The Romans attacked Scotland with a far larger force than previously realised, assaulting the tribes north of Hadrian's Wall with a force bigger than the one used to hold all of England and Wales.
Researchers have found 260 Roman military camps in Scotland, the largest number of any country in Europe, and 20 more than the 240 found in England and Wales.
The Roman Camps in Scotland are the least studied of all Roman monuments. The camps were temporary homes and headquarters for the would-be conquerors' legions and armies.
The 260 camps discovered provided transient, basic accommodation for thousands of soldiers at a time.
They are some of the largest Romans remains to have survived, and the camps discovered in Scotland were significantly larger than those found south of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall.
Dr Rebecca Jones, an expert on the Roman frontier who researched the camps for a new book, Roman Camps in Scotland says, "The Roman army in Britain left an archaeological legacy that is the envy of the rest of the Roman world. The forts, fortresses and frontier defences are rightly celebrated but less well known are the temporary camps. These were constructed to house the army for short periods of time while on campaigns patrols and manoeuvres ... By mapping and recording the hundreds of army outposts in Scotland, we have provided an important benchmark for further research into the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire."
Many of the camps have been discovered through archaeological aerial survey flights, particularly during dry summers, where the outlines of ancient structures lying beneath the soil show up as crop marks.
A number of Roman camps - including Pennymuir in the Scottish Borders - have survived despite thousands of years of changes to the landscape and are still remarkably well preserved.
The majority of camps are situated around the Borders and in the south of the country, but a first-century camp in Kintore in Aberdeenshire, the size of over 60 football pitches, has seen the largest excavation in the world of any camp left by the Roman Empire, revealing new information about the day-to-day lives of Roman soldiers while on the march.
Over 180 Roman ovens have been recorded there alongside numerous pits. The debris recovered from these pits - often rubbish thrown away by the soldiers - gives an insight into the life of an army on the move during one of the first Roman campaigns in the north east of Scotland.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2125067/The-Romans-assaulted-Scotland-larger-force-used-hold-ALL-England-Wales--failed-subdue-tribesmen.html#ixzz1r7z5l0xy
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