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The Last Frontier: The Roman Invasions Of Scotland
The campaign to secure for Rome what would have been the most northern outpost of its empire—Scotland—was continually resisted and ultimately thwarted. Despite a significant victory in AD 83, the Roman army was forced to retreat to the Antonine Wall around 142 and back to Hadrian’s Wall around 180. Despite an invasion by the emperor himself in 209, the combined forces of the Picts and Scots proved too strong for the Romans.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
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About the author
Antony Kamm
39 books3 followersAntony Kamm read Classics and English at Oxford University. He was lecturer in publishing studies at the University of Stirling 1988-95. His publications include the Collins Biographical Dictionary of English Literature (1993), The Israelites: an introduction (Routledge,1999), The Last Frontier: the Roman invasions of Scotland (2004), and Julius Caesar: a life (Routledge, 2006).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 4, 2021
I was bit disappointed with this book. I nearly gave up on it after the first two chapters, which were in the form of very basic histories of the Celts and the Romans. Having read previously on both subjects, I found it too basic. The third chapter covers the Roman conquest of Southern Britain and it’s not until Chapter 4 – about a third of the way through the book - that we reach the advertised subject of the Roman invasions of Scotland. There were essentially three of these, beginning with that of Agricola late in the First century AD.
North of the Forth-Clyde isthmus most of Scotland is mountainous, and in the west a wet climate has resulted in saturated soil. For the Romans, the area was unattractive from both a military and an economic perspective. There is a strip of flatter land along the drier east coast, and archaeology tells us that Agricola’s army proceeded along this route as far as the Moray Firth. Subsequently the Romans retreated back to the area of the modern-day border, and Hadrian’s Wall was built around 120 AD.
The Romans moved north again about 20 years later, constructing the Antonine Wall between the Forth and Clyde estuaries, the narrowest part of the British mainland. It was abandoned a few decades later, and the last incursion was that led by the Emperor Septimius Severus in the early 3rd century. I had hoped the book would provide more information about this event, but details seem to be very sketchy. Archaeological excavations of marching camps tell us that the route of invasion was almost exactly that taken by Agricola. The end result was also the same, with the Romans once again retreating back behind Hadrian’s Wall. From that point on the pattern of invasion was reversed. It was much more likely that the Picts and Scots would come south of the wall, though each crossing was a giant razzia rather than an actual invasion. In this context, the author also mentions a mysterious people called the Attacotti, of whom I had not previously heard. He links them with the Western Isles but without explaining his reasoning or his sources.
The author suggests that the Roman invasions were sometimes cut short due to manpower issues. The Legions were needed to deal with some other crisis, usually on the Rhine frontier. In that sense, the Romans may have concluded that conquering Caledonia would leave them over-extended. It’s noticeable that at no point did the Romans even attempt to enter the Highlands, a country that to them would have looked very poor and wild.
The last chapters cover the post-Roman period and early medieval Scotland. This book is OK as an introduction to the subject, but there are more detailed works available.
North of the Forth-Clyde isthmus most of Scotland is mountainous, and in the west a wet climate has resulted in saturated soil. For the Romans, the area was unattractive from both a military and an economic perspective. There is a strip of flatter land along the drier east coast, and archaeology tells us that Agricola’s army proceeded along this route as far as the Moray Firth. Subsequently the Romans retreated back to the area of the modern-day border, and Hadrian’s Wall was built around 120 AD.
The Romans moved north again about 20 years later, constructing the Antonine Wall between the Forth and Clyde estuaries, the narrowest part of the British mainland. It was abandoned a few decades later, and the last incursion was that led by the Emperor Septimius Severus in the early 3rd century. I had hoped the book would provide more information about this event, but details seem to be very sketchy. Archaeological excavations of marching camps tell us that the route of invasion was almost exactly that taken by Agricola. The end result was also the same, with the Romans once again retreating back behind Hadrian’s Wall. From that point on the pattern of invasion was reversed. It was much more likely that the Picts and Scots would come south of the wall, though each crossing was a giant razzia rather than an actual invasion. In this context, the author also mentions a mysterious people called the Attacotti, of whom I had not previously heard. He links them with the Western Isles but without explaining his reasoning or his sources.
The author suggests that the Roman invasions were sometimes cut short due to manpower issues. The Legions were needed to deal with some other crisis, usually on the Rhine frontier. In that sense, the Romans may have concluded that conquering Caledonia would leave them over-extended. It’s noticeable that at no point did the Romans even attempt to enter the Highlands, a country that to them would have looked very poor and wild.
The last chapters cover the post-Roman period and early medieval Scotland. This book is OK as an introduction to the subject, but there are more detailed works available.
November 8, 2015
A reasonably good, concise history of Roman Scotland. At times it suffered from being a bit too superficial, and could have really benefited from some photographs and clearer maps.
February 8, 2016
The book is a wonderful ‘go to’ book for reference as a broad overview of the Roman Empire, with a partial focus on the history of Roman Britain. However, I was hoping for more of the book to cover the few hundred years of roman occupation in Scotland and that isn’t what I found. For that reason I think the title is a bit misleading- though having read a number of other texts on Roman Scotland, I realise it’s a difficult job to fill the pages purely on Roman Scotland finds. That said, I will be dipping into the book again and again, since I can’t absorb all Kamm has written in one read.
July 15, 2015
Kamm goes into some detail regarding the political transitions in Rome, but the story still arcs around Scotland. It was very helpful in piecing together some of the historical events in the region, chronologically. The primary sources he's chosen to quote in the book are fascinating.
April 22, 2019
Good introduction
A good overall introduction to Roman interventions and ambitions in Scotland with good background the pre advisor historical events - good biographical notes too
A good overall introduction to Roman interventions and ambitions in Scotland with good background the pre advisor historical events - good biographical notes too
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews