Dumyat summit, with the River Forth in the distance
The Maeatae were a confederation of tribes that probably lived beyond the Antonine Wall in Roman Britain.
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.[1] Near the summit of Dumyat hill in the Ochils, overlooking Stirling, there are remains of a fort[2] and the name of the hill (in Gaelic Dùn Mhèad) is believed to derive from name meaning the hill of the Maeatae.[3] The prominent hill fort may have marked their northern boundary, but Myot Hill,[4] near Fankerton, plausibly marks their southern limits. A discussion of two views of the importance of Dumyat and Myot Hill is given in Wainwright.[5]
Myot Hill with the Ochils on the horizon
Cassius Dio describes them in detail in his Roman History (Book LXXVII),[6] and is later quoted by Joseph Ritson and others.[7] John Rhys seems convinced that they occupied the land between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay or parts of what is now Clackmannanshire, Fife and Stirlingshire.[8] He also suggests that the Isle of May 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[9] or Hadrian's Wall.[10] Alexander del Mar says no-one really knows the identity of the Maeatae but he mentions that some authorities think they may have had a Norse origin.[11]
They appear to have come together as a result of treaties struck between the Roman Empire and the various frontier tribes in the 180s AD under the governorship of Ulpius Marcellus. Virius Lupus is recorded as being obliged to buy peace from the Maeatae at the end of the second century.[12]
In 210 AD, they began a serious revolt against the Roman Empire, which was reportedly a very bloody affair on both sides.[13] Another revolt took place the following year.[14] In 213 AD, Joseph Ritson records them receiving money from the Romans to keep the peace.[15]
The Miathi, mentioned in Adomnán's Life of Columba, probably to be identified with the Southern Picts, have been posited as the same group, their identity seemingly surviving in some form as late as the 6th or 7th centuries AD.[16]
^Evans, Nicholas (March 2009). "Royal succession and kingship among the Picts". The Innes Review. 59 (1). Edinburgh University Press (subscription required): 1–48. doi:10.3366/E0020157X08000140. hdl:20.500.11820/657d2747-c29d-4254-989d-eb23970a9684. S2CID 56008933.
^"Myot Hill". National Record of the Historical Environment. Canmore. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Mann, J C (1974). "The Northern Frontier After A.d. 369". Glasgow Archaeological Journal (subscription required). 3: 40. JSTOR 27923546.
^"OS Six Inch 1888-1913". National Library of Scotland - Map. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Wainwright, F. T. (1962). Archaeology And Place Names And History. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 72–74. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Dio, Cassius; Cary, Earnest; Foster, Herbert Baldwin (1955). Dio's Roman history. London: W. Heinemann. pp. 63–73. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Ritson, Joseph (1828). Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots; and of Strathclyde, Cumberland, Galloway, and Murray. Edinburgh: Printed for W. and D. Laing. pp. 11–13. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Rhys, John (1908). Celtic Britain (4th ed.). New York: E. S. Gorham. pp. 305–307. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Archaeologia aeliana, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity (Vol 18 ed.). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1896. pp. 89–90. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Rohl, Darrell, Jesse. "More than a Roman Monument: A Place-centred Approach to the Long-term History and Archaeology of the Antonine Wall" (PDF). Durham Theses. Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online ref: 9458. Retrieved 14 October 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Del Mar, Alexander (1900). Ancient Britain in the light of modern archæological discoveries. New York: The Cambridge encyclopedia co. p. 41. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^Elliott, Simon; Hughes, Tristan (18 March 2018). "The Scottish Campaigns of Septimius Severus". Turning Points Of The Ancient World. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
^Keys, David (27 June 2018). "Ancient Roman 'hand of god' discovered near Hadrian's Wall sheds light on biggest combat operation ever in UK". Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^Birley, Robin (October 1963). "The Roman Legionary Fortress at Carpow, Perthshire". Scottish Historical Review (subscription required). 42 (134): 131. JSTOR 25528524.
^Ritson, Joseph (1828). Annals of the Caledonians, Picts, and Scots; and of Strathclyde, Cumberland, Galloway, and Murray. Edinburgh: Printed for W. and D. Laing. pp. 64–65. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^MacLean, Hector (1872–1906). "The Ancient Peoples of Ireland and Scotland Considered". Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (subscription required). 20: 164. doi:10.2307/2842234. JSTOR 2842234.
The Maeatae were a confederation of tribes that probably lived beyond the Antonine Wall in Roman Britain. The historical sources are vague as to the exact...
of the 2nd Century AD, the actual Caledones would have likely had the Maeatae peoples between themselves and the Antonine Wall. During the reign of Commodus...
of the River Forth as "Caledonia", and described it as inhabited by the Maeatae and the Caledonians (Latin: Caledonii). Other ancient authors, however...
Scotland. The name is thought to originate from Dun (hill fort) of the Maeatae. Although relatively small (its height is 418 metres), the characteristic...
Cassius Dio, the inhabitants of Caledonia were the Caledonians and the Maeatae. Other ancient authors used the adjective "Caledonian" to mean anywhere...
eventually went on to form the Maeatae mentioned by Cassius Dio. Other archaic accounts, which mention the Caledonii and Maeatae as the two major Pictish tribes...
was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently...
centuries AD, most of modern Scotland, inhabited by the Caledonians and the Maeatae, was not incorporated into the Roman Empire with Roman control over the...
feeling that their position was desperate, revolted later that year with the Maeatae. Severus prepared for another protracted campaign within Caledonia. He...
administration had to deal with several rebellions, including those of the Maeatae. In the past some have thought that she might have been Pescennia Plautiana;...
Septimius Severus arrived in Scotland in 208, and campaigned against the Maeatae (based in the central Midland Valley on either side of the Firth of Clyde...
Tay estuary. 210 ? Caracalla leads an expedition against the rebellious Maeatae tribe. 211 ? 4 February – Severus dies at York, while preparing another...
building a fort at Doune instead, but the rock may have been occupied by the Maeatae at this time. It may later have been a stronghold of the Manaw Gododdin...
hours. During the Iron Age, the local people of the area were known as the Maeatae and it was they who constructed a powerful hillfort nearby. The early village...
further west in Galloway, the Novantae. In addition, a group known as the Maeatae, probably in the area around Stirling, appear in later Roman records. The...
Clan Chattan ?-present Confederation of clans in the Scottish Highlands. Maeatae ?-3rd cent. AD Tribal confederation in Roman Britain. Tanukhids 196-1100...
Septimius Severus, claiming to be provoked by the belligerence of the Maeatae tribe, campaigned against the Caledonian Confederacy, a coalition of Brittonic...
is also thought that the name may refer to the use of the island by the Maeatae as a royal burial site. The island was the site of one of the earliest...
throne the previous year. In the north he was obliged to buy peace from the Maeatae. Fearful that they would ally with the Caledonian Confederacy and unable...
it seems likely that Dumyat is intended, a hillfort associated with the Maeatae, who had been attacked a generation earlier by Domnall Brecc's formidable...
from the tribes immediately north of the wall however, trouble from the Maeatae and the Caledonian Confederacy appear to have required expeditions north...
century – early 3rd century Maeatae and Caledones by the mid 4th century, Verturiones and Dicalydones The territory of the Maeatae extended between the Firth...
Emperor Severus ineffectively campaigned against them. Known then as the Maeatae, the local Picts would ultimately push south to the Firth of Forth and...
Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul; Severus appoints Virius Lupus as governor. Maeatae launch raids against Hadrian's Wall. "Journey Beyond the Edge of the Known...
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