Last Stand of the Ancient Picts⚔️ Battle of Mons Graupius (83 AD) DOCUMENTARY
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- History documentary on the Battle of Mons Graupius! Go to piavpn.com/Invicta to get 83% off Private Internet Access with 4 months free!
We continue our series on the Roman Invasion of Scotland. In part 1 we covered the early Campaigns of Agricola which led the legions into ancient Scotland, known as Caledonia. In part 2 we cover the resistance of the Scottish tribes which culminated in the Battle of Mons Graupius in 83 AD.
This battle would feature a massive army of tribesmen and their war chariots led by Calgacus. Against them stood General Agricola with four legions and several cohorts of auxiliaries.
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--Timestamps--
00:00 Intro
02:28 Context
04:02 Roman Deployment
06:15 Caledonian Deployment
07:30 Battle Begins
09:07 Fight for the Flanks
10:38 Engaging the Reserves
11:24 Fight in the Woods
12:12 Battle Ends
13:06 Aftermath
15:12 Fate of Caledonia
17:31 Conclusion
--Sources and Suggested Reading--
Primary Sources
Tacitus, Agricola
Cassius Dio, Roman History
Secondary Sources
“Mons Graupius: AD 83” by Duncan B. Campbell
“Boudicca’s Rebellion: AD 60-61” by Nic Fields
“Britannia: AD 43” by Nic Fields
“Roman Britain: A New History” by Guy de la Bedoyere
“A History of Roman Britain” by Peter Salway
“Agricola: Architect of Roman Britain” by Simon Turney
“The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC - AD 117” by Nic Fields
“The Complete Roman Legions” by Nigel Pollard & Joanne Berry
“Blood of the Provinces: The Roman Auxilia and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans” by Ian Haynes
“The Complete Roman Army” by Adrian Goldsworthy
“In The Name Of Rome: The Men Who Won The Roman Empire” by Adrian Goldsworthy
--Credits--
Research = Eric TenWolde
Script = Eric TenWolde
Narration = Invicta
Art = Penta Limited
#history
#documentary
#rome
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Tis 1 T in scots sur
imagine being pressed up into a roman shield wall while they stab and thrust your in the face
One thing that I have been trying to find an answer to is how much did an army make when they sacked a city? It must have been a lot but are there any estimations out there?
Please correct the spelling as it is pretty annoying for us Scots, great video tho
@@TheSheepPimp corrected, thanks for catching that
This channel is one of the reasons why I think about the Roman Empire so much.
😂💯
May locusts and parasites come to you!
I probably carry some blame for skewing poll results higher for how often people think about the Roman Empire lol
@@InvictaHistory It's important and has an important effect on people that normally wouldn't be interested. You're doing the gods work.
I came to the comments for this comment
The Scotti were still in Ireland at this time. The Kingdom Dal Riada was still hundreds of years away. The inhabitants were a Brythonic people (albeit with a very different culture) known as 'Pictii' due to their tattoos and Sluagh painted images on their bodies.
That's exactly what I thought but I think calling them scots is not that much wrong because modern day scots are mostly Pictish ancestory. So basically descendents of Picts are Scots.
@@bilbobaggins2302 That would be like saying that Boudica's rebellion was a war between England and Rome because the English are predominantly descended from the ancient Brythonic Celts.
Ya, Scots were subordinate to Pictish kingdoms all the way up to the 760s. It was only when the United Kingdom of Alba was created by a Dalriadan King that the Pictish identity began to be actually overtaken by Scottish identity.
Scotland, uniquely in the British isles was a nation created by a dynasty from pre-existing disparate ethnic groups. The Dal Riadan rulers of the MacAlpin dynasty forged a nation out of the Scotti of Argyll, the Picts, the 'Welsh' of Strathclyde, the English of the Lothians and the Norse of Caithness and the Isles.
@@notalizard6994 I know and it kinda was haha but iget what you're saying I would prefer that he would use term : Picts.
