Introduction
This evening I am reporting on Ardoch Roman Fort at Braco in central Scotland. This has been prompted by a recent article in the Daily Express newspaper the core of which is repeated below. The article is attributed to Joel Day and was published on May 14th 2021.
Background Information
Archaeologists have been amazed by the “fascinating” layers of Roman history at Scotland’s Ardoch Fort for years.
Note: Please bear in mind that the English and Scots did not arrive until around the 5th-6th centuries AD. These arrivals (from Germany and Ireland) occurred after the Romans had departed.
The Romans conquered most of mainland Britain in the first century AD. While Julius Caesar first stepped foot in Britain in 55 BC, it would be another 100 years before the conquest began. The first place the Roman Empire’s soldiers are believed to have landed is at Pegwell Bay in Thanet, Kent. This location is on the south coast of what is now England.
While England is famed for its numerous Roman structures like Hadrian’s Wall and Vindolanda, Scotland has its fair share of Roman structures.
The Empire called Scotland “Caledonia”. This is derived from the Caledonii, the Latin name for a local tribe in what is now Scotland.
Ardoch Roman Fort: First and Second centuries AD
At Ardoch the military built one of the Empire’s largest and most intricate sites..
Initial construction, in the first century AD, was undertaken in context of a plan to conquer all of mainland Britain.
Ardoch’s “fascinating” nature was explored during History Hit’s documentary, ‘Fortress Britain: Ardoch Roman Fort’.This was presented and researched by Tristan Hughes. Hughes explained that the fort was layered with the work of Roman soldiers who lived years apart, This was because the fort was built and reconstructed under two separate dynasties.
Talking through the fort’s Flavian Dynasty section, a period ruled by Emperor Vespasian and later his two sons. Mr Hughes said: “The remains of the Flavian Fort can be seen as very extensive.” “The far reaches of the ditches are visible to this day”.
“Ardoch is a fascinating site because it doesn’t just have the remains of a Flavian Fort.”, The fort has shrunk a little because that is a later Antonine Fort. Antonine meaning the period AD 138-161 when Antoninus Augustus Pius was emperor.
The Romans would later return to the fort after the Antonine Wall had been built.It was here that they extended the fort, repurposing it to cater for the Empire’s new ambitions. Historian Rebecca Jones, speaking during the documentary, explained: “It had a different function at that point.” In the First Century it was a fort where they were planning on conquering the whole of Scotland. In the Second Century, the line had been drawn across central Scotland between the Firth and the Clyde islands. “And so it’s an outpost fort to the north, controlling that area north of the Wall.”
Ardoch Roman Fort: Third Century AD
When the Severan campaigns occurred in the Third Century the Roman didn’t occupy the fort but nearby camps. They were not in the region for very long. They were on a temporary mission to quell disturbances in the north used the camps as a base for attacks. Existing forts like Ardoch were left unused in later life.
Decline of the Romans in Britain.
It is worth noting that the Roman Empire was huge, spanning Scotland to Syria, and at one point parts of Iran.
Maintaining and controlling such a vast area proved difficult, especially with a tense domestic political situation in Rome.
Roman presence in Britain gradually began to decline from 370 AD with final exit in AD 410. Each outpost left at staggered times, believed to be returning to Rome to defend the city
It’s also been suggested that the Empire could no longer defend itself against external threats posed by Germanic tribes.
After the Romans left, Britain fell into chaos as native tribes and foreign invaders battled it out for power.
Angles, Saxons and Franks soon spread throughout the country and gave rise to the English language.
More information
The publication Visitors’ Guide to Scotland contains sections on the Antonine Wall and Hadrian’s Wall. There is also a wide range of information for the tourist. ISBN is 978-1-9161332-0-4. Also available via Kindle.