Looking Southwards

We crossed the border to visit an older border - Hadrian's Wall. 

The weather was quite Northern (extra), but that adds to the atmosphere of the place. How did the Roman soldiers, natives of Spain or France mostly, endure the mists, gales, rains and snows of this bleak outpost?  I think the look on the face of the chap above gives a clue.

Vindolanda, the fort  we visited, is a little south of the Wall. Only the foundations of the buildings remain, but the museum contains an amazing collection of artefacts recovered in the excavations. The site was surrounded by a ditch, into which the inhabitants chucked a lot of their rubbish. The wet climate and acid soil combined to preserve, amongst other items, 4000 leather shoes (extra), only two of which made a pair.

When the Romans left, they burned what they couldn't take with them. Again, the weather worked in favour of the archaeologists. The fires went out before everything was consumed. So a large number of wooden tablets were preserved. 

Some were records of the life of the garrison - 'no beer left, send some', others were personal letters - the commander's daughter invites her friend to her birthday party. 

The thing that surprised me most was how tiny these fragments were - almost shavings. In the dim lighting necessary to preserve them, it was impossible to decipher the writing, but the marks were visible. Amazing that something so fragile, so ephemeral survives and speaks of everyday life nearly 2000 years ago.

The blip isn't a of real Roman statue, or temple, alas, but part of the interpretation