From Dumyat looking towards Grangemouth (geograph 3766267)

The Maeatae were a confederation of tribes that probably lived beyond the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some ...

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

. The historical sources are vague as to the exact region they inhabited, but an association is thought to be indicated in the names of two hills with fortifications. Near the summit of

Dumyat Dumyat or Dunmyat (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Mhèad) is a hill at the western extremity of the Ochil Hills in central Scotland. The name is thought to originate from ''Dun'' (hill fort) ''of the Maeatae''. Although relatively small (its height ...

hill in the Ochils, overlooking

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, there are remains of a fort and the name of the hill (in Gaelic ''Dùn Mhèad'') is believed to derive from name meaning the hill of the Maeatae. The prominent

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

may have marked their northern boundary, but

Myot Hill Myotilin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MYOT'' gene. Myotilin (myofibrillar titin-like protein) also known as TTID (TiTin Immunoglobulin Domain) is a muscle protein that is found within the Z-disc of sarcomeres. Structure My ...

, near

Fankerton Fankerton is a small village which lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is west of Denny and west-northwest of Falkirk. The village is located on the south side of the River Carron along the B818 road on the outskir ...

, plausibly marks their southern limits. A discussion of two views of the importance of Dumyat and Myot Hill is given in Wainwright. Green Grow the Rushes Oh' - geograph

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

describes them in detail in his ''Roman History'' (Book LXXVII), and is later quoted by Joseph Ritson and others.

John Rhys John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

seems convinced that they occupied the land between the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

and the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Dun ...

or parts of what is now

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

and

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

. He also suggests that the

Isle of May The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is about long and wide. The island is owned and managed by NatureScot as a national nature reserve. There are now no ...

might derive its name from the tribe. Dio mentions the Maeatae were between the wall and the Caledonians but there is some dispute over whether he is referring to Antonine's Wall or

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

Alexander del Mar Alexander del Mar (aka Alexander Del Mar and Alexander Delmar; August 9, 1836 – July 1, 1926) was an American political economist, historian, numismatist and author. In business affairs he was frequently referred to in contemporary reports and n ...

says no-one really knows the identity of the Maeatae but he mentions that some authorities think they may have had a Norse origin. They appear to have come together as a result of treaties struck between the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

and the various frontier tribes in the 180s AD under the governorship of

Ulpius Marcellus Ulpius Marcellus was a Roman consular governor of Britannia who returned there as general of the later 2nd century. Ulpius Marcellus is recorded as governor of Roman Britain in an inscription of 176–80, and apparently returned to Rome after a te ...

Virius Lupus Virius Lupus ( – after 205) (possibly Lucius Virius Lupus) was a Roman soldier and politician of the late 2nd and early 3rd century. Biography Virius Lupus was the first member of the ''gens Virii'' to attain high office in the Roman Em ...

is recorded as being obliged to buy peace from the Maeatae at the end of the second century. In 210 AD, they began a serious revolt against the Roman Empire, which was reportedly a very bloody affair on both sides. Another revolt took place the following year. In 213 AD, Joseph Ritson records them receiving money from the Romans to keep the peace. The Miathi, mentioned in

Adomnán Adomnán or Adamnán of Iona (, la, Adamnanus, Adomnanus; 624 – 704), also known as Eunan ( ; from ), was an abbot of Iona Abbey ( 679–704), hagiographer, statesman, canon jurist, and saint. He was the author of the ''Life of ...

's ''Life of Columba'', probably to be identified with the Southern

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

, have been posited as the same group, their identity seemingly surviving in some form as late as the 6th or 7th centuries AD.

References

{{Reflist Historical Celtic peoples Scotland in the Roman era Picts Antonine Wall