All language subtitles for Unearthed Series 6 Part 12 Romes Great Wall 1080p

Narrator: On the edge
of the roman empire

Lies a mysterious
ancient mega-structure --

A 73 mile long stone barrier

Called hadrian's wall.

Man: Hadrian's wall
is probably the most exciting

Undertaking of the romans.

Narrator: This giant wall,

Complete with
over 200 towers and 16 forts,

Is the largest monument
left by the romans.

Why did they build it?

Today investigators use
pioneering archaeology,

Drone technology,
and weapons tests

To discover the real story
of this ancient super wall.

Man: This individual
was kneeling down.

And executed from behind.

Narrator: Who are the romans
trying to keep out?

Man: Hadrian's wall,

To certain extent,
doesn't appear to have worked.

Narrator: And what can this
mighty structure tell us

About rome's epic struggle
to defend its empire?

To solve these mysteries,
we'll blow apart hadrian's wall,

Decipher 2,000-year-old
messages,

Unearth hidden battlefields,

And discover
the darkest secrets

Of rome's great wall.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

Narrator: Hadrian's wall

Is an astonishing
ancient mega structure.

A mighty 73-mile-long
man-made stone barrier.

It splits the island
of britain in two,

Stretching east to west
from coast to coast.

The wall is the brainchild
of the great emperor hadrian,

The roman empire's
most prolific builder.

Its story is shrouded
in mystery.

Man: Hadrian's wall isn't
written about

By very many roman authors,

So we don't ultimately know

What the romans thought
hadrian's wall was for.

Narrator:
Archaeologists used to think

The wall is largely symbolic --

A statement of rome's power.

But today new excavations

By teams of more than 500

Are bringing to life
how the wall once looks.

And its layout reveals
a more forbidding purpose.

In 125 a.D.,

Hadrian's wall is up
to 10 feet thick,

Standing as tall as three men.

Four million tons
of solid limestone blocks

Make it the biggest structure
the romans ever built.

From mighty stone towers
every third of a mile,

Soldiers keep watch 24/7.

And gigantic forts hold almost
100,00 troops to guard the wall.

What scares the romans
so much

They build this vast barrier
on the edge of the known world?

What can it tell us
about this great empire

And the enemies
they are trying to keep out?

Archaeologist rob collins
investigates

The origins of hadrian's wall.

He believes it is rome's

Greatest engineering
achievement.

Rob: It's very easy to be wowed
by the colosseum in rome.

But actually if you
think of logistics,

That's a piece of cake.

Hadrian's wall is a much bigger
logistical construction project.

Narrator: Today rob explores
a remote section of the wall

Known as steel rig.

Rob: What we see
with hadrian's wall

Is when the romans
have that choice,

And you have
a dramatic windswept crag,

The romans will build
the monument

On the front edge of that crag,

So it really exaggerates
the height of the wall.

Narrator:
As well as using huge cliffs

To make their walls seem bigger,

The romans dig vast ditches
alongside it.

Rob: When you add those
together,

Hadrian's wall is much more of
a defensive monumental barrier.

♪

Narrator: The mighty roman army
invades britain in 43 a.D.

After 80 years of fighting,
they are masters

Of almost the entire land.

When emperor hadrian comes
to power in 117 a.D.

Britain is supposedly at peace.

But this vast barrier
tells a different story.

Rob: This north facing crag
is actually telling us

Who the monument
is being built against.

They're building it on behalf
of the people to the south,

Who are the residents
of the province of britannia.

And we can see that
they're trying to keep out

Those peoples to the north,

Who we traditionally
called barbarians.

Narrator: These barbarians are

The native people
of northern britain --

Ancient iron age tribes
of fearsome warriors.

But surely they are no match
for the mighty roman army.

Why does hadrian build one
of the world's greatest barriers

To keep them out?

The answer could lie one mile
south of the wall,

At a place called vindolanda.

Here hundreds of archaeologists
are working

On an ambitious project.

They're digging up
an entire roman fort

Built just a few years
before hadrian's wall is built.

The excavations here reveal
signs of fierce

Fighting at this time.

Andrew birley is the site's
lead archaeologist.