Did a recent tour of this area for my own podcast, and I have to say your artists and researchers did a stellar job on capturing the area of the proposed battle site near Ben Macaudi
Great video, love this ancient content. Mons Graupius was a new battle to me... Knew there was a legion that went truly far into hostile scotland; but thought they were ambushed or run out without much detail of the events. Didnt know we had such records on it. .
its a really fascinating encounter and I had previously not know much about the extent of Agricola's campaigns or just how far his fleet went
@@InvictaHistory As a person of scotish decent this makes me happy
why would it make you happy the picts or the celts were not scottish there was no scotland .. these people were germanic @@user-lj8gk1nv5i ps i am born and bread scottish .. is there is such a thing ..
It went from "we have 50% more soldiers" to "they didn't even deploy their hastati".
Always on top of history. Well done.
The Scots were still in Ireland at this point, and would be for another several hundred years.
Hell yeah! I love scottish/pictish history, it sucks that we know very little. Thanks for the awesome content!
sadly this story is widely believed to be fiction by historians as most of the story is literally impossible.
And the real site of this battle is actually unknown; just guesses by historians.
It's really nice to see a young man so passionate about Roman history. You do a great job and have a wonderful voice for narration. Keep up the good work
Thanks for another superb video! ⚔🔥🙌
Excellent video & well researched.
Great work as always!
Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things 😁👍
Love your videos!
Beautiful animations. Bravo!
Good video! I live within a mile of the Antonine wall in central Scotland. Although it was built of earth and turf much of it is still visible and I often think of the Roman soldiers who were stationed here and no doubt complained about our weather!
Love this topic, keep up the good work!
i´ve found this channel thanks to metatron several years ago and never regretted it. keep doing great work, fellas.
Great episode
Super nice video, inspiring and illustrative, bravo!!
Roman hybridation with celts and other people in britain is so fascinating
Wow, Fantastic video. Thx
Really an excellent series.
I found this episode both educational and entertaining.
I think about Roman warfare a lot more often due to you and HistoryMarche. Great stuff.
you should read books .. this video is. utter tripe ...
Great stuff
I used to read all the Conan novels and he was always battling the Picts. Interesting. Thanks for your work.
great stuff!
MINOR CORRECTION:
This wasn’t the Scots’ last stand. I was at the shops the other day and the bloke behind the counter, who is a Scot, definitely stood up at one point. He is pretty old though, so it might be a Scot’s last stand.
This reads like a Monthy Python sketch
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
My buddy Scot stands up all the time, no "last stand" in sight. He lost the other "T" of his name in some riot in Boston Harbor back in the day.
😅 😂
LMAO! good one, all the best from Glasgow.
Fascinating!
Thanks... ☝️😎
That is pretty cool, thank you.
great video
How have I never .heard of this channel wtf it's great
Tacitus's speech attributed to Calgacus was more likely his self criticism of Rome's imperial aggression. Especially those lines of the Romans coveting to conquer those that are wealthy and powerful while terrorizing/dominating those who are weak and impoverished. 'They make a solitude and call it peace'.
Thanks for the information, i didn't care to Google the speech but now I'm interested, i expect some people to be critical in every empire expansion
@@mostafamohy8494 I would imagine there have been quite a few ancient philosophers, historians and thinkers who felt this. I know the Roman commander who destroyed Carthage apparently wept for his gallant enemy as the reality of what was happening hit him. Then using the destruction of Troy as a reference he feared Rome would one day meet such a fate.
@@manuelacosta9463 i didn't know also about this story but it's really amazing.
Its sheds a light I don't see it talked about often, alot of history telling is about the conquers and military not so much so about pacifist especially because ancient people were more warlike than modern times
@@mostafamohy8494 Truth. I'm sure quite a few chroniclers of that time like today spoke and wrote as such. The ravages of time means most are lost but those precious few that survive provide invaluable insights into both the conqueror and the victim, sometimes as s generic speech other times as a tongue in cheek indictment.
Good video
thanks!
More on Roman History please!!
While Hadrian's Wall was built in 122 AD, the less formidable Antonine Wall was established in 142 AD. Antonine Wall was built further North in what later has become familiar to us as Scotland. Antonine Wall was abandoned about 8 years after its completion; eventually, the Roman's again became reliant upon Hadrian's Wall.
