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Septimius Severus in Scotland: The Northern Campaigns of the First Hammer of the Scots
Since 1975 much new archaeological evidence has come to light to illuminate the immense undertaking of Septimius Severus' campaigns in Scotland, allowing for the first time the true story of this savage invasion to be told. In the early 3rd century Severus, the aging Roman emperor, launched an immense 'shock and awe' assault on Scotland that was so savage it resulted in eighty years of peace at Rome's most troublesome border. The book shows how his force of 50,000 troops, supported by the fleet, hacked their way through the Maeatae around the former Antonine Wall and then pressed on into Caledonian territory up to the Moray Firth.
Severus was the first of the great reforming emperors of the Roman military, and his reforms are explained in the context of how he concentrated power around the imperial throne. There is also an in-depth look at the political, economic and social developments that occurred in the Province.
This book is aimed at all who have an interest in both military and Roman history. It will particularly appeal to those who are keen to learn more about the narrative of Rome's military presence in Britain, and especially the great campaigns of which Severus' assault on Scotland is the best example.
Severus was the first of the great reforming emperors of the Roman military, and his reforms are explained in the context of how he concentrated power around the imperial throne. There is also an in-depth look at the political, economic and social developments that occurred in the Province.
This book is aimed at all who have an interest in both military and Roman history. It will particularly appeal to those who are keen to learn more about the narrative of Rome's military presence in Britain, and especially the great campaigns of which Severus' assault on Scotland is the best example.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2018
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About the author
Simon Elliott
4 books3 followersDr. Simon Elliot is an archaeologist and historian. He was awarded a PhD by the University of Kent where he studied the military presence in the South-East during the Roman occupation of Britain. He also has an MA in Archaeology from University College London and an MA in War Studies from King's College London. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 19, 2022
I thought this was reasonably good but I should say straight away that the title is misleading. The two campaigns of Septimius Severus into what we now call Scotland are described in only about 20 pages of this book. In a way I wasn’t surprised as there is very little source material about the Severan campaigns of AD209 and 210. The rest of the book comprises a biography of Septimius (AD 145-211, and Emperor from 193 to his death), a description of Roman Britain at the time of his campaigns, and notes about changes in the technology and organisation of the Roman Army during this period.
Also the subtitle to this one is particularly silly. The title of “Hammer of the Scots” was given to the medieval English King Edward I. To apply it to Septimius makes no sense since in his day there were no “Scots”. There were only the tribes who inhabited the northern part of the island of Britain, the region the Romans called Caledonia. Contemporary writers say that by the end of the second century these tribes had coalesced into two groupings, the Caledones and the Maeatae. I suppose from a publisher’s perspective “Hammer of the Maeatae” doesn’t quite have the same ring.
The Romans made several large incursions into/attempts at conquest of Caledonia, of which the Severan campaigns were the last. Quite why they never finished the job has been much debated by historians, but it left a situation where Caledonia was a continual source of trouble to the Romans, requiring the Empire to station a disproportionate part of its army in Britain. Whilst southern Britain became a fully integrated part of the Empire, the area between the Humber and Hadrian’s Wall became a heavily militarised frontier zone, with an economy skewed towards the needs of the legions.
The other question posed in the book is why the aging Emperor chose to personally lead a campaign on the Empire’s remote northern frontier. Septimius arrived in Britain in AD208, complete with the Imperial court and Treasury, turning the city of York into the effective capital of the Roman Empire for the next 3 years. The book suggests various possible answers.
The author suggests the Romans would have viewed Caledonia as a sort of Conradian Heart of Darkness. With that in mind, the emperor led an immense army into Caledonia, which in military terms completely outclassed the local tribes, who could only resist through guerrilla warfare. It is suggested the tribes sued for peace in 209 but then broke the agreement, which led Septimius Severus to order a “genocide” of the natives in 210. The legions were ordered to kill all the inhabitants, men, women and children. Archaeological analysis of pollen from this period suggests significant reafforestation of Southern Scotland in the third century, suggestive of a marked drop in the human population.
