Caratacus

Caratacus was the leader of the Catuvellauni Tribe in AD 43. He was a descendent of Cassivellaunus and the son of Cunobelinus who was the former King of the Catubellauni Tribe. Caratacus was known for leading the Catuvellaunian defense single-handedly after his brother Togodumnus died in AD 43. While many other Briton tribes were either defeated or surrendered and gave into Emperor Claudius’ demands, the Catuvellauni were not as easily put down. In AD 47, Publius Ostorius Scapula took over as the Governor of Britain from Aulus Plautius. In Caratacus’ defense of his tribe against Scapula, he never won a battle and constantly retreated. However, he was able to sustain resistance thus making him popular among Britons. A major strength of Caratacus was through his popularity, he was able to galvanize Briton tribes to come together as one large army. Eventually Caratacus had fled west to Wales and was pursued by Scapula. The mountains of Wales provided good defensive positions for the Britons and stretched the Roman army thin. Finally, at the Battle of Caer Caradoc, Caratacus stationed his troops across a river on high ground which forced the Roman army to not only cross a river, but also climb the high ground to reach the Britons. As Scapula’s forced attacked, the Briton forces shot missiles at Roman troops. However, eventually the Roman army prevailed and stormed the Briton defenses and being that the Briton troops were poorly equipped and trained, they were defeated. Caratacus fled – he even left his wife and daughter – and appealed to Cartimandua the Queen of the Brigantes who turned Caratacus into the Romans who arrested him in AD 51. Caratacus was then taken to Rome and paraded through the streets with his family. At the end of the parade Caratacus spoke with Emperor Claudius and said he was an equal and was defeated. Emperor Claudius gave Caratacus amnesty and a pension; and thus Caratacus disappeared from history.

Boudica

In AD 54, Emperor Nero took power from Emperor Claudius. At this point, Roman Britain was looking costly financially and in manpower. Rome had recently faced defeats in Armenia and Germany so the Empire was not in a strong position. In AD 58, Gaius Suetonius Paullinus became Roman Britain’s 5^th Governor. By the late 50s, South-East Roman Britain had started to urbanize and came together rather than being individual tribes, especially modern London and Colchester. There was an area farther north in modern Norfolk and Suffolk which was occupied by the Iceni. The Iceni were a threat and nuisance to Rome as they constantly revolted. Following Prasutagus’ death in AD 59, the Iceni were brutalized, the women were raped and people were treated like slaves. Boudica was the wife of Prasutagus, the King of the Iceni, with whom she had two daughters and was known as an extremely intelligent woman. Roman historians describe Boudica as a woman in her late 30s by AD 60 and was regarded as a tribal leader or British noble. Boudica took charge of the Iceni and galvanized other Briton tribes and rallied Briton forces to fight with everything or lose all. Boudica raised a large army and set for Colchester which had a small Roman garrison. In a 2-day siege, Colchester was defeated and the Legio IX Hispana came to attack Boudica’s forces but was defeated. Paullinus retreated from London towards Wales with an army of about 15,000. Boudica pursued Paullinus with her large army. At the Battle of Watling Street, Paullinus set up his army in a defensive position with a narrow gap for Briton forces to push through. Briton forces used tons of missiles and spears prior to their assault then were slaughtered by Roman forces as their power in numbers was destroyed with the small gap they charged through. After Boudica’s defeat, she was said to have either committed suicide or fell ill and died a little while later.

