Tristan Hughes

We've done the story of the monument itself in the past and the various components of it.

I guess the most fascinating thing is learning about the lives of the people who made Hadrian's Wall what it was, the people who lived along this frontier.

This is such an interesting part of Hadrian's Wall's story.

And from the settlements along Hadrian's Wall, do we have quite a rich amount of archaeology surviving which gives us insights into how these people lived?

And that's the key thing to highlight straight away, isn't it?

It is not just soldiers that lived in this, I guess, ancient militarised zone.

Well, we're going to explore a day in the life, what we know from archaeology and whatever other records we have for people who lived, let's say, like the high mark of the Roman Empire in Britain, shall we say, like the second or third century AD.

But beforehand, let's set the scene a bit with Hadrian's Wall.

Some big questions, first of all.

First of all, like quite literally, I mean, how big was Hadrian's Wall and how long did it span?

And it's always attested as the initial building of Hadrian's Wall, at least, to that emperor, the Emperor Hadrian, in the early 2nd century AD.

And it was only recently that it was the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian's Wall, right?

And why do we think, and I love these big questions, why was it built?

And also that idea, you know, for the people that they've just taken over south of the wall, right?

Yes, you say a symbol of power.

The Romans saying, we are now here.

We can build things like this beyond your wildest dreams, almost with the amount of manpower.

You know, we are the top dog now and we are here to stay, I guess.

Tough luck.

Well, that brings the question.