BRECHIN: SNAPSHOTS FROM THE PAST
The Battle of Mons Graupius.

The Battle of Mons Graupius. Roman attempts to secure Caledonia and make it part of their empire continued sporadically during the first three centuries A.D. The first serious incursion was led by Agricola about 80 A.D. and eventually, within a few years, his legions had advanced through Angus and into Aberdeenshire. During these years there seems to have been considerable activity in the Brechin area with the construction of several camps, the most important of which were at Keithock and Edzell - both being a few miles from the Picts' stronghold of Caterthun - and another at Battledykes near Finavon.. The Roman presence continued in the north east for several years with at least one major battle against the native peoples. Claims by nineteenth century writers that the Battle of Mons Graupius took place in the foothills a few miles north of Brechin appear to have been based on the presence of the Roman camps and their close proximity to Caterthun. Possibly this theory was prompted by the unearthing of Roman swords in Edzell in that century but, while the location of the battle has not so far been identified, current thinking places it further north in the vicinities of Stonehaven or Bennachie.

Soon after Mons Graupius, the Romans retreated not just from the north east but from the whole of Caledonia, but they returned on several occasions over the following two or three centuries and were possibly back in Angus during the Severan Campaigns to quell the tribes.

© Copyright Brian Mitchell 2000