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In the summer of the year AD79 a new and powerful force appeared on the scene, relegating the traditioal Celtic intertribal rivalries. For the peoples of southern Scotland - the Votadini of the
Lothians, the Selgovae of the upper Tweed, the Novantac of Dumfries and Galloway - invasion by the Romans must have seemed more and more likely throughout that decade as the imperial legions advanced through northern
England to establish Roman control over the island up to the Tyne-Solway line. Now a substantial army of about 25,000 men marched northwards across the Cheviots to complete the conquest of Britain. In just one seasons
campaign they swept up to reach the Tay. Above them was what they called Caledonia, an inhospitable zone of mountains and trackless forests peopled by 'half naked savages with reddish hair and large limbs'. The leader
of this thrust into the unknown was Gnacus Julius Agricola, commanding general of the invasion and governor of the province of Britain from AD77, by which time most of England and Wales had become conquered. That we
know so much about Roman penetration into Scotland is due to the fortunate survival of Agricola's biography, written soon after his death by his son-in-law, the great historian Cornelius Tacitus. Agricola campaigned in
Scotland for five years, from 79 to 83. Each of his efforts is described by Tacitus, and though there are a few indications as to the exact geographical location of his activities, he seems to have reached the far
north. His programme culminated in a great battle against the united tribes of Caledonia at a place Tacitus names as 'Mons Graupius'(the Grampian Mountains), the earliest recorded battle in Scottish history. The
Caledonians, under their war leader Calgacus, massed on the slope of the mountain, with some chariots on the level ground in front. A fierce mêlée developed between the Roman forces advancing up the hillside and the
Caledonians threatening to turn their flanks; but Agricola had some Calvary held in reserve, and this surprised the Caledonians from behind. As a result, they broke and fled, and during the battle and the subsequent
pursuit some 10,000 Caledonians fell, with the loss of only 360 men on the Roman side. The site of Mons Graupius has never been conclusively identified. Tacitus implies that it lay close to the
sea and in the far north of Britain. A good case has been made out in recent years for its being Mt Bcnnachie, close to lnverurie, near a large Roman marching camp at Durno located by aerial photography in the late
1970s. Several times Tacitus pays tribute to the spirit of the natives, but Calgacus was less enamoured of his foes. 'In them is an arrogance which no submission or good behaviour can escape. Pillagers of the world, they
have exhausted the land by their plunder and now they ransack the sea. A rich enemy excites their cupidity, a poor one their lust for power...To robbery, butchery and rapine they give the lying name of 'government'; they create desolation and call it peace.' The words Tacitus puts into the mouth of the Caledonian leader eloquently capture the spirit of resistance animating the 'barbarian' opponents of Rome. During and after Agricola's campaigns, the army began to construct permanent forts to serve as garrison posts. These were carefully spaced out along major lines of communication, often at important river junctions, and were linked by the well made 'metalled' roads which have become the basis of our modern trunk road network.
The forts, mostly about five to eight acres in size, housed regiments of auxiliaries, to whom the first line of defence was entrusted. The ground plans of many forts are known by excavation and these
have revealed neatly arranged foundations for timber framed barracks, together with central administrative buildings and storehouses. The perimeter was defended by a rampart of clay and turf, and by two or three
ditches. Forts were also placed in a line at the 'mouths' of the major glens to keep the Caledonian tribes in their highland wilderness. One of the four legions in Britain was retained in the north - the rest returned
to bases in England - and placed in a carefully chosen new fortress at Inchtuthil in Perthshire, on the north bank of the Tay just short of its gorge at Dunkeld. The Inchtuthil site was to be 53 acres in size,
with accommodation for the whole legion - about 5000 men. But the base was never completed. After the battle of Motis Graupius, Agricola was recalled to Rome and Roman soldiers began to withdraw from their recent
conquests, probably moving in several stages, until by about AD100 they had pulled out of Scotland altogether. Tacitus was convinced that the reason for this policy was the Emperor Domitains jealousy of Agrmcola's
achievements and his fear that Agricola had become more popular than himself. It seems more likely, however, that the reason was a strategic one: troops were needed to reinforce other areas of the vast empire threatened
by barbarian attack, notably the Balkans. As a result, the size of Britain's garrison was cut hack and it proved impossible to hold all the occupied territory. The reaction of Tacitus was to claim that Britain had been
completely conquered and immediately thrown away'. The new frontier for the Roman province of Britannia was to be on the line. When the Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in AD122 he chose the crags along this route
to be the site of a permanent frontier work, a 73 mile wall of stone and turf, cutting the island in two and effectively keeping out the 'barbarians of the north'.  |
