[[Image:Hadrians Wall map.png|thumb|200px|right|Location of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall in Scotland and Northern England.]]
{{RomanMilitary}}
The '''Antonine Wall''' is a [[rock (geology)|stone]] and [[sod|turf]] [[fortification]], built by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] across what is now the [[central belt]] of [[Scotland]]. Although most of the wall has been destroyed over time, sections of the wall can still be seen in [[Bearsden]], [[Kirkintilloch]], [[Twechar]], [[Croy, North Lanarkshire|Croy]], [[Falkirk, Scotland|Falkirk]] and [[Polmont, Scotland|Polmont]].


==Construction==
Construction of the Antonine Wall began in CE 142, during the reign of [[Antoninus Pius]], by [[Quintus Lollius Urbicus]] and was completed in 144. The wall stretches 60 [[kilometre]]s (37 [[mile]]s) from [[Old Kilpatrick]] in [[West Dunbartonshire]] on the [[Firth of Clyde]] to [[Bo'ness]], [[Falkirk (council area)|Falkirk]], on the [[Firth of Forth]]. The wall was intended to replace [[Hadrian's Wall]] 160 km (100 miles) to the south, as the frontier of ''[[Roman Britain|Britannia]]'', but while the Romans did establish temporary forts and camps north of the wall, they did not conquer the [[Caledonians]], and the Antonine Wall suffered many attacks. The Romans called the land north of the wall ''[[Caledonia]]'', though in some contexts the term may mean the area north of Hadrian's Wall.
[[Image:Antonine.Wall.Scotland.01.JPG|thumb|200px|left|The Antonine Wall, looking east, from Barr Hill between Twechar and [[Croy, North Lanarkshire|Croy]]]]
The Antonine Wall was inferior to Hadrian's Wall in terms of scale and construction, but it was still an impressive achievement, considering that it was completed in only two years, at the northern edge of the Roman [[empire]] in what they perceived as a cold and hostile land. The wall was typically an earth bank, about four metres high, with a wide [[ditch]] on the north side, and a [[Roman road|military way]] or road on the south. The Romans initially planned to build forts every six miles, but this was soon revised to every two miles, resulting in a total of 19 forts along the wall. The best preserved but also one of the smallest forts is [[Rough Castle Fort]].
[[Image:Antonine.Wall.Scotland.02.JPG|thumb|200px|left|The Antonine Wall, remains of Roman fortlet, Barr Hill, near Twechar]]
==Wall abandoned==
The wall was abandoned after only twenty years, when the [[Roman legion]]s withdrew to Hadrian's Wall in 164, and over time reached an accommodation with the [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] tribes of the area who they fostered as the [[buffer states]] which would later become [[Hen Ogledd|"The Old North"]]. After a series of attacks in 197, Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] arrived in Scotland in 208 to secure the frontier, and repaired parts of the wall. Although this re-occupation only lasted a few years, the wall is sometimes referred to by later Roman historians as the '''Severan Wall'''. (This led to later scholars like [[Bede]] mistaking references to the Antonine Wall for ones to [[Hadrian's Wall#After Hadrian|Hadrian's Wall]].)

==Post-Roman history==


===Grim's dyke===
In medieval histories, such as the chronicles of [[John of Fordun]], the wall is called ''Gryme's dyke''. Fordun says that the name came from the grandfather of the imaginary king Eugenius son of Farquahar. This was corrupted into Graham's dyke – a name still found in [[Bo'ness]] at the wall's eastern end – and then linked with [[Clan Graham]].

This name is the same one found as ''Grim's Ditch'' several times in England in connection with early ramparts: for example, near [[Wallingford]] in south Oxfordshire or between [[Berkhamsted]] (Herts) and [[Bradenham]] (Bucks).

Grim is presumed to be a byname for [[Odin]] or [[Wodan]], who might be credited with the wish to build earthworks in unreasonably short periods of time. By antiquaries the Graham's Dyke is usually styled the Wall of Pius or the Antonine Vallum, after the emperor [[Antoninus Pius]], in whose reign it was constructed.

In a Scottish context, Grim is also found as a variant of the name Giric, a name borne by an obscure king [[Giric|Giric mac Dúngail]] of the late 9th century, to whom many great victories were attributed in medieval times.

It is also known sometimes as '''Graham's Dyke''', this name is locally explained as a legend of a victorious assault on the defences by one Robert Graham.

===World Heritage Status===

The UK government's nomination of the Antonine Wall for [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage status]] to the international conservation body [[UNESCO|Unesco]] was first officially announced in 2003.<ref>{{cite news | title = Roman wall builds heritage claim | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2789239.stm | publisher = [[BBC News]] | date = [[22 February]] [[2003]] | accessdate = 2007-05-24 | language = English}}</ref> It has been backed by the [[Scottish Government]] since 2005<ref>{{cite news | title = Roman wall heritage bid backing | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4090692.stm | publisher = [[BBC News]] | date = [[14 June]] [[2005]] | accessdate = 2007-05-24 | language = English }}</ref> and by Scotland's Culture Minister [[Patricia Ferguson]] since 2006.<ref>{{cite news | title = World Heritage bid hope for wall | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5100616.stm | publisher = [[BBC News]] | date = [[20 June]] [[2006]] | accessdate = 2007-05-24 | language = English }}</ref> It became the UK's official nomination in late January 2007,<ref>{{cite news | title = World Heritage support for wall | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6290053.stm | publisher = [[BBC News]] | date = [[23 January]] [[2007]] | accessdate = 2007-05-24 | language = English }}</ref> and [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|MSP]]s were called to support the bid anew in May 2007.<ref>{{cite news | title = MSPs called to support Roman wall | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6683339.stm | publisher = [[BBC News]] | date = [[23 May]] [[2007]] | accessdate = 2007-05-24 | language = English }}</ref>

The UK nominations, together with those from other countries, have been or will be submitted to Unesco in February 2007, 2008 and 2009, with the final decisions being made by the World Heritage Committee the following summer.

==See also==
{{Portal|Military of ancient Rome|image=Scutum_1.jpg}}
* [[Gask Ridge]]
* [[Hadrian's Wall]]
* [[History of Scotland]]
* [[Historic Sites in Scotland]]
* [[Roman Britain]]
* [[Trimontium]]
* [[List of walls]]
* [[World Heritage Sites in Scotland]]
* [[Scots' Dike]]

==References==
{{commons|Antonine Wall}}

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* http://www.antonineway.com
* http://www.athenapub.com/antwall1.htm
* http://www.athenapub.com/britsite/hillfoot.htm
* http://www.roman-britain.org/frontiers/antonine.htm
* http://www.almac.co.uk/FalkirkTCM/Rome.htm
* [http://www.paperclip.org.uk/kilsythweb/history/ant1.htm The Antonine Wall and Barr Hill]
* [http://icarus.umkc.edu/sandbox/perseus/pecs/page.326.a.php Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:] "Antonine Wall, Scotland"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/5105170.stm Museum news]

[[Category:Antonine Wall| ]]
[[Category:2nd century architecture]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Scotland]]
[[Category:Fortification]]
[[Category:Nerva-Antonine Dynasty]]
[[Category:Separation barriers]]
[[Category:Walls in Scotland]]
[[Category:Roman frontiers]]
[[Category:Roman military architecture]]

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[[ja:アントニヌスの長城]]
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[[uk:Стіна Антонія]]
[[zh:安多宁长城]]