ABSTRACT
Though Hadrian’s Wall is a conspicuous linear feature, it did not mark the course of the frontier. Geographically speaking, the Roman frontier occupied the middle of the island of Britain, with the Roman province (and later diocese) of Britannia only occupying the southern half of the island (Figure 2.1). Throughout the Roman occupation, then, the territory north of the Wall and Ireland to the west should be considered barbaricum. The political center of the frontier was the legionary fortress and colonia of Eboracum, York, which was the capital of Britannia Secunda following the Diocletianic/Constantinian provincial reforms and the presumed seat of the dux Britanniarum in the 4th century.
