Why didn\'t the Romans conquer Scotland?

[Nathan Ross]

Fortress at Carpow sounds pretty permanent to me.

Good point. But what was Carpow for? Like Byron says, it's usually interpreted as a supply base - linked perhaps to other Severan sites at Cramond and South Shields. We know it was still in occupation several years into Caracalla's reign, and it's impossible to know what might have happened if Severus hadn't died... But a well fortified coastal supply base doesn't necessarily evidence an intention to militarily occupy the north of Britain. Surely if this was the case there would be signs of forts built inland, even perhaps a restoration of the Inchtuthil site - but as far as I know Carpow is the sole 'permanent' Severan structure in the region.

Wouldn't it be more feasible to see Carpow as a sort of bridgehead in case further expeditions into the Caledonian heartland became necessary - plus a visible threat to the tribes not to break their treaties and threaten the Roman frontier again?

A: Crap weather that never takes the chill out of your bones, despite full days of sunshine every decade or so.
B: Midges.

Edit: A covers most of the east, B covers the rest and west.

Do you not get midges on the east coast then? I always thought Scotland was covered in the things...

- Nathan