The Ancients — “How to Survive on Hadrian’s Wall”
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Dr. Francis Mackintosh, Collections Curator, English Heritage (Hadrian’s Wall)
Release date: January 15, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Francis Mackintosh, a small finds archaeologist and collections curator for English Heritage at Hadrian’s Wall, to explore what everyday life was like for people living on the Roman Empire’s northernmost frontier. Rather than focusing solely on the monument’s imposing stones, the conversation dives deeply into the lives of those who built, patrolled, and depended on the wall—from Roman soldiers and their families to civilian traders and local Britons. Listeners are given an immersive “day-in-the-life” perspective, revealing a world both remarkably ordinary and uniquely cosmopolitan.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: The Wall and Its Purpose

• Structure and Construction

  • Hadrian’s Wall stretched for about 73 modern miles (80 Roman miles) between Wallsend (east of Newcastle) and Bowness-on-Solway (west coast).
  • Every Roman mile featured a small "milecastle" and two turrets; larger forts were a later addition, often requiring demolition of earlier structures.
    [04:56, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]:
    "Runs from Wallsend, which is just east of Newcastle, all the way to Bowness on Solway on the west coast. ... Every mile ... there was a mile castle ... and in between each mile castle, two turrets, evenly spaced. And that was the original plan. But then partway through building, they changed their mind and added the forts in."

• Why Was Hadrian’s Wall Built?

  • Multiple purposes: defense, propaganda, controlling trade and taxation, and as a symbol of Roman power.
  • The Wall demarcated a “line in the sand,” consolidating the empire.
    [07:13, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "Probably no one single reason ... a combination of defense, propaganda, controlling trade and taxes... If you can control access into and out of your empire of people and goods, it's going to save you or give you a lot of money ... And then it also, you know, there is a ... There will have been some defensive..."

• Displacement and Local Impact

  • Evidence of pre-Roman farming was found directly under the Wall’s foundations, attesting to how local communities were disrupted and divided.
  • The wall created a militarized buffer zone, with significant land on both sides becoming off-limits or heavily controlled. [09:46, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "It's small nucleated settlements ... small groups of peoples, you know, linked together ... and, you know, your land is split in half. You know, your family live on the north and you live on the south and now you can only go and see them through the gate."

Who Lived on Hadrian’s Wall?

• Diverse Military and Civilian Population

  • Contrary to stereotypes, soldiers were not primarily Romans from Italy nor local Britons. Instead, they hailed from across the empire: Dacians (Romania), Hamian archers (Syria), Tungrians (Belgium), Spaniards, Frisians (Netherlands), Batavians, Moors (North Africa), and even Tigris boatmen (Iraq, Syria, Turkey).
  • Over time, local recruitment blended cultural identities, affecting language, cooking, religious practice, and social customs. [13:14, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "There's no Italians wearing skirts and, you know, sandals with no socks, you know, up on the wall. But also there's no units that are, you know, recruited in Britain."

• Non-Military Communities

  • The Wall’s settlements drew not only soldiers but also their unofficial families, civilian traders, and service providers—all essential for frontier life. [04:15, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "No, not at all...the towns there are filled with people rel or providing a service for the army who were living inside the barracks. That's just what Hadrian's Wall was like."

A Day in the Life: Routine, Food, and Relationships

Daily Routines and Living Arrangements

• Soldiers’ Quarters

  • Cavalrymen shared rooms with two others and stabled their horses next door, as dedicated stables have not been found in these forts.
  • Legally, soldiers could not marry until the early 3rd century, but unofficial families were common, living outside the walls. [17:37, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]:
    "If we're into the second century, the family are not living with the soldier. ... In Chester's cavalrymen inside the forts, family outside. So let's go soldier first. He's sharing a room with two other men ... and the room next door, they're three horses."

• Food Preparation

  • Soldiers received rations in the form of grain and had to grind it themselves—about half an hour’s work per day per person (evidence from quernstones in barrack rooms).

