Mons Graupius Identified

Factor 2. The Archaeological Source; Marching Camps

While exercising caution over Tacitus boastfulness we must however note that the bulk of the story enlightens an episode in time whose precise details are otherwise lost to us. To understand the context of those times therefore and the movements of the great Roman armies on campaign in Scotland we find the “marching camp” of great assistance (link to marching camps).

CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

Scotland already has a finer tally of marching camps than known anywhere else in the world, tangible evidence of ongoing military activity for over more than three hundred years.
Undoubtedly the far from complete picture we have of these camps will improve as more are located in the future however for the present sufficient exist – if we allow a degree of latitude for the various gaps in the completeness of our knowledge– to put together a tolerable “broad-brush” picture of the sequence of likely Roman campaigns.

The Flavian period (Circa 71 AD to 98 AD):

While Tacitus claims the honour for Agricola being the first Roman governor to invade the lands of “new” peoples it is modern era historians who have interpreted and identified these as Scotland. No national boundary of such existed in those days and it is almost certain that the Romans had previously explored parts of Scotland (link to Timeline 77AD) and had undertaken limited campaigning here as part of extended operations against southern Scottish tribes drawn into Venutius`s doomed Brigantian resistance in the north of England (link to Timeline 71AD)

Following Agricola’s tenure as governor (to whom we shall return to shortly), extensive fort building operations took place dateable to his successor – probably - Sallustius Lucullus.

He was in a stronger position than Agricola. By 82 AD Agricola had been forced to send the equivalent of a legion (comprised of vexillations supplied by all four resident legions in the British garrison) and we can assume these were accompanied as standard practice by a matching number of auxiliaries to assist in Domitian’s problematic Chatti campaign on the continent.

These had returned to Britain by this time. As well as the great many involved at this stage building permanent installations in over-run territory, troops were also now available in sufficient numbers to enable some to be sent in a column into the far north in the year(s) immediately following the battle. This would be done to secure formal treaties of submission from those large tribal groups located geographically beyond the limits of the previous years campaigning and fighting and again was standard Roman practice beyond frontiers following success in war.

This would attempt to ensure there would be no further organised resistance to the Roman order – the Pax Romana - in the north of Scotland.

At this period in time the area which the Romans held with fixed installations extended to Stracathro in Angus and was probably planned to extend further north to the strategically located Mounth near Stonehaven.

Following Lucullus removal and damnation by the Emperor Domitian Rome’s hold on the north waned for a variety of reasons (link to Timeline 88 – 100 AD). This period of ever southward retreating frontiers was characterised by small beleaguered garrisons ultimately abandoning their forts rather than the large grand armies of conquest of the earlier and later periods.

By the years of the early 2nd C AD large elements of the British garrison were on vexillation service on the continent, shoring up its defences following a drain on manpower there to fuel Trajan’s Dacian expansionist wars in the Balkans. In Britain however the Romans were on the defensive.
The frontier had retrenched to the Stanegate in northern England due to manpower shortages in the face of a resurgent Caledonian federation and belligerent southern Scottish tribes left increasingly to their own devices. Roman intervention was infrequent and at least once disastrous (link to the Eagle of the Ninth article).

By this period the morphology of Roman marching camps (link to Roman Marching Camps) had changed. Morphology refers to the physical proportions and characteristics of these camps.

Marching camps of the Flavian period are generally squarish or are described as sub-rectangular in form. Some also sport “Clavicular” style gateways, a feature which does not appear to have been much utilised after the Flavian period. These types of camp have been confidently attributed to the Flavian period in Scotland as some have been found to underlie features of later Flavian date -fort annexe at Stracathro for instance - and have yielded artifacts datable to the Flavian period – pottery sherds at Carey for example.

Marching camps later than the Flavian period exhibit a distinctly elongated rectangular plan and this shapes adoption for “better ventilation”- no minor consideration when every contubernium would have a wood fuelled fire - is explained by Pseudo Hyginus in the late 2nd C AD. Whether exhibiting a 1:1.5 proportion or even a more elongated rectangular form, these are later Roman camps belonging to the many sojourns of Roman forces operating in Scotland between circa 120 AD and circa 403 AD.

