Romans going awol

Some interesting points raised here, ttaskmaster.

Auxiliaries raised here in Britannia, compulsorily or indeed voluntarily, as was custom would have been posted outside their home areas, either elsewhere overseas in the Empire, or definitely in other parts of our island.
Many tribes were pro-Roman and yes, of course, came to like, and seek out the high status goods Roman civilsation brought, for example, jewellery, Samian ware,and living a lifestyle much better than they had previously known. Some tribes chose to stay hostile of course, but I have few doubts these too would have been beaten in time. By the way, there would not have been a lot of choice in the matter of where the volunteers served in the Legions, any more than there is today! Once serving under the Eagle, then the locally raised Legionaries would have been subject to the strict discipline, like all others and when the Legions left on the orders of the Emperor, they would have left with them, little doubt of that, unless a few slipped away under cover of night.
(This is what happens to one young Roman Officer in Rosemary Sutcliff's sequel to Eagle of the IXth, The Silver Branch ; well worth a read by the way).


The border, as such, was Hadrians Wall, and later the Antonine Wall between the Forth and Clyde. It has been suggested, incidentally, that the Antonine Wall would have been a far better choice of "border" than Hadrians Wall, as some of the tribes of southern Scotland were allies, and having the Wall as far south as it was, was a hindrance to Legions rushing north as a form of rapid deployment force against hostile Caledonian tribes, perhaps to protect the friendlier tribes of what is now the Lothians and Borders Scotland. The late historian, Antony Kamm suggested, as Antoninus Pius was not much of a warmonger at all, his invasion into Scotland, plus the erection of the Wall bearing his name, might well have been due to a plea from the Votadini of the area, who might have been suffering attacks from the Picts from Caledonia, or by the Selgovae,a tribe occupying an area around the headwaters of the Tweed and Clyde, down to near Hadrians Wall. By the mid 4th century a new Roman Emperor named southern Scotland (between the Walls) as the Roman Province of Valentia. It was here the better arable land was to be found,(as it is still) with gold and copper deposits known to be in south-west Scotland, but due to upheavals elsewhere in the Empire, remained unexploited. Apart from sailing around Britannia, Agricola's Legions certainly reached up to, or darned close to, the Moray Firth. (Not a lot of people know that!).Forts were established on the Forth (Bodotria as the Romans knew it)on the eastern and western fringes of Edinburgh at Carumabo (Cramond) and Inveresk,very near Musselburgh, and galleys would have sailed up the east coast and landed supplies there. These must have been quite a sight.

Northumbria did most definitely stretch way into what is now eastern Scotland as far as the Lothians, and Edinburgh not annexed into Scotland until 1020. Berwick upon Tweed was lost by Scotland around 960 but changed hands a few times over the following decades. So, yes, the Angles very successfully inhabited eastern Scotland after the Romans left, defeating the former allies of Rome, whom the Romans called the Votadini, or known to themselves as the Gododdin, who spoke a form of Brythonic Celtic language, akin to Welsh. It has even been suggested that Edinburgh was possibly so named after King Edwin of Northumbria - Edwin's burh, burh being the Anglo-Saxon term for fortified town. The Anglians named their new land as Bernicia, which by the 6th century extended from the Forth to the Tees, and within another 100 years or so, they added lands to the south to form what became Northumbria. The Border of today was not formally agreed until 1237.

A Legionary was an "ordinary" foot soldier and marriage would have been forbidden to Officers as well as ranks, eg. Optio and Centurion alike, and no exceptions for Auxiliaries. That is not to say relationships would not have been formed with locals with whom Rome traded here, obviously - they were human after all! Casual relationships would have developed also with some of their personal slaves, male or female, especially when soldiers were isolated in remote frontier postings.

Edit - you got it only very slightly wrong, in as much Northumbria was never really "Scottish", more south-eastern Scotland was very definitively Northumbrian, therefore strongly under the culture and laws of the Angles (English later!). Don't tell Salmond, lol! I would slant it the other way from you, ttaskmaster, that SE Scotland was once English! I am Edinburgh born, and have been called a Sassenach too by a couple Highlanders, so there are historical facts to back up what they said I daresay, lol!
Being an expat Scot and looking back to the 60's/70's, at school in Scotland (Edinburgh mostly), although we were well informed of our fascinating Roman heritage on our doorstep, the influence of the Angles, and that we were once an integral part of Northumbria, was skimmed over!

A point worth bearing in mind too, that as late as the 13th century, the kingdom of Scotland did not extend over the entire area we know as modern Scotland, with the west,islands, far north, and south-west, still on the fringes, and not brought into the kingdom fully until later, but that's another long story, as they say.

Interested you have family close to the Border - used to drive regularly from Newcastle across the moors and over Carter Bar, in the early 70's, thus can visualise the countryside well.