Caracalla Campaign in Scotland 211 AD
Who Fought
Roman forces numbered approximately 40,000 men under Severus at the outset of the 208 invasion, with another source citing 50,000. The strength of Caledonian forces is unrecorded, though multiple northern tribes cooperated
Rome.
History & Significance
The Roman invasion of Caledonia was launched in 208 by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The invasion lasted until late 210, when the emperor became ill and died at Eboracum (York) on 4 February 211. The war started well for the Romans with Severus managing to quickly reach the Antonine Wall, but when Severus pushed north into the highlands he became bogged down in a guerrilla war and he was never able to fully subjugate Caledonia. He reoccupied many forts built by Agricola over 100 years earlier, following the Battle of Mons Graupius, and crippled the ability of the Caledonians to raid Roman Britain.
The invasion was abandoned by Severus' son Caracalla and Roman forces once again withdrew to Hadrian's Wall.
The cause of Severus' invasion of Caledonia (modern day Scotland) was a massive increase in raids and attacks on Roman Britain. This was possible because in 195 Clodius Albinus, the Roman Governor of Britain, had led most of the British legions into Gaul during his revolt against Severus. Severus had sent them back to their posts after defeating Albinus, but they had suffered large casualties at the Battle of Lugdunum. This left Hadrian's Wall undermanned and made it easy for the Caledonians to raid into Roman Britain. The Caledonians were also able to gather more men for these raids than before as there is evidence of increased cooperation among the different northern tribes.
In 208, Severus arrived in Britain with around 40,000 men and marched north to Hadrian's Wall. Once at Hadrian's Wall Severus initiated a massive rebuilding project which finally made the whole wall into stone (before the western portion had been mostly turf and timber), and served as a barrier against more attacks. After starting the project Severus marched north and occupied all the land between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall. After completing the occupation Severus began another reconstruction project but this time on the Antonine Wall.
In 209, Severus led his army north into the highlands and roughly marched the same way Agricola had invaded over 100 years before. Severus suffered heavy casualties due to the guerrilla tactics used by the Caledonians. Because of this Severus began a plan of holding down all the territory he could by the reoccupation of many of Agricola's old forts and devastating all the territory he couldn't. This led to many of the tribes attempting to reach a peace agreement with Severus because of fear of extinction through Roman genocide. Peace talks failed and it looked as if the war would continue until all the tribes had submitted to Rome or been exterminated.
The ground they fought on
The site of Caracalla Campaign in Scotland 211 AD lies on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Neoproterozoic, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is mafic igneous-rock.
Caracalla's abandonment of the Caledonian war was driven entirely by political calculation: on the death of his father Severus at York on 4 February 211, he called off the campaign against the Caledonians and returned to Rome to consolidate his power, leaving behind all the territory his father had fought so hard to secure. Although Caracalla had himself led a ferocious punitive expedition north of the Antonine Wall in early 210, ordering the killing of all those encountered and the looting and burning of everything of value, no lasting Roman foothold remained in the Highlands once he ordered the withdrawal to Hadrian's Wall.
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- Roman invasion of Caledonia (208–211) · Wikipedia
- Septimius Severus · Wikipedia