The Caledonians (pronounced /ˌkælɪˈdoʊniənz/; Latin: Caledones or Caledonii; Ancient Greek: Καληδῶνες, Kalēdōnes) or the Caledonian Confederacy were a group of people who lived in what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman times. They spoke a language called Brittonic, which is part of the Celtic language family. The name "Caledonia" for their land comes from the Greek version of their tribal name. The Caledonians were considered part of the larger group of Britons. Later, after the Romans conquered the southern part of Britain, the people in the north were called Picts. These Picts were likely related to the Caledonians and may have spoken a similar language. The Caledonian Britons were enemies of the Roman Empire, which controlled most of Britain as the Roman province of Britannia.
The Caledonians, like many Celtic tribes in Britain, built hillforts and farmed the land. They fought against the Romans and were sometimes defeated by them. The Romans never completely controlled Caledonia, even though they tried several times. Most of what is known about the Caledonians comes from Roman records, which might not always be accurate.
Peter Salway suggests that the Caledonians may have been Pictish tribes who spoke a language closely related to Common Brittonic, or a group that included people who fled from Roman-occupied areas. The Caledonian tribe, after which the Caledonian Confederacy is named, may have fought alongside other tribes in northern central Scotland, such as the Vacomagi, Taexali, and Venicones, as recorded by Ptolemy. The Romans made agreements with some Brittonic tribes, like the Votadini, to serve as buffer states between themselves and other groups.
Etymology
In the 19th century, some scholars believed the name "Coille-daoine" (meaning "forest-people" in Gaelic) might explain the origin of the term "Caledonians." However, modern scholars do not support this idea. Instead, they use methods that compare languages from the Celtic family to study the name's history. In 1824, a Scottish scholar named George Chalmers suggested that the name "Caledonians" came from the region called Caledonia. He thought the name "Caledonia" was inspired by a Greek area known as "Cal-ydon," famous for its forests. He also believed that ancient writers like Tacitus later used this name to describe the Scottish Highlands, which were also wooded. Today, linguists no longer accept this explanation.
Linguist Stefan Zimmer proposes that the name "Caledonia" comes from the tribal name "Caledones." This name is a Latin form of an earlier Brittonic language term, likely "Calēdones" or "Calīdones," which may have originated from an older word meaning "Black River" or "Goddess of the Danube." Zimmer suggests the name might mean "possessing hard feet," referring to strength or endurance, based on Proto-Celtic roots kal- ("hard") and pēd- ("foot"). The singular form of the name, "Caledo," appears on a Roman-era inscription from Colchester, which is a Latin form of the Brittonic "Calidū." Some scholars question the connection between "Calidones" and the idea of "hard," especially because some theories suggest the Caledonians and Picts may not have spoken Celtic languages.
History
In AD 83 or 84, the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, were defeated by Gnaeus Julius Agricola at Mons Graupius, as recorded by Tacitus. Tacitus does not use the word "king" to describe Calgacus. It is not clear whether the Caledonians had single leaders or if they were more diverse, with Calgacus possibly being a leader chosen for war. Tacitus describes the Caledonians as having red hair and long limbs.
In 122 AD, construction began on Hadrian's Wall, creating a physical boundary between Roman-controlled territory and the land the Romans called Caledonia.
An attempt by the Romans to invade and conquer Caledonia likely happened sometime during or shortly after 139 AD. In 142 AD, construction began on the Antonine Wall, about 100 km north of Hadrian's Wall, to help the Romans move into Caledonian territory and secure their control over southern Caledonia. The Romans later abandoned this wall around 158 AD and returned to Hadrian's Wall in the south.
According to Malcolm Todd, the tribes in what is now Northern Britain and Scotland (likely including the Caledones) were too warlike to be easily controlled, leading the Romans to leave large military forces to deal with them. Fraser and Mason argue that the Caledones may not have directly attacked or harassed the Romans during this time but could have had minor conflicts with other tribes.
In AD 180, the Caledonians took part in an invasion of Britannia, broke through Hadrian's Wall, and were not controlled for several years. Eventually, they signed peace treaties with the governor Ulpius Marcellus. This suggests they could make formal agreements together, even though they may have had many different leaders. However, Roman historians used the word "Caledonius" to refer not only to the Caledones but also to other tribes living north of Hadrian's Wall, including Pictish and Brythonic groups. It is unclear whether these groups were individual tribes or larger unions. It is possible that these groups were the people of Brigantia rather than the Caledones. By the second half of the 2nd century AD, the actual Caledones were likely separated from the Antonine Wall by the Maeatae people. During the reign of Commodus, regular payments were made to the Caledonians by the Romans, continuing into the early years of Severus' reign, according to John Casey.
In 197 AD, Dio Cassius recorded that the Caledonians helped the Maeatae and the Brigantes in an attack on the Roman frontier, possibly inspired by the removal of garrisons on Hadrian's Wall by Clodius Albinus. He noted that the Caledonians broke the treaties they had made with Marcellus a few years earlier (Dio lxxvii, 12).
