DBA Armies

This list covers the armies of the Caledones of the northern half of modern Scotland (the Scots had not yet arrived from Ireland) from their first serious conflicts with the Romans until their defeat in the campaigns of Septimius Severus caused them to be replaced by the Picts. The Caledones differed from the British tribes south of the Forth-Clyde line (list II/53) in that there is no evidence for cavalry or slingers. Roman monuments from the area show warriors either wholly naked or naked to the waist and carrying sword and either an oval or a small rectangular shield being trampled under the hooves of Roman cavalry. Tacitus’ account of the battle of Mons Graupius in 84 AD mentions chariots (manoeuvring in front and defeated by Roman cavalry) and warband on the hill behind, throwing dense volleys of javelins while parrying Roman missiles with their short shields, then when charged by auxiliaries, being disadvantaged by those small shields and their long slashing swords. References: Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome P. Barker, Agricola Tacitus.