Andrew: Vindolanda offers us
an opportunity

To see exactly what's going on
in this landscape

Just before hadrian's wall
is being built.

Narrator:
A thick layer of mud here

Has created an oxygen-free
environment

Which stops many fragile
finds from decaying.

There we go, it's most of...
Your shoe.

Maybe when we clean it up

We might have some stamps
on the leather here.

Narrator:
The mud layer at vindolanda

Is a time capsule
of roman relics --

Like coins
from the time of hadrian,

And a 2,000 year old
wooden toilet seat.

There's evidence of heavy
fighting -- arrowheads, swords,

And the tombstone
of a roman centurion.

But the most remarkable haul

Is hundreds
of mysterious chunks of wood.

Sketched onto them
is ink handwriting.

It's the largest find of roman
manuscripts in western europe.

They record life on the frontier
before hadrian's wall goes up.

Can these tablets explain
why the romans are so afraid

Of the barbarians
to their north.

Andrew handles the latest
discovery with great care.

Each postcard sized tablet
is just one millimeter thick.

He uses infrared photography to
brighten the faint ancient ink

And safely decode
their markings.

Some tablets contain roman
shopping lists,

Vacation requests,

And even birthday party
invitations.

One gives a unique insight
into roman relations

With the barbarians
of the north.

Andrew: This is
an intelligence report

Talking about british cavalry,

And basically saying
how irritating they are there.

They have many horses,

But they have to basically
get off their horses

To throw their spears -- they're
not very, very effective.

And here is this
wonderful reference

To the word "brittunculi" --

Wretched, nasty little britons,
which is absolutely great.

B-r-t-t-u-n-c-l-I --
brittunculi --

Nasty little brits.

Narrator: These words are from
around 100 a.D. --

20 years
before the wall is built.

They reveal the fierce
northern barbarians are waging

A guerrilla war against rome.

And a tombstone discovered
at vindolanda reveals

This war is still being waged
just two years

Before the wall goes up.

What we've got here is the "d"
from "debus manibus,"

Which is sort of
"to the dearly departed" --

Titus aeneas,

Who is a centurion

Either of the first
cohort of tungrians,

Or in charge of the first cohort
of tungrians.

But the really crucial thing

Is it says he's killed
in the war -- in bello.

This is the first hard evidence
we've got

Of that fighting taking place,

And our first victim
of poor old titus aeneas

Killed in the war.

Narrator: This tombstone
is evidence of

A forgotten barbarian uprising:

Almost a century after the
ancient romans invade britain,

They're still locked
in a brutal war.

Andrew: They have to respond.

They've lost a lot of soldiers,

They've lost guys like this
with a lot of experience.

And one of the responses is
to build hadrian's wall.

To shut down and lock down
the frontier of roman britain.

Narrator:
In the second century a.D.,

The roman army isn't just
locking down

The border in britain...

Their expanding empire creates

Over 4,000 miles of
new frontier,

Which their legions
are struggling to defend.

To stop aggressive tribes
in africa and asia,

The romans build huge forts
to house their armies.

To suppress barbarians
in europe,

They build long palisades of
wooden stakes and watchtowers.

And after a deadly war
in britain,

Emperor hadrian orders
a massive stone wall

Running across the whole island.

Hadrian's great wall
is a reminder set in stone

That even the mighty
roman army

Can't conquer all before it.

Here in northern britain is
the limit of the roman empire.

But just how do
the ancient romans

Build such a mighty structure
from coast to coast,

Especially when
they're under attack?

And what can discoveries
underneath the wall

Reveal about new dangers
the roman army faces?

♪

♪

Narrator: Hadrian's wall

Is the romans' greatest
military structure.

New investigations show
this giant barrier

Is built to defend the empire

From fearsome
northern barbarians.

Just how do the ancient romans
construct a stone barricade

That stretches across
an entire land?

Underneath the wall's
westernmost section,

Archaeologists find a clue.

Lifting up the limestone blocks

Reveals a broad layer
of cobbles --

Remnants of an early version
of hadrian's wall.

Using the bed of cobbles
as a solid foundation,

The romans pile up
strips of turf.

They build a massive
earth-and-grass wall

20 feet wide, 12 feet high,
and 31 miles long.

