A Travel Through Time: Reflections on a Change of Mind by a Life-long Exponent of Roman Frontier Studies

The views of the author on the activities of the Roman army in northern Britain, established in the 1960s and ‘70s, and consolidated with the publication of Hadrian’s Wall in 1976, are analysed within the framework of the prevailing theories of the time (Breeze and Dobson 1976). Explanations are offered for how later discoveries, such as the discovery of pits on the berm of Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall, and interpretations, especially in relation to the purpose and operation of Roman frontiers, were dealt with in relation to the established views of the author and his own biases and to the way that they were rejected. Consideration is given as to how each rejection reinforced the author’s own biases. A series of papers at the Roman Army School in Durham in 2025, in particularly that by Matthew Symonds on the variations in the defences of Roman fortlets in Wales and southern Scotland, led to an appreciation by the author that his views tipped too far in one direction, that is, towards a strong belief in the superiority of the Roman army in relation to its opponents in north Britain and the implications of this outlook. The consequences of this reassessment are examined, especially in relation to the northern frontier. An earlier recanting of previous views by John Gillam, in relation to the dating of the northern frontier in the second century, is described and the reaction analysed. The reasons for the disparate views of modern scholars on the function and operation of Hadrian’s Wall are also examined and the advantages of regularly reviewing existing interpretations emphasized.