Editing Gnaeus Julius Agricola (section)

===The invasion of Caledonia (Scotland)===
[[File:Agricola.Campaigns.80.84.jpg|frameless|right|200px]]
[[File:Roman generals and emperors closeup in the frieze of the Great Hall of the National Galleries Scotland by William Brassey Hole 1897.jpg|thumb|left|upright=2.0|Agricola among Roman generals and emperors in this frieze from the Great Hall of the National Galleries Scotland by William Brassey Hole 1897]]
The following year, Agricola raised a fleet and encircled the tribes beyond the Forth, and the [[Caledonians]] rose in great numbers against him. They attacked the camp of the ''[[Legio IX Hispana]]'' at [[Night combat|night]], but Agricola sent in his cavalry and they were put to flight. The Romans responded by pushing further north. Another son was born to Agricola this year, but died before his first birthday.

In the summer of 83, Agricola faced the massed armies of the Caledonians, led by [[Calgacus]], at the [[Battle of Mons Graupius]].<ref>On the battle in general, see Duncan B. Campbell, ''Mons Grapius AD 83'' (2010), pp. 57-83.</ref> Tacitus estimates their numbers at more than 30,000.<ref>Tacitus, ''Agricola'' [[Wikisource:Agricola#29|29]]</ref> Agricola put his auxiliaries in the front line, keeping the legions in reserve, and relied on close-quarters fighting to make the Caledonians' unpointed slashing swords useless as they were unable to swing them properly or utilise thrusting attacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0081:chapter=36|title=Cornelius Tacitus, The Life of Cnæus Julius Agricola, chapter 36|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=12 April 2018}}</ref> Even though the Caledonians were put to rout and therefore lost this battle, two thirds of their army managed to escape and hide in the Highlands or the "trackless wilds" as Tacitus calls them. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be about 10,000 on the Caledonian side and 360 on the Roman side.

A number of authors have reckoned the battle to have occurred in the [[Grampian Mountains|Grampian]] [[Mounth]] within sight of the [[North Sea]].<ref>On the battle's location, see Duncan B. Campbell, "Search for a lost battlefield", ''Ancient Warfare'' Vol. 8 issue 1 (2014), pp. 47-51.</ref> In particular, Roy,<ref>William Roy, ''The Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain'', 1793</ref> Surenne, Watt, Hogan<ref name="Hogan">C. Michael Hogan, ''Elsick Mounth'', The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18037 Megalithic.co.uk]</ref> and others have advanced notions that the site of the battle may have been [[Kempstone Hill]], [[Megray Hill]] or other knolls near the [[Raedykes]] [[Roman camp]]; these points of high ground are proximate to the [[Elsick Mounth]], an ancient [[trackway]] used by Romans and Caledonians for military manoeuvres. However, following the discovery of the [[Roman camp]] at [[Durno]] in 1975, most scholars now believe that the battle took place on the ground around [[Bennachie]] in Aberdeenshire.<ref>{{cite journal|first=J.K. |last=St Joseph |title=The camp at Durno, Aberdeenshire, and the site of Mons Graupius |journal=Britannia |volume=9 |date=1978 |pages=271–287|doi=10.2307/525942 |jstor=525942 |s2cid=162345615 }}</ref>

Satisfied with his victory, Agricola extracted hostages from the Caledonian tribes. He may have marched his army to the northern coast of Britain,<ref>{{cite web |first=Stan |last=Wolfson |date=2002 |url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fartherlands/appendix.html |title=The Boresti: The creation of a myth |website=Tacitus, Thule and Caledonia |access-date=2007-12-17 |archive-date=2018-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723033640/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fartherlands/appendix.html |url-status=dead }} In the manuscript of Agricola 38.2: ''In finis Borestorum exercitum deducit'' - He led his army down into the territory of the Boresti" may be emended to: ''in finis boreos totum exercitum deducit'' - He led his entire army down into the northern extremities"</ref> as evidenced by the probable discovery of a Roman fort at [[Cawdor]] (near [[Inverness]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://her.highland.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewayhighland/DataFiles/LibraryLinkFiles/38961.pdf |title=Excavations at Cawdor 1986 |access-date=2009-07-11 |archive-date=2012-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219033047/http://her.highland.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewayhighland/DataFiles/LibraryLinkFiles/38961.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He also instructed the [[prefect]] of the fleet to sail around the north coast, confirming (allegedly for the first time) that Britain was in fact an island.