On top, they add
a wooden walkway and fence --

Turning this pile of turf into
a formidable defensive barrier

Known as a rampart.

What can this discovery
reveal about how the romans

Build hadrian's great stone wall
in hostile lands?

Paul hartson is an expert
in ancient building techniques.

To unlock why the romans
build a defensive turf wall

First against the barbarians,

He sets out to make his own,

Using the tools, techniques,
and materials from the time.

Ramparts and built all over
the roman empire.

By bringing together
some roman reenactors,

We're gonna attempt
to reconstruct

Part of a rampart --
to learn the methodology

And to see just
how long it takes.

Narrator: Paul's team recreates
the working conditions

Of the roman army, and sources
timber from the local area.

Roman soldiers aren't
just expert fighters,

They're expert engineers too,
and are responsible

For constructing
all the empire's fortifications.

Next, the team digs a set
of holes to test one theory

About how this turf wall
is constructed.

The archaeology has shown
a series of holes in the ground.

And there in three rows --

Wide enough to fit two posts.

Narrator: Paul thinks these
holes hold timber posts

Which support
the turf wall's walkway.

They're held together
by earth blocks

That make up the main
body of the wall.

The team digs for two days
to construct the wall's base.

To complete
the defensive barrier,

They build the timber walkway
and shield wall on top.

It's much harder work than we
thought it would be, to be fair.

Narrator: The final turf wall
is formidable.

It stands 16 feet long
and 10 feet high.

But the most impressive feature
of this barrier

Is just how fast it's put up.

Our group, 16 of them,
have managed to complete,

In two days, a section
of turf wall 16 feet long,

And the roman legions of course

Would have been
at this much quicker,

Because they're younger, fitter,

They're men under authority.

Narrator: Investigations like
paul's reveal roman legionaries

Can complete the 31-mile
turf wall in a single summer.

It's the perfect
quick-fix barrier

To protect roman soldiers
from fierce northern tribes.

This is an essential step
to building a stone wall

On the edge of enemy territory.

Paul: The roman army is trying
to establish itself

In a very hostile place.

You can't just fall
into building a stone wall

Without creating a defensive
position in the first place.

You need a place
to store your supplies.

Narrator: On the most hostile
sections of the frontier,

The turf wall is the first stage

Of the romans'
defensive strategy.

♪

They line the wall
with sharp wooden spikes,

And dig a steep
"v" shaped trench

Designed to break
attackers' ankles.

Rebellious northern
barbarians now face

A multilayered kill zone

That is suicide to cross.

Bit by bit, hadrian's men
dismantle the turf wall

So they can rebuild it
even stronger

From solid limestone.

This stone wall

Is an enduring symbol
of the empire's military might,

Its mastery of technology,

And limitless wealth.

Rob: The romans can see
how architecture can project

Imperial power
to supposedly savage barbarians

Who don't know
any better.

Building in stone --

It's a statement of,
"look what I can do.

I am the emperor
of the roman empire

And I can keep you
out of my empire."

Narrator: Rome controls its vast
empire by building big,

But what effect does this mighty
barrier have on the fearsome

British tribes
who live in its shadow?

Is a huge change to the wall
made during its construction

Evidence of a new
barbarian uprising?

Or does the wall
crush the revolt for good?

♪

Narrator: At breakneck speed,

Ancient rome is building
a military mega structure

Across northern britain --
hadrian's wall.

What effect does
this mighty barrier

Have on the native people
of britain?

Does it trigger further revolt,

Or does the roman army
use the wall

To crush its enemies for good?

A clue can be found
in a huge upgrade

The romans make to the wall
two years into its construction.

Originally the wall is meant
to have a fortified gateway

Every mile.

But in its central section

There is evidence roman builders
decide this isn't enough.

Here the romans
demolish an entire tower

To build a huge fort.

It has barracks

That can house 1,000 soldiers
and their horses.

And eventually warehouses
to store

A year's worth of supplies.

And luxurious headquarters

For the commanders
to organize the troops.

Hadrian's wall surrounds
the entire compound.

Is this fort a clue the wall is
turning from a defensive shield

Into a weapon of war
against the barbarians?

