What did the Romans want in Scotland?
The Romans were interested in Scotland for several reasons:
- Scotland had valuable natural resources, like lead, silver and gold.
- The Romans could also get rich by charging the people they conquered taxes and forcing them to become enslaved.
- The Romans came for ‘the glory of Rome’ too. They wanted to conquer new lands and make their empire even bigger and better.
Watch: How do we know the Romans invaded Scotland?
Find out how we know the Romans invaded Scotland
Did the Romans invade Scotland?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, because they invaded the north part of what we now know as Britain, but no, because it wasn’t called Scotland 2,000 years ago.
The Romans actually knew it as Caledonia.
Do we know they invaded for sure?
Well, sometimes we’re scratching about for clues, but, in this case, we couldn’t be more sure. It’s a definite yes.
There’s tons of evidence, ranging from forts and walls to sculptures and stuff left behind, or “artefacts”, to use the technical term.
Who was here to greet them?
Back then, Caledonia was made up of various different groups of people or tribes.
Some tribes tried to resist the invasion and fought back.
Others just surrendered and lived under Roman rule.
In fact, most of the tribes in southern Caledonia probably made peace with the invaders and everybody got on reasonably OK.
Much like the tribes here in 21st century Scotland.
Person sitting on grass: Oi! Oi!
Well, OK-ish.
Who was living in Scotland?
- In Roman times, there was no such country as Scotland. What we now know as Scotland was called**‘Caledonia’**.
- Caledonia was made up of groups of people or tribes.
- The people were known as the ‘Caledonians’.
- Some got on peacefully with the Romans, but others fought back.
- The Romans had trouble with the Picts.
- ‘Picti’ means ‘painted ones’ in Latin, because the Picts were known for painting their bodies with tattoos.
Watch: What was the Battle of Mons Graupius?
Boom! Boom, boom! Aargh!
Awesome! Oh! Sorry.
What was a typical battle between the Romans and the Caledonians like?
Well, probably the most famous battle between the Romans and the northern tribes was the battle of Mons Graupius and thanks to a first-hand historical , we know quite a bit about it.
The Romans won, but why?
Well, two main reasons.
Number one – the Romans were better organised and number two – the Romans were better equipped.
But first, let’s look at the organisation.
When the hordes of Caledonians charged, the Romans were waiting for them in lines, swords drawn and shields linked to make a solid wall.
When spears started to rain down on them, the Romans huddled together and held their shields above their heads to form a giant protective shell, which is what we call the Tortoise Effect.
Equipment-wise, well, a few Caledonians had some armour but ALL Romans did.
And Romans had over-lapping metal body armour, plus they had more swords and spears, so the results were several thousand dead Caledonians but only a few hundred dead Romans.
Roman solider: Aargh!
Oh, Roman Guy! You just knocked them all down! You play with your own toys! Keep on your own side.
What was Hadrian's Wall?
- The Caledonian attacks were costing the Romans time and money.
- In AD122, the Emperor Hadrian ordered his soldiers to build a wall between Roman Britain and Caledonia.
- The Romans also built forts and stationed soldiers along the wall to keep watch and fend off any attacks.
- In AD140 the Romans added another wall further north, called the Antonine Wall.
- The Romans abandoned this wall and made Hadrian’s Wall the border.
Watch: What happened to the Romans in Scotland?
Find out why the Romans said goodbye to Scotland
Well, they all had to go south to deal with attacks by a Gaelic-speaking tribe from Ireland called the Scots and attacks by the Anglo-Saxons from and Denmark.
Their other big problem was that many Caledonians were uniting into a larger group called the Picts and as if that wasn’t bad enough, there was also trouble brewing back in Rome and in other parts of the empire.
So, it was time for many Romans to pack up and leave Britannia all together.
Some went off to fight elsewhere and others just returned home to wherever they came from in the first place.
Even though some stayed… (talking to the Roman solider) not you, you can go…there were no Roman soldiers left in Caledonia.The nearest Romans were living around Hadrian’s Wall.
(To Roman solider) See ya!
So, what exactly did they leave behind?
A wealthy land, thanks to the Roman silver and jewellery they brought to bribe us and the tribes of Caledonia started to work together to become more organised and this, some people believe, was the start of the Scottish nation.
A land which would become known as Scotland.
Activity: Quiz – Did the Romans invade Scotland?
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