Living between walls: Northern responses to the Roman frontier

Abstract

• Any Wall conference needs to look at the people living in the landscape before Rome arrived. The Wall was built “to separate Romans and barbarians”, claims the only ancient reference to its role – but who were these “barbarians”? Other talks at the conference will consider the rural communities in the immediate environs of the Wall, and the military communities that emerged with conquest. This contribution will look north to the Debateable Lands between Tyne-Solway and Forth-Clyde, which direct Roman power repeatedly sought to control and Roman ‘soft power’ tried to influence. The topic is vast. The focus here will be on recent perspectives on the material culture of these “barbarian” groups and their relations with Rome.