According to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

, Calgacus (sometimes Calgacos or Galgacus) was a chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy who fought the Roman army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius in northern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in AD 83 or 84. His name can be interpreted as Brittonic *, 'possessing a blade', and is seemingly related to the Gaelic (meaning 'prickly' or 'fierce'). Whether the word is a name or a title is unknown.Calgacus
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Biography

He was the first

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

n to be recorded in history. The only historical source that features him is

' ''

Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the m ...

'', which describes him as "the most distinguished for birth and valour among the chieftains". Tacitus wrote a speech which he attributed to Calgacus, saying that Calgacus gave it in advance of the Battle of Mons Graupius. The speech describes the exploitation of Britain by Rome and rouses his troops to fight. The following excerpt is from the speech attributed to Calgacus by the historian Tacitus in the ''Agricola'', but most historians note that since Calgacus was fighting Tacitus' father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, in the battle, the reader should assume some bias: Calgacus is not mentioned during or after the battle, and he is not named as one of the hostages Agricola took with him after putting the Caledonians to flight. Both Calgacus and the speech may be figments of Tacitus's invention. His speech is often quoted as "they make a desert and call it peace".

References

External links

Calgacus's Full Speech to his Troops (A.D. 85)
Pictish people Celtic warriors Scotland in the Roman era 1st-century monarchs in Europe Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{Scotland-bio-stub