This physical characteristic is fundamental to our understanding of where Roman armies securely datable to the Flavian period marched and the events highlighted above belong. These characteristics are also critical in allowing us to identify camps displaying morphology clearly later than and therefore not belonging to the Flavian period (article forthcoming).

The size of marching camps is also of critical importance in that it allows an estimate to be made of the size of the forces these camps contained.

The earlier “Polybian” system was still probably in use in Agricola’s time and it gives realistic capacities in camps campaigning in Scotland. At 25 acres the space noted for a legion of some 5,500 men is greater than the area noted by Hyginus a century later than the events in 83 AD. Hyginus work though is contradictory in matters of detail and while the Polybian model may be considered by some as slightly generous for the Imperial forces less reliant on large baggage trains used in Polybius time it does however reflect very well indeed the need to accommodate various other factors.

These range from the large cavalry contingents - a noteworthy element of Agricola’s force, adequate space for Governors (in many cases even Emperors) entourages, their large bodyguard units and the grain convoys that undoubtedly accompanied Roman forces in Scotland where foraging could not be relied on alone to feed such vast numbers of men and beasts.

For lesser camps the ratio still works well as smaller camps have a greater proportion of their area vis-a-vie larger ones devoted to the standardised dimensions of defensive perimeter and internal streets.

The desktop rule of thumb we apply then is a notional 4.5 acres per 1,000 troops and Roman surveyors would have had rules of thumb to calculate the capacity of a camp based on the length in paces of each side of the camp.

Some degree of discrepancy would no doubt arise between each camp due to the human factor of setting these out by physically pacing the distance, chains being impractical over such distances. A Roman regulation “pace” of five (Roman) feet was measured as two steps which equates to 1.47m metric. Many camps, especially larger ones display rhomboidal shapes and this is symptomatic where high ground contained within vast camps precluded ready triangulation between opposing corners by the surveyors on the ground.

Also, at around 3 defensive camp stakes per running foot of rampart perimeter, the capacities noted above –the Roman infantryman each carried two of these stakes- held the correct quantity of stakes to crown the perimeter rampart and allow further caltrop type arrangements to be formed outwith the rampart without recourse to carrying more stakes in the baggage train or alternatively being inundated with a gross surplus.

The importance of this evidence, coupled with the locations of probable early occupation period permanent forts (i.e. Agricolan) is of exceptional importance in demonstrating where the Romans actually were during the Flavian period and by default where they were not.

The marching camps attributable to the Flavian period excluding those camps in southern Scotland not relevant to the events of 82 and 83 AD are:

NAME:	REGION:	TRIBE:	ACRES:	RATIO:	CAPACITY:

