06-26-2008, 09:47 PM
Quote:I don't understand. You mentioned beforehand the forts did not connect to the wall, so how did they exit beyond the wall through the fort gateways if the fort didn'c connect to it?No -- I said the Antonine forts don't straddle the wall; i.e., they don't protrude the way many of the Hadrian's Wall forts do. So there is only ever one gate exiting to the north, unlike some of the Hadrianic forts which have three gates beyond the barrier line.
Most of the Antonine Wall forts are bonded into the wall; i.e., they utilise the Antonine Wall as their northern rampart. (There are notable exceptions, of course; e.g. Balmuildy was completed before the Antonine Wall reached it, and Bar Hill stands alone behind the Wall.)
This bonding of forts into the Antonine Wall is subtly different from the Hadrianic scheme. For example, at Housesteads, Hadrian's Wall buts against the fort corners and utilises the fort's northern rampart; if you "erased" Hadrian's Wall, you'd still have a perfect Roman fort. Whereas if you erased the Antonine Wall, many forts (e.g. Rough Castle) would lose their northern rampart! Others (e.g. Balmuildy) would exhibit protruding wing walls indicating that a barrier was expected.
But I fear we are straying off topic!
(And thank you for your PM, Yuri.)
