Did the Romans conquer Scotland?

The Romans tried to invade Caledonia (what we now call Scotland) several times, but never managed to completely control it.

Large parts of southern Scotland were ruled over by the Romans, but conquering the whole land proved too difficult and parts of it were left unconquered.

In AD122, the Emperor Hadrian (AD117 to 138) ordered his soldiers to build a wall between Roman Britain and Caledonia.

Hadrian's Wall served as a military border but was also a hub of travel and trade.

Important words on whether the Romans conquered Scotland.

Watch the video to learn more about the Roman invasion of Scotland.

By the end of the first century AD, Rome controlled most of southern Britain.

However, it was a different story in Scotland - it was still controlled by fierce warrior tribes (a group of people who share similar ideas or culture like language, food, clothing and religion), who refused to bow to the Roman Empire.

The Romans were interested in Scotland for several reasons:

• Scotland had valuable natural resources, like lead, silver and gold.

• The Romans could also get rich by charging the people they conquered taxes and forcing them to become enslaved (to be captured by someone and forced to work).

• The Romans came for ‘the glory of Rome’ too. They wanted to conquer new lands and make their empire even bigger and better.

In Roman times, there was no such country as Scotland.

What we now know as Scotland was called ‘Caledonia’, and the people were known as the ‘Caledonians’.

Caledonia was made up of groups of people or tribes.

These included the Caledones, Damnoni, Taexali, Votadini and Venicones.

Some got on peacefully with the Romans, but others fought back.

In the summer of AD83 or AD84 some Caledonian tribes joined forces and stood against the invading Roman army.

The two sides fought at a place called Mons Graupius (the Grampian Mountains).

The Romans were led by the general Julius Agricola and the Caledonians were led by a fierce chief named Calgacus.

The Caledonians had as many as 30,000 warriors, about twice as many as the Romans, but the Romans were better organised and defeated the Caledonians.

Calgacus and his army fled but the Caledonians returned many times to raid the Roman frontier.

Watch the video to learn more about how successful the Roman invasion of Scotland really was.

The Caledonian attacks were costing the Romans time and money.

In AD122, the Emperor Hadrian ordered his soldiers to build a wall between Roman Britain and Caledonia.

It stretched across the whole of the West to East coast of the North of England.

The Romans also built forts and stationed soldiers along the wall to keep watch and fend off any attacks.

Soldiers on the wall came from all over the Roman Empire, from Spain to North Africa.

Hadrian's Wall was built for defense but it was also home to different cultures, travel hubs and trading posts.

In AD140 the Romans added another wall further North inside Caledonia, between the River Clyde and the River Forth.

It was called the Antonine Wall after the Emperor Antoninus.

As it was deep inside Northern Caledonia it was often attacked by Caledonian tribes, from both sides.

In AD160 the Romans abandoned the Antonine Wall and moved its soldiers further South to Hadrian’s Wall, which was more easy to defend.

The Roman's main concern was to protect Roman Britain from attack.

After the Battle of Mons Graupius, most Caledonian tribes accepted the Roman rule.

Some tribes were bribed (to offer someone something to help you or make them do what you want) or given gifts by the Romans.

In AD200 to 300 there was more fighting along Hadrian's Wall, Emperor Septimius Severus (AD193 to 211) had to come to Britain to fight the Caledonian tribes. This was the last major Roman battle in Caledonia (Scotland).

Attacks increased in AD300 to 400 and the Roman army finally packed up and left in AD410.

Barbarian (what the Romans and Greeks called someone who was not Roman and Greek) tribes were attacking the city of Rome and the Emperor Honorius (AD393 to 423) decided that the Roman legions in Britain were needed elsewhere.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

• Why did the Romans have such a tough time conquering a land with such a small population?

• Why did the Romans continue to try and conquer Scotland?

• Why was it significant that the Romans never fully conquered Scotland?

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