Edge of Empire

Two thousand years ago, southern Scotland was part of a great empire, the Roman Empire. About AD 140, a Roman army marched north from Hadrian’s Wall and built a new frontier across the Forth-Clyde isthmus, from modern Bo’ness to Old Kilpatrick.

In this fascinating new book, David Breeze tells the story of the invasion, the building of the Antonine Wall, its occupation and abandonment. The material used to tell this story includes contemporary coins and literary sources together with the inscriptions and sculpture from the Antonine Wall, as well as the archaeological remains of the monument. The unique distance slabs not only record the process of building, but provide a series of snapshots depicting the preparations, invasion and victory achieved by the Roman army over 1800 years ago and stunning new photography by David Henrie of Historic Scotland illustrates all aspects of this most northerly Roman frontier. These photographs help us to appreciate the Antonine Wall in its landscape and understand the reasons for its construction. Both scholarly and beautifully illustrated, this new book underlines the reasons why the Antonine Wall has been proposed as a World Heritage Site.

Professor David Breeze prepared the bid for World Heritage Site status for the Antonine Wall and now leads the team implementing the management plan for the frontier. He was formerly Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland. He has written books on both the Antonine Wall and Hadrian’s Wall as well as Roman Scotland and the Roman army. David Breeze is an honorary professor at the universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Newcastle, and is chairman of the International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. He lives in Edinburgh and is married with two sons.