Archaeologist nick hodgson
investigates

This radical upgrade
to hadrian's wall.

He explores this fort,
known today as housesteads.

In total the romans
build 16 massive bases

Like this on the wall,

Seven miles apart,

Holding a total of
10,000 troops.

Nick believes the roman decision
to reinforce the wall

Is a sign there is still fierce
fighting on the frontier.

The construction
of the wall itself

Might be sparking a violent new
response from the barbarians.

Demolishing whole lengths
of hadrian's wall --

Demolishing turrets
that had already been built --

To make way for forts,

Obviously shows that
something serious had happened.

Either the romans had realized

That they simply needed
more troops,

Or maybe some episode
of revolt or warfare,

Perhaps even triggered by

The very building of
the wall itself,

Had led to the need to have
troops stationed on the line.

Narrator: The wall isn't just
driving new unrest.

Nick thinks the new look wall
has a profound effect

On the people
living in its shadow.

He investigates
ancient native settlements

Just a few miles
north of the wall.

Using radio carbon dating
of organic matter,

He finds out exactly when
these settlements are inhabited.

The results are shocking.

Nick: Every site
that we can date

Using radio carbon techniques
turns out to have

The same history --
site desertion, abandonment,

In the decades following
the building of hadrian's wall,

Showing that the wall
had a severe impact

On local society.

Narrator: The wall forever
transforms life

For these british people.

At the same time that the forts
are built,

A barren no-man's land

Over 10 miles wide
is created to the north.

These forts are bases
from which roman soldiers

Can aggressively clear
and patrol this zone.

Housesteads fort
is specifically designed

To allow troops fast
access beyond the wall.

One huge double-doored gate
faces out to the north.

These doors allow troops to
pour out into barbarian lands.

Hadrian's wall is transforming
from a defensive barrier

Into the nerve center
of a giant militarized zone.

The romans destroy
all settlements near the wall,

Creating a barren no-man's land
that's easy to control.

They set up camps
and forts north of the wall,

Extending their reach deep
into barbarian territory.

They draft in fearsome warriors
from overseas provinces --

Brutal spearmen
from gaul,

And legendary archers
from the middle east.

And they bring
in the best weapons

From across the empire --

Huge war catapults
that fire deadly missiles --

To bring terror
to this troublesome frontier.

In other provinces
the ancient romans have vast

Natural barriers
to help protect their empire,

Like great rivers,
or the sahara desert.

Here in northern britain,

They create the most
fortified frontier

In the entire roman empire,

Powered by a super-sized
hadrian's wall.

Nick: Hadrian's wall is
like a two-sided coin.

It is a defensive structure,
but at the same time

It's capable
of a really aggressive response

And could be used as a base

For offensive operations
to the north.

Narrator: When emperor hadrian
dies in 138 a.D.,

10,000 troops guard the wall
and patrol its lands.

But is it enough
to cement roman power

Over this dangerous frontier?

Could this great barricade
help the romans

Finally conquer
the entire island of britain?

Or are these lands so hostile
they can never be subdued?

Today new evidence
reveals the shocking truth,

And the site of a deadly battle.

♪

Narrator: Hadrian's wall --

Straddling coast to coast
across britain.

It's the largest structure left
by the ancient romans.

Could this great wall help
the romans expand their empire

Even further north?

In 140 a.D.,
hadrian's ambitious successor,

Empire antoninus pius,

Orders 5,000 troops
north of the wall.

Is the roman army finally
about to conquer all of britain?

Twenty miles beyond the wall,

Archaeologists find evidence
of a ferocious battle at a site

Known today as burnswark hill.

In roman times,

Burnswark is one of the largest
hill forts north of the wall --

An ancient center
of tribal power.

Its walls provide shelter
for 2,000 barbarians.

Around the hill fort,

Archaeologists unearth signs
of roman warfare --

Dozens of carved red sandstone
balls the size of grapefruits,

Deadly missiles fired
from roman catapults;

And hundreds of lead pellets
the size of marbles.

What can these ancient relics
of battle

Reveal about how the romans deal

With rebellious tribes
north of the wall?

Archaeologist john reid uses
his pioneering drone technology

To hunt for clues to this
2,000 year old mystery.

