Dr. Francis McIntosh

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763 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jan 2026 last heard 15 Jan

Dr. Francis McIntosh’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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The Ancients · How to Survive on Hadrian’s Wall · 15 Jan 2026 podcast

So even there's industry and other sort of occupation north of the wall, even just on that small scale, so I don't know, stretching 30, 40 feet, metres or something.

So, you know, the line is what was drawn by the surveyors as the simplest point to draw the line.

It is not the end of the safe zone anymore.

Oh, no, that would be if you're, I mean, some of the escorts are probably within the empire.

But if you're taking a pay chest or huge amounts of other supplies, you're going to be a target for anyone, you know.

So I was having to think about this, because I'm not very good at maths on the fly.

So say there's 16, 17 forts, depends on which ones you count.

And in each of those, there's 500 to 1,000 men, depending on the unit.

Each civilian settlement outside the fort could be the same as that.

So if you say 16,000 to 20,000...

I don't think that's outlandish.

You know, it's impossible to know how many people lived in all the buildings in the civilian settlements.

Often the civilian settlements cover a bigger area than the forts, but they might not as be densely occupied because if you think about how many men soldiers are crammed in barracks, but it's a huge number of people.

So, you know, 410, that's our end date, isn't it?

When the letter goes out for help and they say, no, you're on your own.

Probably the changes had already begun because, as we talked about before, lots of troops have been withdrawn to other areas of the Empire that were seen as more troublesome or more valuable to protect.

And the thing that changes is there's nobody higher up making the decisions.

There's nobody saying, right, these soldiers are here and they've got this task to do and they're being paid.

the vast majority of people who lived on Hedren's Wall in 409, you know, are probably still there in 415.

But by that point, they are already generations into living in that area, I imagine.

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