ABSTRACT
This chapter considers different towns, which represent the last major extension of the truly civilian areas of the British province. Thereafter, further limited expansion of civilian government took place only in areas which continued to be occupied by the army. Moreover, some contraction probably occurred in certain districts of the Brigantes. Hadrian's visit to Britain in ad 121 or 122 came early in his protracted tour of the Provinces. Early in the Hadrianic period, the long-vacant fort was reoccupied for a brief spell, possibly in connexion with troop movements between the Humber and the Tyne and also in anticipation of the next stage of development, which saw both fort and stores depot removed and a defensive circuit erected on a new extended line. The reorganizations of Hadrian saw the relaxing of military control and the evacuation of forts in the eastern part, and the constitution of the civitas Brigantum, while a firm grip was maintained on the west.
