Running Down Hadrian's Wall

I'm a bit behind schedule because for some reason the email on my iPhone is not working! This post was written on Tuesday.

Yesterday (Monday, the 9th) was our first day of class in the history department of Hatfield College, the University of Durham. Our focus for the day was on the Roman frontier. We learned about the building process of Hardian's Wall and the development of vici, or, settlements around the miles castles and forts of the wall (fun fact, "vici" is the Roman root of our word "vicinity.").

We left the University for our first excursion of our ten day itinerary in Northumbria. We went first to Roman Vindolanda, ruins of a Roman fort that are even still being excavated. There was also a nice replication of a vicus with a reconstructed pagan temple and altars. Also in the vicus was an excellent archaeological museum where we saw carefully preserved Roman tools, jewelry, and most exciting of all, writing tablets. The British Museum considers the tablets to be one of the great "treasures" of Britain. Indeed, they were captivating. We saw detailed photographs of the uncovered items with precise translations of each. Among them were grocery lists, military records, thank you notes, a birthday invitation, even a request for more beer for a military legion! The need for writing and communication was only one of many, many similarities we found between Roman culture and our own modern society.

Sarah Dickey, myself, and Page Carpenter with reproductions of pagan altars.

After a picnic lunch outside of Vindolanda, we hopped back on the bus for a quick trip up to Steel Rigg for a look at the remains of Hadrian's Wall. There is unfortunately not much left of what used to be an enormous wall that towered eighteen feet high, however, the fact that the wall remains at all is extraordinary. Dodging stinging nettles, we all jumped on top of the grass-covered structure and hiked down a hill spotted with cows, energetic with the idea that we were cavorting where Roman soldiers patrolled the barrier of their empire. The rural setting was beautiful: cattle grazing in characteristically English green fields under a cloud-streaked blue sky.

Hadrian's Wall at Steel Rigg.

From Steel Rigg we went to Chester's Fort, stopping along the way at a reproduction of an ancient Mithraic temple. The cult of Mithras, or Mithraism, was a pagan mystery religion that was very popular among Roman generals and commandants. Mithras, also known as the Unconquerable Sun, fought and killed the Heavenly Bull, bringing life to earth. According to myth, it was an arduous struggle during which he retreated to a cave to rejuvenate. He emerged powerful and triumphant, slaughtering the Bull with the help of his ever-loyal dog. His feast day was on his supposed birthday, December 25th. The great emperor Constantine made the convenient connection and conversion from the cult of Mithras, the Unconquerable Sun, to Christianity and the worship of our Unconquerable Son, Jesus. Correlations between Christianity and other mystery religions are always fascinating to explore since our major religion was greatly influenced by them as it developed into the powerful religion it is today.

We reached Chester's Fort early in the afternoon. It was another Roman fort along Hadrian's Wall, a very large compound and excellently excavated. Dr. Lomas lectured us on the structure of these forts and communal life within them. We explored the gateways, the residence of the commandant, the barracks and the bathhouse located right next to the River Tyne. Apparently, the toilets, in addition to the heated and chilled bathing waters, provided quality social time for the army. I couldn't help but imagine a bunch of Roman soldiers "poppin' a squat" in the bathhouse exchanging the day's gossip!

Dr. Lomas lecturing at Chester's Fort bathhouse.

After returning to Durham, Katherine Rogers and I went to Caffè Nero, the British and better version of Starbucks, where we wrote postcards and journal entries while enjoying a delicious cafe mocha.