Caledonia
In the previous articles we have investigated the fascinating era of prehistory in Scotland. With the close of the Iron Age and the coming of the Romans, we start the age of recorded history. We enter a time where individual people have names and events have dates. Supposition gives way to facts; actions and their consequences may be followed.
Scotland's position, on the edge of the civilised world, meant that this period started at a later date than in other societies. But this does not mean that the country was populated with savages. We have seen that the indigenous peoples erected the mysterious Standing Stones and that they had an appreciation of art. They adorned themselves with jewellery and buried their dead with ceremony. The arrival of the Celtic tribes brought new technologies and beliefs. The Standing Stones fell into disuse and Druid priests performed their ceremonies in woodland clearings.
The Romans arrived on the shores of Britain, pursuing their enemies, the Celts, driving them to the furthest extremities of the British Isles. The Celtic tribes took refuge in Ireland (where the Romans never set foot) and in Scotland (where the Romans, despite mounting a number of invasions and even building forts, were always driven back).
Scotland at this time seems to have been composed of a number of indigenous peoples, intermarried with and possibly ruled by people of Celtic origin. Our knowledge of this period comes mainly from Roman writers who only recorded the names of tribes with which they had contact. Other tribes probably existed who were not powerful enough to warrant attention.
From these writings we know that there were a number of people inhabiting the area now known as Scotland. Circa 500 B.C. Himilco, the Carthaginian, talks of the northern part of Britain as the 'Isle of the Albiones'. Around 300 B.C. Pytheas travelled extensively and the report of his travels by Diodorus talks about a tribe named the Orcas or Orcades, which inhabited the north. The Orcas were again mentioned in 45 A.D.
During Agricola's campaign circa 80 A.D., Tacitus described the rivers Clyde and Forth. The land north of these was called Caledonia, indicating that the Caledonii were the most powerful tribe at this time. It is from Tacitus that we have a description of the Battle of Mons Grampius - the first written record of a battle fought on Scottish soil. We also learn from Tacitus that the leader of the Caledonii was Galgacus - the first time that an inhabitant of Scotland is individually named. Tacitus recorded the speech that Galgacus made before the battle. He reported that Galgacus said 'We, the most distant dwellers upon earth, the last of the free, have been shielded till today by our very remoteness and by the obscurity in which it has surrounded our name ... But there are no more nations beyond us; nothing is there but rocks and waves now, before us more deadly still than these - the Romans.'
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