Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Hadrian’s Wall was inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1987 as the most complex and best preserved of the frontiers of the Roman Empire.
In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the German Limes as a WHS. The term limes is used by UNESCO to refer to the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the second century AD. UNESCO agreed at the same time to bring both Hadrian’s Wall and the German Limes into a single, phased transnational WHS called Frontiers of the Roman Empire. It was determined that other parts of the frontiers could be added to the Site in time; and in July 2008, the committee inscribed Scotland’s Antonine Wall as part of the new WHS.
The complex of archaeological remains comprising Hadrian's Wall is among the best known and best surviving examples of a Roman frontier in design, concept and execution. Largely built in the decade AD 120-130, it served as the Empire’s north-west frontier for nearly 300 years except for a period of approximately 20 years, when the frontier reached to the Forth-Clyde isthmus with the construction of the Antonine Wall. It is of significant value in its scale and identity, the technical expertise of its builders and planners, its documentation, survival and rarity, and in its cultural, educational and economic contribution to today's world. It is also the most extensively researched Roman frontier. Work on the Wall, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, provided the motivation and techniques for the development of frontier studies in many other countries.
Useful links:
UNESCO: www.unesco.org.uk
Antonine Wall: www.antoninewall.org
German Limes: www.limesstrasse.de
