27. A better impression of how Hadrian’s Wall might have appeared in its heyday is given by the massive frontier defences along the Euphrates frontier in Syria, such as Halabiya, part of a hugely elaborate – and expensive – system of military works built mainly in the later empire to defend against the Persians (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
28. At Halabiya on the Euphrates, the superbly built stone praetorium is still preserved to a height of three storeys (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
29. A combination of desert conditions and superb masonry has also meant that the deserts of Syria and Jordan are still littered with well-preserved Roman frontier forts, such as that at Hallabat in Jordan (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
30. Relatively modest frontier baths such as those at Chesters or South Shields would hardly have resembled the huge elaborate multi-sports complexes found in the cities, but more the smaller ones such as the Hunting Baths at Leptis Magna in Libya, wonderfully preserved right up to roof level by sand dunes (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
31. In the drier conditions of the East grain was more usually stored in underground silos. The most impressive underground storage facilities were the immense cisterns such as Rasafa, resembling the nave of an underground cathedral (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
32. The defence of the frontiers depended as much upon the rapid deployment of troops as the fortifications themselves, hence good quality military roads were essential – built, maintained and used almost solely by the army. A magnificent stretch of Roman road sweeps across the hills for miles behind Tarsus in Turkey (Copyright © Warwick Ball)
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