing signs of violent deaths.
Nick: These exhibit the marks
of sword blows.
This one is important
Because it is on the back
of the skull, low down.
And it suggests very strongly
That this individual
was kneeling down
And executed from behind.
♪
Narrator:
The bones also show evidence
They are left
to rot in the open.
Only later does someone
Carefully collect
the bodies and bury them here,
Under the wall fort of arbeia.
The grave's location is
puzzling.
Roman law forbids burial
inside a settlement.
The fact that these burials
are made here at all,
To me signifies that
there's been a decisive break
With the past.
There can no longer
be a community here
Living in traditional
roman fashion.
Narrator: Radiocarbon dating
reveals these unusual bones
Date to the start
of the fifth century...
Exactly when the roman empire
falls into chaos.
They show arbeia,
The most important coastal fort
on hadrian's wall,
Is now no longer
a recognizable roman settlement,
Proof that rome's grip on
the wall and britain
Is weakening.
Soldiers guarding the wall
are being called home
To defend rome.
Any romans that remain
in britain
Can no longer rely
on the empire's army
To protect them
from their enemies.
Nick thinks raiders attack
and slaughter the garrison here.
Nick: It's possible these
are romans.
Possibly the last defending
garrison of the place
Who've come to grief
And have been carefully buried
at some later date by
Romans coming along to clear up
before evacuating.
Narrator: At arbeia,
the end of roman rule
Brings violence, death
and destruction.
But is it the same story
everywhere along the wall?
40 miles west,
Back at the roman
fort of vindolanda,
Archaeologist rob collins
has mapped out
How this military base
Also transforms as the empire
approaches its end.
Rob: At the start of
the fifth century,
One of the things
that we find archaeologically
Is that these granary buildings
Shrunk back
from this whole building
To have a much smaller granary
that occupied
Maybe 30 to 40 percent of the
space of a granary previously,
Which suggests
that there are fewer soldiers.
Narrator: Just like it arbeia,
the roman army
Soon leaves this mighty fort
for good.
As the empire crumbles,
Some wealthy roman families
stay in britain.
They battle for power
amongst themselves
And against barbarian warriors.
Rob: Probably one of the best
places to survive
In post-roman britain
Would be in the frontier zone,
because at least there,
There are men who are soldiers,
who have weapons
And know how to use them.
Narrator:
During these troubled times
There is evidence civilians move
inside roman forts
Like vindolanda for protection.
Rob: Hadrian's wall ends up
being a source of power
And perhaps security
for local communities
For centuries afterwards.
Narrator: This once-mighty
symbol of roman occupation
Now plays savior
to local people...
The final chapter
in the astonishing 300-year
Story of rome's greatest
mega-structure.
♪
Hadrian's wall is more
than just a gigantic barrier.
The romans build it
to stamp their authority
On a newly conquered province...
And as a springboard
to invade barbarian lands.
But the mighty roman empire
never fully subdues
The fierce tribes
beyond the wall.
Hadrian's wall
Is a monument to both the vast
power of the roman empire
And its limit.
It is a symbol
of the rise and fall
Of ancient rome.
♪
♪
♪