Original subtitles

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.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

♪♪

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.

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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.

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