Classical Caledonia: Roman history and myth in 18th-century Scotland

Classical Caledonia explores the antiquarian rediscovery of Scotland’s Roman remains, and how these have influenced and continue to influence Scottish identity, impacting on our interpretation of Roman Scotland today. Various populist and misleading tropes, such as Hadrian’s Wall forming the border between England and Scotland, or the belief that Scots were the only people in the ancient world to successfully resist the Roman army, are, as Montgomery explores, rooted in a need to create a national identity of a land and people who remain unconquerable, something that originates in the narrative established by the antiquarians. Classical Caledonia begins with an exploration of the