Agricola\'s Army in Scotland and Mons Graupius questions?

[Marcus Cassius LegioXIV]

I'm looking for some answers to questions on the first major Roman army that went into Scotland under Agricola. Most the info I have seen is just general or rehashed from Tacitus and they don't have the answers I'm looking for.

1) From the current evidence, were there many camp followers during the active marching campaign season in the summer that were traveling with the army?

2) What was the terrain of North eastern Scotland in the 1st century? Was it very wooded, or pretty much open like it is now?

3) Does anybody know which camp the 9th Legion was in when it was attacked or is that fully unknown/lost?

4) The 300-400 or so Roman troops killed at Mons Graupius,. now are those citizen troops that were killed or the grand total? The grand total includes the auxiliary soldiers of course.

Now if it was just the citizens that were counted, would they have been more from the cavalry units perhaps or does that show that the auxiliary had quite a few Roman citizens in there units?
OR... perhaps were SOME legionaries used in the battle or near the end for mopping up purposes at least?
I've been quite curious about this and I'd like to see other peoples take on it.

5) Now speaking of Mons Graupius, I know Bennachie is near the top of the list for where the battle took place, I've seen the area and it looks like a good choice...... BUT I'd like to know,.. the other battle sites that could be the other possibility's, are the camps any closer to the possible battlefield? I know at Durno near Bennachie, the camp is like 2-3 miles away from where the battle would have happened, but do any of the other sites around Scotland have a closer camp than the Bennachie site?

Thank you for your time!

[sulla felix]

Check out the Roman Gask Ridge Project here.

In particular look at the background papers and research - might answer some of your questions?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I have been looking at both these sites for some time, and to be truethfull, the one point that bugs me about Benacchie is the statement of Tacitus, who says the battle site is clearly visibly from the sea....
Is this a poor interpretation of what he meant, or if so, I fail to see the viability of the site.

Did he also not mention the fleet sailing and causing terror in the communities along the coast?

Was this in advance of Agricolas land forces, and would this mean the were up the Moray coast before hand or not, and is the site visible from that coast?

The lay of the land near Perth seems to have a few of these points in its favour, plus the large supply base across the 'River' at Carpow?

A lot of uncertainty there in my mind, although the Benachie location is
convenient for me.... :?

[Marcus Cassius LegioXIV]

Hmm, that is the problem with Bennachie it is a bit of a ways from the sea., Although, could it have been visible in the 1st century, with less pollution, trees, ect OR did he somehow mean visible from Bennachie rather than the ground? Then around the possible Perth site, is there a fairly large hill/mountain that could be Mon Graupius?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Well there is a rather prominent hill/ridge there, plus a slope down to more level ground ideal for chariot to race about on........

[Marcus Cassius LegioXIV]

Okay, question number 5 was sort of answered and the link to the one site was wonderful, it unfortunately did not help me on my current questions.

So any thoughts or even ideas would be helpful. Anything would be helpful. Thanks

[sulla felix]

Point 4 of your questions - I think I am correct in saying that Tacitus tells us that only the Batavi and Tungri Auxilliary troops were required in the battle (the legionaries were doing their washing and other important stuff!). As to the "status" of those legionaries I think that the Batavian Cohorts were granted Roman citizenship en masse by Trajan after the Dacian campaigns. It may have been unlikely therefore that many of the casualties were Roman citizens, but I stand to be corrected on this?

More on the history and status of the Batavian Cohorts here

Also check out Agricola and the Conquest of the North by W.S. Hanson - may be a bit outdated but still some very useful background information etc.