"Elated by their glory, our army exclaimed that nothing could resist their valour--that they must penetrate the recesses of Caledonia, and at length after an unbroken succession of battles, discover the furthest limits of Britain."
Agricola's Early Campaign in Wales
In 78AD, Gnaeus Julius Agricola succeeded Sextus Julius Frontinus as governor of Britain. Frontinus had expanded the province into Wales, where he conquered all but the northern section.
Agricola had previously served in Britain as tribune under Suetonius Plautinus and as commander of Legio XX under Vetius Bolanus and Petillius Cerialis, later becoming the governor of Aquitania in 74AD before arriving back in Britain as governor. Agricola's Welsh campaign against the Ordovices, to complete the work of Frontinus, was completely successful:
- "As the Ordovices would not venture to descend into the plain, he [Agricola] put himself in front of the ranks to inspire all with the same courage against a common danger, and led his troops up a hill. The tribe was all but exterminated." (Tacitus, 18, Life of Agricola)
The next few years saw Agricola leading campaigns northward, primarily to the Scottish lowlands, and by 80AD, about as far as the River Tay (Tacitus, 22, Agricola: Tanaum or Taus). His forces skirmished with the tribes and secured lines of communication. Agricola's army built some "1,300 miles of roads in northern Britain, primarily to assist his military activity by linking over sixty forts and fortlets from Yorkshire-Lancashire to the edge of the Highlands." (Fry, Roman Britain, p. 79)
He toyed with sending an expedition to Ireland, figuring it would take "a single legion and a few auxilia" (Tacitus, 24, Agricola) or about 8,000-10,000 men, to secure that island, but was ordered by the Emperor Domitian to secure the area in Britain north across the Firth-Clyde isthmus. In the summer of 83, despite sending thousands of legionnaires back to the mainland to support Domitian's expedition agains the German tribes, he advanced again, as well as sent ships up the North Sea to explore the coast and look for suitable landing sites. This evidently provoked the Caledonians, and Legio IX's camp came under attack. The Caledonians attacked during the night, but a relieving force of cavalry and infantry sent by Agricola at dawn chased them away:
- "A double peril thus alarmed the Britons, while the courage of the Romans revived, and feeling sure of safety, they now fought for glory...there was a furious conflict within the narrow passages of the gates til the enemy were routed." (Tacitus, 26, Agricola).
However, the Caledonians were heartened by the action, and began to mass troops for a final battle under the leader Galgacus, also translated as Calgacus, the Romanized form for the Celtic word calgaich, meaning swordsman (Fry, The History of Scotland, p. 23).
To Mons Graupius
Agricola advanced "as far as the Grampian Mountains" (Tacitus, 29, Agricola), somewhere "north and northeast of Perth." (Collingswood, Roman Britain, p.23) Although the actual battlefield remains in some doubt, one possibility is "on a hill in Bennachie, some 18 miles northwest of Aberdeen, and about four miles from Durno." (Fry, Roman Britain, p. 81, and Fry, The History of Scotland, p. 24 quoting article by J. K. St. Joseph in Brittania). Durno is the site of an Agricolan military camp. Another places Agricola "at Raedykes near Stonehaven" (Herm, The Celts, p. 222)
Wherever the battlefield is located, the Caledonians held the hills. "The enemy, to make a formidable display, had posted himself on high ground." (Tacitus, 35, Agricola).
Galgacus gave a speech to the assembled troops on the evils of the Romans and the virtues of freedom.
- "They received his speech with enthusiasm, and is usual among barbarians, with songs, shouts, and discordant cries." (Tacitus, 33, Agricola)
As the Caledonians formed up, Agricola, with the Romans assembled on the plains, then gave a speech extolling the virtues of Roman might and disparaging the Britons' military prowess, and he arrayed his forces to face the Caledonians.
Forces
According to Tacitus, the Caledonians massed 30,000 troops in the foothills, including chariots and cavalry. The army consisted of:
- "more than 30,000 armed men were now to be seen, and still there were pressing in all the youth of the country with all whose old age was yet hale and vigorous, men renowned in war and each bearing decorations of his own." (Tacitus, 29, Agricola).
And they were arrayed as such:
- "His van was on the plain while the rest of his army rose in an arch-like form up the slope of a hill." (Tacitus, 35, Agricola).
"And now was seen the assembling of troops and the gleam of arms, with the boldest warriors stepped to the front." (Tacitus, 33, Agricola)
From the battle description, the chariots and cavalry were posted in the van on the plains along with skirmishers, with the rest of the troops upon the slopes.