The author thinks that the Severan campaign was a full-blown attempt at the conquest of Caledonia, one that was ended by the emperor’s death in York in February 211. His two sons, Caracalla and Geta, immediately departed for Rome.
This is a decent enough book if you want to read about the life of Septimius Severus or about Roman Britain in the early third century. Just don’t buy it if you want to read about what he did in Scotland.
Also the subtitle to this one is particularly silly. The title of “Hammer of the Scots” was given to the medieval English King Edward I. To apply it to Septimius makes no sense since in his day there were no “Scots”. There were only the tribes who inhabited the northern part of the island of Britain, the region the Romans called Caledonia. Contemporary writers say that by the end of the second century these tribes had coalesced into two groupings, the Caledones and the Maeatae. I suppose from a publisher’s perspective “Hammer of the Maeatae” doesn’t quite have the same ring.
The Romans made several large incursions into/attempts at conquest of Caledonia, of which the Severan campaigns were the last. Quite why they never finished the job has been much debated by historians, but it left a situation where Caledonia was a continual source of trouble to the Romans, requiring the Empire to station a disproportionate part of its army in Britain. Whilst southern Britain became a fully integrated part of the Empire, the area between the Humber and Hadrian’s Wall became a heavily militarised frontier zone, with an economy skewed towards the needs of the legions.
The other question posed in the book is why the aging Emperor chose to personally lead a campaign on the Empire’s remote northern frontier. Septimius arrived in Britain in AD208, complete with the Imperial court and Treasury, turning the city of York into the effective capital of the Roman Empire for the next 3 years. The book suggests various possible answers.
The author suggests the Romans would have viewed Caledonia as a sort of Conradian Heart of Darkness. With that in mind, the emperor led an immense army into Caledonia, which in military terms completely outclassed the local tribes, who could only resist through guerrilla warfare. It is suggested the tribes sued for peace in 209 but then broke the agreement, which led Septimius Severus to order a “genocide” of the natives in 210. The legions were ordered to kill all the inhabitants, men, women and children. Archaeological analysis of pollen from this period suggests significant reafforestation of Southern Scotland in the third century, suggestive of a marked drop in the human population.
The author thinks that the Severan campaign was a full-blown attempt at the conquest of Caledonia, one that was ended by the emperor’s death in York in February 211. His two sons, Caracalla and Geta, immediately departed for Rome.
This is a decent enough book if you want to read about the life of Septimius Severus or about Roman Britain in the early third century. Just don’t buy it if you want to read about what he did in Scotland.
May 5, 2018
This book is chiefly of value for the improved account of the campaigns of Septimius Severus in Scotland which Simon Elliott is able to provide by drawing on recent archaeological evidence and his own knowledge of Roman warfare. However, he doesn't get there until Chapter 7. The rest of the book is filled out with a description of the Roman military machine at the time of Septimius Severus, an account of the earlier life of the Emperor, and details of his aggrandisement of York as an Imperial Capital in advance of the campaigns.
The justification Elliott provides for the anachronistic use of the term 'Scots' in the title is half-hearted and unconvincing, leading to the suspicion that it may have been imposed on him by his publisher. In the text, he identifies the tribes which the Severan campaigns were intended to subdue as the Maeatae and the Caledonians.
Simon Elliott is of the 'It's Grim Up North' school of British historians. Northern Britain is described as 'that dimmest of Roman Border territories' and 'a Conradian heart of darkness'. It is even suggested that the blame for the failure of Rome to incorporate Northern Britain into the Empire can be laid at the door of the natives themselves, as they simply lacked 'an elite sophisticated enough' to buy into Rome's imperial project.