Ardoch 1	Perth	Venicones	<14 (e)	1:1.19 (e)	3,100
Ardoch 2	Perth	Venicones	<11.3 (e)	1:1 (e)	2,500
Auchinhove*	Moray	Taexali	>27.2	1:1.1	>6,000
Bellie	Moray	Taexali	>24	<1:1.33	>5,300
Burnfield	Aberdeen	Taexali	<40	1:1.3	<8,800
Bochastle* (1)	Stirling	Caledonii	47.7	1:1.45	10,600
Bonnytown	Fife	Horesti	22.2	1:1.07	4,900
Cardean	Perth	Venicones	33.4	1:1.4	7,400
Carey	Perth	Venicones	113.8	1:1.05	25,300
Carmuirs	Falkirk	Votadini	11.6	1:1.17	2,500
Carpow	Perth	Venicones	109.5	1:1.03	24,300
Castledykes 1*	Lanark	Dumnonii	60	1:1.23	13,300
Castledykes 2*	Lanark	Dumnonii	41	1:1.18	9,100
Dalginross*	Perth	Caledonii	22.3	1:1.07	5,000
Dornock	Perth	Venicones	23.2	1:1.38	5,100
Dun	Angus	Vacomagi	8.1	1.21	1,800
Dunblane	Stirling	Votadini	32.7	1:1.23	7,200
Dunning	Perth	Venicones	116.3	1:1.04	25,800
Dunipace	Falkirk	Votadini	115.8	1:1.1	25,700
Finavon	Angus	Vacomagi	37.3	1:1.16	8,300
Inchtuthil 1	Perth	Caledonii	50.2	1:1.13	11,100
Inchtuthil 2	Perth	Caledonii	36.6	1:1.2	8,100
Inveresk	Lothian	Votadini	53.2	1:1.03	11,800
Inverquharity*	Angus	Vacomagi	5.7	1:1.17	1,200
Kintore 1 (3)	Aberdeen	Taexali	>29.7	1:1.3	6,600
Lochlands 1*	Falkirk	Votadini	23.7	1:1.27	5,200
Lochlands 2	Falkirk	Votadini	44.5	1:1.24	9,800
Malling 1*	Stirling	Caledonii	26.4	1:1.29	5,800
Malling 2*	Stirling	Caledonii	11.5	1:1.07	2,500
Newstead 1	Borders	Selgovae	50	1:1.1	11,100
Newstead 2	Borders	Selgovae	40.7	1:1.05	9,000
Pathhead (2)	Lothian	Votadini	137.6	1:1	30,500
Stracathro*	Angus	Vacomagi	39.3	1:1.13	8,700
Steeds Stalls	Perth	Caledonii	5.2	1:1	1,100
Ythan Wells*	Aberdeen	Taexali	26.2	1:1.03	5,800

Notes:

(e) : Extrapolated size on basis of the space available and the relationship of the partial remains to other later features on the site.
* : Indicates that clavicular gates are present.
(1) : The unusually extended proportions at Bochastle have been attributed to the topographical constraints of the site.
(2) : The enormous Flavian enclosure at Pathhead has long suffered incorrect identification as a 165 acre “series” Severan camp. At 137 acres it is too small for this association and exhibits neither Severan characteristics nor proportions.
Areas: Areas noted are taken from various printed sources with latest RCAHMS dimensions taking precedence. All areas have been arithmetically checked.
Acre: 1 Imperial Acre = 0.404 metric Hectare (Ha). To help visualisation, a football pitch is approximately 1 acre. This helps illustrate how vast some marching camps are.
Multiples: Camp numbers given indicate there are multiple camps on the same site; the numbers given are not based on any particular numbering system used elsewhere.
(3) : The large late Roman camp at Kintore 2 is not included here. C14 analysis of some bread ovens suggest both a possible Flavian period and a 3rd C use. The latter suits the camps elongated morphology inspiring confidence in the known layouts late Roman horizon. Further as the camps ditches show no clear signs of recutting (i.e. reuse on exactly the same lines at a later date) then the precise nature of this locations use in an earlier Flavian period cannot be understood properly, but may possibly be related to the 30 acre series Flavian force that passed this way - possibly even the northbound camp while the camp at nearby Kintore 1 may be its southbound return encampment. Regrettably no such smaller sized camps' defences were sought during rescue excavation in advance of house building.

Marching camps with ratios of length to breadth greater than the above and with different characteristics are later Roman marching camps. These non-Flavian examples properly belong to the various late Roman campaigns (article forthcoming) in Scotland undertaken by the following commanders:

Lollius Urbicus (circa 139-140 AD)
Activity during the Antonine occupation period (circa 141-165 AD)
Ulpius Marcellus (circa 180-184)
The Emperor Septimus Severus (circa 209-210 AD)
The Emperor Constantius Chlorus (circa 306 AD)
Constantine (circa 312 AD)
The Emperor Constans (circa 342 AD)
Lipucinus (circa 360 AD)
Theodosius -the elder- (circa 369 AD)
Maximus Magnus (circa 382 AD)
Flavius Stilicho (circa 395 AD)

NEXT PAGE: Factor 3. Interpretation: A Practical Analysis

Return to the Contents

SPQR