A Chronology for Agricola, Mons Graupius and Domitian’s Triumph in the Chattan War

Abstract

Gnaeus Iulius Agricola served as governor of Roman Britain for seven years during the Flavian period and effectively completed the conquest of the island of Britannia. However, the chronology of his governorship and related historical events has not been convincingly established despite the survival of an informative biography written by his son-in-law Tacitus. To resolve this, the article first seeks to date Agricola's momentous victory at Mons Graupius in Caledonia, at the climax of his final campaign, with reference to the emperor Domitian's discredited German (Chattan) triumph celebrated shortly beforehand. The examination of several individual episodes in Agricola's lengthy administration then follows, linking progress in Britain to contemporaneous events in Rome and on the Rhine. This enables a consistent chronology to be developed to supplement the initial findings and fix the opening chapter in the history of Scotland.