Gaius Julius Caesar also frequently preferred to leave the high ground to the enemy, regardless of having to face the battle from an unfavorable position. Why? It is not easy to give an answer, perhaps due to a psychological choice: the enemy, feeling themselves in the advantage, fought with less conviction, certain that the terrain alone would favor victory, while the Romans, starting at a disadvantage, were certain that they would have to fight with great concentration and courage. In this way he also "fixed" the enemy on the spot, forcing him to deploy first and thus gaining time to think about and set up an effective tactical response. Greatest example among many of this Caesarian tactic: the Battle of Pharsalus.
Thank you all for the video it was really good 👍🏻
Awesome
very cool
Excelent video
WOOOOOOONDERFUL. Finally got to see the face of THE voice🎉🎉🎉🥳🥳
For all that Rome expanded, the moments when they could have gone even further but didn't are the most fascinating. Maybe the fate of Britain as the Empire receded would have been different if no hostile lands had been left to the north.
Please do a video on the veneti (some navil gauls ceaser fought) and ancient persan ships
I love these battle videos where you explain the strategy, thank you! 😭oops wrong emoji 💀
Auxiliary troops were seen just as much as forces to a general as any other unit, to be used to their full advantage and weighed against the impact strategically of their losses
Agreed
When fighting against the tribes on this island there was no difference at all.
The landscape of the Scottish highlands is the reason why they never occupied the north: mountains everywhere, huge lochs dividing much of the land, lots of rivers and marshes too. Also the outer islands, which would mean navies would be required extensively.
Yes and in those times the highlands would also have heavily forested. At least up to the 'treeline', which is about 2000 feet. The Romans would have been mindful of what to their legions in Germania in 4 AD in the battle of Teutoborg when they were massacred. This would have been one reason why they did not pursue the Caledonians/Picts into the forested highlands.
Geography has a huge impact on history, often not acknowledged.
The two main contenders for the battle site are Bennachie and the hills north of Dunning (near Perth).
For Pictish and Early Scot warfare I hotly recommend Schwerpunkt
It's 1 t in Scots. :)
Aye bro a just noticed this
Tbf if he is going to make a video about a fictitious battle, may as well make up a new fictitious people to fight it lol
Oh shit... I'm going in the book
What do you mean?
@@MapperMalta the video was originally titled last stand of the ancient scotts
THE PICTS........ YEAH!
Good VPN Advert, I’ll check it out.
Just one question why would the Picts move from the high ground? to engage in "battle" its highly unlikely in fact out of character, i doubt it happened.
The romans didn't do well in Scotland
Scott in a surname, Scot is a nationality. Tho achkually they wouldn't know what that meant - I am guessing without looking they'd believe they are part of the Maetae and Caledonii
How do you do the animations? Is there a program?
This is the reason why I want to visit England because not only has Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Norman roots but also like has Roman roots just like many Romance-speaking countries like Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, and Romania!
The northerners were not called Picts, or Scots, at the time of Agricola, such terms were not used until the late 3rd & 4th centuries respectively.
In the 1st century various tribal groups are named in the region. Calgacus speech is a Roman forensic exercise. It represents what Tacitus would have said if he were leader of Rome's enemies. It acts as a barb against the Roman Senate being weakly subservient to the tyrant Domitian.
The battle is well known to have been held at the south side of a hill NE of Aberdeen near Inverurie called Bennachie. Many Roman relics have been found in the area and kept by locals as souvenirs. My house faced the battle ground. Great video. The excuses as to why the Romans left are lies....they just couldn't beat the Caledonians so built not just 1 but 2 massive walls to stop them from sending them running back to Rome even sooner. Interesting that the world's best SAS Special Forces was started by a Scotsman. We have never actually been beaten as to this day we are at the front of every military parade and proud of it.
North West of Aberdeen.
Bennachie is contender but the hills north of Dunning near Perth is probably the best guess location for the battlefield.
Wondering aloud if Julian's choice of words when switching from background info to the battle to actual battlefield info "The Battle of Mons Grapius was about to begin" is an intended or unintended homage to Bazbattles's CZcams video about the same battle (Bazbattles always end the initial battle intro with "the battle of ******* was about to begin")
coincidence in this case
'Scotts' had not moved over from Ireland at this point it was the Picts the Romans fought
The Pictish kingdoms didn't come into being until 150 years+ later either. They are called either British or Caledonians as far as I've ever heard & I've been an ancient history fan 60 years.