Elliott argues, with some evidence, that the campaign of genocide which Septimius Severus sought to unleash in Scotland was sufficiently thorough to remove the threat of attack from the North for 80 years. However, one is left wondering how consistent that idea is with the fact that, following his death, the northern border of the Empire reverted to the line of Hadrian's Wall. Adam Ardrey, in his book Finding Arthur (2013), suggests that Caracalla deliberately frustrated his ailing father's genocidal intentions with the aim of concluding a speedy peace with the Maeatae and Caledonians on his death.
The justification Elliott provides for the anachronistic use of the term 'Scots' in the title is half-hearted and unconvincing, leading to the suspicion that it may have been imposed on him by his publisher. In the text, he identifies the tribes which the Severan campaigns were intended to subdue as the Maeatae and the Caledonians.
Simon Elliott is of the 'It's Grim Up North' school of British historians. Northern Britain is described as 'that dimmest of Roman Border territories' and 'a Conradian heart of darkness'. It is even suggested that the blame for the failure of Rome to incorporate Northern Britain into the Empire can be laid at the door of the natives themselves, as they simply lacked 'an elite sophisticated enough' to buy into Rome's imperial project.
Elliott argues, with some evidence, that the campaign of genocide which Septimius Severus sought to unleash in Scotland was sufficiently thorough to remove the threat of attack from the North for 80 years. However, one is left wondering how consistent that idea is with the fact that, following his death, the northern border of the Empire reverted to the line of Hadrian's Wall. Adam Ardrey, in his book Finding Arthur (2013), suggests that Caracalla deliberately frustrated his ailing father's genocidal intentions with the aim of concluding a speedy peace with the Maeatae and Caledonians on his death.
December 6, 2020
In 209 and 210 CE the emperor Septimius Severus launched the Roman version of a "shock and awe" campaign to deal with the troublesome tribes of what would later become Scotland, sending a force of some 50,000 men north to the Midland Valley to seal of the Highlands. When the peace imposed by the campaign of 209 failed a second campaign in 210 resulted in what archeological evidence suggests amounted to genocide.
While the work reads more like an academic paper, replete with references, than a popular history, it's still quite useful for the casual student of Roman history. The author presents good background material on Septimius Severus, a North African by birth from the city of Lepcis Magna, as well as background on the Roman army, government, economy, and Roman Britain. He also gives some insight in how a professional historian draws conclusions by looking at numerous sources of information, from contemporary authors to archeological digs of Roman marching camps, inscriptions gravestones and monuments and coin hordes. He also addresses the use of the Roman regional navies in the campaign. I found it interesting that one unit identified in Britain was, from their name, identified as Tigris river boatmen.
Well worth the read.
While the work reads more like an academic paper, replete with references, than a popular history, it's still quite useful for the casual student of Roman history. The author presents good background material on Septimius Severus, a North African by birth from the city of Lepcis Magna, as well as background on the Roman army, government, economy, and Roman Britain. He also gives some insight in how a professional historian draws conclusions by looking at numerous sources of information, from contemporary authors to archeological digs of Roman marching camps, inscriptions gravestones and monuments and coin hordes. He also addresses the use of the Roman regional navies in the campaign. I found it interesting that one unit identified in Britain was, from their name, identified as Tigris river boatmen.
Well worth the read.
October 1, 2020
Packed with info, offers a fresh historical perspective on Severus’s campaign. A great book if you’re interested in this part of history and don’t mind the academic writing style.
June 5, 2018
usually I only review fiction here. But this qualifies, there are so many mistakes in this book, I was really upset, I had wasted time on it. It is written, by somebody, who really doesn'T know very much about the area he wrote about and does not care about research.
January 14, 2024
This is an extraordinarily interesting book that covers the massive Roman attacks on the area of Britain which would subsequently be recognised as Scotland.
The 209 and 210 AD campaigns are discussed in great detail, and although one of Septimius Severus's sons, Caracalla, was one of the principal leaders, Severus's roll was clearly key.
The book is also very descriptive of the northern British tribes of the period, who are identified as the Maeatae and the Caledonians. There are also some very interesting insights into Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall.