  • Bread ovens were built into the fort walls; communal dining was limited, with meals prepared and eaten in small groups (e.g., contubernium of 8 infantrymen or groups of 3 cavalrymen).
    [20:24, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "We see quite often quernstone ... often in barrack rooms ... There's bread ovens built into the walls of the fort...But would say even on a campaign they're not given food. I think no, they're given rations as in they're given the basics but they're still gonna have to make it themselves."

  • Servants & Slaves: Some lower-ranking soldiers could afford slaves to assist with chores; evidence includes inscribed pottery naming enslaved individuals.

  • Water: Wells and water tanks ensured survival, especially for horses; accessing water was a significant daily task.

• Clothing and Armour

  • Legionnaires adapted to British weather: woollen hooded cloaks, leg coverings, socks (documented in personal letters from Vindolanda), and boots.
  • Officers and their families wore higher quality and more colorful attire; women’s hairstyles and jewelry signified status and changing fashions (e.g., the arrival of Empress Julia Domna).
    [28:33, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "There would have been the equivalent of sort of leg coverings ... They would have worn socks. ... One of the Vindolanda tablets ... is asking for socks, isn't it? One of the exports from Britain was the Beerus Britannicus, a woolen hooded cloak."

Duties, Drill, and Repairs

• Guard Duties & Shifts

  • Soldiers worked in rotation: guard duty on gates, patrolling the wall and surrounding roads, escorting visiting dignitaries, protecting supply shipments, and performing regular training and drills, indoors and out.
  • Evidence from documents (like the Vindolanda tablets) offers specifics on manning turrets, escort lists, and patrols, but much is inferred from broader Roman army practice. [36:26, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "The glimpses we get ... are often the Vindolanda tablets where they have ... the roster for the day ... or the roster for the day where it talks about this many men out on patrol or this many men out escorting the governor..."

• Repairs

  • Garrison soldiers were called upon to repair the wall and fortifications; self-sufficiency in manual skills was expected throughout the garrison.

Trade, Supply, and Daily Life

• Supply Lines & Trade

  • Supplies reached the wall via an extensive road network and river/sea transport; the military way paralleled the wall, and goods often arrived via Corbridge or South Shields before being distributed by cart, barge, and pack animals.
  • Food and materials were sourced both locally and from across the empire. [45:04, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "South Shields, we've mentioned, is on the coast, on the Tyne. Fairly large ships could come up the east coast, dock at South Shields, things could be offloaded ... But South Shields, we've mentioned, is on the coast, on the Tyne ... and then there's other roads."

• Frontier Economy

  • Civilian settlements grew around the forts, home to families, traders (some from as far away as Syria and North Africa), merchants, and artisans.
  • The Wall’s population at its height likely reached 16,000–20,000 men, women, and children.
    [69:03, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "Say there's 16, 17 forts, ... in each of those there's 500 to 1,000 men ... Each civilian settlement outside the fort could be the same as that. ... 16 to 20,000, I don't think that's outlandish."

Leisure, Crime, Religion, and Community

• Leisure and Social Life

  • Popular activities included gambling (evidenced by gaming boards and dice), hunting (“venatores” altars), and possibly watching traveling gladiator shows or plays. Taverns, shops, and bathhouses proliferated near the forts. [49:14, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "There's gaming boards found all over fort ... dice and counter and knuckle bones ... Gambling is, you know, quite a big thing. ... If you're allowed out of the fort, you're in the civilian settlement ... there'd be taverns, you know, with all the things that they might offer there ... "

• Baths

  • Bathhouses were typically outside the forts, serving as essential venues for hygiene, relaxation, business, and gossip.

• Crime, Disorder, and Health

  • Evidence of brawls and possibly murder (e.g., two bodies found under a tavern floor at Housesteads, one with a dagger in the ribs).
  • Each unit had a medic and equipment; medicine mixed practical healing with religious and magical practice (offerings to gods like Asclepius). [54:12, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "When they excavated there was two bodies found buried under the floor. ... one of them had a dagger in the ribs. ... That's what we cheekily call the murder house."

