References

Walls and Warfare in Roman Frontiers

  • Murs et guerre aux frontières romaines

Rob Collins

30 June 2026.

DOI : 10.58335/hima.2337

p. 21-42

    Abstracts

    Walls were prominent artificial features—at varying scales—in many of the Roman Empire’s frontiers with Hadrian’s Wall in northern Britannia being the most famous example. Built c. AD 120, this wall was the longest-occupied mural barrier on the Roman borders, garrisoned for approximately 270 years into the early 5th century AD. Archaeology provides a reasonably accurate picture of changes made to the structure of the Wall during its construction and across its longer life. The long-term occupation of the Wall, and other linear barriers and features in the Roman frontiers prompts a deeper consideration about the tactical and strategic roles of walls in Roman-era frontier culture. The tactical value of walls has been long appreciated, but reassessing these constructs in light of strategic impacts and benefits underscores a more far-reaching significance that fits within Roman imperial understandings and approaches to managing, controlling, and dominating each of its wider frontier zones for audiences both internal and external to the Empire.

    Les murs étaient des dispositifs artificiels importants – à différentes échelles – de nombreuses frontières de l’Empire romain, le mur d’Hadrien, dans le nord de la Bretagne, en étant l’exemple le plus célèbre. Construit vers 120 après J.-C., ce mur fut la barrière murale la plus longtemps en fonction sur les frontières romaines, avec une garnison pendant environ 270 ans, jusqu'au début du ve siècle après J.-C. L’archéologie fournit une image à peu près précise des changements apportés à la structure du mur au cours de sa construction et tout au long de sa longue utilisation. L’occupation du Mur sur la longue durée ainsi que celle d’autres barrières et éléments linéaires des frontières romaines incitent à une réflexion approfondie sur les rôles tactiques et stratégiques des murs dans la culture frontalière de l’époque romaine. La valeur tactique des murs est reconnue depuis longtemps, mais la réévaluation de ces constructions à la lumière de leurs impacts et leurs avantages stratégiques laisse entrevoir un rôle beaucoup plus large, qui correspond aux conceptions et aux approches impériales romaines en matière de gestion, de contrôle et de domination de chacune de ses zones frontalières élargies à des populations à la fois internes et externes à l’Empire.

    Index

    Mots-clés

    mur d’Hadrien, stratégie, tactique, barrière murale, frontière

    Keywords

    Hadrian’s Wall, strategy, tactics, mural barrier, frontier

    Outline

    Excerpt

    Many of the ideas expressed in this paper can be found across the range of literature referenced throughout and listed in the bibliography. The historiography of Hadrian’s Wall is substantial, and discussion of its function is frequent. To that extent, it is fair to say that most of the ideas expressed within this paper have also been expressed by others, sometimes implicitly and sometimes explicitly. This paper attempts to pull that discourse together into a more consistent framework and presentation, stimulated by many fruitful discussions over the years with many colleagues, but especially Matt Symonds and Al McCluskey.

    Introduction

    From the early 2nd century AD, the Roman Empire had either halted or lost its expansionist momentum. In practice, the Rhine and Danube rivers had functioned as significant lines of demarcation for Roman military distribution in the Empire’s peripheries for decades, supplemented in other frontiers by lateral fortified roads such as the Stanegate system in northern Britannia and the via nova Traiana in the Arabian frontier. Mural barriers were soon added in those frontiers lacking a substantial river or other linear element. In the German limes a timber palisade was constructed for a length of 550 km in the early years of Hadrian’s reign, though felling dates of the timber suggest work began in the final years of Trajan’s reign, c. 117. Shorter lengths of walls known variously as claustra or fossatae and designated collectively as the Fossatum Africae were built across wadis and their surrounding landscapes in North Africa under Hadrian. In Britain, a monumental wall was b...

    References

    Bibliographical reference

    Rob Collins, « Walls and Warfare in Roman Frontiers », HiMA : revue internationale d'Histoire Militaire Ancienne, 14 | 2025, 21-42.

    Electronic reference

    Rob Collins, « Walls and Warfare in Roman Frontiers », HiMA : revue internationale d'Histoire Militaire Ancienne [Online], 14 | 2025, 30 June 2026 and connection on 30 May 2026. Copyright : Le texte seul, hors citations, est utilisable sous Licence CC BY 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont susceptibles d’être soumis à des autorisations d’usage spécifiques.. DOI : 10.58335/hima.2337. URL : https://preo.ube.fr/hima/index.php?id=2337

    Author

    Rob Collins

    Professor of Frontier Archaeology, Newcastle University, UK

    Author resources in other databases

    • IDREF

    Copyright

    Le texte seul, hors citations, est utilisable sous Licence CC BY 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont susceptibles d’être soumis à des autorisations d’usage spécifiques.