If you are interested in the Roman history of Scotland, or just history in general, I would absolutely read this book.
The 209 and 210 AD campaigns are discussed in great detail, and although one of Septimius Severus's sons, Caracalla, was one of the principal leaders, Severus's roll was clearly key.
The book is also very descriptive of the northern British tribes of the period, who are identified as the Maeatae and the Caledonians. There are also some very interesting insights into Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall.
If you are interested in the Roman history of Scotland, or just history in general, I would absolutely read this book.
May 23, 2021
The book could use more maps or better maps with more details than the two maps provided. The author assumes the reader knows more about the local locations of northern England. The style is in the mannor of an academic lecture which takes some adjusting from the reader. Not a quick read, at least for me, but worth the effort.
October 13, 2025
Septimius Severus in Scotland by Simon Elliot
Summary: In a previous book by Simon, we met the emperor Pertinax and learned of his succession to the purple following the assassination of Commodus. Unfortunately, Pertinax came to a similar fate pretty quickly, setting the stage for 193, the Year of Five Emperors. Once the dust settled, the man left standing was the warlord emperor, Septimius Severus.
Elliott takes an accelerated tour through Severus' life and surrounding events, but truly zeros in on the massive campaign he waged in the final years of his life, 208 to 211. This book highlights the ongoing challenge the province of Britain posed for the Empire; mutinous troops, poor profitability, and constant raids from the tribes north of Hadrian’s and Antoninus’s walls.
In these final battles, Severus assembled an army of over 50,000 for a war that verged on genocide of the northern tribes. The result brought about more than 80 years of relative peace in the area (for Rome), but it's true success is debatable. Especially given that Severus' sons abandoned much of the new territory as soon as Septimius died.
Overall, Elliott approaches the pages much as he did his biography of Pertinax, but this one feels lighter on the emperor himself. As the book advertises, it does give a lot of attention to life in Roman Britain and the forts, yet surprisingly gives only a few pages to the campaign itself. An interesting read for added context, but one you could skip if you’re looking for deeper dive into Septimius Severus.
Summary: In a previous book by Simon, we met the emperor Pertinax and learned of his succession to the purple following the assassination of Commodus. Unfortunately, Pertinax came to a similar fate pretty quickly, setting the stage for 193, the Year of Five Emperors. Once the dust settled, the man left standing was the warlord emperor, Septimius Severus.
Elliott takes an accelerated tour through Severus' life and surrounding events, but truly zeros in on the massive campaign he waged in the final years of his life, 208 to 211. This book highlights the ongoing challenge the province of Britain posed for the Empire; mutinous troops, poor profitability, and constant raids from the tribes north of Hadrian’s and Antoninus’s walls.
In these final battles, Severus assembled an army of over 50,000 for a war that verged on genocide of the northern tribes. The result brought about more than 80 years of relative peace in the area (for Rome), but it's true success is debatable. Especially given that Severus' sons abandoned much of the new territory as soon as Septimius died.
Overall, Elliott approaches the pages much as he did his biography of Pertinax, but this one feels lighter on the emperor himself. As the book advertises, it does give a lot of attention to life in Roman Britain and the forts, yet surprisingly gives only a few pages to the campaign itself. An interesting read for added context, but one you could skip if you’re looking for deeper dive into Septimius Severus.
November 15, 2024
Found it interesting in parts. But I would change the title of the book. I found it had more information surrounding the Roman Empire than stuff on Severus’s family. Would have been more enjoyable if he put all the information about Severus and family first then the other relevant info
April 16, 2020
2.5 ... barely
June 30, 2020
Rather dry
While full of facts there is a fair amount of filler. I suppose that is to be expected as primary sources are sparce.
While full of facts there is a fair amount of filler. I suppose that is to be expected as primary sources are sparce.
August 15, 2025
It's about as historically accurate as Game of Thrones.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews