What Newcastle looked like in the Roman times. In the 2nd century AD the Roman Empire under the direction of Hadrian established a series of fortifications along the frontier of Caledonia (Scotland), thus known as Hadrian's wall. Among the fortifications built to defend the wall was the settlement of Pons Aelius, which we now know as Newcastle Upon Tyne. The town connected to the Roman settlement of Eboracum through the road known as Dere Street. | SGM: North East News

The Antonine Wall was the Roman Empire’s final frontier in Britain—built around 142 AD under Emperor Antoninus Pius. Stretching roughly 37 miles across central Scotland from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde, it marked the northern edge of Roman control. Unlike Hadrian’s Wall to the south, the Antonine Wall was made mostly of turf on a stone foundation, fronted by a massive ditch and dotted with forts. It was abandoned after just two decades, but its remains still whisper of a time when R