Muiryfold was one of 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 ...

fortifications built by

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

in northern

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 ...

(modern-day

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 ...

). The site is located east of

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

Discovery and excavation

The site was discovered by aerial photography in 1959, and two small trenches were excavated across the north west and south east sides by

Kenneth St Joseph John Kenneth Sinclair St Joseph, (13 November 1912 – 11 March 1994) was a British archaeologist, geologist and Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran who pioneered the use of aerial photography as a method of archaeological research in Britain and Irel ...

the same year. The camp was almost rectangular, measuring from north west to south east, and from north east to south west, covering an area of just over .

History

In 210 AD, the Emperor Septimius Severus made an attempt to conquer all Caledonia reaching the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...

. He created a huge marching camp at Muiryfold, near the one created in 84 AD by Agricola at Auchinhove. The possibility that Agricola and Septimius Severus reached the northernmost area of Scotland can be confirmed by discoveries north of Inverness, specifically at Portmahomack on the

Dornoch Firth The Dornoch Firth ( gd, Caolas Dhòrnaich, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a nationa ...

, and Tarradale on the north shore of the Beauly Firth. The Roman legions in the first and second century established a chain of very large forts at Ardoch,

Strageath Strageath is a Roman camp near the River Earn in eastern Scotland. Strageath was one of a chain of camps that the Romans used in their march northward. Other notable camps in this chain are Ardoch, Battledykes, Stracathro, Raedykes and Normandyk ...

Inchtuthil Inchtuthil is the site of a Roman legionary fortress situated on a natural platform overlooking the north bank of the River Tay southwest of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland (Roman Caledonia). It was built in AD 82 or 83 as the advan ...

Battledykes Battledykes is a Roman camp slightly to the north of Forfar, Scotland. According to Hector Boece, Pictish chiefs met at a castle by Forfar Loch to plan how to repel the Roman armies, who invaded several times between the 1st and 4th centuries ...

Stracathro Stracathro ( gd, Srath Catharach) is a small place in Angus, Scotland. It was the site of a Roman marching camp as their forces invaded to the north. Location Stracathro is located southeast of Edzell in north-east Angus. It lies to the north ...

and Raedykes,The Roman Gask Project
/ref> taking the Elsick Mounth on the way to Normandykes before going north to

Glenmailen Ythan Wells, also known as Glenmailen, is the site of a Roman military camp, near the farm of Glenmellan, east of the village of Ythanwells in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site is a designated scheduled monument. Traces of two marching cam ...

Bellie Bellie is a locality in Moray, Scotland. Little survives of the old parish church at Bellie, located 2 miles north of Fochabers, although its Kirkyard, graveyard is preserved. There is a Bellie Kirk in Fochabers, which replaced the old church in ...

Balnageith Balnageith, located on the western edge of the suburbs of Forres in Moray, Scotland, is the site of an excavated linear cropmark with a rounded corner that has been interpreted as a possible Roman military camp or fort. The enclosure may originally ...

and Cawdor.

Notes

Bibliography

* * Frere, S. ''Britannia: a History of Roman Britain''. Londra, 1998. * Hanson, W S (1980) ''The first Roman occupation of Scotland'', in Hanson, W S and Keppie, L J F Roman Frontier studies 1979: Papers presented to the 12th International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, Brit Archaeol Rep, International, vol.S71, 1 Oxford 15-43 * Moffat, Alistair. ''Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History''. Thames & Hudson. Londra, 2005. {{ISBN, 0-500-05133-X * St Joseph, J K (1961) ''Air reconnaissance in Britain, 1958-60'', J Roman Stud, vol.51 123

Discovery and excavation

History

Notes

Bibliography

See also