John: Okay.
Ready to roll.

Narrator: From the air,
john reveals

A huge network of ditches

At the base of burnswark hill.

They are defensive trenches dug
by the invading roman troops

Pushing north from their
garrisons at hadrian's wall.

They marked the edges
of two roman camps

Surrounding the enemy's
hilltop fort.

John thinks their close position
is a clue

To the invading romans'
plan of attack.

John:
The romans know that the natives

Did not have distance weapons.

For them, it's all hand-to-hand,
face-to-face fighting.

Narrator: Many roman soldiers

In this strategic advance from
the wall

Are highly trained
in the use of the slingshot.

John believes the position
of their camps

Is designed to let roman
slingers bombard enemy troops.

He uses metal detectors
to search this hill fort site

For evidence
of an ancient aerial attack.

We have a lead slinged bullet.
[ beeping ]

What this is effectively
is an iron age slug.

It's a bullet.
This would have been shot

From a sling

And aimed some pool individual.

Narrator: Across the hill fort,

John finds over
700 slingshot bullets.

To get a better idea
of how they're used in battle,

He works with andy nicholson
an expert in ancient warfare.

Andy and john investigate

The lethal range
of a roman sling.

To do this,
they use a replica weapon

And a ballistic gel,

Which has the same resistance
as human flesh.

The slingshot
is a handheld rope pouch

That launches lead pellets
at deadly high speed.

You're looking at a sling bullet

That's travelling over 60 yards
per second.

The impact damage is phenomenal.

And it not only breaks ribs;

It can cause internal rupturing
and bleeding.

If one of these hits you
in the head

Then that's the end of it.

Narrator: Andy's tests show
the roman sling

Is the handgun
of the ancient world --

A killer weapon
at over 100 yards.

At the top of the hill
where the enemy fought stands,

Andy and john find evidence

The romans
fire other deadly missiles.

Raining down on enemy heads
are heavy sandstone balls.

They are fired up 600 feet

From giant roman crossbows
known as ballistas.

This particular one was found
exactly on this spot

And it is almost
certainly launched

From down there.

Narrator: The powerful hill fort

Is just a day's March
from hadrian's wall.

The roman army
is using maximum force

To advance its new invasion
of the north.

John and andy plot

The hundreds of roman missiles
they find

On a map of the site.

They combine this data
with information

About the range of roman
slingers from their tests.

Their analysis allows them
to piece together

How this pivotal
battle unfolds.

The romans build two camps

Either side of burnswark...

From which they deploy their
catapult and slingshot troops.

They rain heavy fire
down into the fort

To terrify and soften up
the enemy.

Then 5,000 heavily armed ground
troops rush from the camps...

And storm the fort.

Any survivors trying to escape

Die in a hail of roman
slingshot fire.

John: This is a very focused
missile attack

On what looks like people
from the hilltop

Trying to escape beyond the
blockade and camp on the north.

Narrator: When the roman army
storms this fortress,

No one gets out alive.

John: Once the assault
actually started,

It was complete extermination
of every living being

On the summit of the hill --

Men, women, and children.

♪

Narrator: This annihilation

Is designed
to show all other tribes

What's in store for you if
you dare stand up to the romans.

The roman troops
blaze a destructive path

75 miles north
of hadrian's wall.

The wall's huge
military infrastructure is key

To supplying this new invasion
with weapons, supplies and men.

But total conquest of britain

Remains tantalizingly
out of reach.

The northern barbarians
fight a guerrilla war

Against the invading roman army.

After two decades
the romans are forced back

To the protection
of hadrian's wall.

The roman army can't crush
the barbarians of the north.

Only the mighty wall
can subdue them.

For the next two centuries.
Ancient rome ends here.

But is the wall ever truly
enough to cement roman rule

Over this dangerous frontier?

What do gruesome new fines
reveal about life

Long after the wall is built?

♪

Narrator:
Hadrian's great wall --

The romans build
this military mega-structure

To subdue the hostile tribes
of northern britain.

Generations of roman soldiers
patrol this wall.

Can they ever lower their guard?

Are the fierce barbarians
ever truly crushed?

One mile south of the wall
is the fort of vindolanda.