The governor who arrived to regain control over Britannia after Albinus' defeat, Virius Lupus, was forced to buy peace from the Maeatae instead of fighting them.
According to James Fraser and Roger Mason, by the end of the 2nd century, most Northern tribes had been grouped in Roman records into either the Caledones or the Maeatae, leaving these two tribes as the main representatives of the region. The area had long been called Caledonia, and Malcolm Todd states that all residents were referred to as Caledonians, regardless of their specific tribal backgrounds.
The Caledonians are next mentioned in 209 AD, when they are said to have surrendered to Emperor Septimius Severus after he led a military expedition north of Hadrian's Wall in search of a military victory. Herodian and Dio wrote briefly about the campaign, noting that the Caledonians gave up territory to Rome. Cassius Dio recorded that the Caledonians caused 50,000 Roman casualties through attrition and unconventional tactics like guerrilla warfare. Dr. Colin Martin suggested that the Severan campaigns aimed not to fight battles but to destroy fertile land in eastern Scotland, leading to the starvation of the Caledonians.
By 210 AD, the Caledonians had reformed their alliance with the Maeatae and launched a new attack. A punitive expedition led by Severus' son, Caracalla, was sent to kill members of northern tribes. David Shotter mentions Caracalla's hatred for the Caledonians and his desire to eliminate them. Severus prepared for total conquest but was already ill and died at Eboracum (modern-day York) in Britannia in 211 AD. Caracalla tried to take command but failed when his troops refused to recognize him as emperor. He made peace with the Caledonians and withdrew south of Hadrian's Wall to claim the imperial title. Sheppard Frere suggests Caracalla may have continued the campaign briefly after his father's death, citing delays in his arrival in Rome and indirect evidence. Malcolm Todd, however, believes there is no proof for this. Peter Salway argues that the pressures on Caracalla were too great, and the Roman frontier was secure enough for them to leave. Regardless, the Caledonians reclaimed their territory and pushed the Romans back to Hadrian's Wall.
There is no further historical mention of the Caledonians for about a century, except for an inscription from around AD 230 in Colchester, which records a dedication by a man who called himself the nephew (or grandson) of "Uepogenus, a Caledonian." This may be because Severus' campaigns were so successful that the Caledonians were wiped out, though this is unlikely.
In 305 AD, Constantius Chlorus reinvaded northern Britain. Sources are unclear about how far the Romans advanced or whether they achieved a major victory over the "Caledones and others" (Panegyrici Latini Vetares, VI (VII) vii 2). This event is notable because it marks the first recorded use of the term "Pict" to describe the tribes in the area.
Physical appearance
In his book Agricola, chapter XI, written around 98 AD, Tacitus described the Caledonians as having red hair and large limbs. He believed these traits were linked to Germanic origins, writing: "The reddish (rutilae) hair and large limbs of the Caledonians proclaim a German origin." Jordanes, in his work Getica, wrote something similar: "The people of Caledonia have reddish hair and large, loose-jointed bodies." Eumenius, a writer who praised Constantine Chlorus, wrote that both the Picts and Caledonians had red hair (rutilantia). Scholars like William Forbes Skene said that this description matches what Tacitus wrote about the Caledonians in Agricola. James E. Fraser suggests that Tacitus and other Romans knew that the Caledonians used methods to dye their hair red. He believes this might have been mistaken for a sign of their ethnic background. Fraser also notes that pressure on the northern tribes, which forced them to move, may have led to the creation of unique tribal symbols, such as clothing or jewelry. Some of the earliest examples of these symbols include armlets, earrings, button covers, and decorated weapons.
Archaeology
There is little clear proof of a Caledonian archaeological culture, but we can describe the settlements in their area during their time.
Most Caledonians living north of the Firth of Forth probably lived in villages without walls, in homes made of wood or stone. Those near the western coast likely used dry-stone walls for their homes. According to Malcolm Todd, "substantial houses" in the North may appear more often in archaeological records because they were more likely to survive as recognizable structures.
Hillforts found from the North York Moors to the Scottish Highlands show a distinct pattern in northern Great Britain starting in the Middle Iron Age. These hillforts were smaller than those in the south, often less than 10,000 square meters (about 1 hectare or 2.47 acres) in size. There is no evidence that the Caledonians lived in or defended these hillforts, as they likely had a scattered settlement pattern.
By the time of the Roman invasion, settlements had shifted to less heavily fortified but better protected farmsteads surrounded by earthworks. These new farmsteads were likely occupied by individual families, who may have connected with neighbors through marriage.
The reason for the change from hilltop fortresses to farms among the Caledonians and their neighbors is unknown. Barry Cunliffe suggests that the need to show off impressive homes became less important by the second century due to less competition for resources, possibly from better farming or fewer people. Alternatively, Roman items found in Caledonian homes may indicate that social display shifted to using imported goods instead of building grand homes.
Anne Robertson notes that Roman objects, including fine items and currency, found in Caledonian homes suggest trade between the two cultures as early as the first century AD, continuing until at least the fourth century AD.