"Inasmuch as the Caledonians did not abide by their promises and had made ready to aid the Maeatae, and in view of the fact that Severus at the time was devoting himself to the neighbouring war [Parthia], Lupus was compelled to purchase peace from the Maeatae for a large sum; and he received a few captives."
Dio Cassius explains that:
"There are two principal races of the Britons, the Caledonians and the Maeatae, and the names of the others have been merged in these two. The Maeatae live next to the cross-wall which cuts the island in half, and the Caledonians are beyond them. Both tribes inhabit wild and waterless mountains and desolate and swampy plains, and possess neither walls, cities, nor tilled fields, but live on their flocks, wild game, and certain fruits; for they do not touch the fish which are there found in immense and inexhaustible quantities. They dwell in tents, naked and unshod, possess their women in common, and in common rear all the offspring. Their form of rule is democratic for the most part, and they are very fond of plundering; consequently they choose their boldest men as rulers. They go into battle in chariots, and have small, swift horses; there are also foot-soldiers, very swift in running and very firm in standing their ground. For arms they have a shield and a short spear, with a bronze apple attached to the end of the spear-shaft, so that when it is shaken it may clash and terrify the enemy; and they also have dagger. They can endure hunger and cold and any kind of hardship; for they plunge into the swamps and exist there for many days with only their heads above water, and in the forests they support themselves upon bark and roots, and for all emergencies they prepare a certain kind of food, the eating of a small portion of which, the size of a bean, prevents them from feeling either hunger or thirst....
Back in Rome, however:
The "cross-wall which cuts the island in half" is not named. Both Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall have their advocates. Those who favour the former suggest that the Maeatae are the people living 'between the walls', whilst the Caledonians are the inhabitants of the lands north of the Forth-Clyde line, i.e. Caledonia. However, probably the greater weight of opinion is behind the theory that the wall mentioned is actually the Antonine Wall. The implication being that the Caledonian tribes have consolidated into a southern faction, the Maeatae, and a northern faction, the Caledonians.
.... Such is the general character of the island of Britain such are the inhabitants of at least the hostile part of it. For it is an island, and the fact, as I have stated, was clearly proved at that time. Its length is 951 miles, its greatest breadth 308, and its least 40. Of all this territory we hold a little less than one half.""The sons of Severus, Antoninus and Geta ... went to all lengths in their conduct....
It was Severus' plan to, at last, bring the whole of Britain under Roman rule. Accordingly, in 208, he:
It seems that Antoninus was originally named Bassianus. In 196, however, Severus renamed him Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He is undoubtedly better known by the nickname Caracalla - after a Gallic cloak which he made fashionable in Rome.
.... They outraged women and abused boys, they embezzled money, and made gladiators and charioteers their boon companions, emulating each other in the similarity of their deeds, but full of strife in their rivalries; for if the one attached himself to a certain faction, the other would be sure to choose the opposite side... Severus, seeing that his sons were changing their mode of life and that the legions were becoming enervated by idleness, made a campaign against Britain, though he knew that he should not return. He knew this chiefly from the stars under which he had been born, for he had caused them to be painted on the ceilings of the rooms in the palace where he was wont to hold court, so that they were visible to all, with the exception of that portion of the sky which, as astrologers express it, "observed the hour" when he first saw the light; for this portion he had not depicted in the same way in both rooms. He knew his fate also by what he had heard from the seers; for a thunderbolt had struck a statue of his which stood near the gates through which he was intending to march out and looked toward the road leading to his destination, and it had erased three letters from his name. For this reason, as the seers made clear, he did not return, but died in the third year. He took along with him an immense amount of money.""... invaded Caledonia. But as he advanced through the country he experienced countless hardships in cutting down the forests, levelling the heights, filling up the swamps, and bridging the rivers; but he fought no battle and beheld no enemy in battle array. The enemy purposely put sheep and cattle in front of the soldiers for them to seize, in order that they might be lured on still further until they were worn out; for in fact the water caused great suffering to the Romans, and when they became scattered, they would be attacked. Then, unable to walk, they would be slain by their own men, in order to avoid capture, so that a full fifty thousand died. But Severus did not desist until he approached the extremity of the island. Here he observed most accurately the variation of the sun's motion and the length of the days and the nights in summer and winter respectively. Having thus been conveyed through practically the whole of the hostile country (for he actually was conveyed in a covered litter most of the way, on account of his infirmity), he returned to the friendly portion, after he had forced the Britons to come to terms, on the condition that they should abandon a large part of their territory....
