Bertha is the name of the site of a

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 lette ...

fort north of the site of modern

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Scotland, at the confluence of the rivers Almond and Tay. It is half a mile east of the modern farm of "Berthapark" and is a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The name "Bertha" was originally used by medieval Scots historians, such as

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ce ...

and

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...

, who did not know the original name for the site and who adapted a version of "Perth" - "Berth". The Romans probably called the site "Tamia", after a native name for the River Tay. In early medieval times the abandoned site was still used for ceremonial purposes by

Pict 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 ear ...

ish and Gaelic kings, when it was called "Rathinveramon". The fort was a supply base built around AD83 to support the occasional Roman expeditions into north-east Scotland. At that time, it was at the highest navigable point on the Tay. It's thought possible that the site was re-used on three occasions up to the 3rd century The site was identified in the 18th century. It has been damaged by river erosion and by ploughing, but excavations in 1973 revealed a ditch wide and deep. Immediately within the ditch was a wide

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...

over wide and this was backed by a turf rampart averaging about wide.

References

History of Perth, Scotland Roman auxiliary forts in Scotland Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Perth and Kinross {{AncientRome-struct-stub