Roman Scotland – a fantastic guest.
To discuss Roman Scotland I was joined by the fantastic Dr Andrew Tibbs. You can find him on twitter @RomanScotland.
He also teaches at Durham University
Dr Tibbs has written a few books which you might be interested in. The one I bought is ‘Beyond the Empire’ which is a great guide to the sites in Scotland. His new book, Facing the Enemy leans more towards the academic side, but still a great investment if you are interested in understanding 1st century Roman fortifications in Scotland. There’s also ‘A short guide to Hadrian’s Wall’ – I intend walking this at some point in the future so I’ll sure to have it to hand.
Maps of Scotland and some photos.
There’s a lot of geographical references in the episode so let’s start with an easy(ish) map of modern day Scotland. Again, this comes with the caveat I mentioned in the episode that Scotland is a much later geographical entity. There was no ‘Scotland’ in Roman times, just a frontier border which as you’ll hear waxed and waned.
Much of the activity (that we know of) occured in the lower part of Scotland. Though there are remnants found to the north of Aberdeen (on that hump on the east coast).
What’s also important is to know where Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall are located (or what is left).
Hadrian’s Wall isn’t in Scotland, it’s south of the modern border, but you can see how the Antonine Wall occupied a real chokepoint between the Firth of Forth (on the east) and the Clyde (to the west).
In the episode I mentioned how many foritfications there were. Well, these maps give a better idea and are all from @RomanScotland. This first map plots fortifications which have been linked to the first campaign.
The second campaign had a more concentrated spread. There’s also a key as well.
Finally, the third campaign.
Roman forts in the UK.
Aside from ruins there are some recreated Roman forts in the UK.
Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort.
Pictures and videos.
Not much survives, as you’ll hear in the episodes but here are some photos which give indications of what was there. Photos by Dr Andrew Tibbs.
Here are some great illustrations from Bob Marshall of the fort at Rough Castle.
This is a great video of Ardoch Roman Fort from above – you can certainly see how aerial perspectives reveal so much.