"Let no one escape sheer destruction,
No one our hands, not even the babe in the womb of the mother,
If it be male; let it nevertheless not escape sheer destruction." When this had been done, and the Caledonians had joined the revolt of the Maeatae, he began preparing to make war upon them in person. While he was thus engaged, his sickness carried him off on the fourth of February [211], not without some help, they say, from Antoninus. At all events, before Severus died, he is reported to have spoken thus to his sons (I give his exact words without embellishment): "Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men." After this his body, arrayed in military garb, was placed upon a pyre, and as a mark of honour the soldiers and his sons ran about it; and as for the soldiers' gifts, those who had things at hand to offer as gifts threw them upon it, and his sons applied the fire. Afterwards his bones were put in an urn of purple stone, carried to Rome, and deposited in the tomb of the Antonines. It is said that Severus sent for the urn shortly before his death, and after feeling of it, remarked: "Thou shalt hold a man that the world could not hold." ... After this Antoninus assumed the entire power; nominally, it is true, he shared it with his brother, but in reality he ruled alone from the very outset. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew from their territory, and abandoned the forts ....
Recent archaeological research, into the pattern of forts and camps established during Severus' Caledonian campaign, has led Dr. Colin Martin to what is, perhaps, a startling conclusion. Writing in 'British Archaeology' (Issue 6, July 1995), he says: "... Severus had no intention of bringing the Caledonians to battle, but instead attempted to wipe them out by systematic devastation of the landscape. His policy, moreover, seems to have been successful, as peace beyond the northern frontier lasted for most of the following century... Severus' policy, in other words, seems to have been nothing short of an attempt at genocide of the Caledonian population."
To the south of Hadrian's Wall, on the Stanegate, was a Roman fort called Vindolanda. There were actually a number of forts built successively on the same site. The archaeological evidence suggests that, in the third century, the existing buildings were demolished and replaced with as many as three hundred 'native-style' circular huts. It is thought that the site became a prison camp, housing up to two thousand hostages taken during Severus' campaign. In their turn, the huts were soon demolished to make way for a new fort.
.... Antoninus was causing him alarm and endless anxiety by his intemperate life, by his evident intention to murder his brother if the chance should offer, and, finally, by plotting against the emperor himself... when both were riding forward to meet the Caledonians, in order to receive their arms and discuss the details of the truce, Antoninus attempted to kill his father outright with his own hand. They were proceeding on horseback, Severus also being mounted, in spite of the fact that he had somewhat strained his feet as the result of an infirmity, and the rest of the army was following; the enemy's force were likewise spectators. At this juncture, while all were proceeding in silence and in order, Antoninus reined in his horse and drew his sword, as if he were going to strike his father in the back. But the others who were riding with them, upon seeing this, cried out, and so Antoninus, in alarm, desisted from his attempt. Severus turned at their shout and saw the sword, yet he did not utter a word, but ascended the tribunal, finished what he had to do, and returned to headquarters. Then he summoned his son ... ordered a sword to be placed within easy reach, and upbraided the youth for having dared to so such a thing at all and especially for having been on the point of committing so monstrous a crime in the sight of all, both the allies and the enemy. And finally he said: "Now if you really want to slay me, put me out of the way ere; for you are strong, while I am an old man and prostrate. For, if you do not shrink from the deed, but hesitate to murder me with your own hands, there is Papinian, the prefect, standing beside you, whom you can order to slay me; for surely he will do anything that you command, since you are virtually emperor." Though he spoke in this fashion, he nevertheless did Antoninus no harm ... on the present occasion he allowed his love for his offspring to outweigh his love for his country; and yet in doing so he betrayed his other son, for he well knew what would happen.