I'm studying Latin In high school and I just read this text in Latin, so it's pretty interesting to be able to visualise it more
Take a shot every time the narrator says "however." Deceased five minutes in.
Aberdeen is still much the same on a Saturday night even today!
Painted Blue 🏴 truly OP
I wish you had included the speeches Tacitus reported. Calgacus' speech, while invented, is the some of the most empathetic writing ever written by a Roman towards a defeated foe. It includes the famous declaration: "they make a desolation, and call it peace."
I suspect this was the same reason Rome didn't go to Ireland, there was no value to do so in their eyes.
Without a shred of evidence. A work of fiction written 30 years after the supposed event by Agricolas son in law who had never set foot in Britain let alone visited Scotland, to cover for the Romans singular failure to dominate the Caledonians.
There is however stories handed down through generations of running battles on the high ground between Blairgowrie and Dunkeld (Blar means battle). Roman remains have been found and the nearest fort was abandoned in haste to the point 5 tons of nails were buried to prevent them falling into the hands of the Caledonians.
The Romans came north and had to build a wall to keep the Scots out.
Julius Caesar had employed a unit of Germanic cavalry, known as Batavians, in his Gallic campaigns. This was a unit that had a light infantryman attached to every cavalryman, and fought as a team.
Hey, subject I am ignorant on. Thank you for the niche but important subject. Odd how these obscure battles hav important implementations centuries later.
They were Picts not Scots!
Yeah the term scots is definitely anachronistic. Its just there in the title but in the context of the video we show the actual tribal names.
but you still went ahead anyway at 0:44 and introduced the video as "the last battle of the ancient Scots" - who gave you the authority to re-write history ?! @@InvictaHistory
@@Gudha_Ismintis I don't think it's that big of a deal.
Actually the Picts didn't become a people by that name until over a century later. So they weren't there either!
The Scots were an Irish tribe that invaded modern day Scotland around the mid 5th century. There were no “Scots” at this battle.
You should do one about Romans in Ireland...I'm not sure if they ever reached Ireland but it'd be cool if they did
It's extremely unlikely that there were 30,000 Pict troops and that 10,000 were killed. The population and infrastructure of the area couldn't have supported such a force.
"We outnumbered them two to one and were lucky to get out alive" just doesn't sound as impressive as there were 30,000 of them and we killed endless thousands.
I couldn't help it, as soon as you said "the high ground" I instantly pictured Ewan McGregor with his face painted blue 🤦😅
As a person of scottish decent this makes me happy
As I understand it, auxiliary troops contain skirmishers? Maybe that is also one of the reasons Agricola put them on the first line?
I think that has been covered in a previous video....
Not at all. Skirmishes were totally different. Auxiliary troops were highly trained
Even Legionaries were trained to also act as light troops & skirmishers when needed.
Chola dynasty history please make video
To Invicta:
The Spartans did train into hoplomachia, weapons handling competition or weapons training. Is this true. Also did the Ancient Greek play field hockey?
"Wallsend" many town named this, based on Roman walls.
I LOVE AGRICOLLA! A GREAT PERSON!
A Legion has between 4.000 and 6.000 soldiers. Thats 16.000 to 24.000 soldiers + 8.000 auxiliary infantry + 3.000 cavalry. Thats 27.000 to 35.000 Soldiers.
Undefeated against the mighty Roman’s, this is what gave the Picts and the Scots the might to also beat back the Vikings and the english.
I think Agriculia put the auxiliary in front to insure their loyalty.
I’ve been thinking about Rome a lot again
I think it is absolutely likely that the casualty numbers were exaggerated. From Tacitus own description, it sounded like it was at times a bit of an uphill battle for the Romans. The Romans were also fond of talking themselves up. I think the Romans decided to set up forts for the reason that they did not defeat the Caledonian's so soundly as we believe. They may have put up forts because pushing forward with an army was untenable after Mons Graupius, but the Caledonians had been subdued just enough to establish a foothold
Yeah, romans were just lying. Seriously.