Agricola faced them with 8,000 auxilia infantry and 3,000 cavalry, with another 2,000 cavalry ("four alae") in reserve. Among the auxilia were "three Batavian and two Tungrian cohorts," which usually consists of 500 (quingenaria) men, or in some cases and generally from the Flavian era onward, 1000 (milliaria) men. The "other auxiliary cohorts" are not named, but in the pre-battle speech, Galgacus notes "in the very ranks of the enemy, we shall find our own forces," (Tacitus, 32, Agricola) meaning Britons, Gauls, and Germans.
In addition, in reserve:
- "the legions were drawn up in front of the entrenched camp; his victory would be vastly more glorious if he won without the loss of Roman blood." (Tacitus, 35, Agricola).
How many legionnaires is not known, since some were siphoned off for Domitian's campaign. At the time, there were four legions in Britain: II Augusta, XX Valeria Victrix, IX Hispania, and II Adiutrix. At the beginning of Agricola's Scottish campaign, II Augusta was centered at Caerleon, IX Hispania at York, and XX Valeria Victrix and II Adiutrix at Chester. (Evans, Soldiers of Rome, p.82, 159). Vexillations (detachments) were taken from all four legions and sent to Domitian. (Webster, Roman Imperial Army, p. 56). The size of these detachments were 1,000 to 2,000 per legion, (Le Bohec, The Imperial Roman Army, p.30), although it could be less, for example, "2,000 men belonging to three legions" (Suetonius, The Twelve Ceasars, p. 282)
Tacitus writes about the Britons "disdaining the smallness of our numbers." (Tacitus, 37, Agricola). Tacitus notes that for this campaign:
- "Having sent on a fleet, which by its ravages might cause a vague and wide-spread alarm, he advanced with a lightly-equipped force...as far as the Grampian Mountains." (Tacitus, 29, Agricola)
Counting losses, garrisons, and detachments, and with the idea of a "lightly equipped force" and "smallness of our numbers," it is possible that the legions were much depleted at the battle, perhaps no more than 15,000 troops, probably even less. Note that in a pre-battle speech, Galgacus notes, "behind them you have nothing to dread, the forts are ungarrisoned" (Tacitus, 32, Agricola) although this entire speech should be considered a work of fiction and writer's editorial license more than hard fact.
Agricola stretched his men to cover his front.
- "fearing that from the enemy's superiority of force that he would be simultaneously attacked in front and on the flanks, widened his ranks, and several officers advised him to bring up the legions." (Tacitus, 35, Agricola)
Yet he did not, and in a display of confidence, or in a bit of Tacitus' well known drama, he "sent away his horse and took his stand on foot before the colours." (Tacitus, 35, Agricola)
The Battle of Mons Graupius
At first, "the plain between resounded with the noise and rapid movements of cavalry and chariots" (Tacitus, 35, Agricola) akin to previous battles. The chariots,
- "although at first spread panic, were soon impeded by the close array of our ranks and by the inequalities of the ground." (Tacitus, 36, Agricola)
Then the battle of the infantry started with an exchange of missile fire.
- "The Britons with equal steadiness and skill used their huge swords and small shields to avoid or to parry the missiles of our soldiers, while they themselves poured on us a dense shower of darts." (Tacitus, 36, Agricola)
Agricola then sent in the Batavians and Tungrians into melee, and they began to
- "close with the enemy, to strike them with their shields, to disfigure their faces, and overthrowing the force on the plain to advance their line up the hill" (Tacitus, 36, Agricola)
The other cohorts "joined in eager rivalry in cutting down all the nearest of the foe" and the Roman auxiliaries worked their way up the slope. In the meantime, the Caledonian cavalry was driven off, presumably by the Roman cavalry.
At this point, the Caledonians on the hill "begun gradually to descend, and to hem in the rear of the victorious army" (Tacitus, 37, Agricola), evidently performing the enveloping maneuver Agricola had tried to avert with the stretching of his line. The 3,000 Roman cavalry, which successfully had sent the Caledonian cavalry packing, failed to stop this assault, and was pushed back.
- "The battle had anything but the appearance of a cavalry action, for men and horses were carried along in confusion together." (Tacitus, 36, Agricola)
However, Agricola commmitted the 2,000 cavalry in reserve, and they pitched into the flank of the enveloping Caledonians, routed them, and pursued.
- "The cavalry from the general's order had wheeled round from the van of the contending armies, attacked his rear." (Tacitus, 37, Agricola)
The Caledonians fled, and the Roman auxiliaries pursued and slaughtered their foe.
- "Everywhere there lay scattered arms, corpses, and mangled limbs, and the earth reeked with blood." (Tacitus, 37, Agricola).
