Glenblocker fort

Part of a series on the
History of Scotland
Scotland portal

The term, Glenblocker fort, also called the Highland line fort[1] is used to describe members of a line of Roman forts along the Highland Line in Scotland. The forts all share the common characteristic that they are close to the mouth of a glen (a narrow valley) or a strath (a broad valley) and can thus supervise traffic.

All of the forts were originally built during the Flavian occupation in Scotland. The group consists of:

It is debatable, whether Cardean, Stracathro and Doune should be listed among these, as they are sited further away from their respective traffic corridors, although fulfilling the same function.

It has traditionally been thought that these forts were meant to prevent invasions out of the Scottish Highand into Roman held territory.[2] This may have been their aim, working in cooperation with the other forts on the Gask Ridge and along Strathmore, as only the legionary fortress of Inchtuthil with 5000-6000 soldiers would have been strong enough to deal with a major incursion. The smaller forts were more likely to serve as a disincentive to small scale raiding parties etc.,[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ L.Keppie, Scotland's Roman Remains. Edinburgh 1986) p/. 156ff.
  2. ↑ L.Keppie, Scotland's Roman Remains. Edinburgh 1986)p. 156
  3. ↑ D.J.Woolliscroft & B.Hoffmann, Rome's First Frontier (Stroud: Tempus 2006)

References

D.Breeze, Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain (1982)
D.Breeze, Roman Scotland (2007)
W.S.Hanson, G.Maxwell, Rome's North-west Frontier: The Antonine Wall (1986)
D.J.Woolliscroft, B.Hoffmann, The First Frontier. Rome in the North of Scotland (Stroud: Tempus 2006)

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.