Yesterday 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 Hadrian's Wall and the development of vici, or settlements around the mile castles and forts of the wall.
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 concise translations of each. Among them were grocery lists, military records, thank you notes, a birthday invitation, even a request for more beer from 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.
After a picnic lunch outside of the Roman 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. The lighting was difficult for my iPhone camera, but here I am! A token picture sitting on top of Hadrian's Wall...
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