Maeatae in the context of "Caledonia"

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⭐ Core Definition: Maeatae

The Maeatae were a confederation of tribes that probably lived beyond the Antonine Wall in Roman Britain.

The historical sources are vague as to the exact region they inhabited, but an association is thought to be indicated in the names of two hills with fortifications. Near the summit of Dumyat hill in the Ochils, overlooking Stirling, there are remains of a fort and the name of the hill (in Gaelic Dùn Mhèad) is believed to derive from name meaning the hill of the Maeatae. The prominent hill fort may have marked their northern boundary. The first excavations of Dumyat were led by Dr Murray Cook, who recovered a radiocarbon date from a newly discovered external ditch dating to the 5th to 7th centuries AD. Myot Hill, near Fankerton, plausibly marks their southern limits. A discussion of two views of the importance of Dumyat and Myot Hill is given in Wainwright. There are three other potential Maeatae placenames in Scotland, potentially giving them a territory from Balfron to West Lothian and potentially St Andrews. Dunmanyn, Dalmeny, West Lothian (James 2013, :‘P-Celtic in Southern Scotland and Cumrbria: a review of the place-name evidence for possible Pictish phonology’, Journal of Scottish Names Studies 7: 29-78.), Cremannan, Balfron, Stirlingshire (Taylor, S, Clancy, T O, McNiven, P & Williamson, E 2020 The Place-Names of Clackmannanshire. Shaun Tyas: Donnington) and Rummond (Rodmanand), St Andrews, Fife (Taylor, S 2009 The Placenames of Fife, Vol. 3 St Andrews and the East Neuk. Donnington: Shaun Tyas).

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👉 Maeatae in the context of Caledonia

Caledonia (/ˌkælɪˈdoʊniə/; Latin: Calēdonia [kaleːˈdonia]) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as far south as Rannoch Moor, known as Coed Celedon (Coed Celyddon using the modern alphabet) to the native Brython (Britons). Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all of Scotland. During the Roman Empire's occupation of Britain, the area they called Caledonia was physically separated from the rest of the island by the Antonine Wall. It remained outside the administration of Roman Britain.

Latin historians, including Tacitus and Cassius Dio, referred to the territory north of the River Forth as "Caledonia", and described it as inhabited by the Maeatae and the Caledonians (Latin: Caledonii).

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Maeatae in the context of Scotland during the Roman Empire

Scotland during the Roman Empire refers to the protohistorical period during which the Roman Empire interacted within the area of modern Scotland. Despite sporadic attempts at conquest and government between the first and fourth centuries AD, most of modern Scotland, inhabited by the Caledonians and the Maeatae, was not incorporated into the Roman Empire with Roman control over the area fluctuating.

In the Roman imperial period, the area of Caledonia lay north of the River Forth, while the area now called England was known as Britannia, the name also given to the Roman province roughly consisting of modern England and Wales and which replaced the earlier Ancient Greek designation as Albion. Roman legions arrived in the territory of modern Scotland around AD 71, having conquered the Celtic Britons of southern Britannia over the preceding three decades. Aiming to complete the Roman conquest of Britannia, the Roman armies under Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Gnaeus Julius Agricola campaigned against the Caledonians in the 70s and 80s. The Agricola, a biography of the Roman governor of Britannia by his son-in-law Tacitus mentions a Roman victory at "Mons Graupius" which became the namesake of the Grampian Mountains but whose identity has been questioned by modern scholarship. In 2023 a lost Roman road built by Julius Agricola was rediscovered in Drip close to Stirling: it has been described as "the most important road in Scottish history".

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Caledonia ← Scotland during the Roman Empire
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Dumyat → River Forth → Antonine Wall → Roman Britain → Ochils → Stirling → Hill fort → Fankerton →