Edge of Empire - Scotland's Roman Frontier

Burgh of Bearsden

Castle Hill

Photographs of Castle Hill

- the site of a Roman Fort

on the Antonine Wall through Bearsden

The site of a Roman Fort

and route of the Antonine Wall

The Roman Fort(s) on Castle Hill

Signpost to Castle Hill

The line of the Antonine Wall

on Castle Hill

Path to Castle Hill

Aerial view of Castle Hill

Map showing route of the Antonine Wall through Bearsden

Map of the Antonine Wall

through Bearsden

Sign board at the site of a Roman Fort on route of the Antonine Wall

Top of Castle Hill

- the site of a Roman Fort

on the Antonine Wall

The Roman Fort(s) on Castle Hill

Kilpatrick Hills from Castle Hill

Drumchapel from Castle Hill

Antonine Wolf Bench

in Garscadden Woods

beneath Castle Hill

Map of the Antonine Wall

Edge of Empire - Scotland's Roman Frontier

The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification

built by the Romans

across the central belt of Scotland

to fend off Northern Scots tribesmen.

The Wall was the North-West frontier

of the Roman Empire

and runs from Old Kilpatrick

on the Forth & Clyde Canal

to Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth.

Sections of the wall can be seen in Bearsden,

Kirkintilloch, Twechar, Croy,

Bonnybridge, Falkirk, Polmont and Bo'ness.

The Antonine Wall

As the most advanced frontier construction of its time,
and as definitive evidence of the Romans' time in Scotland,
the Antonine Wall is an invaluable and fascinating part
of this country's varied and violent history.

For a generation, from about 140 to 160 AD,
the Antonine Wall was the NW frontier
of the Roman Empire.

Constructed by the Roman army,
it ran from modern Bo'ness on the Forth
to Old Kilpatrick on the Clyde
and consisted of a turf rampart
fronted by a wide and deep ditch.
At regular intervals were forts connected by a road,
while outside the fort gates clustered civil settlements.

Antoninus Pius, whom the wall was named after,
reigned longer than any other emperor
with the exception of its founder Augustus.
Yet relatively little is known about him.

In this meticulously researched book,
David Breeze examines this enigmatic life
and the reasons for the construction
and abandonment of his Wall.