On the Roman Walls in Lugo
right around the inner city serves as a jogging path, à place to walk the dog, à 45 minute stroll above the modern life of a town in Northern Spain.
from the museum of the Roman Walls shows that things were not always so peaceful here!
It seems unbelievable that in the first century CE this great empire was securing their huge territories with this sort of defensive mammoth.
Perhaps to us today, used to superhighways and skyscrapers, it does not seem so impressive but really, when we think how far away Rome is from this town, we have to marvel at the force of will, the resources and the skill needed to build this.
The many fortified towers have long disappeared but the traditional gates in and out of the city still remain, with a few newer ones added over the centuries.
In the museum we saw some of the tools used to build the wall and the towers. Cranes that could swivel to lift heavy stones meant that engineering skill allowed workers to build with a minimum of brute strength.
What, then, do empires achieve? Some would say security, some tyranny, some scientific achievements, some dehumanization.
So many centuries, so much effort, and yet still we wonder
