08-28-2012, 12:05 AM
Thought this may be of interest to those outwith the bbc scotland area who wont have seen this on tonights news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-ta...l-19392180
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-ta...l-19392180
Quote:Quite a bold statement that it would predate the Limes Germanicus...Your're to careful. It's not "quite bold", it plainly incorrect. The Limes Germanicus can be dated to the forties.
The first forts at the Rhine frontier in Germania Inferior were built between 14 AD and 39 AD (though it only became a fixed frontier between 70 AD and 117 AD)
Quote:Quite a bold statement that it would predate the Limes Germanicus...The claim (as far as I recall) is based (a) on the definition of a frontier as a closely-watched military road, and (b) on slight hints of a Flavian date from the Gask Ridge watch-towers. I am a sceptic. However, we can certainly celebrate Stracathro as the most noertherly Roman fort!
Quote:slight hints of a Flavian date from the Gask Ridge watch-towers.Do you mean an earlier Flavian date (than is usually assumed)? Or is Gask supposed to be post-Flavian now? :?
Quote:Do you mean an earlier Flavian date (than is usually assumed)?No, I don't think so. (Sorry, I'm not sure what you're driving at.)
Quote:Or is Gask supposed to be post-Flavian now?For those who are unfamiliar with Roman Scotland, the "Gask Ridge" is a military road linking the fort at Ardoch (at its southern end) to the fort at Bertha (at its northern end), via (in the middle) the fort at Strageath. The same road was used by Flavian and Antonine armies, and the three forts have Flavian and Antonine phases. (The forts beyond Bertha -- of which Stracathro is the northernmost -- are Flavian and show no signs of Antonine re-occupation.) At some stage, the military road was dotted with watch-towers, which are taken (by some) to be the hallmark of a "frontier"; they are universally (almost universally: I am a sceptic) accepted as Flavian. Hence, earlier than any comparable "frontier" (military road dotted with watch-towers) on the Continent.
Quote:Sorry, I'm not sure what you're driving at.I thought you were referring to the idea (by Hoffman and the Gask Ridge Project, I think) that the road and towers were pre-Agricolan, and were perhaps built by Cerialis. This still falls within Flavian, of course... mile: I knew you were sceptical about this one though!
Quote:they are universally (almost universally: I am a sceptic) accepted as Flavian.Ah, righto. That explains the note above - Antonine entirely, you think?
Quote:Antonine entirely, you think?safer to say "unproven". :wink:
Quote:Flavian is a little doubtful since in classical literature there are no campaigns mentioned in the Scottisch region/Caledonia (that I know of at least)Agricola? :???:
Quote:However, we can certainly celebrate Stracathro as the most noertherly Roman fort!You don't hold with Birnie being a fort, then?
Quote:Most likely Severan ;-)That's the one period we can safely rule out!
Quote:The site is part of the Gask frontier, a line of forts and watchtowers which predates Hadrian's Wall.Oh, dear; standards are slipping at the Beeb. Stracathro has never been claimed as part of the Gask Ridge, which lies much further south. But, as it's a Flavian fort, sneaking it into "the Gask frontier" neatly reinforces the Flavian date of that "frontier". :roll:
Quote:I thought you were referring to the idea (by Hoffman and the Gask Ridge Project, I think) that the road and towers were pre-Agricolan, and were perhaps built by Cerialis.Heavens! Will the madness never end?! :wink: