Stilicho's Pictish War is a name given to a war between the forces of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

led by Stilicho and the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

in Britain around 398 AD. Little is known about the conflict. The only real source is the panegyric '' In Eutropium'' by Claudian . Another source is Gildas' sixth-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. The war ended in a Roman victory.

Sources

In the panegyric ''Eutropium'' by Claudianus on Stilicho, this war is told. It mentions the Gildonic uprising in Africa that Stilicho had to deal with and that Britannia was suffering from attacks by the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

, Picts, and Scots. The praise ended with the verse: "defeated the Saxons, the ocean calmed down, the Picts broke, and Great Britain safe." Another poem by Claudianus refers to a possible expedition to Britannia by Stilicho in 396-398. In the ''Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' of the British monk Gildas, this conflict is called one of the three Pictic wars. Later historians such as

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

have also written about this episode.

Course of the war

Britannia had a relatively quiet period after the campaign of Count Theodosius in 368. This period ended when the Picts attacked the northern border area of Britannia and made it unsafe with looting raids. At the same time, the eastern and southern coastal areas were harassed by Saxon invaders and invaded Scots in the east. The expedition army sent by Stilicho to put an end to these attacks probably consisted of the Gallic veterans who previously successfully acted against Gildon's African uprising. It is uncertain whether Stilicho himself led this expedition or ordered to do so. The outcome of the war was clear, after a series of skirmishes, the Romans defeated the Picts. The Saxons and Scots experienced the same fate. In 400, Stilicho seems to have had repairs carried out to the Wall of Hadrian with money collected during the African campaign.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

evidence that this war has taken place is missing.

Aftermath

The War of Stilicho is the last great feat of war of the Romans in Britain. In 401 Stilicho was preparing for a new campaign against the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

and

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

north of the Alpine region. He moved his Gallic legion from Britannia to join The main force in Italy. The military presence of the Romans in Britain therefore receded and would create the circumstance that led to the uprising of the British garrison in 407 when Gaul was overrun by the Germans. Kulikowski, Michael, (2011) ''Barbarians in Gaul, Usurpers in Britain'', Cambridge University Press, p. 325.

References

{{Scotland during the Roman Empire Wars involving the Roman Empire 390s in the Roman Empire 4th century in Scotland 398