Calgacus

In AD 80 Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Governor of the Roman province of Britannia, made up his mind to invade the north of his territory. This was less than forty years after the Romans had first set foot on British soil, and their presence was already romanising the conquered people in England. In order to secure himself a strong northern frontier, Agricola decided he must subdue the tribes of Scotland. Moving north that year, he and his army of 20,000 legionnaires reached the River Tay, and made camp. One first-century Roman commander, describing the area north of the Tay, exclaimed that it was where "the world and all created things come to an end." By the following year, AD 81, a chain of twenty Roman forts had been built across the stretch of land which divides Forth from Clyde.

Two years later Agricola came north again, turning west this time to conquer Galloway. He then struck northwards all the way up to Morayshire overland, with his navy following the coast and supplying him by sea. He pioneered the route later taken by various enemies, including Edward 1, Oliver Cromwell and the Butcher Cumberland, during their campaigns in Scotland. This advance was made without much notable opposition, and Agricola built ten forts en route. The victory was consolidated by the building of over 1300 miles of road north of the River Tyne.

Around the year AD 84, the battle of Mons Graupius was fought. There has been much dispute over the years as to the actual site of the battle, though it is generally believed now to have been on the lower slopes of Benachie, in Aberdeenshire. Calgacus, a local tribal leader, had united the tribes against the Romans, and the battle was described by Agricola's son-in-law, Tacitus. He claimed that 30,000 Caledonii had faced Agricola's 5,000 legionnaires during the battle. Caledonii was the word Tacitus used to describe the inhabitants of northern Scotland, although others have described them as Picti, painted men. Tacitus imagined the speech Calgacus made to his men as follows :

Battles against Rome have been lost and won before, but hope was never abandoned, since we were always here in reserve. We, the choicest flower of Britain's manhood, were hidden away in her most secret places. Out of sight of subject shores, we kept even our eyes free from the defilement of tyranny. We, the most distant dwellers upon earth, the last of the free, have been shielded till today by our very remoteness and by the obscurity in which it has shrouded our name. Now, the farthest bounds of Britain lie open to our enemies; and what men know nothing about they always assume to be a valuable prize....

A rich enemy excites their cupidity; a poor one, their lust for power. East and West alike have failed to satisfy them. They are the only people on earth to whose covetousness both riches and poverty are equally tempting. To robbery, butchery and rapine, they give the lying name of 'government'; they create a desolation and call it peace.....

Agricola launched an uphill attack, and defeated the Caledonii, who with their wounded retreated into the hills. Some later commentators have claimed that Calgacus was captured, and once Agricola's term as Governor was over, returned with him to Rome to be paraded in triumph and then executed. Tacitus, however, makes no comment on his fate during or after the battle, and Calgacus fades back into the obscurity of time. Thanks to Tacitus, who seems to have at least caught the flavour of the Caledonii's feelings, his words, even if only those imagined by his enemy, have come down in history to his descendants. Agricola withdrew to the present-day Lowlands where he consolidated his positions, building more forts. The largest of these was just south of Dunkeld, at Inchtuthil.

Visit this remarkable website which expands more fully on the story of Calgacus: Welcome to Calach's Story

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