6 – The Invasion of Caledonia (208/210)
The latter part of the second century AD was filled with riots and rebellions in different parts of Britannia. Clodius Albinus was the Governor of Britannia and became embroiled in a Roman power struggle after the assassination of Commodus in 192. Albinus declared himself emperor in 193 and 196. However, he was defeated by Septimius Severus at Lugundum in 197, and his death left a vacancy in Britannia that was filled with anarchy.
After a decade of suffering raiding and plundering at the hands of barbarians, Roman Britain was in chaos and Severus decided to sort things out once and for all. He arrived in Britain in 208 with 40,000 men and rebuilt Hadrian’s Wall. After completing a rebuild on the Antonine Wall, Severus marched north in 209 but suffered heavy casualties due to the guerrilla tactics used by the Caledonians.
As a result of these tactics, Severus elected to adopt a strategy of retaking the old forts once occupied by Agricola and destroying any territory he couldn’t conquer. After peace talks failed in 210, Severus’ son, Caracalla, led an expedition north of the Antonine Wall with the sole purpose of murdering, looting and destroying. The idea was for Caracalla to cause chaos and Severus would follow with his army and occupy Caledonia once and for all. However, the Emperor became ill and remained at York.
Severus never recovered and died on February 4, 211. Caracalla called off the invasion and returned to Rome. The Romans never again campaigned deep into Caledonia. It is difficult to tell whether or not Severus would have succeeded in his conquest had he not taken ill. According to Cassius Dio, up to 50,000 Romans died in the two-year attempt. Would Severus have continued with such heavy casualties? If he did, it is probable that Rome would eventually have conquered Scotland. Although the quest was a failure, there were some practical benefits. It resulted in the strengthening of Hadrian’s Wall and the conflict weakened the barbarian tribes. It took them decades to regroup and launch raids in large numbers.