Hadrian ordered the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in Roman Britain.
The wall marked the northern frontier of the Roman province of Britannia and stretched across northern England from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. Construction began around 122 CE, shortly after Emperor Hadrian visited Britain.
Its purpose was to control movement, regulate trade, and demonstrate the edge of Roman authority, rather than simply to create an impenetrable military barrier. The frontier included forts, milecastles, turrets, roads, and civilian settlements. Soldiers from several parts of the empire served there.
The wall is sometimes confused with the Antonine Wall farther north in Scotland. Antoninus Pius ordered that later frontier in the 140s, but Roman forces eventually withdrew south to Hadrian’s Wall. Parts of Hadrian’s Wall survive today and form one of Britain’s best-known Roman archaeological sites.