According to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

, Calgacus (sometimes Calgacos or Galgacus) was a chieftain of the

Caledonian Confederacy The Caledonians (; la, Caledones or '; grc-gre, Καληδῶνες, ''Kalēdōnes'') or the Caledonian Confederacy were a Brittonic-speaking (Celtic) tribal confederacy in what is now Scotland during the Iron Age and Roman eras. The Gree ...

who fought the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

army of

Gnaeus Julius Agricola Gnaeus Julius Agricola (; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family of senatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as a military tribun ...

at the

Battle of Mons Graupius The Battle of Mons Graupius was, according to Tacitus, a Roman military victory in what is now Scotland, taking place in AD 83 or, less probably, 84. The exact location of the battle is a matter of debate. Historians have long questioned some ...

in northern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in AD 83 or 84. His name can be interpreted as

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

''*calg-ac-os'', "possessing a blade", and is seemingly related to the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

''calgach'' (meaning prickly or fierce). Whether the word is a name or a given title is unknown.Calgacus
/ref>

Biography

He was the first

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

n to be recorded in history. The only historical source that features him is

' ''

Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the mid ...

'', which describes him as "the most distinguished for birth and valour among the chieftains". Tacitus wrote a speech which he attributed to Calgacus, saying that Calgacus gave it in advance of the

. The speech describes the exploitation of Britain by Rome and rouses his troops to fight. The following excerpt is from the speech attributed to Calgacus by the historian Tacitus in the ''Agricola'', but most historians note that since Calgacus was fighting Tacitus' father-in-law (Gnaeus Julius Agricola) in this battle the reader should assume bias: Calgacus is not mentioned during or after the battle and he is not named as one of the

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

s Agricola took with him after putting the Caledonians to flight. Both Calgacus and the speech may be figments of Tacitus's invention. His speech is often quoted as "they make a desert and call it peace".

References

External links

Calgacus's Full Speech to his Troops (A.D. 85)
Pictish people Celtic rulers Celtic warriors Scotland in the Roman era 1st-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Scotland-bio-stub