Although there were occasional stands, the Roman victory was complete. Tacitus describes a successful rally and counterattack at a woods, which ambushed the over-eager pursuers. Agricola threw a cordon of light cohorts around the wood and sent a mixed force of infantry and dismounted cavalry troopers into the wood to flush out the Caledonians. Except for these temporary rallies, the Caledonians "sought the shelter of distant and pathless wilds." (Tacitus, 37, Agricola)
Tacitus contends 10,000 Caledonians were killed versus the loss of 360 Romans, and presumably this does not include the inevitable losses of the Roman auxilia. Agricola sent out scouts to ascertain where the enemy fled, but they were too dispersed,and he marched his army back into winter quarters.
Agricola had been governor of Britain for six years (twice the normal time), and was recalled by the Emperor Domitian and given triumphal honors, including a statue. Court intrigue followed, so says Tacitus, and Agricola was put out to pasture amidst innuendo. Agricola's successors never completed the conquest of Caledonia, and plagued by diverting detachments to mainland Europe, eventually retreated southwards and abandoned Agricola's conquests.
Sources
The primary source material comes from Tacitus' Life of Agricola. Tacitus was the son-in-law of Agricola, and extols virtue after virtue. He is also privy to more first-hand information about the Battle of Mons Graupius than other battles in his histories, where his battle descriptions tend to be repetitive, and indeed, suspect.
Of further confusion are the various translations of his works, in which the translators provide a particular wording that does not necessarily mirror the other translations.
Take, for example, the line about the pursuit of the defeated Caledonians, and these two translations:
- "The wounded were pursued, prisoners were taken and struck down whenever others came."
"Our men pursued, wounded, made prisoners of the fugitives only to slaughter them when others fell in their way."
Between the two translations, there is a subtle difference, although both agree that the prisoners were executed.
The other source material come from Cassius Dio, who devotes only a short sentence to the campaigns of Agricola in his book on Roman History:
- "Meanwhile, war had again broken out in Britain, and Gnaeus Julius Agricola overran the whole of the enemy's territory there. He was the first of the Romans to discover that Britain is surrounded by water..." (Cassius Dio, LXVI 20, 1)
Archeological excavations in Scotland confirms the construction of the Roman forts, fortlets, and small towns, and helps narrow the search for the battle site. Note that the research regarding the battlefield location was presented in Brittania by J. K. St. Joseph and David Wilson, both of the Cambridge University Aerial Photography Unit.
Bibliography
Primary
Tacitus. Complete Works of Tacitus, edited by Moses Hadas, Random House, 1942.
Dio, Cassius. Roman History, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1925.
Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Penguin Books, 1989.
Caesar, Julius. The Conquest of Gaul. Penguin Books, 1951, revised 1982.
Secondary
Collingwood, R. G. Roman Britain. Oxford University Press, reprint Barnes & Noble, 1994.
de la Bedoyere, Guy. The Finds of Roman Britain. B.T. Batsford, Ltd., 1989.
Davies, Roy. Service in the Roman Army. Columbia University Press, 1989.
Dodge, Theodore A. Caesar. 1892, Da Capo reprint 1997.
Evans, Robert F. Soldiers of Rome. Seven Locks Press, 1986.
Fry, Plantagenet Somerset. Roman Britain. David and Charles Ltd., 1984, reprint Barnes & Noble 1995.
Fry, Peter and Fiona Somerset. The History of Scotland. 1982, reprint Barnes & Noble 1995.
Grant, Michael. The Army of the Caesars. Scribner's 1974.
Grant, Michael. Julius Caesar: A Biography. 1969, M. Evans reprint 1992.
Herm, Gerhard. The Celts. Wiedenfeld and Nicholson, Ltd. 1975, reprint, St. Martin's Press, 1977.
Keppie, Lawrence. The Making of the Roman Army. B.T. Batsford, Ltd. 1984, reprint, Barnes & Noble, 1994.
Le Bohec, Yann. The Roman Imperial Army. B.T. Batsford, Ltd. 1994.
McDermott, William C., and Orentzel. Anne E. Roman Portraits: The Flavian-Trajanic Period. Univ. of Missouri Press, 1979.
Wacher, John. The Coming of Rome: Britain Before the Conquest. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.
Webster, Graham. The Roman Imperial Army. A&C Black Ltd., reprint Barnes & Noble 1985.
Related
- Britain Before Agricola Overview of Roman Military Actions Prior to Mons Graupius
Roman Commanders in Britain Prior to Agricola by Russ Lockwood
Gnaeus Julius Agricola A Short Biography by Russ Lockwood
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