What did the Romans ever do for us? Hadrian’s Wall
A lover of travel, he journeyed to every outpost of the empire, and was particularly devoted to Greece. He was artistic, with a passion for both architecture and poetry. He was also believed to be homosexual, and named a city after his lover, a Greek youth named Antinous, after he drowned during a trip along the Nile.
However Hadrian is perhaps best known for the 73-mile long Hadrian’s Wall, which was the most heavily fortified border in his empire and sections of which still stand today. It was constructed under his orders after a visit to Britain, to keep the empire intact and “separate the Romans from the Barbarians”.
Hadrian died, aged 62, of heart failure. His famous wall was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987.