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Re: A History of Ancient Britain
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tiompan wrote:
Howburn Digger wrote:

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.


The real figures are likely to have been a fraction of that , as a historian he was bound to exaggerate the feats of the victors .


Yup Tacitus was certainly prone to exaggerate. Of course the truth is we'll never know the true figure of Caledonian deaths at Mons Graupius. But what we do know is that for a decade or so the Roman Army thoroughly occupied the area between Braco and Stracathro from around 80AD onwards. The area was overlaid with an intricate system using a chain of watchtowers on the Gask Ridge, roads, the long chain of glenblocking forts from Drumquassie near Drymen to Inverquarity by Kirriemuir as well as the Perthshire and Angus forts running from Cardean to Stracathro. Right in the middle near Dunkeld they built Inchtuthil- a full scale legionary fortress. That was possibly the place called "Victoria" on Ptolemy's 2nd century map.
Whether less than 30,000 Caledonians were slaughtered or not, the evidence shows Mons Graupius was a triumph for Rome and the Caledonians got thoroughly beaten. The effect on the cultures which existed within Roman occupied Caledonia must have been immense.


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Howburn Digger
Posted by Howburn Digger
24th February 2011ce
17:31

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Re: A History of Ancient Britain (tiompan)

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