Calgacus: Recorded
Calgacus: Recorded Tacitus dramatises the battle of Mons Graupius with the address to his army by the Caledonian general Calgacus. His name means The Swordsman, and he is the first native of Scotland whose name has been recorded. "We are the last people on earth and the last to be free. Our very remoteness in a land known only by rumour has protected us up till this day. "Today the furthest bounds of Britain lie open and everything unknown is given an inflated worth. But now there are no people beyond us, nothing but tides and rocks and, more deadly than these, the Romans. "It is no use trying to escape by submission or good behaviour. They have pillaged the world: when the land has nothing left for men who ravage everything, they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy, if he is poor, they crave glory. "Neither East nor West can sate their appetite. They are the only people on earth to covet wealth and poverty with equal craving. They plunder, they bu...