Alex McIntosh

Segedunum is the fort at the eastern end of Hadrian’s wall, which has given the surrounding area its name Wallsend. Its name roughly translates as ‘strong fort’ and was used as a garrison for around 300 years.

The text in the print is part of a list of centurions, known to have taken part in the construction of the wall. Their names are taken from Centurial stones which were set up by working gangs to record the section of the wall they worked on and name the officer in charge of them. Such stones have been found all along the wall. In a small way, the names represent the 15,000 or so Roman soldiers believed to have helped with the building of the wall.

The first image in yellow is taken from Segedunum’s 35 metre high viewing tower. The second in blue is the view from what would have been the south gate of the fort, this would have been the main exit to the civilian settlement. The third is of a stretch of ruined wall across the road from the fort. This section of wall had to cross a small stream valley with steep sides. The weight of the wall on these slopes eventually caused it to collapse. The Romans rebuilt this part of the wall several times. The silting up of the valley is the reason for wall being preserved so well and to such a height.

The colours used in the print are my response to thinking about what colours would have been common sight to ancient Romans in Britain. Yellow from a clay containing yellow iron oxide. Grey from the burning of bone, ivory or coal. Purple from lavender, a herb used widely for its antiseptic qualities.