The romans station
up to 1,000 soldiers here

Throughout their occupation
of britain.

Andrew birley leads a team
of archaeologists

On a five-year excavation here

To investigate life long
after hadrian's wall is built.

In this area where
we're working at the moment

We're excavating a time period
almost a hundred years

After the construction
of hadrian's wall

Things still don't appear
to be settled down.

Narrator: Buried in this corner
of vindolanda,

Andrew's team unearths
gruesome evidence --

Human bones polished
to a high gloss --

Shiny mementos
of conquered enemies;

Flat bone pieces;

Fragments of human scalps roman
soldiers take in battle;

And the remains of a skull --

Most likely a trophy head.

In 200 a.D.,

It sits outside the fort --

A reminder of what happens
to anyone

Who messes
with the roman empire.

After more than a century,
hadrian's wall

Still bears the grisly
scars of violence.

Is the wall even enough to
subdue this fearsome frontier?

Trudi buck is
a forensic archaeologist.

She investigates
the trophy skulls

Found outside the fort
of vindolanda

To see what they can tell us
about the resistance

The romans still face.

Trudi: What we've got
coming through on this point

Is a very distinct,
very narrow cut mark

That's going in at a very
sharp angle into into the head.

It's come from above and gone,
sliced through the skull

And into his brain.

Narrator: The injury on this
skull reveals a man

Who dies in battle,
killed by a roman weapon.

Trudi: It's about
an inch and a half,

Which is same size
as a cavalry sword.

Narrator: A mark to the base of
his skull

Is evidence
he is then decapitated.

Trudi wants to work out
the identity

Of this enemy of the empire.

Trudi: We actually can tell
quite a lot

About this particular individual
because he's got some teeth.

When you're growing up
everything that you eat

And everything that you drink

Is going into the chemical
makeup of your teeth.

Narrator: Analysis of his teeth
shows he's not a local.

That tells us that he came
from the north-west of britain.

He grew up somewhere probably
north of hadrian's wall.

Narrator: To further investigate
the identity of this man,

Forensic scientist
eleanor graham analyzes

A dna sample from his teeth.

It reveals a huge surprise about

This northern barbarian's
father.

You can see there's data
taken from people

From all over the world,
so that the purple areas,

That's showing the europeans.

That red dot there represents
the dna from the tooth sample,

And our individual,
the closest match

Is to the italian population

So he's
definitely not british.

That's not what we'd expect
from somebody

That grew up to the northwest of
hadrian's wall.

Narrator: This man is raised
in barbarian lands

Beyond hadrian's wall.

But his italian dna reveals
he's actually the son

Or grandson of a roman.

Incredibly, it seems the roman
soldiers of hadrian's wall

Are now fighting
and killing their own.

One interpretation
is that maybe

This is a son of a local woman.

Maybe he's been fighting to
defend the honor of his mother,

Or his grandmother,
who may have had

A less-than-pleasant encounter
with a roman soldier.

Narrator: This unique skull

Gives an astonishing
picture of life

On hadrian's wall 100 years
after it's built.

The frontier is still savage,
dangerous and unpredictable.

Man: You've got heads mounted
on spikes,

And that sends a message
to how threatened

This community of roman soldiers
and their families

Were during this period
of conflict in roman britain.

Narrator: It's not surprising
these soldiers feel terrorized.

Ancient roman texts reveal
tribes in northern britain

Never stop attacking the wall.

In 208 a.D.,

The emperor septimius severus
himself

Brings 40,000 troops from rome
to crush continued rebellions.

He heads north to exterminate
the warring tribes...

But fails to break
their resistance.

♪

The emperor picks up
an infection on the battlefield

And dies before his mission
is complete.

Hadrian's wall is supposed
to cement roman power

In northern britain,

But it ends up being used
to fight a war without end.

Man: We got rebellion, we've
still got a divided country.

Hadrian's wall

To a certain extent
doesn't appear to have worked.

The roman army --
they're here in this area

For 300 years
in a state of war.

Narrator: Hadrian's great wall

Never truly subdues these
dangerous lands.

Its soldiers can never
lower their guard.

Its towers and forts remain
a monumental drain

On the roman empires resources.

So what happens when rome's
power starts to crumble --

To both the wall

And its people?

