Rome's First Frontier: The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland

by David Woolliscroft, Birgitta Hoffmann

Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall are Britain's best-known Roman frontiers but a more northerly line is also known, on and around the Gask Ridge in Perthshire, which seems to represent the earliest fortified land frontier anywhere in the Roman Empire. Research over the last 10 years has revealed more and more about this system. In the process, it has revolutionised our picture of the Roman occupation of the north of Scotland, which now seems likely to have begun well before the time of the famous governor Agricola. Moreover, the Roman remains can now be set more firmly in the context of the pre-existing Iron Age society, to produce a more peaceful picture than expected. This detailed account, by two scholars intimately associated with the latest research, provides an up-to-date and detailed, yet approachable, account of these early years of the Romans in Scotland.

Genres: History

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sue Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preliminary note: this book actually has 2 authors: D.J. Woolliscroft & B. Hoffmann.
That said it is an excellent overview of the Roman military sites north of the Antonine wall providing evidence for a much longer Flavian occupation than has been generally accepted to date and also demonstrating how the different elements (legionary fort, glen blocker forts and Gask line) fitted together to make a single, coherent frontier system - the earliest known in the Roman Empire.
A smooth read with enough technical detail to make it satisfying.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book for evidence on The Gask Ridge and Highland line of Roman forts and watch towers in Scotland. Even though this reprint of 2010 many be slightly out of date there is an immense amount of excavation covered in it. I will be using the last couple of chapters often and the others if I need specific details on a part of the Gask Ridge or Highland line forts. I like that the authors have identified some installations as particularly being legionary manned, meaning that most were auxiliary run. There are well drawn illustrations and good aerial photographs in the book but I personally would have benefited from a more comprehensive map of north of the Central Belt placing all of the named installations with regard to modern towns etc. I resorted to OS maps and making my own simple sketch. Some of the speculative parts of the book are intriguing and I personally can identify with many of the conclusions as being reasonable possibilities. This will be a great ‘go to’ book for me for many reasons in the future!