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Construction of the Antonine Wall began in AD 142 during the reign of Antoninus Pius, and was completed in 144. The wall stretches 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Old Kirkpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the Firth of Clyde to Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth. The wall was intended to replace Hadrian's Wall 160 km (100 miles) to the south, but while the Romans did establish temporary forts and camps north of the wall, they never managed to conquer the PictishThe Picts inhabited Caledonia ( Scotland), north of the River Forth. The name Pict comes from the Romans: in Latin the word Picti means painted folk or possibly tattooed ones and may be akin to the Welsh word Pryd meaning to mark or draw''. Julius Caesar and Celtic tribes, and the Antonine Wall suffered many attacks. The Romans called the land north of the wall CaledoniaCaledonia is the Latin name of a region corresponding approximately to modern Scotland. Caledonian is an alternate word for Scottish or for Pictish, referring to the Picts: a people of uncertain origin who in the time of the Roman Empire were the principa, but it is also thought that the modern Gaelic name for Scotland ("Alba") originates from the Latin word for "white", as a result of the country's many snow-covered mountains.

The Antonine Wall was inferior to Hadrian's Wall in terms of scale and construction, but it was still an impressive achievement, considering that it was completed in only two years, at the northern edge of the Roman empireFor alternative meanings, see Empire (disambiguation An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as imperium comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client kings in the name of an emperor. By extension, one ca in a cold and hostile land. The wall was typically an earth bank, about 4 meters high, with a wide ditchA ditch with water can be used for drainage and irrigation. With or without water it can be used as a barrier, as an alternative for a fence. A trench is a long narrow ditch. Types and applications include: Military i. for trench warfare Geological oceani on the north side, and a military wayThe Romans, as a military, commercial and political expedient, became adept at constructing roads; many long sections of them are ruler-straight, but it should not be thought that all of them were. The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their em or road on the south. The Romans initially planned to build forts every 6 miles, but this was soon revised to every 2 miles, resulting in a total of 19 forts along the wall.

The wall was abandoned after only 20 years, when the Roman legions withdrew to Hadrian's Wall in AD 164. After a series of attacks in AD 197, Emperor Septimius Severus arrived in Scotland in AD 208 to secure the frontier, and repaired parts of the wall. Although this re-occupation only lasted a few years, the wall is sometimes referred to (by later Roman historians) as the Severan Wall.

Although most of the wall has been destroyed over time, sections of the wall can still be seen in Bearsden , Kirkintilloch , Twechar, Croy, Falkirk and Polmont.