We are still building them

Tullie House is Carlisle's Museum and is an excellent resource, but I have only been in a few times as it is quite an expensive admission fee, especially if you only want to spend a short time there. However, with an Art Pass, I can just go in and out as I want. This morning I had an hour to spare and went to see the Roman Frontier Gallery. It is a nicely laid out gallery, giving lots of information about the building of the Wall and of life in Carlisle during Roman Britain.
 
The FutureLearn course about Hadrian's Wall, that I have been following, has thrown a lot of light on how the Wall was built, but I have not been sure that there has been enough emphasis on exactly why it was built and the impact on the British people.
 
Hadrian built the Wall as a frontier. It was to separate the Romans from the people they classed as barbarians. And it was only built after a lot of bloodshed, as the Romans fought to extend and establish their boundaries in a country they had conquered.
 
So I was fascinated to see that this is an aspect very well dealt with at Tullie House. There is this 'wall' highlighting all the Living Frontiers, the walls, fences, barriers that have been built over the years and the awful impact of them on people. Kendall wrote about one currently in Arizona - heart-breaking. (What was 'our' answer to the despair of the people trying to get into the UK - a gift to France of high fences to keep them out.)
 
Hadrian may have been the first to build a huge wall to separate people, but we are still building them now.
 
An interesting thought in 'extras'.
   
 

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