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Hadrian's Wall (44-122A.D.) Built by the Romans in the north of England to keep out the marauding Picts and Scots, this edifice still stretches almost from coast to coast and represents the farthest extent of the Roman empire. Much of it is still quite intact, in places only the parapet and crenellations appear to be missing. One can almost hear the foot steps of a "Centuriae" rushing to the site of an incursion, or the clashing of arms during a skirmish. As a child growing up in England, life was filled with the mysteries of the ancient peoples that once inhabited this land; history was real and ever present. To this day I remember (still with a little envy) the occasion on which one of my friends found a silver Roman coin whilst we were playing in his back garden. This painting was commissioned by a collector whose childhood home was located in Wallsend, near the eastern most point of this age old monument. |
