Scotland and the Romans

The Legacy of Rome: Scotland S Roman Remains As an outpost of empire, Scotland played a significant, if unusual, role in the Roman world. The south and east were occupied intermittently from AD 79 to the early third century, while the north and west remained outside Roman control, though certainly not beyond its influence. The conquest was therefore incomplete in Scotland, and military occupation was not followed up by a period of peaceful development; no towns were built, and surviving remains are of camps and forts for the most part. Despite this, the Romans left an important imprint on Scotland. Much documentary evidence sheds light on the native population and archaeological research has led to detailed understanding of the range and distribution of the forts and other sites, and aerial photography has made possible a number of discoveries, filled gaps in our knowledge and opened new avenues of enquiries. Scotland's Roman Remains was first published in 1986. This new edition incorporates a large amount of new material based on discoveries and research which have occurred during the intervening years. It is the only guidebook to Roman remains specifically in Scotland.

The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD 84 In the summer of 84 AD the Italian gentleman Gnaeus Iulius Agricola, governor of Roman Britain (78-84 AD), led an army of Roman legionary soldiers and barbarian auxiliaries into northern Britain, known as Caledonia to the Romans. At a place called Mount Graupius, Agricola won a decisive victory over a large Caledonian host, and it appeared at the time that, forty-one years on, the Roman military conquest of Britain had finally been completed. Agricola had already begun thinking about a new challenge, the invasion and conquest of Ireland, but was recalled from Britain by the emperor; and it proved to be Rome's failure, or unwillingness, to assume political control over northern Britain in the wake of Agricola's achievement that would become greatly significant in shaping the medieval and post-medieval political and cultural history of Britain and Ireland. James Fraser is the first historian to identify the true site of this legendary battle, and presents a totally new interpretation of why the Romans invaded Scotland.

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