Preposterous video and my response

[OC Richard]

I thought of this thread when listening to this video of a fascination discussion about Septimius Severus, which of course touches on his Scottish campaigns at the end of his life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSmf7xUJv9Q

There's a telling bit at 24:22

On the other hand, they point out that the Midland Valley of Scotland probably would have been able to produce sufficient crop value to offset the price of Roman occupation, and raise the question "why didn't the Romans annexe that region?"

They bring up an interesting consideration I'd not heard raised before.

We know that prior to the Romans invading Britain there was tremendous trade between Gaul (a Roman province) and Britain, the loss of the tax revenue of which would offset the financial gains the Romans would reap by directly squeezing every bit of worth out of a conquered Britain.

A good part of this trade was vast quantities of fine Roman wine and other Roman luxury goods purchased by British aristocracy (especially in the southeast) which had already been attracted to the Roman way of life to some degree. Thus even before the Roman invasion the process of Romanisation had already begun.

In the north of Britain not so much! The natives continued to dwell in traditional British round-houses while in the south Roman style towns and houses became the norm.

The presenters of that video make the point that with "the people of Caledonia" the Romans didn't have the aid of pre-Romanisation which so often helped the Romans win the hearts and minds of those the Romans were considering annexing.

[Pleater]

The weather might have something to do with it.
Many people fail to realise just how far it is travelling from the south coast of England to the north of Scotland, and the difference in the weather and climate before you even get to Hadrian's wall.

Down here on the coast where I now live there are grapes growing outside, we have outdoor seating in many places, with a roof over as it does rain a bit, but with a few modifications it is possible to live a very Mediterranean lifestyle.

In the Midlands - well - Roman soldiers would probably want to add leggings to their uniforms, and write home asking their mum to send them some vests and thick socks.

Further north still, but still in England, the whole legion would probably be complaining about their feet, the cold and the rain and the wind, and how everything goes rusty, mouldy or just falls apart. They'd probably be volunteering for anything which would give them a reason not to venture further north, such as building a wall.

Another factor could be how slowly trees grow in Scotland, and once cleared woodland doesn't regenerate on its own. That could have made a significant difference to the effort required to construct just about anything.

Anne the Pleater