Study Discussion Regarding the sources on Caledonia

[Blaze26]

I am planning an essay on the Roman Governors of Britain, and have come to a dilemma in my reasoning. Would the Romans have classed the Caledonians as "Britons"? If not, then my use of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae will be undermined... I am assuming they would have done, but at the point I'm assessing (100AD-ish) it is possible the Caledonians were beyond the boundary of what was considered the Roman Empire. What does everyone think?

[guy]

On 5/28/2023 at 8:12 AM, Blaze26 said:

it is possible the Caledonians were beyond the boundary of what was considered the Roman Empire. What does everyone think?

I defer to the many folks on this site who know this subject (and geography) far better than I. 

I would assume that the Romans usually thought of the Caledonians as beyond the boundary (and active interest) of the Roman Empire.

After the inability to hold on to the gains achieved by the victory at the Battle of Mons Graupius in AD 83/84, the Roman army quickly returned to more settled (and “civilized”) Romanized England.

 

 

I imagine that Hadrian’s Wall (AD 122) and the briefly-held Antonine Wall (AD 142) best defined for the Romans the demarcation between Roman-friendly Britons and the less Romanized Caledonians. These walls may have been more of a control gate for trade and commerce between north and south than an absolute border. These walls, nevertheless, would have served as psychological barriers between Roman and “barbarian.”

Even the later ill-fated incursions back into Scotland by Septimius Severus (AD 208-210) were quickly reversed by his son Caracalla.

You may want to contact UNRV Gordopolis who is a Scottish writer and historian about his perspective.

https://www.unrv.com/forum/profile/51701-gordopolis/

Edited May 30, 2023 by guy

[caldrail]

It's a matter of context. If the Romans are discussing all the peoples who lived on the isles then yes, they are Britons. However, normally they refer to Britons as the tribes within their sphere of influence and specifically name the Caledonians as Pictii (the Painted People) both because they were a barbarian people in opposition to the presence of Rome but also the clear separation in culture..

Always bear in mind that Rome did not classify people according to nation states, it was about region and tribe. Where the Romans didn't know the tribes very well they tended to be more generic, such as the more distant northern tribes referred to as Germani (Spear-man, or 'True Celt')

Edited May 30, 2023 by caldrail