And yet the entire island was subdued, colonized and alphabetized, like any other place.
Such good liers!
PS leaving former scotland alone had the same reason like germania.
Far away frozen land, poor, fierce autoctone populations rebellous in nature...
Too expensive to colonize, because the potential tax revenue was negligible, and the barbarians useless as legionnaires because reputed untrustable.
Romans were interested only in lands that could be colonized and developed, generating revenues and soldiers. If these conditions lacked, a wall was built.
This does not change the obliterating defeats suffered by anyone that tried to face the legions on a pitch battle, picts included. The germanic tribes were as well destroyed, before the romans stepped across the big river and fortified the border.
The ambush in the teutoburg forest (basically, a treason) carried no luck to the tribes, that were defeated again and again.
Romans stopped only if there was not sufficient prize fo finance the enterprise.
I agree. Their were no Roman forts north of the Grampian Mountains which formed the southern boundary of the Northeast of Scotland. The Grampians is considered the most likely site of the battle. If the romans had so decisively defeated the Picts, why did they only use marching camps in the NE (eg Raedykes and Normandyke) ?
Also, more recent archaeological evidence has shown that Roman generals, including Julius Caesar, greatly embellished their successes in provincial wars for political advantage.
Ancient rome content = best content
I never realised that the Roman army travelled so far north. I always thought Hadrians Wall was the frontier.
Not to knock the Highlands but I get why the Romans never consolidated the gains of Agricola, there's just little of interest to the Empire there that would justify the considerable expenses. Better to put up a wall from the Firth of Clyde to the Firth of Forth and be done with it.
Also it's interesting to see the martial cultures clash in that little quote: On one hand the heroic champion warfare with chariots, small shields and long slashing swords made to duel and on the other the ruthlessly efficient formation with large shields and short stabbing swords.
Calgacus, Vercingetorix, Dolabella, Agricola, Pupienus.... Ancient names were full of Bravado.
Now we got Chad... sad
Remember History is told by those who wrote things down, and not always is it truth. They built two walls and lost one of them for a reason.
4:50 Oh that. Well there are a number of things. First, Rome normally puts there least experienced troops (Hastati) in the front, followed by the more experienced (Principes) making up the second rank. While deploying there most experienced troops, the Triarii in the rear.
They use this strategy to wear down the enemy and hit them with their more experienced troops that are fresh. That way, he could have used his legions to mop up.
.
Also you need to consider the auxiliary's were made-up of Germanic tribes. These tribes were some of the best and fiercest in Europe at the time and would have known how to best the Picks. Where as the Roman legions may not have been used to them or at least, not as suited to dealing with them.
That and because the General dismounted and fought in the front ranks shows me that he considered the Germanic tribes in high regard.
Julius Caesar personal guard was made-up of German calvary which decimated and demoralized the Spanish calvary during the Roman civil war.
This is well after the Marian reforms. Are you just regurgitating something you saw somewhere
I can hardly comprehend how many people groups fought for their freedom against imperial hunger.
Wait, is it 83 like the title or 73 like the thumbnail?
Not Scots, but free Britons, the Scots were Irish, 600 years later, and themselves descended from Gaelic speakers
1st there was no "Ireland" from then, and the Dal Riatan Scots who inhabited western Scotland and ulster were always historically , genetically, and culturally closest to mainland Scotland, due to Pictish migration to nothern Ireland(cruthin people). Most Scots today descend from Picts and gaels, so it is accurate to call these ancient peoples "Scots"
"Why do they call you Scott?"
"Cause oim Oirish...."
These ancient cultures that banded men together to fight against professional solders were always going to be at a disadvantage. I can imagine that the Pict army was made up of men who work as farmers and such when they are living out their normal lives while the Roman soldiers were always practicing the art of war. Normal men can fight well no doubt but against men who routinely kill throughout their lives is hard thing to overcome.
But lets not forget these amazing tattooed people of the British isles. What a mysterious culture they had. It was like something out of a sci fi movie.
Boy, i am doing roman reenactment because of you
Who were this myriad legion of Mr Scotts? And how do they differ from those individuals called Scott today?