History of Leith, Edinburgh

The Votadini (the Wotādīnī, or Votādīnī)[1] were a people of the Iron Age in Great Britain, and their territory was briefly part of the Roman province Britannia. Their territory was in south-east Scotland and north-east England, extending south of the Firth of Forth and extended from the Stirling area down to the English River Tyne, including at its peak what are now the Falkirk, Lothian and Borders regions of eastern Scotland, and Northumberland in north east England. Their capital was probably the Traprain Law hill fort in East Lothian, until that was abandoned in the early 400s, moving to Din Eidyn (Edinburgh). for more click here

Hadrian’s Wall (Latin: Rigore Valli Aeli, “the line along Hadrian’s frontier”) is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now England. Begun in AD 122, it was the third of four such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being from the River Clyde to the River Forth under Agricola and the last the Antonine Wall. All were built to prevent military raids on Roman Britain by the Pictish tribes (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north,to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in Britain, and to mark physically the frontier of the Empire. Hadrian’s Wall is the best known of the three because its physical presence remains most evident today. for more click here

The recently unearthed head of a statue of Roman Emperor Hadrian, the stunning centerpiece of the British Museum’s “Hadrian: Empire and Conflict” exhibit, which opened Thursday, is a towering historical reminder of current political complexities. Discovered in Turkey last year, Hadrian’s head is the center of the museum’s hugely popular exhibit, which includes artifacts from the various continents that were at one time ruled by Hadrian. Like gossipers in an ancient Roman bathhouse, visitors whisper about stunning pieces that tell of sex, rebellion and military withdrawal. for more click here