A new advance northwards along the west coast would be impeded by the numerous rivers that penetrated deep inland and an attempt to penetrate the Highland massive itself would be tough. Agricola therefore decided to combine his forces and advance northwards along the eastern plains that border the Scottish Highlands on the east and north.
A drawback with this plan was that the lengthening supply route would be vulnerable to attacks from the glens adjacent to its path. Agricola decided to place a fort at the exit of the mouth of each glen and use the Roman fleet to keep the troops supplied. These ships would also allow attacks along the east coast in support of the main army during the advance.
By AD 83 he marched his army up the northeast coast in three columns, mutually supporting but able to operate on a far larger front than previously. Somewhere north of the River Forth the Roman army built ditch and rampart defences and settled in for the night.
During the night the ‘Caledonians’ attacked the IX Hispana, encamped a short distance from the rest of the army. The alert was sounded but the troops on watch were overcome and a desperate struggle ensued inside the defences. A massacre was avoided by the arrival of a relieving force sent by Agricola. The Caledonians broke off the attack and disappeared into the hills.
The Caledonians now tried to avoid such confrontations and to settle for guerrilla war, but Agricola continued his march and his successes eventually compelled the Caledonians to unite and choose a leader whom Tacitus calls Calgacus. By the following year the Caledonians had collected an army numbered by Tacitus as thirty thousand men, against a Roman force possibly of twenty thousand men.
In AD 84 a battle was fought at a place Tacitus calls Mons Graupius. Its location has not been positively identified, but some place it as far south as Perth and Kinross, while others believe it was fought within Grampians.
The major part of the Caledonian force was on the plain facing the Roman ramparts, the remainder was formed rank on rank on the rising slope to the rear. Agricola’s line consisted of a thousand auxiliary infantry at the centre and three thousand cavalry on the flanks, with the legions behind auxiliaries and in front of the ramparts of the Roman camp.
The battle opened with an exchange of stones and javelins between the armies. The Caledonians had chariots but these were soon outmanoeuvred and routed. Agricola then ordered the auxiliaries to advance and in close-quarter combat the advantage of their short stabbing swords soon began to tell.
The Caledonians on the mountain came down to outflank the auxiliaries, but they were routed by four squadrons of cavalry that Agricola had kept in reserve for the purpose. The horsemen then wheeled to join the attack on the Caledonians still battling with the auxiliaries. According to Tacitus, 10,000 Caledonian lives were lost at a cost of only 360 auxiliary troops. The legions were not involved in the battle.
Agricola’s fleet sailed northwards and found the Orkney Islands. It then rounded the north of Scotland to a place that was recognized as having been seen before thus confirming that Britain was an island. When news of Agricola’s victory reached Rome, the emperor Domitian (44; r.81-96) awarded him triumphal ornaments and ordered him home.
However, there was to be no Roman subjugation of the Scottish Highlands. From now on Roman troops would be in almost constant demand in mainland Europe. The Romans gradually abandoned their forts and bases in Scotland until by 105 they had withdrawn to the Solway-Tyne isthmus.
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