Northern Tribes

The Northern Tribes occupied what is today Scotland and had a long history of resisting conquest from the Romans. It was under Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola that the Romans first encountered the Northern Tribes and Agricola reconnoitered all over modern Scotland. The north was plagued with violent weather, sharp mountains, and sneaky tribesmen who were able to disappear into the marshes and woods. Like the rest of Britain, the Northern Tribes often galvanized to fight the Romans and were able to repel Agricola’s attacks. They even conducted night raids on Roman forts. The Romans did beat the Northern Tribes at Mons Graupius where they then established a fortress at Inchtuthil and other forts further south. However, this region was abandoned under Emperor Domitian because he believed it would be too costly. The Hadrian Wall was built in AD 122 and was the northern edge of Roman Britain and meant to prevent Northern Tribe invasions. Then the Antonine Wall was built which cut off the Southern Uplands of Scotland from the North from AD 140-165. The Maetae were Britons who lived along the Antonine Wall and were a confederation of tribes that over time became more organized. Governor Clodius Albinus of Roman Britain was killed after challenging Septimus Severus for the Empire which allowed an opportunity for the Northern Tribes to attack. Virius Lupus became the new Governor and rebuilt fortifications. Roman forces had an arduous time in the north. They made slow progress as they chopped down forests, drained marshes, built bridges, and collected cattle and sheep. Roman armies had to divide into small groups to navigate the terrain and were picked off easily by Northern forces. The Romans briefly made peace with the Maetae and Caledonians but this was soon broken and the Romans retreated from northern forts. A couple more campaigns by the Romans proved unsuccessful and the Romans were never able to gain control over modern Scotland.

Northern Roman Defenses near York

Northern Frontier

During the reign of Emperor Trajan from 98- 117 AD, the Romans had established a frontier around the area known as the Tyne-Solway isthmus in Northern Britain. At this point, the intention was to invade Scotland and take total control of the British island. This proved impractical, however, because invasions from the Parthian East and Dacians in other territories of the Roman Empire called legions away from the Scottish front, leaving only three legions in Britain. In addition, constant raids on the expanding frontier and the difficult terrain in Scotland was not compatible with legion movement, thus the retreat from total conquest began. Trajan and Agricola, along with possibly the Flavians, instituted the Gask and Stanegate frontiers, a series of military establishments along a generally linear line on the Tyne-Solway isthmus, to allow for effective troop and civilian movement into and out of Roman territory.

Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian’s Wall

In the early 120s AD, Emperor Hadrian came to power in Rome and began institution of a building of a wall for frontier control in Northern Britain. His wall came to be referred to as simply Hadrian’s Wall. It would seem that the reforms of Trajan and the Flavians on the Roman frontier were not completely successful, therefore making the building of the wall, in Hadrian’s eyes, necessary. The wall extended from sea to sea for the express purpose that can be imagined for such a wall: to separate the Romans from the Barbarians. Britain at this time was said to be incredibly difficult to control, especially North of the frontier, therefore Hadrian’s reasoning seems justified. The wall was formed of several different materials depending upon the location, but generally rough stones made up the core of the wall, with some extensive sections of the wall being made up of simply turf and earthen structure. While it was quite a tall wall, the materials made it hardly useful against a large Briton army, and this was certainly not its purpose. Hadrian’s Wall was not designed to hold up against a large invasion, and very rarely was it intended to prevent raiding (although it could). More specifically, the small military presence and flimsy nature of the wall was meant simply as a makeshift boundary, one that could control day-to-day border activity, and allow for easy and relatively safe access in and out of the Roman Empire.

Antonine Wall

Antonine Wall

When Hadrian died in 138 AD, Antoninus Pius came into his own as his successor. By this time, the area of Scottish tribes just beyond Hadrian’s Wall were almost always not hostile to Rome, in fact they were rather friendly toward them. To many Roman commanders at the time, it seemed as though Hadrian’s Wall was now a strategic liability because it was so far from the true Roman enemies in Scotland. Also, the new emperor wished to build a military legacy for himself such as that of Hadrian. Therefore, Antoninus built a new frontier further North now into Scotland, much closer to the enemy threat. The tactical position was in a general a success, yet the wall was not built on the best ground. Even still, Antoninus was able to integrate the Scottish tribes into a Roman province, and Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned in favor of the new frontier, as the legions had the responsibility of enforcing Roman laws here. By 161 AD, warfare around Britain seemed imminent, and the retreat from Scotland seemed practical for the survival of the province. In addition, Germanic invasions on the Danube and Rhine rivers led to further removal of legions from Britain. Hadrian’s Wall once again became the accepted frontier in Britain, and Scotland was officially abandoned with no concentrated return ever to be attempted by the Romans.

Roman “Barbed Wire” near Antonine Wall