Narrator: Hadrian's wall

Is rome's greatest
military structure.

It's a monument to the empire's
immense power and wealth.

But in the 5th century a.D.
The roman empire

Comes crashing down.

Germanic invaders
sack the city of rome itself.

What happens to the wall and its
people at the end of the empire?

On the eastern coast
of hadrian's wall

The roman fort of arbeia.

Rebuilt -- but in
the 4th century a.D.,

It houses 600 troops who guard
the wall's main seaport.

This is the gateway
to hadrian's wall.

It's the place
where all supplies,

Official travellers,
troop movements,

Arrive in
the northern frontier zone.

Narrator: Here in arbeia,

Archaeologist nick hodgson
hunts for answers.

His excavations reveal
that by the next century

This important base
has fallen into decay.

Coins and imported luxuries
dry up in the early 400s.

It's evidence that the empire

Is struggling to pay
its soldiers here.

Roman order on the wall
is breaking down.

But what really shocks
nick is a grisly discovery

Underneath the commanding
officer's house.

The skeletons
of two young men

Showing signs of violent deaths.

Nick: These exhibit the marks
of sword blows.

This one is important

Because it is on the back
of the skull, low down.

And it suggests very strongly

That this individual
was kneeling down

And executed from behind.

♪

Narrator:
The bones also show evidence

They are left
to rot in the open.

Only later does someone

Carefully collect
the bodies and bury them here,

Under the wall fort of arbeia.

The grave's location is
puzzling.

Roman law forbids burial
inside a settlement.

The fact that these burials
are made here at all,

To me signifies that
there's been a decisive break

With the past.

There can no longer
be a community here

Living in traditional
roman fashion.

Narrator: Radiocarbon dating
reveals these unusual bones

Date to the start
of the fifth century --

Exactly when the roman empire
falls into chaos.

They show arbeia,

The most important coastal fort
on hadrian's wall,

Is now no longer
a recognizable roman settlement,

Proof that rome's grip on
the wall and britain

Is weakening.

Soldiers guarding the wall
are being called home

To defend rome.

Any romans that remain
in britain

Can no longer rely
on the empire's army

To protect them
from their enemies.

Nick thinks raiders attack
and slaughter the garrison here.

Nick: It's possible these
are romans.

Possibly the last defending
garrison of the place

Who've come to grief

And have been carefully buried
at some later date by

Romans coming along to clear up
before evacuating.

Narrator: At arbeia,
the end of roman rule

Brings violence, death
and destruction.

But is it the same story
everywhere along the wall?

40 miles west,

Back at the roman
fort of vindolanda,

Archaeologist rob collins
has mapped out

How this military base

Also transforms as the empire
approaches its end.

Rob: At the start of
the fifth century,

One of the things
that we find archaeologically

Is that these granary buildings

Shrunk back
from this whole building

To have a much smaller granary
that occupied

Maybe 30 to 40 percent of the
space of a granary previously,

Which suggests
that there are fewer soldiers.

Narrator: Just like it arbeia,
the roman army

Soon leaves this mighty fort
for good.

As the empire crumbles,

Some wealthy roman families
stay in britain.

They battle for power
amongst themselves

And against barbarian warriors.

Rob: Probably one of the best
places to survive

In post-roman britain

Would be in the frontier zone,
because at least there,

There are men who are soldiers,
who have weapons

And know how to use them.

Narrator:
During these troubled times

There is evidence civilians move
inside roman forts

Like vindolanda for protection.

Rob: Hadrian's wall ends up
being a source of power

And perhaps security
for local communities

For centuries afterwards.

Narrator: This once-mighty
symbol of roman occupation

Now plays savior
to local people --

The final chapter
in the astonishing 300-year

Story of rome's greatest
mega-structure.

♪

Hadrian's wall is more
than just a gigantic barrier.

The romans build it
to stamp their authority

On a newly conquered province --

And as a springboard
to invade barbarian lands.

But the mighty roman empire
never fully subdues

The fierce tribes
beyond the wall.

Hadrian's wall

Is a monument to both the vast
power of the roman empire

And its limit.

It is a symbol
of the rise and fall

Of ancient rome.

♪

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