For several centuries, Hadrian's Wall marked the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. However, this was a dynamic and fluctuating borderland region, which included episodes of war, but also collaboration, between the communities located south and north of the wall. This talk will discuss the evidence from Ambleside Roman Fort in the context of Rome's presence in northern Britain, including new research on episodes of military confrontation in the Lake District and southwest Scotland.

About the speakers

John Reid

Initially intending to study classics at Glasgow University in 1974, with a view to a career in archaeology, John changed direction to study medicine. After attaining his basic medical degree (1979), he specialised in imaging of the heart and lungs, ultimately becoming the cardiac radiologist for Edin-burgh Royal Infirmary (1986-1996). During this period, John was also President of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh.He went on to become the associate Medical Director of Borders General Hospital and the Specialty Adviser to the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland (1996-2016). John spent a year as an adviser to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and a sabbatical year in Boston, Massachusetts, studying pulmonary embolism.

John returned to his primary interest in Scotland’s Roman Iron Age in 2012. He has been the chairman of the Trimontium Trust - a Roman History Society - in the Scottish Borders for nearly thirty years.At Trimontium, they have an active education, research and outreach programme and also run a small award-winning independent museum based in the Ormiston Institute in Melrose. Their £1.5m project to renovate and extend the museum was completed in 2021. The trust has also just completed a second project to build a £1.1m community archaeology centre.

John has a specialist interest in the ballistic capabilities of the Imperial Roman Army. He devised and co-led (with Andrew Nicholson) the investigations at the Roman siege site of Burns-wark Hill in Dumfriesshire for four years (2014-17).John's current interests include collaboration with Prof. Manuel Fernandez-Götz (Oxford University) on the probable assault on the Roman fort at Ambleside.2023 saw the publication of John's first book, ‘The Eagle and the Bear: A New History of Roman Scot-land’ (2023 – Birlinn, Edinburgh). He was also awarded an MBE in King Charles’s Birthday Honours for services to culture and heritage (2023).

Manuel Fernández-Götz

Manuel Fernández-Götz is Professor of Later European Prehistory at the University of Oxford. Previously, he was Abercromby Professor at the University of Edinburgh, where he also served as Head of the Archaeology Department. He continues to be associated with the University of Edinburgh as Honorary Professor.

His main research areas are late prehistoric and Roman societies, specialising in topics such as the archaeology of early cities, migrations, and battlefields. Manuel has carried out fieldwork in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Croatia, and authored over 250 publications. His research has been recognised by various distinctions and awards, including the Philip Leverhulme Prize and the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Thomas Reid Medal in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. From 2021-25 he was PI of the Leverhulme Trust-funded project “Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain”.

He has been a board member of the European Association of Archaeologists and the Young Academy of Europe. His memberships and fellowships include, among others, the Academia Europaea, the Young Academy of Scotland, and the Societies of Antiquaries of Scotland and London. He is currently Trustee of National Museums Scotland.