Inchtuthil - Searching for a Roman Fortress | Scottish History

We went out to look for this Roman Legionary Fortress, near Spittalfield, Perthshire, since my partner was interested in seeing it. As he is an archaeology graduate, I got him to add his expertly opinion on the subject. Inchtuthil would have been an ambitious project, it was meant to become a city, but as you may know, the Romans weren't able to stay very long in Scotland and were forcefully repelled by the Pictish tribes through mainly guerilla tactics. This is how far into the Highlands the Romans ever got. We did manage to find a few landmarks, mainly ditches, which suggest the extent of the fortress. On the way we came across a big bog, which is know under the intriguing name 'Witches Loch'. The weather certainly added to the spooky atmosphere. ☟☟☟

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My name is Elena and I am a creative based in Scotland.

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Camera: Nikon D5300

[richardoldham]

I think its fair to say that the Roman Legion was withdrawn to help elsewhere in the Empire rather than driven out by marauding Caladonians.
Its all about profit verses loss for the Romans and after taking slaves there really wasn't much of value in Caladonia.

[LegioXXVV]

A couple of things. Firstly, Roman legionary fortresses were never intended to become cities. There are a number that later became significant settlements, but that was not by intention or design. A legionary fortress was intended to provide military security and mobility in the first instance. As for the Roman withdrawal from Scotland (there were three), and specifically the post Agricolan withdrawal, it had absolutely nothing to do with the nature of the local tribes, not directly anyway. Many of the troops stationed in Scotland were syphoned off long before the withdrawal of AD87 to bolster Domitian's Germanic wars, and his Dacian war ultimately proved so costly that many vexillations from the 20th, 9th and 2nd were withdrawn in support. It's funny you say "if I was a Roman, I would probably not want to admit that I was defeated by mere savage Picts" because that was infact the excuse used to justify the ultimate failure of Septimius Severus' campaigns of AD208 to AD210. While it could be reasonably argued that Vespasian's campaigns in Scotland (and later by Titus and Domitian) under Agricola were intended to finally conquer the island, the same cannot be said for the others of Antoninus Pius or Septimius Severus. There was simply no value in Scotland for the Romans and it was not worth the effort. Rome had much bigger fish to fry. Anyway, please keep posting your video's. While I would dearly love to visit the Gask, Highland and Strathmore systems, I doubt I'll get a chance anytime soon thanks to this pandemic.

[RoadtrippinwithTakacs]

Interesting! I could probably see where a fort would have been. 👍

[chrisken]

Ya, a ditch running in a straight line ... is always suspicious for an archaeologist.

[davemarks]

To wander and wonder at the lives that were here all those years ago.

[waynemcauliffe]

Where the Picts attacked in Centurion.Good film.

[Tvperson]

Hi there, would you be able to tell me where you at the beginning of the video? By the lake? Thank you!

[TheJpf]

Have you seen the fort at Camelon? Rather the fort that IS Camelon?

[alrengamao]

One of the farthest Roman fort in the North...