Part 19

In the year of Rome 832. A.D. 79.

Many vestiges of these or other Roman camps yet remain in different parts of Great Britain. Two principal ones, in the county of Annandale, in Scotland, called Burnswork and Middleby, are described at large by Gordon in his Itiner. Septentrion, pp. 16, 18.

The year of Rome 833, A.D. 80.

Now the Firth of Tay.

The principal of these was at Ardoch, seated so as to command the entrance into two valleys, Strathallan and Strathearn. A description and plan of its remains, still in good preservation, are given by Mr. Pennant in his Tour in Scotland in 1772, part ii. p. 101.

The year of Rome 834, A.D. 81.

The Firths of Clyde and Forth.

The neck of land between these opposite arms of the sea is only about thirty miles over. About fifty-five years after Agricola had left the island, Lollius Urbicus, governor of Britain under Antoninus Pius, erected a vast wall or rampart, extending from Old Kirkpatrick on the Clyde, to Caeridden, two miles west of Abercorn, on the Forth, a space of nearly thirty-seven miles, defended by twelve or thirteen forts. These are supposed to have been on the site of those of Agricola. This wall is usually called Graham's dike; and some parts of it are now subsisting.

The year of Rome 835, A.D. 82.

Crossing the Firth of Clyde, or Dumbarton Bay, and turning to the western coast of Argyleshire, or the Isles of Arran and Bute.

The Bay of Biscay.

The Mediterranean.

The year of Rome 836, A.D. 83.

The eastern parts of Scotland, north of the Firth of Forth, where now are the counties of Fife, Kinross, Perth, Angus, &c.

This legion, which had been weakened by many engagements, was afterwards recruited, and then called Gemina. Its station at this affair is supposed by Gordon to have been Lochore in Fifeshire. Mr. Pennant rather imagines the place of the attack to have been Comerie in Perthshire.

For an account of these people see Manners of the Germans, c. 32.

Mr. Pennant had a present made him in Skye, of a brass sword and a denarius found in that island. Might they not have been lost by some of these people in one of their landings?

The Rhine.

This extraordinary expedition, according to Dio, set out from the western side of the island. They therefore must have coasted all that part of Scotland, must have passed the intricate navigation through the Hebrides, and the dangerous strait of Pentland Firth, and, after coming round to the eastern side, must have been driven to the mouth of the Baltic Sea, Here they lost their ships; and, in their attempt to proceed homeward by land, were seized as pirates, part by the Suevi, and the rest by the Frisii.

The year of Rome 837, A.D. 84.

The scene of this celebrated engagement is by Gordon (Itin. Septent.) supposed to be in Strathern, near a place now called the Kirk of Comerie, where are the remains of two Roman camps. Mr. Pennant, however, in his Tour in 1772, part ii. p. 96, gives reasons which appear well founded for dissenting from Gordon's opinion.

The more usual spelling of this name is Galgacus; but the other is preferred as of better authority.

"Peace given to the world" is a very frequent inscription on the Roman medals.

It was the Roman policy to send the recruits raised in the provinces to some distant country, for fear of their desertion or revolt.

How much this was the fate of the Romans themselves, when, in the decline of the empire, they were obliged to pay tribute to the surrounding barbarians, is shown in lively colors by Salvian:--"We call that a gift which is a purchase, and a purchase of a condition the most hard and miserable. For all captives, when they are once redeemed, enjoy their liberty: we are continually paying a ransom, yet are never free."--De Gubern. Dei, vi.

The expedition of Claudius into Britain was in the year of Rome 796, from which to the period of this engagement only forty-two years were elapsed. The number fifty therefore is given oratorically rather than accurately.

The Latin word used here, covinarius, signifies the driver of a covinus, or chariot, the axle of which was bent into the form of a scythe. The British manner of fighting from chariots is particularly described by Caesar, who gives them the name of esseda:--"The following is the manner of fighting from essedae: They first drive round with them to all parts of the line, throwing their javelins, and generally disordering the ranks by the very alarm occasioned by the horses, and the rattling of the wheels: then, as soon as they have insinuated themselves between the troops of horse, they leap from their chariots and fight on foot. The drivers then withdraw a little from the battle, in order that, if their friends are overpowered by numbers, they may have a secure retreat to the chariots. Thus they act with the celerity of horse, and the stability of foot; and by daily use and exercise they acquire the power of holding up their horses at full speed down a steep declivity, of stopping them suddenly, and turning in a short compass; and they accustom themselves to run upon the pole, and stand on the cross-tree, and from thence with great agility to recover their place in the chariot."--Bell. Gall. iv. 33.

These targets, called cetrae, in the Latin, were made of leather. The broad sword and target were till very lately the peculiar arms of the Highlanders.