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Re: A History of Ancient Britain
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Gwass wrote:
Howburn Digger wrote:
Gwass wrote:
[quote="CARL"] I can imagine a v boring final episode charting roman britain and the contrast between England and Wales and the lucky Scots & Irish who weren't so aflicted.


The area we now call Scotland was terribly afflicted by the Roman Empire and was subjected to nearly three centuries of Roman Invasions, campaigns and military occupation. All of Scotland's many roman remains are of a military nature (ie. no public bathouses, circuses, villas or temples). The Gask Ridge Frontier which runs from Braco to Perth formed the earliest known Roman military frontier in the world was built around around AD 79. A massive Legionary fortress was built a few years later at Inchtuthill near Meikleour by Agricola following the decisive battle of Mons Graupius. Campaigns continued throughout the time of the Antonine Wall in the 2nd Century. Septimus Severus later built a huge new base at Carpow near Newburgh further down the Tay to run punishing campaigns in the North East in ther early 3rd century.
England and Wales were only afflicted for a few years until they all started wearing togas, building villas and sitting around in bathhouses singing "'decem urnae pendent ex muro".



I didn't know all of the details you listed though so thanks for that.

Yeah I know that Scotland wasn't untouched but it was never groverned by the Romans and retained it's culture. I'm quite interested in the resistance so it's the

"until they all started wearing togas, building villas and sitting around in bathhouses singing "'decem urnae pendent ex muro""

That I meant by being afflicted!


Scotland as a country didn't exist, but great areas of what is now Scotland were under roman rule and control for some quite lengthy periods. Territories in what is now Scotland which were overrun by the Roman Army for roughly ten years after AD 79 included all of Southern Scotland, the Central Belt, Fife, much of Perthshire and Angus. Indeed if you draw a line along the edge of the Grampian Mountains from Aberdeen to Loch Lomond, everywhere below the line was under Roman Rule for that decade.
The military re-occupation of the lands of what is now Southern Scotland was directed by Lollius Urbicus who set up the construction of the Antonine Wall in 140 AD. All territory South of the Forth-Clyde ithsmus was ruled by Rome for the next thirty years. Many of the networks of forts in Strathearn, Perthshire and were in use for that period as well, showing control extending well into the North.
When Septimus Severus rebuilt Carpow near Perth in the early 3rd century he didn't bother with the lands to the South suggesting the tribes there were already compliant with Rome.
The Roman killing machine probably decimated the Caledonian population (the caledonian deaths at Mons Graupius were put at 30,000 by Tacitus) and their repeated miltary campaigns must have affected the cultures which had existed.


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Howburn Digger
Posted by Howburn Digger
24th February 2011ce
15:17

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