Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Final Frontier: Scotland's Early Roman Landscape" by Andrew Tibbs is a fascinating book and an enlightening one. It's also one of those books you know you'll want to return to time and again when planning excursions out into the Scottish countryside. Clearly and interestingly written and superbly illustrated in colour with maps and drone photographs of sites, this is a book we'd recommend to anyone with an interest in Scotland and its history.

There may still be people who believe the Roman empire stopped at Hadrian's Wall, though no one who follows author Andrew Tibbs' "Roman Scotland" social media accounts will be amongst them. As he says at the start of the first chapter of this book: "Scotland was invaded by the Romans on at least three occasions. The first was around AD 77-86/90 and is known as the Flavian period." After discussing the two main later incursions, the author goes on to say: "In this book, I focus on the 120 or so Roman sites built during the Flavian period, many of which were not subsequently altered or destroyed by later Roman activity, making it easier to examine them in their landscape setting."

This means, of course, that the book covers only some of the Roman sites in Scotland: but because of the focus it does so in a way that allows the reader a clear understanding of what the Romans were doing here during their first incursion and what they were seeking to achieve with their camps, forts and fortlets. The book begins with a series of chapters looking at Scotland in the first century, at fortification types, and at the location and purpose of these early Roman fortifications. It then goes on to set out what is known about each of the confirmed and likely first century Flavian fortifications, with maps and photographs of the locations of many of them.

It is this final section which ensures that the book will be come a work of reference of lasting value. All we need now are companion volumes doing the same job for Roman sites resulting from their later incursions into Scotland!

You get another sense of the author's approach from the publisher's description: "In this revealing book, Roman historian and archaeologist Andrew Tibbs uncovers the earliest Roman fortifications in Scotland and examines the landscape and context in which they were built. Although the most visible high-water marks of the Roman Empire in Britain are Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall, less is known about the fortifications which marked the early Roman forays into Scotland before the Romans decided that the land was ungovernable. Using maps, diagrams, reconstructions and archaeological evidence, Andrew Tibbs unveils these important military bastions and explores the strategic and tactical context in which they were built. The book reveals fascinating information about how Roman commanders and their engineers used the landscape to best effect to locate the forts in the prime defensive positions, using not only the rugged contours of the land but also making optimum use of roads and rivers. The author argues convincingly that the location of Roman fortifications in the Scottish landscape was an essential tool used by the Roman military to secure and control the local population during the first Roman invasion of Scotland."