According to Tacitus, 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 lett ...

army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius 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 ...

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 Foo ...

''*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, an ...

''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 Tacitus' '' Agricola'', 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 Battle of Mons Graupius. 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 hostages 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