Edge of Empire, Rome's Scottish Frontier: The Antonine Wall

by David J. Breeze

Two thousand years ago, southern Scotland was part of a great empire, the Roman Empire. About AD 140, a Roman army marched north from Hadrian's Wall and built a new frontier across the Forth-Clyde isthmus, from modern Bo'ness to Old Kilpatrick. In this fascinating new book, David Breeze tells the story of the invasion, the building of the Antonine Wall, its occupation and abandonment. The material used to tell this story includes contemporary coins and literary sources together with the inscriptions and sculpture from the Antonine Wall, as well as the archaeological remains of the monument.The unique distance slabs not only record the process of building, but provide a series of snapshots depicting the preparations, invasion and victory achieved by the Roman army over 1800 years ago and stunning new photography by David Henrie of Historic Scotland illustrates all aspects of this most northerly Roman frontier. These photographs help us to appreciate the Antonine Wall in its landscape and understand the reasons for its construction. Both scholarly and beautifully illustrated, this new book underlines the reasons why the Antonine Wall has been proposed as a World Heritage Site.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2008

About the author

David John Breeze, OBE, FSA, FRSE, Hon FSA Scot, Hon MIFA is a British archaeologist, teacher and scholar of Hadrian's Wall, the Antonine Wall and the Roman army.

He was the Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments at Historic Scotland and responsible for the nomination of the Antonine Wall as a World Heritage Site.