• Religion and Identity

  • Soldiers and civilians worshipped a mix of Roman and local deities—Mars, local spirits (e.g., the mysterious “Veteres”), imported gods (Mithras), and hybrid deities (e.g., Mars Thincsus with Germanic roots).

  • Religion offered not only solace and superstition but also a means of belonging for displaced units and migrant communities. [56:55, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "There are deities that are only known about on Hadrian's Wall, not anywhere else. ... Mars Thincsus ... a hybridization or syncretism of, you know, two cultures ... "

  • On “cults” versus mainstream religion:
    [60:44, Dr. Francis Mackintosh]: "Cult is a very loaded word ... All soldiers on the wall would have believed in deities, gods and goddesses. ... Mithraism seems very specific in that you went together and you did stuff at the temple ... whereas it's not the same for a lot of other deities."

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• "It's not just barbaricum, is it? ... It's not, you know, the White Walkers north of there ... The line of the Wall was just the narrowest point. ... It's not as stark as we, you know, jokingly often say to people."
  — Dr. Francis Mackintosh on the symbolic (not absolute) nature of the frontier [65:41]

• "The ordinary life, indeed ... soldiers a lot of the time on Hadrian's Wall are just doing the same thing every day. It's kind of boring. ... But there's peaks of activity, I imagine. But it's a fairly ordinary life."
  — Dr. Francis Mackintosh [72:24]

• "There’s evidence for people from all parts of the empire—Dacia, Syria, North Africa—everyone not only living here, but leaving their mark in pottery, inscriptions, and even their food and religious practices."
  — (Paraphrased) [13:14-16:47]

• "You can imagine the curses of the soldiers who are building it, because it’s soldiers who are building the wall, not brought in builders. ... The higher-ups have changed their minds, haven't they?"
  — Dr. Francis Mackintosh [05:00]

• "If you can control access into and out of your empire of people and goods, it's going to save you or give you a lot of money."
  — Dr. Francis Mackintosh [07:13]

• "I just love the idea ... seeing the soldiers huddled around stuff like their garrison duties, but also potentially seeing ... two children running around playing or like a woman with ... clothing or whatever like that. It's, it's, it's fascinating."
  — Tristan Hughes [25:29]

Key Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | Description | |---|---|---| | Hadrian’s Wall—Origins and Purpose | 01:22–08:37 | Structural overview, reasons for construction, symbolism | | Demographics & Recruitment | 11:30–16:47 | Where soldiers came from, local populations | | Day-to-Day: Living Quarters & Food | 17:37–25:58 | Sleeping, meal prep, slaves/servants, water & baths | | Clothing & Identity | 26:58–32:15 | Outfits, sandals & socks, officers’ attire, women’s status | | Duties and Repairs | 36:11–43:22 | Guard shifts, patrols, training, construction, and repairs | | Supply, Trade, & Economy | 44:45–48:41 | Roads, river trade, procurement, supply chain | | Leisure, Taverns, and Entertainment | 49:03–51:53 | Gambling, hunting, taverns, theaters, baths | | Crime, Health, and Medicine | 52:49–56:35 | Crime anecdotes (the "murder house"), hospitals, Roman medical care | | Religion | 56:35–62:45 | Local/imperial gods, cults, religious syncretism | | Life after Rome | 69:41–71:41 | Post-Roman adaptation, gradual shifts, rise of local leaders |

Conclusion & Final Takeaways

• Life along Hadrian’s Wall was characterized by vibrant diversity, cultural adaptation, and a routine both ordinary and exceptional.
• The soldiers (and their families) who manned this isolated frontier developed unique identities, customs, and religious traditions, often preserving or blending elements from their places of origin.
• The wall’s communities adapted over centuries, continuing on even after the official end of Roman rule, with local leaders stepping into the organizational void.
• Ordinary experiences—grinding grain, mending walls, gambling with dice, or donning wool cloaks—were the fabric of survival and community on the northern edge of empire.

For more on life at Hadrian’s Wall and Dr. Mackintosh’s research at Corbridge, check out the bonus content for History Hit subscribers!