Roman invasion of Caledonia 208–210

Severan invasion of Caledonia

Date	208–211 CE
Location	Caledonia
Result	Romans temporarily occupy Caledonia but withdraw to Hadrian's Wall

Belligerents

Roman Empire

Caledonians

Commanders and leaders

Septimius Severus,
Caracalla

Strength

40,000+ (estimate)

Casualties and losses

50,000 according to Cassius Dio

The Roman invasion of Caledonia launched in 208 by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The invasion lasted until late 210 when the emperor became ill and died at Eboracum (modern day York) on 4 February 211. The war started well for the Romans with Severus managing to quickly reach the Antonine Wall, but when Severus pushed north into the highlands he became bogged down in a Guerrilla war and he was never able to fully subjugate Caledonia. He reoccupied many forts built by Agricola over 100 years previously, following the Battle of Mons Graupius, and crippled the ability of the Caledonians to raid Roman Britain.

The invasion was abandoned by Severus' son Caracalla and Roman forces once again withdrew to Hadrian's Wall.

The cause of Severus' invasion of Caledonia (modern day Scotland) was a massive increase in raids and attacks on Roman Britain. This was possible because in 195 Clodius Albinus, the Roman Governor of Britain, had led most of the British legions into Gaul during his revolt against Severus. Severus had sent them back to their posts after defeating Albinus, but they had suffered large casualties at the Battle of Lugdunum. This left Hadrian's Wall undermanned and made it easy for the Caledonians to raid into Roman Britain. The Caledonians were also able to gather more men for these raids than before as there is evidence of increased cooperation among the different northern tribes.

In 208 Severus arrived in Britain with around 40,000 men and marched north to Hadrian's Wall. Once at Hadrian's Wall Severus initiated a massive rebuilding project which finally made the whole wall into stone (before the western portion had been mostly turf and timber); this led to later Romans calling Hadrian's Wall the Severan Wall. After starting the project Severus marched north and occupied all the land between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall. After completing the occupation Severus began another reconstruction project but this time on the Antonine Wall.

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