When the inhabitants of the island again revolted, he summoned the soldiers and ordered them to invade the rebels' country, killing everybody they met; and he quoted these words:"Let no one escape sheer destruction,
No one our hands, not even the babe in the womb of the mother,
If it be male; let it nevertheless not escape sheer destruction." When this had been done, and the Caledonians had joined the revolt of the Maeatae, he began preparing to make war upon them in person. While he was thus engaged, his sickness carried him off on the fourth of February [211], not without some help, they say, from Antoninus. At all events, before Severus died, he is reported to have spoken thus to his sons (I give his exact words without embellishment): "Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men." After this his body, arrayed in military garb, was placed upon a pyre, and as a mark of honour the soldiers and his sons ran about it; and as for the soldiers' gifts, those who had things at hand to offer as gifts threw them upon it, and his sons applied the fire. Afterwards his bones were put in an urn of purple stone, carried to Rome, and deposited in the tomb of the Antonines. It is said that Severus sent for the urn shortly before his death, and after feeling of it, remarked: "Thou shalt hold a man that the world could not hold." ... After this Antoninus assumed the entire power; nominally, it is true, he shared it with his brother, but in reality he ruled alone from the very outset. With the enemy he came to terms, withdrew from their territory, and abandoned the forts ....
The archaeological evidence indicates that, after withdrawal back to Hadrian's Wall, the outpost forts of Netherby, Bewcastle, Risingham and High Rochester remained in use.
.... as for his own people, he dismissed some ... and killed others ..."
Excavations, in 2004 and 2005, discovered the skeletal remains of some four-dozen decapitated males, who died during their prime of life, in a Roman cemetery at York. Examination of the bones has revealed that the men were, in all probability, executed - in one case it had required thirteen strikes to remove the head. Dating evidence is consistent with the early-3rd century, and, though not the only theory, Professor Anthony Birley has suggested that the men were the victims of Caracalla's purge.
"As for his own brother, Antoninus had wished to slay him even while his father was yet alive, but had been unable to do so at the time because of Severus, or later, on the march, because of the legions; for the troops felt very kindly toward the younger brother, especially as he resembled his father very closely in appearance. But when Antoninus got back to Rome, he made away with him also."The 'Historia Augusta' (credited to Aelius Spartianus) notes: "He [Severus] built a wall across the island of Britain from sea to sea, and thus made the province secure - the crowning glory of his reign; in recognition thereof he was given the name Britannicus... In the eighteenth year of his reign, now an old man and overcome by a most grievous disease, he died at Eboracum [York] in Britain, after subduing various tribes that seemed a possible menace to the province... His last words, it is said, were these: "The state, when I received it, was harassed on every side; I leave it at peace, even in Britain; old now and with crippled feet, I bequeath to my two Antonini an empire which is strong, if they prove good, feeble, if they prove bad." ... He then ordered a duplicate made of the royal statue of Fortune which was customarily carried about with the emperors and placed in their bedrooms, in order that he might leave this most holy statue to each of his sons; but later, when he realized that the hour of death was upon him, he gave instructions, they say, that the original should be placed in the bed-chambers of each of his sons, the co-emperors, on alternate days. As for this direction, Bassianus [Caracalla] ignored it and then murdered his brother."
Dio Cassius explains that Caracalla, following at least part of his father's deathbed advice:
"... was fond of spending money upon the soldiers, great numbers of whom he kept in attendance upon him, alleging one excuse after another and one war after another ..."
In order to fund this extravagance, Caracalla increased taxation. He also (by what is known as the 'Constitutio Antoniana', of 212) conferred Roman citizenship on all of the Empire's inhabitants:
"... nominally he was honouring them, but his real purpose was to increase his revenues by this means, inasmuch as aliens did not have to pay most of these taxes."
All of its people were now Roman citizens, but that was not the only major constitutional change applied to Britannia. In order to prevent future governors becoming too powerful, Severus had decided to divide the province (Syria was similarly treated). Traditionally, when a province was divided, the portion closest to Rome was the superior (upper) and the furthest away was the inferior (lower). The superior province also had a higher ranking governor. It is not certain exactly when this change was implemented, but it is thought to have been by 216 at the latest. Two legions were based in Britannia Superior (the south) - II Augusta at Caerleon, and XX Valeria Victrix at Chester. One legion was based in Britannia Inferior (the north) - VI Victrix at York.
